Club’s youngsters had many outstanding moments
SHETLAND Amateur Athletics Club has truly had an outstanding season by anyone’s standards.
During the indoor season, the Shetland under-15 girls’ team took part in a terrific Scottish final, progressing to the UK final and doing Shetland proud.
In the early part of the outdoor season, the club signed up to the newly formed Highland and Islands Performance Participation Opportunity (HIPPO) athletics series, which saw the club host a competition at Clickimin track in April. The competition was a great success with all the points gathered by the participating athletes being totalled up by organisers in Inverness. The high standard of performances ensured that Shetland were ranked in second place in the leader table behind Inverness AAC.
During May the team travelled to Inverness to compete in the North District Athletics Championships and took home a huge haul of medals.
June saw the second of the HIPPO competitions at Clickimin. The athletes demonstrated that they were up for the challenge and their points total saw Shetland leap into the lead in the HIPPO series. The following weekend, the juniors were off to the Scottish Schools competition, stopping off in Inverness for a further day of competition on the route home.
At the same time, some of the older athletes broke off from the group and took part in the under-20 and under-23 age group championships, making it a busy but extremely competitive weekend.
Although an extremely wet July day, the junior Inter-county saw some of the finest performances of the season from the Shetland youngsters, beating Orkney convincingly by 44 points, certainly one of the biggest points margins ever recorded.
July also saw the Shetland Open athletics competition at Clickimin. With visiting athletes from Orkney, the competition provided a valuable opportunity for a mid-summer outing and a competitive day was enjoyed by all.
The August age group championships for the under-13s, under-15s and under-17s saw some excellent performances by the club’s juniors and following some more hard work on the track and in the field at Clickimin, the team travelled to Inverness to compete in the HIPPO final in Inverness, from which five of a possible seven trophies were brought home by the Shetland team.
In between these competitions, throws matches and remote participation in the hammer grand prix events were also conducted from Clickimin.
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Great results at Inverness HIPPO final
TWENTY-SEVEN of Shetland’s most talented athletes gathered in Inverness during September to compete in the HIPPO (Highlands and Islands Performance Participation Opportunity) grand final, with some fantastic results.
Shetland Amateur Athletic Club were awarded five team awards for their efforts in two matches held in Shetland, together with the results from the day’s final.
The awards were the Under-17 Team Shield, the Senior Team Shield, the Female Team Plate, the Male Team Plate and the HIPPO Champion Club Quaiche.
Following two very successful HIPPO competitions in Shetland, at which Shetland were second and then topped the leader board respectively, the club made the trip south to compete in the third and final event.
During the day’s competition the team took 17 first places, nine second places, eight third places and a further 33 top 10 places on the road to the silverware.
Under-13 boys 100m: 1 Ashley Govier. Long jump: 1 Ashley Govier.
Under-15 boys Long jump: 5 Rory Goodlad. 800m: 8 Rory Goodlad.
Under-15 girls 1500m: 1 Katie Bristow. 200m: 5 Megan Govier; 100m: 8 Megan Govier.
Under-17 men 1500m: 1 Bobby Bristow. Shot: 1 Scott Jeromson. Javelin: 2 Jordan Morrison, 3 Scott Jeromson. Long jump: 3 Sean Maver, 4 Jordan Morrison, 5 Connor Wood. 200m: 5 Sean Maver, 7 Marc Lawson. 100m: 5 Marc Lawson, 7 Sean Maver, 9 Connor Wood.
Under-17 women Long jump: 1 Allie Elphinstone, 2 Eilidh Peterson. 100m: 1 Inga Woods, 4 Eilidh Peterson, 6 Caitlin Watt, 7 Allie Elphinstone. 200m: 1 Emma Leask, 2 Caitlin Watt, 5 Karen Bannister, 6 Allie Elphinstone, 7 Sophie May Leyland. 300m: 1 Emma Leask, 3 Inga Woods. Discus: 3 Eilidh Peterson. High jump: 1 Karen Bannister, 2 Emma Leask, 4 Sophie May Leyland, 5 Caitlin Watt. Javelin: 2 Inga Woods, 6 Sophie May Leyland.
Under-20 and senior men 100m: 2 Gareth Robertson, 3 Stuart Donald, 6 Scott Lawson, 10 Michael Heubeck and Jamie Wilson. 200m: 3 Gareth Robertson, 6 Stuart Donald. 400m: 2 Scott Lawson, 3 Alan Williamson. 800m: 1 Joshua Morrison, 3 Alan Williamson. 1500m: 1 Joshua Morrison. Discus: 5 Alan Williamson. Javelin: 6 Jamie Wilson, 8 Dwayne Davies. Long jump: 1 Michael Heubeck, 2 Jamie Wilson, 4 Scott Lawson. Shot: 4 Dwayne Davies, 5 Alan Williamson, 8 Gareth Robertson, 9; Michael Heubeck, 11 Jamie Wilson.
Under-20 women 100m: 1 Faye Richardson. 200m: 1 Faye Richardson. Javelin: 1 Victoria Duthie. Long jump: 1 Victoria Duthie. Shot: 2 Victoria Duthie.
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Athletes chosen for Åland games
FROM the extensive number of competitive opportunities open to Shetland’s athletes this year, the selection for the NatWest Island Games squad to travel to Åland next year was made recently.
Due to their many successes, the team is one of the largest athletics squads ever sent to the games.
The team members are: Karen Bannister, Arlene Bristow, Bobby Bristow, Katie Bristow, Stuart Donald, Victoria Duthie, Sophie Kelman, Scott Lawson, Emma Leask, Sakchai Makao, Joshua Morrison, Elaine Park, Eilidh Peterson, Faye Richardson, Gareth Robertson, Karl Robertson, Michelle Sandison, Karl Simpson, Megan Smith, Lee Williamson, Claire Wilson, Jamie Wilson and Inga Woods.
The half marathon representatives will be selected following the Jedburgh Half Marathon on 19th October.
A spokeswoman said the Shetland Amateur Athletics Club committee would like to congratulate all those who have made the team for Åland. Thanks for the efforts throughout the season must be extended to the volunteers who officated at the home competitions, those who travelled with the teams to competitions on the mainland and the coaches and athletes who continue to promote the sport of athletics through their achievements.
The spokeswoman said the committee would also like to thank the club sponsors, The Altaire Fishing Company, together with the Shetland Islands Council’s community development department and NorthLink Ferries, without whose financial support a season like this would not have been possible.
