Archive Squad News 2007

The second event of the Bank of Scotland Highland Regional Throws Development Series takes place this Saturday (13^th October) in Inverness.  The next event to be covered this winter is the javelin, with Scottish Event Coach Robert Wilkie leading the day long session.  Athlete, Kristine Ritchie will be demonstrating on the day. 

All coaches are welcome to attend; we will have several themes running throughout the day including a presentation on common faults and corrections in javelin throwing aimed specifically for coaches. 

The development day will be held at Queens Park track in Inverness from 10am till 4pm.  Please bring waterproofs and a change of clothing as the training will be outdoors.  Changing facilities are available in the sports centre and there is also a café available. 

Please note: Athlete attendance is by invitation only.  For more details contact Tracy on 01463 772033 or tracy@highlandathletics.co.uk.

An excellent turnout of 17 athletes and 5 coaches attended the first winter session of the Bank of Scotland Highland Regional Throws Development Series which took place on Saturday 15^th September at Queen’s Park Track in Inverness.   Top Scottish Hammer Coach, Colin McCulloch led the day and Scottish International Hammer thrower Katie Horne demonstrated essential drills and shared her throwing tips.

The majority of the athletes, all aged between 11 and 18, who attended had never thrown the hammer before yet some showed the potential of become top throwers in the Highlands.  Cameron and Paterson Homes, who are sponsoring athletics in the Highlands, are delighted that their support enables young people to have exposure to top class coaching in Inverness.

The day after the training day six of the athletes competed in the hammer competition at the Inverness Harriers Open Graded where 5 athletes set new personal bests but star performance went to Sam O’Kane from Caithness AAC who threw 37.41m achieving the Scottish Power of 10 target in his only hammer competition of 2007.

Highland Regional Throws Coach Tracy Tamijmarane said “it is essential that athletes in the Highlands be given the opportunity to have top class technical coaching locally.  This weekend shows that the talent is out there - we just need the coaches in place to nurture it”.  If anyone is interested in getting involved in coaching athletics please contact Tracy on 01463 772033.

Scottish Juniors - 2 Champions and a brood for the future
Returning home crowned Scottish Discus Champions were Sam O'Kane (Caithness AC) and Kerri Cameron (Nairn AC).  The double success came in the U15 age group with Sam throwing 36.13m and Kerri throwing a life time PB adding almost 2 and a half meters onto her best finishing with 25.89M.  Kerri had a fabulous series of throws with all throws bettering her previous PB!  Claire Wilson (Orkney AC) claimed silver in the U17 shot throwing 9.64m.

A host of other exciting top 8 performances were recorded by athletes from across the Highlands.  The weekends results are given below:

A+ for AAA's
Two athletes from the Highlands travelled down to Sheffield to compete at the U15 and U17 English Championships.  Sam O'Kane from Caithness AC competed in the U15 discus and finished a excellent 5th place throwing 35.66m and Claire Wilson of Orkney AC threw 9.29m in the U17 shot to finish a very respectable 7th.  For both athletes this was their first time attending these championships and the huge experience they gained will set them up well for competing at next years championships.

Career Topping Performance
What a way to end your career - medalling at the Scottish Senior Championships!  Helen Cromarty from Orkney finished second in the shot at the Scottish Senior Championships with her second best throw of her life - 12.42m.  After a successful year, Helen retires being ranked number two in Scotland.  We are wishing her all the best and hoping that she doesn't leave athletics too far behind.  Congratulations for a job well done....  Chiiro (my best Orkadian accent!)

Also competing at the Scottish Senior Champs was Danica MacLaren who finished 7th in the javelin throwing 32.08m.  Well done Danica.

Top Celtic Performance
Rising discus star, Sam O'Kane who made his debut representing Scotland finished 3rd in the Celtic Games U16 boys discus competition.  Travelling to Antrim in Northern Ireland, Sam threw just short of his PB finishing with a throw of 37.73m.  Congratulations Sam and good luck for throwing at the U15 AAA's competition this weekend in Sheffield.

Senior Scottish Champs
Danica MacLaren, the top female javelin thrower in the Highlands and Helen Cromarty the North District Senior Shot Champion travel down to compete at the Senior Scottish Championships this weekend.  Orkney AC athlete, Helen competes in the shot on Saturday afternoon while Danica, an Inverness Harrier, competes in the javelin on Sunday at Scotstoun Stadium in Glasgow. Good luck to Helen and Danica... throw fast and far.

Maurice sets new PB
Shetland athlete, Maurice Williamson, set a fabulous PB at the recent hammer Grand Prix final.  Breaking the 46m barrier for the first time he finished with a life time best of 46.74m.  Maurice has made fabulous improvement this year, so far increasing his best from 38.25m to 46.74m and with all this happening as a first year U17 athlete there is plenty to come in the future.

Hammer Development Day 2007
Queens Park Track plays host to a hammer development day on the 15th September.  Scottish National Event Coach for Hammer, Colin McCulloch will spearhead the day providing excellent coaching and advice. All coaches are welcome along for the day.  The following day (Sunday 16th Sept) a hammer competition has been added to the program for the Open Graded in Inverness. For more details and info about booking your place for the development day click here.

PB all-round in Inverness
An excellent series of throws was had by all the athletes competing at the  Inverness Harriers AAC Invitation Discus competition on the 11th July.  Of the 6 athletes invited, 4 set new PB's and 2 came within a few centimetres of their PB.  Squad discus star, Sam O'Kane (Caithness AC) set another new PB hitting 38.07m (ranked 7th in UK) while Kerri Cameron  (Nairn AC) just missed her PB by 1 cm - throwing 23.10m. 

For the Grampian athletes, Laura Chalmers (Elgin AC) set an awesome PB of 43.79m, Gary Sweeney's (Moray RR) new PB now stands at 36.00m, Lorne Tait (Elgin AC) throw a PB of 25.14m and Niculina Alexander (Elgin AC) was just 7cm short of her PB throwing 23.01m.  An excellent nights throwing - congratulations to all and a huge thanks to our officials - Elspeth, Neill, Charlie, Meg and Meg's other half - couldn't have done it without you...

Flying Hammer
At the Shetland annex of the Scottish Hammerama, Maurice Williamson set a new PB of 43.17m that's almost 3m up from his previous best!

Helen hits Bronze!
On the 3rd of July, Kalipatria Sports Complex in Rhodes played host to the final of the Women's Shot put competition of the 2007 Island Games.  Orkney AC had 2 athletes in the final; Helen Cromarty and Claire Wilson.  In temperatures teetering over 30ºC, Helen threw 12.18m to claim the bronze medal and Claire threw 9.68m to take 9th place.  Conditions were a far cry from the horizontal winds and rain that both Helen and Claire have been training in during their preparation for the games.  Congratulations to the both of you...

Sam sets yet another PB!
In weather conditions that would sink a duck, U15m Sam O'Kane fired the discus out to 37.82m during the Petrofac League on the 1st July.  This is yet another PB set this season and it was almost a meter further than his previous best!

Danica sets a season's best and brings home a medal!
Javelin thrower, Danica MacLaren threw a season's best of 33.04m to take a bronze at the Scottish U20 Championships in Meadowbank on the 17th June.  The Inverness Harrier athlete is now ranked 3rd in the Scottish U20 rankings and is also inside the Top 60 in the UK rankings.

Double Golds for Scotland's Top U15 Discus Throwers
The Scottish Schools Championships held on the 8th and 9th June in Grangemouth saw two Gold medals fly back up the A9!  Top Caithness AAC thrower, Sam O'Kane and Nairn AC's Discus Star, Kerri Cameron came back from the Championship with a Scottish Schools title and a Gold to prove they are the best.

An excellent PB was also claimed by Shetland AC's Maurice Williamson in the Hammer.  For more details go here.

Second athlete claims Regional Squad Spot
Congratulations to Maurice Williamson from Shetland AC who is the second athlete of the summer to qualify for inclusion in the Regional Squad.  At the 2nd Hammer Grand Prix held in Grangemouth in May, Maurice threw 38.25m finishing 4th overall in the U17 competition.  Well done!

Successful Highland Regional Squad Launch
The official launch of the Highland Regional Throws Squads took place on Saturday 2nd June during the second squad training day.  What a great day! Not only did we have athletes come in from Orkney but we had 4 coaches attending, one from as far as North Uist!  That equates to about a quarter of throws coaches in the Highland Region!

Hugh Murray, the Scottish Athletics National Throws Manager presented on the new squads structure highlighting the athlete pathway.  Lachlan McKinnon from the Bank of Scotland also attended the squad launch.  During the afternoon session, we had a presentation on drug testing; the handout is available here.  Our guest coach for the day was Jim Green, throws coach from Kilbarchan AAC.  Jim worked with the athletes throughout the day working on technical aspects.

Attending coaches, Malcolm Clasper (Caithness AC), Jamie Quarm (North Uist AC), Ailene Cameron (Nairn AC) and Alison Nicol (Nairn AC) had a brainstorming session in the morning guided by Tracy but with the invaluable input from Hugh Murray.  Sharing ideas and coaching experiences with each other and discussing points which they see will improve and develop throws coaching in the Highlands.  In the afternoon, all the coaches worked with the athletes, picking up technical points and drills.  All in all, a great day and an excellent starting point for throws in the Highlands to develop from.

Highland Games Come and Try Session for Women
Monday the 18th June sees the first ever novices coaching clinic for Highland Games throwing events specifically organised for women.  All women aged 16 and over are invited to attend - wear suitable clothing and footwear.  The session will be held at the Northern Meeting Park in the Bught Park in Inverness from 6 to 8pm.  Leading the session will be Ryan Vierra (USA) the reigning Highland Games World Champion, top Highland Heavy Malcolm Cleghorn and Tracy Tamijmarane.  If you are interested and want to attend or just want more information please email Tracy.

Our First New addition to the Squad
Congratulations to Orkney AC athlete, Claire Wilson who has recently qualified as the latest squad member after her excellent throw of 9.86m in the U17W Shot at the North Districts where she won the title.  This is Claire's first year as an U17 and it was her first competition with the 4Kg Shot. Welcome on board.