There was a flurry of championship action as the indoor season came to a close, with TEL athletes competing for university, national senior, age group and GB titles.

The British Universities Indoor Champs in Sheffield showcases some of the best up and coming student talent, some of whom are already making a mark in the senior ranks. TEL had six athletes competing in their university colours, with Adam Hoole taking the only silverware of the weekend. Keen to defend the long jump title he won last year, a close competition eventually resulted in fourth place with a season’s best 7.43m in the final and missing the bronze by 3cm. There was better news in the 60m hurdles where a season’s best 7.95s in the final bagged a bronze medal behind Daniel Goriola who was to take the senior UK title a week later. Also in multi event action were Alister Mackay and Laura Buchan with the former busy tackling long jump – 6.52m, hurdles – 8.68s and a great 4.33m in the pole vault for a season’s best and 6th place. Laura as expected was competing in both horizontal jumps and in high class fields in both, she just failed to make the finals with 5.16m in the LJ and 10.80m in the TJ. Back on the track, there were three hard races for Aidan Page in the 1500m and after finishing third in his heat, then fourth in the semi final with a fantastic season’s best 3.57.67 he finished a creditable ninth in the final. Finally, two athletes who are making use of Jamie Bowie’s multi-event training skills whilst studying in Scotland – Archie Street jumped a season’s best 1.88m in the high jump and ran 9.0s in the 60mH whilst Oscar Hennessy Leach ran a personal best of 8.40s also in the 60mH.

With the UK indoor championships taking place in Birmingham in front of 10000 fans and tv cameras, TEL had representation in both the sprint hurdles and long jump with Adam Hoole coming up against the UK’s event specialists. The combined eventer reached the final of the hurdles and came a respectable fifth with 7.99s, whilst also coming seventh in the long jump which was won by Olympian Jacob Fincham-Dukes. 

The age group and senior championships are the pinnacle of the Scottish indoor season and there were many excellent performances to celebrate including personal bests, season’s bests and a medal or two! Top billing goes to Imogen Turner in the U15 girls 1500m with a superb first place in 4.47.55. Madison Taylor was also on the podium with a PB of 8.87m in the U15 girls triple jump to gain a fantastic second place and followed this up with another PB of 4.42m and sixth place in the long jump. Ben Anderson was in fine form across three U17 events with the best being a great third place in the LJ with a PB of 5.94m. Further PBs were achieved as he reached the semi final of the 60m in 7.58s and 24.14s to reach the semi final of the 200m. Aidan Page was again in great form in the senior 1500m, achieving a fantastic bronze medal in 3.56.78 whilst in the U17 1500m Joe Smith ended just outside the medals in fourth place in a PB of 4.10.94. Isaac Stevenson had two hard races in the U20 400m, qualifying in second place in his heat for the final then running 54.48s for sixth place. In the senior women’s LJ there was another PB for Laura Buchan who came sixth with 5.48m as well as 9th in the TJ with 10.54m. Kerry Morris and Erin Hall were also doubling up with both jumps and both achieved season’s bests in each event, Kerry with 4.87m LJ and 9.70m TJ whilst Erin achieved 4.82m LJ and 10.71m TJ.

Maja Thomson ran a great PB in the heats of the senior 400m but her 59.66s was not quite enough to progress to the final. Meanwhile Freddy Fendick was also in PB form for ninth place in the U17 1500m with 4.47.62. David Hunter ran a PB of 7.67s to reach the semi final of the U17 60m where he repeated the same time which was not quite fast enough to progress further. Yet another PB was achieved by Frank Orsi in the U15 300m with 41.96s and Frank was also in field event action coming seventh in the shotput with 8.08m. Abi Campbell achieved a PB of 9.25s in her heat of the U15 60m and ran another PB in the heats of the 300m with 48.23s.  Ava-Rose Curtis achieved a top ten finish coming eighth in the U15 800m with 2.29.67 whilst Poppy Ward finished in ninth place in the U15 shotput with 7.02m. Poppy also ran in the 200m coming fifth in her heat with 31.11s. With Cameron Smith 53.34s in the senior 400m and Heidi Nicholson 47.28s in the U17 300m completing the results, it really shows the dedication of all the athletes to continue to improve with the help of the fantastic TEL coaching team.

Well done to everyone for a great indoor season which bodes well for more success as we move outdoors.