Competition Report, Featured, News, Track and Field

The 4J Scottish Athletics U/14 and U/16 East and North District Track and Field Championships – 16-17th May 2026

Posted by TEL AC on
Three young female athletes smiling and posing for a photo, wearing medals and athletic clothing, at a sports event outdoors with a running track in the background.
Two young athletes in purple sports uniforms posing with thumbs up at an outdoor track and field event, with buildings in the background.
Three young female athletes pose together on a sports field, each wearing athletic gear and medals, with a blue sky and buildings in the background.

The 4J Scottish Athletics U/14 and U/16 East and North District Track and Field Championships were held at the Aberdeen Sports Village last weekend.

The normal North District venue at Inverness is being redeveloped so with both districts combined there was a larger turnout than usual. Clubs came from Shetland, Orkney, Stornoway and Inverness from the North as well as those who travelled North from Galashiels, East Lothian and everywhere between.

Team East Lothian had 12 athletes competing over the 2 days in various events. A fantastic 7 individual East District medals were won by TEL athletes in the U/16 age groups over the two days of competition.

Poppy Ward ( Two Gold)
Abi Campbell ( Gold and Silver )
Erin Porter ( Silver )
Tom Ibbs ( Silver )
Kate Douglas ( Bronze )

There was a change to the format in the U/14 age groups where individual medals were replaced by a Scottish Athletics PIN badge of merit for those who did 3 events. Athletes accumulated points in each of their chosen events using SATS tables and were rewarded with Gold, Silver or Bronze.

Adam Connolly ( Gold)
Esme Wells ( Musselburgh ) ( Gold )
Struan Fairbairn ( Gold )
Erin Crawford ( Bronze )
Carly Douglas ( Bronze )

Under the old method where individual medals were given to the U/14’s as well TEL would have added another 8 medals to the team total.

Adam Connolly 1st – High Jump, 2nd – 100m, 3rd – 800m
Struan Fairbairn 2nd – 200m, 3rd – 100m
Erin Crawford 2nd – Javelin
Josie MacIntyre 3rd – Javelin
Carly Douglas 3rd – High Jump

Ben Connelly ( Haddington ) and Ailsa O’Day both had fantastic runs in the 1500m and were rewarded with Personal Best Times Ben ( 5.28.28 ) and Ailsa ( 5.14.82 ).

11 year old Martha Turner won her 800m heat and had the 5th fastest East District U/14 Girls time overall. Well Done, Martha.

It was also great to see MADAC’s Esme Wells doing so well. Her Gold achievement badge included her long jump where she was 2nd in the East District with a massive 4.38 (PB).

Aggie Cooke from MADAC also competed on Sunday and jumped a new outdoor PB in the U/16 Girls high jump.
The U/14’s from TEL, especially, rose to the occasion and there was at least 15 PB performances from the 7 of them.

Medals are nice but the Scottish Athletics achievements badges are just as hard to attain evidenced by the smaller number of those taking part who reached the top standard, Gold Badge Winners Adam, Struan and Esme were all in the top 10 combined scorers over both districts with Adam the 2nd top points scorer on the day.

Remember, Jonathon Edwards, our special guest from last Monday, said that his Triple Jump PB ( Just happens to be a World Record ) meant more to him than his Olympic Gold Medal.

A young athlete in a purple and black outfit throwing a javelin on a track field during a sports event.
A female athlete in a red sports uniform leaping into the air during a long jump event, with spectators in the background observing the competition.
A young girl performing the high jump, clearing a yellow bar while landing on a padded mat, with a sports facility in the background.
A young female athlete sprinting on a track during a race, wearing a purple sports top and black shorts, with bright green running shoes.
A young female athlete prepares to throw a javelin on a sports field, wearing athletic clothing with the number 142. In the background, spectators are seated and a banner for Scottish Athletics is visible.

Medallists and Winners Summary

Poppy Ward won the East District U/16 Hammer Competition on Saturday ( 27.95 ) and followed it up on Sunday with the Gold in the shot putt ( 10.09 ) Both these shattered her previous personal best throws and now puts her 4th in this year’s Scottish U/16 rankings for both hammer and shot putt. ( that includes the results from the weekend’s West District Champs at Kilmarnock).

Adam Connolly jumped a new lifetime best in the U/14 high jump ( 1.51 ). This increases his lead at the top of this year’s Scottish U/14 rankings. Amazing as he ran ( and won ) his 800m heat between jumps, came back and jumped a new PB. Surprisingly he said his legs felt a bit tired when the bar was raised to an even higher height.

Must be either the Aberdeenshire air that inspires Poppy and Adam or is it these training sessions in all weathers with coaches Jamie and Gary.

Also a special mention must go to Abi Campbell who was brave enough to tackle the 1500m Steeplechase, A tough event. Abi rose to the occasion and through guts and determination was rewarded with a winning run and TEL’s third Gold of the Championships. Amazing! Abi also won a Silver Medal and her clubmate Kate Douglas a Bronze in Sunday’s triple Jump Final.

Erin Porter claimed a Silver in the East District U/16 long jump on Saturday and Tom Ibbs ran a storming race in his 1500m Final on Sunday. In a high quality field Tom needed to produce another PB to win Silver by the smallest of margins.

It was a long way to go for our athletes ( and parents) but hopefully it was worth it. All these top performances , including the countless PB’s should be updated shortly on the Power of 10 website. 

Thanks to Rosemary, Martin, Angus, Hazel and Esme’s dad for the great photos shared on our TEL Facebook page