Lasswade athletes return with clutch of Championship medals

The event, held annually across two days at Grangemouth Stadium, always manages to attract many of the top athletes from around the country.

And this year Lasswade AC athletes were out in force, producing a fantastic total of 19 medals.

Of the 19 medals there were eight golds, three silvers and eight bronze.

In the Under 13s, Dexter Howard went into the event ranked second in Scotland in the 75m hurdles and a personal best (PB) time of 13.79s was more than enough to secure the gold and continue this season’s unbeaten run.

A tougher challenge was in store in the long jump as Dexter went up against two of the top three ranked jumpers in the country.

A final jump of 4.72m, a massive PB, secured the bronze medal, just behind eventual winner, Falkirk Victoria athlete Samuel Kane.

Another gold medal in the boys under 13 age group came from Alastair Scott. who was competing for the first time in the discus,

Alastair’s first throw of 13.95m, proved to be his best and took top spot while fellow AC athlete Matthew Tait produced another PB in the high jump with 1.41m to take gold and move him up to fourth in the Scottish rankings.

It was an excellent weekend for Lasswade jumpers with a total of ten medals in the jumps events.

In the under 15 girls, Michelle Blaikie not only took the gold but moved to top of the Scottish rankings and third in the UK rankings, with a new PB of 1.62m.

In the boys under 15 event, Adam Leighton finished ahead of the Pitreavie’s Ben Knowles and Jacob Carr, to win with a PB of 1.71m and move him into third in the Scottish rankings for the year.

Not content with one medal Adam went on to win a bronze in the long jump, with another PB of 5.24m.

Continuing the weekend’s success for Lasswade jumpers Bryony Patterson took gold in the womens under 20 long jump competition with her second jump of 5.32m, another PB best on the day, too good for the rest of the field.

Bryony had earlier taken bronze in the triple jump with a jump of 10.75m while another double medal winner was under 20 mens jumper Jamie English who took bronze in the triple jump, with a jump of 11.08m. He followed that up with a silver in the high jump clearing 1.61m.

Rachel Elder, competing in the under 17s triple jump, took the bronze medal with her first jump of 9.98m.

Having won the 800m National Indoor Championships, in the under 20s age group, earlier in the year, Cameron Steven moved up to the seniors to compete. Cameron controlled the race, winning comfortably in a time of 1.53.66.

Another medal winner was under 20 runner Ailsa Innes who took gold in the womens 800m in a time of 2.20.20.

Other medal winners included Christian Graham in the Under 17s 1500m.

A club spokesman said: ‘‘We had some great performances over the two days, particularly with so many medals in field events. Well done to all athletes, their coaches and families.’’