Jaguars earn fifth place as Alyson moves fifth all-time 200m

Sunday 1st June 2025

Glasgow Jaguars were delighted with a fifth place finish in the National Athletics League Premier Division match at Eton, despite some late call-offs in the men’s team.

Match score: Harrow 644.5, Thames Valley 628, Windsor 443.5, Woodford Green 441.5, Glasgow Jaguars 416, Birchfield 402, Sheffield 354.5, Shaftesbury 350.

In excellent conditions Alyson Bell was an outstanding winner of the A 200m in 23.01, which was a European U23 and Commonwealth Games standard. Alyson moves fifth all-time for Scottish women over 200m.

Lucy Fraser was marginally short of her PB with a fine run of 24.36 for second in the B event. Joined by Long Jumper Hannah Wallace and 100m Hurdler Erin Campbell the girls finished in third position in the 4×100 relay in 46.05 and edging closer to the Scottish all-time club best of 45.82 (electronic timing) set by a team from Edinburgh Woollen Mill in 1993.

The standard was extremely high in men’s sprints and Dean Patterson was pleased with his return to competition after injury, clocking 21.22 for sixth in the A race and Struan Linton matched this position in the B race with a PB of 21.54.

In the guest races Owen Murphy recorded a PB of 10.84 in his first appearance for the team, while Simon Okiti ran a season’s best of 11.10. The quartet combined to run a swift 41.16 to finish fifth.

There were good points in the women’s 400m as Kathryn Christie ran a season’s best of 54.89 to finish fourth in the A race while Kelsey Stewart opened her season with second in the B event in 55.16.

Making her debut in the pink and black, Annie McLean ran a PB of 55.9 to win the guest race with Mhairi Patience, who had missed last season with injury, second in 56. 74. The girls were easy winners of the 4×400 relay in 3.44.15.

The men’s 400m runner were on form and it was a baptism of fire for Robin Snedden in the A race, but he was not far outside his best with a 49.53 run. Luc McLeod, making his debut for the team, recorded a PB of 48.40 to finish in a fine fifth place in the B race and it was a PB of 48.98 for Ewan Purves in the guest event.

Robin, Luc, Bradley Francis and Grant Mceachern finished in an excellent fourth in a very close race in 3.13.87. All four relay teams broke the previous club record.

The 800m events proved to be high point scorers in both men and women’s events. Grant, making his debut, finished third in the A race team in 1.53.76, four seconds faster than his previous best.

Ewan Purves finished in second place in the B event in a PB of 1.56.49. Charlotte Clare ran her fastest time since 2019, finishing in third in the women’s event in 2.11.85 while Anise MacAuley Orr continued her return to form with a season’s best of 2.17.13.

Bradley Francis went to the top of the Scottish rankings with a PB of 51.76 for third in the 400m Hurdles A race and Maya Stewart recorded a PB of 63.62 for second in the women’s B event.

It was a fifth place for Erin Campbell in the A 100m Hurdles in 14.40 and fourth for Scott Connal in the A 110m Hurdles in 14.39.

The women’s 3000m steeplechase provided almost maximum points for the team as women’s team captain Alicia Paton finished second in the A event and Becky Dunphy won the B event. Despite the hot sultry conditions Becky did the double, finishing in third place in the 5000m. Kirsty Purcell followed third in the B 1500m with fourth in the 5000m.

The standard on the field was impressively high but top five finishes and strong B string performances kept the points coming in.

In the High Jump newcomer Katherine Fowler matched the third place height of 1.65m in the A event but on countback finished fifth and Zoe Loughrey finished third in the B event with 1.55m.

It was fifth in the A event for Matthew Tait with 1.95m and Alec Miller on his debut was second in the B event with 1.90m. In the women’s vault it was sixth in the A for Charis Crawford and third in the B event for Eve MacAllum.

There were strong points in the Long Jump with Hannah Wallace, fourth in the A event with 5.97m and Briagha Cook enjoyed an with an outdoor PB of 5.76m for second in the B event.

The throwers found themselves against the ‘best of Britain’ in many of the events but men’s team captain Andrew Peck finished in fourth in the A discus event with 51.81m.

Haley Elliot was close to her PB for third place in the B discus event with 39.01m and Dawn Russell was fifth in the A javelin event. In the women’s shot it was third place in the A event for Amy Kennedy with 14.64m close to her outdoor PB and on her debut Ava Mitchell threw 11.44m a PB for third in the B event.

As always, every athlete played their part in the final team position and they certainly made the most noise as the relay runners came down the home straight.

Huge thanks to the Officials, who gained maximum points and to all the team managers, coaches, and to those, who made the long journey by coach to transport equipment, and athletes across to Loughborough.

This pathway is only possible because of the generous sponsorship from Glasgow Life and Joma and we are indebted to them for their ongoing support.

The next match is in Derby on Saturday 5 July and travel is by coach from Edinburgh and Glasgow on the Friday.