Under Starter’s orders: Summer season begins at our 4J National Opener

Saturday 26th April 2025

Photo: Bobby Gavin

Our summer events kicked off today at the On-X Linwood, with around 200 Senior, U20 and U18 athletes looking to lay down a marker for the season ahead.

It was the first time we have ran the event in this format, with a shortened timetable, smaller pools and some new pilot events in the Mixed Team Relay.

Unfortunately the weather was not very ‘summer’, making for some tricky conditions at times for the athletes.

The day kicked off on the field with the Hammer and Women’s long jump. U18 athlete Sophie Robertson (Cumbernauld AAC) impressed by throwing 56.25m in the hammer, almost 10m clear of the next best result, male or female.

In a competitive Men’s High Jump, there were new PBs for Lasswade’s Alec Miller (1.91m) and Edinburgh AC’s Hamish Dryden (1.81m), but they could not match Matthew Tait‘s (Edinburgh AC) 2.02m.

On the track, Kishi Aremu (Livingston AC) and Emma Clark (Whitemoss AAC) would again battle it out over 100m following a closely contested indoor season. New indoor U17 record holder Kishi triumphed in that race, posting 11.94.

Emma would come out top in the 200m (24.20), following a photo finish with Lucy Fraser (VP-Glasgow).

Photos by Bobby Gavin on Facebook

Photos by Bobby Gavin

The Men’s sprints were also closely contested, with Struan Linton (Aberdeen AAC) just getting the edge on U18 Owen Murphy (Law & District) in both the 100m and 200m.

Sofia Vidak of Falkirk Victoria Harriers posted the fastest times in the 400m (56.16) and 800m (2:15.27).

It was also great to see a number of Para events included throughout the day, including frame running and seated throws.

The day concluded with the exciting new Mixed 4 x 400m relay. With no need to be from the same club, the race was won by a team made up with athletes from Kilbarchan AAC, East Kilbride, VP-Glasgow and Central AC.

Full results