Katie lands ‘quadruple’ as 4J Age Groups entertain in Aberdeen

Saturday 28th August 2021

Katie Johnson on her way to Women’s U20 800m gold in Aberdeen (photo by Bobby Gavin)

*This report remains subject to corrections and review. Apologies for any significant omissions.

GB and Scotland international Katie Johnson completed a remarkable 800m quadruple gold at Aberdeen on Saturday.

The first day of the 4J Studios Age Group Champs drew big numbers – both in competitors and spectators – to Aberdeen Sports Village.

And for Edinburgh AC athlete Johnson it was another track success in a sparkling season that had seen her previously win our U17 Scottish title at 800m as well as land both the U17 and U20 titles at England Athletics championships.

Final places, PBs and National Championship medals were the incentives on offer and it was great to see National Championships return for age groups who have been denied competition by the global pandemic in various areas over the past 18 months.

Alyson Bell, who has also represented GB this season and took relay gold at the Euro U20 Champs in Tallinn, went sub 24 seconds with a strong run to win the U20 Women’s 200m final in 23.96.

The U20 Men’s 200m final saw Murray Fotheringham of Giffnock North take the title in 21.70 as he edged out Dean Patterson of Glasgow School of Sport by five hundredths of a second. That was a big PB for Murray, too.

In that 800m final, Johnson eased ahead of the field on the first lap and then ran an even quicker second lap to take gold in 2.10.37. The battle for second was keenly-contested but Charlotte Clare of Moorfoot prevailed from Erin Macfarlane of Pitreavie AAC.

‘I’m delighted to win the U20 800m because I have had a really good season in terms of championships,’ said Katie.

‘I won the England Athletics titles at U17 and U20 and then the Scottish U17 one at Grangemouth a couple of weeks ago. Winning four was something we were hoping to try and do.

‘The GB vest was a great honour at the Manchester International and the 800m race went to plan. About 40 minutes later, I was in a Scotland vest and the 4x400m Relay was an exciting race as the lead changed hands a few times with England.’

Sara Barbour of Kilmarnock Harriers claimed the U20 Women’s pole vault title (photo by Bobby Gavin)

Giffnock’s Rachel Callan was part of that team in Manchester and she won the 400m Hurdles gold in Aberdeen with a run of 62.66. William Hodi of Nairn AAAC took the U20 Men’s gold in 56.52.

The Men’s 800m final was one of the best races of the day as Ben Sandilands of Fife AC timed his surge over the last 150m or so to perfection.

Ben won it in 1:53.54 (close to his recent PB) and the nature of the race was exemplified by three other athletes all timed within 1:54.

Rosie Sharples of Falkirk Vics had won the Senior Women’s High Jump title at Grangemouth and she duly added the U20 crown here with 1.72m her best clearance.

Adam Hoole of Team East Lothian won the U20 Men’s Long Jump with 7.05m. Lachlan Gray of Edinburgh AC, with 4.00m, and Sara Barbour of Kilmarnock Harriers, with3.36m, took the U20 Pole Vault titles.

Dawn Russell of Kilbarchan won the U20 Women’s javelin with a throw of 38.61m. Exeter athlete Craig Moncur won the men’s gold there.

Murray Fotheringham stretches for the line to win gold in Aberdeen (photo by Bobby Gavin)

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Photo by Bobby Gavin

U15 CHAMPS ROUND-UP

Central AC athlete Aaliyah McCloud led the way at the U15 Championships with a superb U15 Girls 300m win.

Aaliyah, pictured below, clocked 40.13 seconds for a new Championship Best performances in that events (with the previous mark set by Rebecca Grieve only two years ago).

VP-Glasgow’s James Clark took the gold in the U15 Boys race over that distance with a run of 38.52.

The U15 Boys Long Jump gold headed for the Borders as Filip Kubicki of Gala Harriers won the comp with 5.51m.

In the U15 Girls High Jump, there was a win for Isla Ross of Giffnock North AC at 1.59m.

In the Boys High Jump, the gold medal was claimed by Callum Newton of Dunfermline with 1.75m. Newton was later to follow that with victory in the 80m Hurdles in 11.88.

Still in the jumps, Lexi Grant of Elgin won the Triple Jump with 9.74m as Ryan Davie of Giffnock won with 9.17m.

The U15 Hammer saw a fine win for Inverness Harriers athlete, Rory Stainsby, with a big PB throw of 44.34m. The girls gold went to Kaitlyn Waddell of North Shield.

Harris Mackie, son of Ian Mackie, continued Pitreavie’s good reputation for sprinting with 100m win in 11.45. On a similar theme, club-mate Bruce Robb, son of well-known thrower Bruce, won the U15 Boys discus with 41.03m.

Bruce also won the shot gold with 12.71m as the U15 Girls shot gold headed for Annan and District AC thanks to Courtney Barbour with 11. 12m. Evie Bryden, also of Annan and Distrct, won the U15 Girls discus with 26.27m.

Larkhall YMCA celebrated a national title success thanks to the efforts of Kaitlyn Clark in the Long Jump as she won with 4.87m.

In the javelin, there were victories for Leona Fernandes of Inverness Harriers with 30.21m and for Logan Turnbull of Cumbernauld AAC with 43.25m.

Fife AC’s Holly Ovens won the U15 Girls 800m final in fine style and there was a ‘home win’ for Rhys Crawford of Aberdeen AAC with 2:05.07 in the U15 Boys 800m final.

In the 1500m final, Oliver Patton of Kilbarchan AAC triumphed with Freya Murdoch of Stockport Harriers taking the U15 Girls gold.

Jessie Caig of VP-Glasgow took the U15 Girls 75 Hurdles race in 11.82 seconds. Rory Brogan landed a gold for Edinburgh AC in the U15 Boys 200m with his 23.24 run.