SUPER HARRIERS WIN BRONZE IN EMIRATES ARENA

On Sunday 3rd November was the inaugural event of the South Lanarkshire Super 4  combined events competition for under 10s and under 12s.  The event was organised by the South Lanarkshire Athletics Partnership and was open  to all 6 South Lanarkshire athletic clubs to encourage their young athletes to compete and have a taste of using a Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games facility.  Alongside Calderglen Harriers 3 other South Lanarkshire athletic clubs attended this event which included East Kilbride AC, Law & District and Whitemoss AAC.  All the athletes were entered as teams of 4 and all took part in the shot putt, long jump, 60m and 4 x 200m.

 

Liam Wood leading his relay lap

To encourage positive competition all athletes were grouped in Pools of athletes to move around the different events and given an event t-shirt to represent the colour of their Pool. Like any other competitive event there was awards for 1st, 2nd, 3rd teams for both boys and girls in both under 10 and under 12 age groups.

 

The Harriers had a total of 19 young athletes competing across the 2 age groups and for a club that was founded to promote cross country and road running in East Kilbride, all represented the club with great competitiveness, passion and determination.  Throughout the day it was very busy so it made it difficult to keep up with everyone's progress on the track and field events however I noticed a few outstanding performances. 

 

3 of the Harriers u10 A Team

First performance that stood out was Patrick Saez who was in the A team for the under 10s'.  He was on second leg for the team and started his lap down in fourth place however he put in a powerhouse performance around the bend and by the end of the back straight he was the leading athlete and finished his 200m lap in 1st place.  With this performance combined with other 3 events the A team for the under 10s' achieved 3rd team for the boys and all collected a lovely  bronze medal.

 

Harriers u12 A team

Second performance of the day goes to the other the A team for the under 12 boys.  First up was Liam Wood who quickly dominated the race and by the first bend was leading the race with great speed and determination against the other more experience track runners however his 10 metre lead was diminished due to a bad baton handover to Fergus Kane who despite this battled his way round in 4th place to handover to Mark Phimister who continued to do his best to stay in contention and then final handover to Marc McQuade who stormed his way round the 200 metre track nearly catching the 3rd place runner in the final straight.  Excellent display of passionate running from the team who will do well in future events. 

 

However the overall performance of the day goes to Katie Currie who was in the girls under 12 A team. Despite her condition of being blind in her right eye and wearing glasses she put in a moving performance in all 4 events.  She may have finished last in her events however she was always determined just like all the kids to do well in each event, performed 100% with grit and effort and always doing it with a huge big smile on her face.  It brought tears to the Harrier coaches, very proud of her and being a member of the club.  It was a great day for the Harriers and the other South Lanarkshire athletic clubs.

 

Calderglen Harriers under 10 & 12 Team

I would like to thank all the parents supporting the club and bringing their children to this event.  A big thank you to my fellow Coaches Frances Maxwell & Susan Pryce for their support preparing the athletes for this event, providing valuable support on the day and their continued commitment to being Coaches in the Junior section.

 

Richard