Coirilidh lands silver at championships
Balfron youngster remains unbeaten this season
Central AC’s Coirilidh Cook cemented her position as one of the UKs top young hurdlers after she took a superb silver medal at the England Athletics Championships at Bedford.
The 14 year-old from Balfron has been unbeaten in Scotland all season having won every possible Scottish title and also the Celtic Games international but this time was testing herself against the top hurdlers in the UK.
She went into the under 15 girls 75m hurdles event ranked 10th in the UK so just getting to the final would be a challenge such was the standard of the event.
With no semi-finals, qualification from the heat was going to be tough and Coirilidh found herself in a close battle for the two automatic qualification spots. She was just run into third place but fortunately her time of 11.77 was just quick enough to progress.
By the time the final came along the rain was falling heavily and the wind had turned against them meaning fast times were out of the question but championships are all about the medals.
The final was a fast race as expected with English schools champion Mia McIntosh building a clear lead.
However behind her there was a close battle going on for the other medals with Coirilidh in the thick of it in fourth place at the midpoint of the race.
However she dug in over the last few hurdles making light of the wet conditions and a great run off the last hurdle and a perfectly timed dip saw her storm through to take the silver medal in 11.50.