Season topping performances by Lochaber duo
Fort William long jumper Maddison MacMillan represented Lochaber on the national stage again at the Scottish Junior Indoor Athletics Championships at the Emirates arena last weekend.
Maddison had to jump three times in a qualifying round to get to the final in a head-to- head against the top 10 under-13 long jumpers in Scotland.
After easing into the final with a leap of more than four metres, the Lochaber Athletics Club youngster was interrupted when she was called up for another of her events – the 800 metres.
Maddison broke her personal best by 12 seconds to record a run of two minutes 50 secs.
It was then back to the long jump after a fatiguing run on the track. Her best jump was 3.98 metres, landing her eighth place out of a starting line up of 28 girls.
Lochaber Athletics Club junior convenor Jim Treasurer hailed the performance as ‘a remarkable achievement given the lack of suitable long jump facilities in Lochaber’.
He added: ‘The wet and water-soaked nature of the training area has made it difficult for Lochaber youngsters to take part in specialised athLochaber
Right: Isla Mackay, far right, competing at Forres last weekend.
letic events. This highlights the need for indoor and outdoor training facilities in the West Highlands.’
Elsewhere, the last race in the North District cross country league took place on a snow covered course in Forres on Saturday. The highlight for Lochaber was a remarkable and well-earned second place for Isla Mackay in the Senior Women’s race over 6km. The favourite for the league title, Kirstie Rogan of Highland Hill
Runners, (HHR) took an early lead, followed by another elite hill runner Caroline Marwick, also of HHR. Isla stuck on their tail on the first lap on a woodland course with a lot of hill climb. While Kirstie pushed on, Isla made up ground on the second runner to overhaul her and take a clear second place in 27 minutes 21 seconds.
This must rank as the best performance by a Lochaber woman since Nicola Meekin won the North district cross country championships 12 years ago. Isla also won the women’s race the previous week in the LAC winter league Ben Lora hill race.
In the men’s race, Liam Hutson continued his good form to take sixth place over 9km in 35 minutes 20secs while Denis Prikulis, in his first cross country race, ran well to finish in the top 10 in 36m12s. Veteran Jim Treasurer in a rare league appearance was 39th.