Weekend 2/3 April: Potter; Scottish Unis; Partridge; Euro Masters

Monday 4th April 2016

Beth Potter in action at Glasgow 2014 (photo by Mark Shearman)

Beth Potter firmly underlined her Olympic credentials with a superb run in California over the weekend as she target a GB place in Rio.

The Scottish National XC champion competed at the Stanford Invitational event along with a handful of other Scots.

Potter clocked 32.03.45 to finish third in a high-class Women’s 10,000m race and that is inside the GB qualifying standard for the event for the Olympics (32.15). Now a top two finish at Highgate in May at the British Champs and 10,000m trials could stamp her passport for Brazil.

‘It is a big relief to post that time,’ said Beth, who went to fourth place on the Scottish all-time list.

‘Now I can enjoy the rest of the season and not worry about chasing the qualifying time. I am now heading for Flagstaff in Arizona to train and have another 5,000m race at Stanford before the London 10,000m event.’

Central AC’s Andrew Butchart was second in the men’s 5000m race at 13.37.95 while there was a big PB over 10,000m for Luke Traynor. The Giffnock North AAC athlete, currently studying at Tulsa University, clocked 29.10.19 to lead the Scottish rankings this year for the event.

American-based steeplechaser, Lennie Waite, took on a 5000m race and recorded 16.54.92. Lamar University-based Scot, Stuart Ferguson, was at 3.49.32 in the 1500m.

Elsewhere over the weekend in the States, there was a fine run at 800m for U20 athlete Josh Kerr – with 1.51.26.

And at the Carlsbad 5000, California, there was more progress for Eilish McColgan with a sixth place finish in the women’s race in 15:59. In the men’s race Luke Caldwell was eighth with a new PB of 14:06.

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Kelsey Stewart: two Scottish Unis records

RESULTS are on our Events section

Scottish Unis and Colleges staged their outdoor championships at Aberdeen Sports Village on Saturday with 151 students and guests taking part.

Some fantastic university records were broken with local athlete, Kelsey Stewart, involved in two of them.

On home turf, Aberdeen took away gold with in the 4 x 400m with a new championship record of 3:54.97. Stewart, from this winning 4 x 400m, also broke the Women’s 400m record team with a time of 55.97 seconds.

Remi Caudoux broke the Men’s Javelin record of 62.17m. Other records included Pole Vault Women with Kara Bradbeer and Women’s Discus with Dionne Milne.

Glasgow University with their strong team won the John Innes Memorial Trophy. Overall, it was brilliant weekend, showcasing a strong future in Scottish university athletics with at least one medal winner in every team.

With thanks to Adrienne Rennie

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Susan Partridge – London bid looms

Susan Partridge went to the top of the British ranking for half marathon with a good run in the Czech Republic.

The GB international finished in 12^th place in Prague with a season’s best 71.54 performance which looks to augur well for her London Marathon in a couple of weeks and her Olympic selection bid.

Susan of course missed out on selection for the World Half Marathon Champs in Cardiff the previous week but her Prague run takes her above all those selected for that race in the British rankings for 2016.

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At the European Masters track and field event in Italy there were Scots among the medals.

Claire Cameron of VP-Glasgow won bronze in the W55 age group Discus with 27.84m. Also in the discus, there was a bronze in the M50 age group for Steve Whyte with 49.23.

VP-Glasgow athlete, Claire Thompson, was another bronze medallist – in the W40 cross country race over 5K. Edinburgh AC’s Susan Ridley also won a bronze in the W50 cross country over 5K.

These are the performances of which we are currently aware. Results online.

Tags: Aberdeen Sports Village, Beth Potter, Josh Kerr, Kelsey Stewart, Luke Traynor, Scottish Unis and Colleges, Susan Partridge