Just a couple of hours after Chris Baillie, a member of the Victoria Park AAC club in Glasgow, won a tremendous silver medal for Scotland in the 110m hurdles final at ‘The G’ in Melbourne today scottishathletics caught up with Bob Sommerville, who has coached the 25 year old Baillie since he was 14 years old.

“I am absolutely delighted with the way Chris ran in Melbourne” began Sommerville, “To win the silver medal and set a new Scottish record in the semi-final with all the pressure he has come under in recent times was fantastic.”

When asked what this will mean to Baillie and what it means to him as his coach Sommerville responded, “I am most proud to have taken Chris right through the age groups and to be part of what he has achieved. For his late brother Ross’ Scottish record to have fallen to Chris will mean such a lot to his parents Hugh and Sheila.”

Sommerville also paid tribute to the team that works to support Baillie, not least of all Kirstie Law, a member of the same training squad. Law, a former hurdler turned weight-lifter is also a qualified physiotherapist and provides a unique set of qualifications to devise and deliver Baillie’s strength conditioning programme. Credit was also paid to Baillie’s long-time training partner, Allan Scott. Scott, aged 23, has been with Sommerville since he was 17 and, prior to picking up a lower back niggle while out in Australia, was quite rightly being tipped for a medal.

“Although Allan narrowly failing to qualify for the final this morning, and will be disappointed in his own performance, I am sure he will have been the very first to congratulate Chris on his silver medal” said Sommerville. “ They are both very competitive in training and feed off each other in a very positive sense.”

Sommerville summed up with “Times and records are there to be broken but no-one can ever take away from Chris a wonderful Commonwealth Games silver medal.”

Gordon Innes, secretary of Victoria Park AAC, a club with whom the Baillie family have had a long association since the 1970’s, said “Well done Chris, what an inspiration to all of our young athletes, some of who have already started dreaming about the 2014 Games, some just want to be better athletes and some just wanted an excuse to stay up late!”

Nigel Hetherington, the new Scottish Athletics Sprints and Hurdles Manager said “What an experience for Chris in Australia. Four wins in four races culminating in a Scottish Record going into the final and topped off with an exceptionally competitive performance to claim the silver medal in the final. What an incentive for the sport and a credit to his coach, training partners, family and club.”
 

Congratulations to Chris Baillie for a magnificent achievement at the Melbourne Cricket Ground at 0750 hours GMT on Tuesday 21st March 2006.  Winning the Silver medal for Scotland in a time of 13.61.

His finishing time was just outside of the new Scottish National Record of 13.44 which he had set in winning his heat at 0145 hours GMT.

Chris provided a fantastic night of entertainment for those who could stay up to watch and I've no doubt the tension of the final put a few people off their breakfast.

I'm sure that Hugh and Sheila will tell him just how proud everyone connected to Victoria Park is this morning.

Chris said in his post race interview on the BBC, "It wasn't my greatest ever race but I'm sure my mum and dad are going to be proud of me and I'm really looking forward to seeing them in the stand afterwards".

Well done Chris, what an inspiration to all of our young athletes, some of who have already started dreaming about the 2014 games, some just want to be better athletes and some just wanted an excuse to stay up late.

Fantastic.

Chris will be in action in the 110m hurdles in Melbourne at 0155 hours GMT on Tuesday morning.  If all goes well, he will be in the final at 0750 hours GMT.

Set your alarm clock to see the final before you go to work/school.

Good luck Chris.

Young Athletes Road Race

Victoria Park Athletes were competing in the National Young Athletes Road Race Championships around Falkirk Stadium on Sunday 19th March.

Paul MacFarlane finished in 41st place in a large field of U13's.

The U15 boys team finished in 6th place overall with Gregor Innes, Mathew Pollok and Gavin Murty finishing in 15th, 23rd and 37th places respectively.

The best place of the day went to Martin Hayes in the U17's race where he finished in 8th place.  Ross Gibson bravely finished in 24th place despite nursing a back injury.

Sadly that's the last of the Winter fixtures for the junior athletes, many of who must now move up to their next age group.

Don't worry though, the first of the summer fixtures will be along on Saturday the 15th of April.  The Dunbartonshire Track Relays will be held at Linwood Sports Complex in tandem with an open graded meeting.

The Independent Schools had their Indoor Championships at the Kelvin Hall on Thursday 16th March.

Christina Strachan picked up a 2nd place medal in the U15 Shot Putt with a throw of 6.7m.

Aisling McGhee won the 200m in a time of 27.1 and was 3rd in the 60m with a time of 8.2s.  Abbey McGhee won the 800m in a time of 2:27 and was 2nd in the 200m B race.  Both Abbey and Aisling were in the winning 4x100m relay team from the High School.

Gillian Galloway was in the relay team from Glasgow Academy that finished 2nd behind the McGhee twins in that 4x100m race.  Gillian also took part in the 200m where she finished a creditable 3rd.

The Davis sisters were also in good form, with Stephanie finishing 2nd in her 800m and Amy winning her 1500m race.

Well done Girls.  Apologies to anyone I've missed out as there is no official results posted on the internet.

Several Victoria Park athletes were in action on Friday 10th March at Nether Pollok.

The big winner on the day was Max Aitchison of Glasgow Academy who was first over the line out of 200 primary 6's.  He was also a member of the winning team.  Well done Max.

Three of our girls did well in the S4 cross country with Stephanie Davis of Glasgow Academy finishing 3rd, Aisling McGhee of the High School 4th and Abbey McGhee also of the High School 5th.  Stephanie was in the winning team and Aisling and Abbey were in the 2nd placed team.

A wind that was more Yarrow's shipyard than Yarra river swept across the Olympic Park in warm, autumnal gusts. Wind is the hurdlers' nemesis, but it did not blow Baillie off course as he equalled his lifetime best with a third 110 metres victory since arrival in Australia.

Baillie, from Glasgow, had an exceptional run, relaxing into the gusty 0.9 metres per second headwind which ruffled a solitary Saltire as he won by two hundredths in 13.77sec. He kept eight Commonwealth rivals at bay, including England trio Andy Turner, David Hughes, and Damien Greaves, plus the leading Canadian, South African, Australian and New Zealander. "Three races in Australia, three wins," said Baillie. "I like the warmth."

In better conditions, his late brother's Scottish record of 13.66 will be within reach.

"My confidence is back, and I don't think getting to the final is a huge problem," he said, "but I have to keep my concentration. If I run clean, I think I can get close to a medal. I made a few mistakes, so there's scope for improvement."

Victory brought an £1800 bonus from the IAAF-backed meeting. "That covers the cost of coming out here early to train," said the Clydebank man. Lottery support was slashed after injury problems last year and he has been working three days a week as a bank teller. He can now process his own pay-in slip.

Club Road Race

The 4th and last Club Road Race of the season was run on Thursday 9th March on the 2 mile course around Scotstoun (5 miles for seniors).

Some excellent times were recorded and a few PB's were achieved by some of our juniors.  Hopefully their good form will continue into the Indoor Finals on Sunday the 12th.

Club Future Awards - Kate Whigham

Scottish Athletics, in association with UKA announced the winners of the Club Future Awards 2006 on Wednesday 8th March.

Victoria Park's Kate Whigham was awarded the "Newcomer To Officiating" award which will be presented to her at the "Sunday Mail" Senior Track and Field Championships at Scotstoun in August.

Despite being heavily involved with the administration of VPAAC as the Ladies Secretary and involved with the management of Team West in the Scottish Women’s League, Kate has taken an active interest in Photo Finish and completed the relevant course in October 2004.  She has since been upgraded to a Track Judge Grade 4. 

She is highly thought of by her active Senior Officials, she regularly makes herself available to Officiate at League meetings, Championships, Open Graded meetings and Scottish Schools Athletic meetings up to and including Internationals.

The fact that she is so involved in all aspects of athletics is commendable in itself, however, she has been able, in a very short time, to make a very positive impression on her peers within the Officials of Scottish Athletics.

Everyone connected with Victoria Park will be delighted that Kate is to receive this much deserved award.  Congratulations.

AAA's Birmingham

Courtney MacGuire returned from the AAA's indoor championships at Birmingham with a Bronze medal from the Pole Vault.

Courtney achieved a height of 3.20m at the National Indoor Arena in a keenly contested event.

Congratulations Courtney.

Colin Severin made it to the final of the 60m only to miss out on the medals.  His best time of the day was an excellent 7.01 in the semi final.

Aisling McGhee qualified for the semi final of the 300m with a seasons best time of 42.10 in the heats.

Abbey also managed a seasons best time of 2:18.40 in the heats of the 800m before narrowly missing out of a place in the final.

Some pictures are on the Event Photographer Web Site which are unfortunately copy protected.

This is definitely a picture of Ms A McGhee sent in by Ricky.

Calendar for March 2006

All of the junior athletes training venues are shown in Blue.  The sprint group training venues are shown in Red.

Telstra A Series - Brisbane Australia

Chris Baillie had another fine win in wet and windy conditions in Brisbane on Friday 3rd March.

From the Herald - Baillie, from Victoria Park, won the hurdles in 13.85, but on a rainy and blustery evening more evocative of Meadowbank than Queensland, the wind gauge malfunctioned.

Winds in excess of minus two metres per second were the norm. There was a disturbing gap to his training partner Allan Scott who was sixth in 14.14. Three Englishmen separated them, and the East Kilbride man has given coach Bob Somerville food for thought.

Junior Cross Country Championship

Only the brave turned out for the Junior Cross Country Championships at Craigton, Milngavie on Saturday the 4th March in freezing conditions.

The cold however wasn't a problem for the majority who turned out in their new Club Tracksuits, pictured right.

Iona Wilson was the winner of the U11 Girls race in a time of 7:38 and Alan Hamilton was the winner of the U11 Boys race in a time of 8:35.

Fergus Paterson was the winner of the U13 Boys race in a time of 15:34.  Paul MacFarlane was second in a time of 16:14, Lewis Wilson was third in a time of 18:22 and Peter Smyth was fourth in a time of 20:29.

Sarah Gray was the winner of the U13 Girls race in a time of 19:37.

Well done to all of the Athletes who braved the cold and thanks to the parents and coaches who helped to steward the course.  Fortunately no one was lost although Lewis Wilson had a couple of good attempts.

"Scots lend a helping hand"                      From the Bendigo News - Australia     

Thursday, 2 March 2006

THE Commonwealth Games are less than two weeks away, but a group of Scottish athletes took time out of their busy training schedule yesterday to pass on some tips to students from Weeroona College Bendigo.

Among the athletes to take part in the clinic at the La Trobe University Athletics Complex were Chris Baillie and Allan Scott, who will both contest the men's 110 m hurdles at the Games. The pair have been in Bendigo for the past three weeks as part of their build-up to the Commonwealth Games, which begin on March 15.

It's exciting times for the pair.  For Baillie, it will be his second appearance at the Commonwealth Games, while Scott will be representing his country at the Games for the first time.

Baillie finished seventh in the 110 m hurdles final in a time of 14.73 sec at Manchester in 2002.  He is hopeful he can improve on that performance at the MCG on March 21.   "Firstly though, it's about making the final," the 24-year-old said.  ‘‘It's a very tight field this year, so if I make the final, anything can then happen.

‘‘I know I'm in shape to run really well, so we will just have to see what happens on the day." While this will be Scott's first Commonwealth Games, he is no stranger to the big stage, having previously competed at the world championships and European Indoor Athletics Championships.

‘‘I've done a few major championships before, so I'm quite excited," the 23-year-old said.

‘‘I mean, the Commonwealth Games are the biggest multi-sport event, apart from the Olympics, so it's going to be good." The Scottish athletes worked with about 30 Weeroona College Bendigo students, varying from Year 7 to 10.

‘‘We do a lot of this stuff at home, encouraging the kids to start, so we thought we should do the same while we are here in Bendigo as well," Scott said.

‘‘It gives us something else to do because it's quite boring when you're just training and hanging about, so it's nice to be able to do a few other things."

The Juniors will all be at Scotstoun on Thursday 2nd March with the exception of Ricky's sprint group who will be at the Kelvin Hall.

Remember to buy a ticket for the track on your arrival.

All of our junior athletes are invited to attend our annual cross country championship on Saturday 4th March at Milngavie.

U11's to U17's will compete over a 2 mile course.

The rendezvous point will be a lay by on Craigton Road, Milngavie, at the rear of Douglas Academy.

Hugh tells me that there is no shelter at this point and that you should bring a bin bag or similar to store your clothes while competing.

The start time of the race will be 1200 hours.  Additional information will be provided on Thursday 2nd March at training.

I received a call today asking that I call in to Just Sport to uplift the majority of the Kit we have ordered tomorrow.

If all goes to plan Linda and I will visit both Scotstoun and the Kelvin Hall tomorrow evening, Thursday 2nd March.

If you have still to pay for your kit, you can do so when it is delivered to you.  Cash or cheques made out to Victoria Park AAC preferably.

TIMETABLE AND REGISTRATION FORMS are now available for the SPAR Sprints and Hurdles Conference due to take place at Grangemouth Stadium on Sunday 2 April.

The day is aimed at developing coaches throughout Scotland who are involved in coaching sprints or hurdles and providing a forum for exchange of ideas and information between coaches.

A modest charge will be made for coach attendance. Coaches will earn 3 credits toward UKA Coach Licence renewal. Lunch will be included. A full program and registration form will be available in the near future.

All athletes and coaches with an interest in the sprints and/or hurdles disciplines are welcome to attend. For further information and registration forms, please contact Eric Simpson, on 01324 504553 or eric.simpson@falkirk.gov.uk. Places are limited and will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

As part of their 25 year anniversary,  Kirkintiloch Olympians organised a highly successful 12.5k race around the country roads at Gartshore, Stoneyetts and Fauldhead on Sunday.  150 runners took part, with the organisers having to close entries well in advance of the race as it had proved so popular. Runners came from as far afield as Arran, Perth and Fife, with one competitor even coming from Hull to race.  Blessed with clear but cold weather conditions, the hardest test for the runners was climbing the hills throughout the tough course.

Only two competitors from Victoria Park finished.

Gerry Craig was 11th in a time of 49.15 and Ronnie Johnstone (right) was 22nd in a time of 52.38.  Ronnie was also the 2nd placed veteran over 50.

Sara was awarded Strathclyde University's Sportswoman of the Year Trophy for 2005 at the annual Sports Union Ball on Sat 25th Feb.

She is currently studying Politics and Law at Strathclyde University and still finds time to excel at athletics.

Congratulations Sara.

British Universities Indoor Championships

Two Victoria Park athletes were successful at the BUSA Championships at Sheffield on Sunday 26th February 2006.

Alison Rodger won the gold medal for the Shot Put with a throw of 14.87m and Colin Severin won the bronze medal in the 60m with a time of 6.97s.

Congratulations to Alison and Colin on their achievement.

Club Records

I've placed the Senior Club Records on the site.  If there are any errors, please contact me in the first instance and I'll discuss any possible changes with the Committee.

I'm still working on the Junior Records at present, however Kenny has just updated this Season's PB's.

"Weak Glutes"

Ricky Miell has sent in another article for the Coaching Section entitled "Weak Glutes".  It basically explains how an athlete can pick up an injury while trying to compensate for weak buttocks.

There is a new page on the Web Site, it is designed to record any knowledge or contact we receive from or about our past members.

It might be news of any Births, Deaths or Marriages or it might just be an update to where they are now.

If you hear anything about our ex athletes, please get in touch with Gordon Innes and I'll place it on the new web page.

Spar Sprints and Hurdles Conference

ON SUNDAY 2 APRIL there will be a SPAR Sprints and Hurdles Conference at the Grangemouth Stadium aimed at developing coaches throughout Scotland who are involved in coaching sprints or hurdles and providing a forum for exchange of ideas and information between coaches.

The day promises something for everyone with ‘hot topic’ presentations in the morning from Dr Malcolm Fairweather (Sports Science Coordinator for the Scottish Institute of Sport) and Bill Walker (scottishathletics National Event Coach for 100m/200m) – both having also coached many international level performers over the years.

Former World Indoor 400m Champion and Olympic 4x400m relay silver medallist, Jamie Baulch, will make the journey up from Wales to provide an elite athlete perspective with view to improving 400m performances.

Question and answer sessions are scheduled throughout the morning program. In the afternoon, parallel practical workshops will be run with Scotland’s Olympic 100m semi-finallist, Ian Mackie, and scottishathletics National Event Coach for sprint hurdles, Bob Sommerville.

A modest charge will be made for coach attendance. Coaches will earn 3 credits toward UKA Coach Licence renewal. Lunch will be included. A full program and registration form will be available in the near future.

All athletes and coaches with an interest in the sprints and/or hurdles disciplines are welcome to attend. For further information, contact Eric Simpson or Bob Gray at Grangemouth Stadium on 01324 504553. Places are limited and will be available on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The venue for this years Road Race will be Falkirk Football Stadium, Westfield, Falkirk.

The U13's will run 3,200 metres, the U15's and U17's will run 4,800 metres and the U20's will run 7,200 metres on flat traffic free tarmac paths around the Football Stadium.

If you would like to take part, please speak to Ken Ross or Charlie Murray as soon as possible.

Ricky sent in a copy of the photo finish from the Scottish Schools Championships on Wednesday.  I think "won by a mile" is a bit of an exaggeration.

The photo finish shows Rebecca crossing the line 3/100th's of a second ahead of her rival in the final of the O16 60m.

Rebecca was timed at 8.15s to her rivals 8.18s. 

Well done Rebecca.

The annual Senior Cross Country Championships took place at Milngavie on Saturday 11th February.  Stuart "Speedo" Barnett won the Championship for a fantastic 15th time in a row over a muddy course at Milngavie.

Result:

Congratulations once again to Stuart.  Hopefully some of our current crop of juniors will go on to challenge him over the next couple of years.

Victoria Park athletes enjoyed a very successful day at the Scottish Schools Championships at the Kelvin Hall on Wednesday the 22nd of February.

They picked up 9 medals in total, including 5 1st's and several other personal bests along the way.

Calum Innes was 1st in the U16 Long Jump with a distance of 5.83m and 1st in the U16 60m Hurdles with a time of 8.79s.

David Martin returned to competition after his injury and finished 1st in the O16 400m final with a time of 49.85s.

Rebecca Riches finished 1st in the final of the O16 60m with a time of 8.15s.

Gregor Innes was 1st in the U16 400m final with a personal best time of 53.2s.

Courtney MacGuire was 2nd in the O16 Pole Vault with a height of 3.25m.

Aisling McGhee finished 3rd in the final of the O16 300m with a time of 42.9s.

Jamie Sinclair was 3rd in the O16 Pole Vault with a height of 3.25m.

Abbey McGhee was 3rd in the final of the O16 800m with a time of 2:22.51.

Congratulations to the medal winners and the other personal successes achieved on the day.  Victoria Park can look forward to the Final of the Indoor League with great optimism.

The full results can be viewed at the Scottish Schools site.

Victoria Park's Chris Baillie, currently in Australia preparing for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne on 15th March won the 110m hurdles final at the Athletics Australia Invitational meeting at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, venue for this years Games.

Chris set a new personal best with his performance of 13.77 sec to finish just 0.11 sec outside the seven year old Scottish National record set by his brother Ross in Sydney, in 1999. 

New Zealand's James Mortimer finished second in a time of 13.88 sec and Chris's Scottish Commonwealth Games team-mate Allan Scott finished third in 13.92 sec.

It looks like watching Chris at the Melbourne Games is going to be every bit as exciting as we had hoped.  Good luck Chris.

Joanna Ross smashed Yvonne Murray's 19 year old National 800m indoor record with a time of 2 min 03.27 sec, while taking the bronze medal at the AAA Indoor Championships at Sheffield on Sunday the 12th of February.

Joanna was quoted in the Herald Newspaper as saying "That's more than a second quicker than I've run outdoors, and the best I have ever placed in the AAA Championships was seventh" and "It would have been nice to get the title".

Joanna has now set her sights on the European Championships this summer as long as there is no clash with the Club Championships at Scotstoun.

Congratulations Joanna.

A4 Poster

Scotstoun Leisure Centre have agreed to display a new poster advertising the Club Web Site.  Copies can be downloaded here if your local school, Sports Centre or other suitable location is agreeable to it's display.

Copies can also be obtained from Gordon or Linda.

Previous versions of the news page are archived below.

  Visitors since March 2005.