Published: Thursday, 3rd July, 2008 12:00
West Fife athletes lead Scotland to BoS cup victory
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CAPTAIN MARVEL: Eilidh Child leads by example on her way to victory in the 400 metres hurdles at Grangemouth on Tuesday night
A STRONG West Fife contingent helped propel Scotland to victory in Tuesday night’s Bank of Scotland Cup match at Grangemouth.
Scotland took on a US juniors team, Ireland, Wales and the Bank of Scotland development team at the meet, screened live on Sky Sports.
World and Olympic pentathlon champion Carolina Kluft guested in the long jump but it was Scotland who earned top billing with a third successive victory in the competition.
They were captained to the cup win by Pitreavie’s Eilidh Child, who led by example in one of the first track races of the night, running away with the 400 metres hurdles race in a time of 57.97 seconds.
After a 2007 which saw her finish fifth in the European under-23 championships, Child has already secured titles at the British Universities Championships and both Scottish and English under-23 championships so far this season.
Next she’ll head to Birmingham on 12-13th July for the AVIVA UK Championships and Olympic trials, where she will be joined by clubmate Francis Smith, who contested one of the closest-run races on Tuesday night.
The Pitreavie runner began his 400m hurdles race slowly, with American Chance Thomes well in front, but the West Fifer put in a strong challenge on the home straight and was just pipped on the line by seven hundredths of a second, clocking 51.46.
Both men broke the stadium record and it was Smith’s second fastest time ever.
“At last,” he told Press Sport afterwards. “It’s been a very slow start this year. I’ve had a little achilles problem and missed a few weeks training but I’ve put a few weeks together recently and have been getting stronger.
“I was a bit disappointed he pipped me but it was very encouraging as that was my last race over the 400 hurdles before the trials and it was a good confidence booster.”
Smith will run a 200m before the trials to boost his speed and he said, “I want to build on that time and hopefully set a new PB (51:02). I just want to get through the heats and then see what happens.”
Fellow West Fifer and namesake Nick Smith joined the likes of Darren Campbell and Jason Gardener in winning the event’s 100m, Smith powering through in a time of 10.68. Smith also helped Scotland to victory in the medley relay, while other West Fifers figuring on the night were Pitreavie’s John Newsom, who won bronze in the Scottish 10,000m Championships in 30:58.43 and Dunfermline & West Fife’s Gemma Nicol, who was second in the 300m in 39.09.
Scotland won the event by 20 points from the US juniors team in second and the Bank of Scotland development team, who were third.
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