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3 Ground records,Kelly sprint double as Archibald brings star quality to Duffus Park
SHANE FENTON reports from the HOWE of FIFE
The decision by the organisers to reschedule the Cupar Highland Games proved to be a good one.
They were originally due to take place on Saturday June 10th but had to be cancelled owing to a spell of very wet weather leading up to games day. Sunday saw Duffus Park in excellent condition, the rain stayed away and the sun occasionally broke through the clouds.
Entries for the track and field events were up from the original date. One of the star attractions was the appearance in the cycling events of Olympic gold medalist and World and European champion Katie Archibald MBE. The now Manchester based rider started out on the grass tracks of the games circuit back in 2011 before going on to stardom on the World stage. The only female among a field of 10 bikers Archibald showed she could hold her own with three second place finishes.
On the in-field three ground records were broken in the heavy events,Kyle Randalls,Grangemouth broke the 22lb hammer record with a throw of 117' 6'' this beat the previous record of 116'10'' set by Bruce Aitken in 2005. Lukasz Wenta,East Kilbride bettered his own 16lb shot putt record with a putt of 57' 11''. Scott Rider,Dartford then set new figures in the 22lb shot with a 48' 9'' putt.
There was some excellent competition in the athletic events. The Open 100 metres handicap was won from the backmark by Greg Kelly,East Kilbride AC. Running from the 7.5 metres mark, Kelly who won the famous New Year Sprint on the 1st of January, burst through the field to take the tape in 10.34 seconds to win by a metre from Stewart Clark[9.5m],Banchory Stonehaven with 2006 New Year winner Cumbie Bowers[10.5m]Glenrothes edging out Kevin Eddy[13m] Kingseat for third place.
Giving away big starts to all his rivals Kelly produced another fine run to win the 200 metres handicap. Penalised for his 100m win Kelly who ran from the 21m mark powered through the field to snatch victory from Kieran Halliday,Central AC and David Allan,Balloch who both ran from a start of 34m.
For the second successive Sunday Ewan Bradley[35m] Inverness was involved in a ding-dong battle to the finish of the 400 metres handicap, however, in contrast to seven days prior when he just prevailed, on this occasion he had to settle for the runners up spot after being collared on the line by Stewart Clark[36m] with David Allan [44m] pipping Greg Kelly[21m] for third place.
Veteran Donald Bradley,Inverness is in a fine vein of form at present and landed a double with victory in both the 800 metres and 1600 metres handicaps. In the 800, running from the 100m mark he got the better of Willie Bates[100m],Tullibody and Craig Bell[145m],Forfar to win in 1:54.80.
Running from the reduced handicap of 195m in the 1600m, Bradley had to dig deep to repel the last lap challenge of the previous days Thornton 3200m winner Tyler White[135m]Pitreavie AC with Willie Bates[205m] in third.
The Youth's 90 metres final was a family duel between the Lecrivain brothers Edouard and Gaspard and the Bates cousins Sean and Steven. Victory went to Steven[25m] who held on determindly to take the tape in 9.66 seconds with Edouard[7m] getting up in the last stride to pip Gaspard and Sean who both ran from the 12m mark.
The only female winner on the day was Hannah Steel[205m],Lothian RC who was the victor in the Youth's 800 metres. Once again the challenge came from the consistent Lecrivain brothers with Edouard[45m] finishing strongly to take second with Gaspard[110m] in third.Hannah's winning time was 1:55.31.
As mentioned previously the cycling events were boosted by the appearance of Olympian Katie Archibald. In the opening 800 metres she won her heat before being beaten in the final by the width of a tyre by the other heat winner James Melville,Alexandria with Steve Jackson right behind in third. Katie also occupied the runners up spot in both the 1600 metres and 3200 metres handicaps,both races being won by Charles Fletcher,Grantown on Spey. The Cairngorm rider then went on to land the treble with victory in the closing Deil tak the Hindmost.
Only two riders contested the two youth races on the card the 800 metres and 1600 metres, both were won by Kyle Cartmel,Forres from Jamie Penny,Newport.
Published: 2017-07-02 21:06:33
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