Track and field joy for Glasgow athletes at Bank of Scotland Championships

Aug 21 2009

Diane Ramsay

A TRIO of young Glasgow athletes struck gold at this week's Bank of Scotland U15 and U17 Championships.

Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC were celebrating a stunning day's work after Diane Ramsay, pictured, won a sprint double, Christopher Barnes bagged a throw double and Andrea Gaffney set a new triple jump championship best.

Over 300 of Scotlands finest young athletes converged on Grangemouth Stadium on Sunday for the prestigious event.

Staged across two days of competition, it offered young track and field athletes with an eye on London 2012 and Glasgow 2014, the perfect opportunity to showcase their talents.
 
One of the stand-out performances of the weekend saw Diane Ramsay win a memorable sprint double.

On Saturday, Ramsay eased home to a confident victory in the U17 Womens' 300m (40.63s) before grabbing an unexpected gold in Sunday's 200m final (25.00s).
 
Dianes success ensured an invite to attend a special Bank of Scotland sprint session with GB Olympian Craig Pickering.
 
Elsewhere, Christopher Barnes bagged a throwing double, picking up gold in the U17 Mens' Discus (44.23m) and Shot Putt (12.64m).

And in the Womens' U17 jump events, Andrea Gaffney set a new triple jump championship best of 11.76m before securing the Long Jump title with a leap of 5.70m.
 
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Bank of Scotlands partnership with Scottish Athletics. The past 10 years have seen thousands of young athletes receive support from Bank of Scotlands Talented Young Athlete Programme.  

As part of the TYA Programme, the Bank supports specialist training squads run by athletics stars such as Liz McColgan and Allan Wells, Regional Development Camps, and also the Age-group Championships which allow young athletes to perform in a competitive environment.

Each year, around 3000 young athletes benefit from Bank of Scotland's support.
 
Sarah Cran, Head of Sponsorship for Bank of Scotland commented: "Bank of Scotland is committed to supporting the development of young athletes in Scotland and we are delighted to reach the milestone of 10 years in partnership with Scottish Athletics.  

"We hope the young athletes who competed at Grangemouth will aspire to take part in London 2012 Olympics and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games and we wish them every success for the future."