Scottish 200m champion Roisin Harrison hopes to build on her successful start to the season by posting another top performance in Sunday’s open graded track and field meeting at Aberdeen Sports Village.
The Aberdeen AAC sprinter got off to a winning start at Kilmarnock last weekend by finishing ahead of her clubmates Rebecca Matheson and Kelsey Stewart in a wind-assisted time of 24.34sec.
Matheson is unable to compete on this occasion, but 400m specialist Stewart will again be in the starting line-up, as will teenager Tamsin Fowlie.
Harrison said: “It’s good to have this competition on home ground and another one next weekend when I’ll be competing in the 400m.
“These open graded meetings are good because you are seeded by time, so you can be up against some of the men.”
Aberdeen AAC teenager Will Hodi is also competing at ASV over the next two weekends as he continues the build-up towards his decathlon debut.
The Nairn athlete set a personal best triple jump of 13.86m at Kilmarnock last Saturday, but will tackle two different disciplines over the next fortnight.
He said: “There’s no triple jump on the programme at the two Aberdeen meetings so I’m doing the sprint hurdles this weekend and the high jump the week after.
“I wanted to make my decathlon debut last summer, but that didn’t happen because of the pandemic, so I hope to do my first one at the England athletics under-20 championships at Bedford at the end of this month.
“I’ll just be treating it as a taster to see how I get on.
“My main focus is still on the triple jump,” he added.
The men’s 200m field has the potential to generate an exciting race with little to choose between Aberdeen AAC’s Robbie Shaw, James McIntosh and Struan Linton.
However, none of the trio have competed outdoors since 2019, their most recent races being at the end of the indoor season in February and March last year.
Catriona Pennet and Jane Davidson, two of the fastest 100m hurdlers in the history of Aberdeen AAC, will go head-to-head in what promises to be an intriguing race.
Pennet holds the club record of 13.97sec set in 2004, but Davidson is closing in on that mark, having clocked 14.59 in 2020.
Aberdeen AAC’s Kai Crawford, who broke the two-minute barrier for the first time at Stirling last weekend when recording 1:59.7, gets another opportunity to improve his 800m time in the under-17 boys’ race.
The 2020 Scottish age group cross-country champion Millie-McLelland Brooks (Banchory Stonehaven AC) competes in the girls’ 800m with the aim of improving her best time of 2:31.4 from two years ago.
Her opponents include the Aberdeen duo Charlotte Narducci (Aberdeen AAC) and Hanah Taylor (Ellon)
Tom Pescuma (Robert Gordon University) is the clear favourite to win the men’s long jump.
Zoey Clark’s Olympics build-up continues apace
Zoey Clark’s preparations for the Tokyo Olympic trials at the end of June will take her to Nuneaton this weekend for a top-class 400m race.
The Aberdeen AAC sprinter is a near-certain pick for the Great Britain 4x400m relay squad which will travel to Japan this summer, but she’s also determined to clinch one of three available slots in the individual 400m.
Clark has the option of competing over 200m in Sunday’s open graded meeting at Aberdeen Sports Village, but feels a trip to Warwickshire will be of more benefit to her Olympic aspirations.
She said: “I’m keen to get a 400m race done and the track at Nuneaton is a good one, so if the weather looks to be fine that’s where I’ll be going.
“There’s also likely to be a top-class field with my GB team-mates Emily Diamond and Amy Allcock also planning to compete, so it should be a good race.”
Athletics: Aberdeen sprinter Zoey Clark has sights on individual 400m selection for Tokyo Olympics
As is the case with most athletes at the moment, it’s difficult for Clark to plan a full racing programme with any degree of certainty, especially when it comes to looking at overseas options, but she has a few possibilities in the pipeline.
She said: “I hope to run in the 400m and the 4x400m relay at the Loughborough international next weekend but after that I’m still not sure.
“There’s some UK women’s league matches in June which might come off and I’m also considering doing a meet in Geneva.”
Clark has a best 400m time of 51.36sec set at the Diamond League in London three years ago.
That is just 0.01sec outside the qualifying standard required to be considered for Tokyo.
