Around 400 pupils took part in the Clackmannanshire Secondary Schools Sports Association Athletics Championships held at Lornshill Academy – which was also a celebration of the Queen’s Baton Relay taking place later that day.

This year, more pupils than ever took part with athletes from all three secondary schools participating in track and field events.

The championships consisted of four field events – high jump, long jump, shot putt and javelin. The traditional running events took place on the track, but this year saw an added race of the 300 metres for S2 pupils and above.

With many events taking place and Lornshill Academy boasting large sporting grounds, pupils, staff and spectators were all over the venue creating an impressive buzz and a welcoming atmosphere.

The rain held off till the very last race which was an added bonus to the whole day.

The championships were very competitive and many long-standing records were broken. Congratulations go to Lornshill pupils Eilidh Russell (S3), Kai Fullerton (S1) and Cameron Urquhart (ASN). They broke records in 800m, high jump and long jump respectively.

Alva Academy saw their S2 boys 4x100m relay team set a new record as well as Megan Thomson (ASN) beating the turbo javelin record by over a metre. Alloa Academy’s Megan Wood demonstrated excellent technique in the S3 Javelin event which helped her to smash the record by three metres.

Alva Academy took home the overall school shield with 525 points, Alloa Academy accumulated 441 points with their performances and the host school Lornshill Academy totalled 376 after all of their impressive efforts. These are all impressive scores and emphasise how many talented young athletes there are in Clackmannanshire.

Staff and pupils were privileged to be amongst many Queen’s batonbearers, many of them were pupils who had to dash away from the championships to carry out their duties.

The council’s Sports Development Team were supported at the event by PE staff, sports leaders, volunteers, pupils and Scottish Athletics officials who helped out on the day and were also joined by a special guest, Scotland footballer Leanne Ross.

There are many opportunities to take part in athletics throughout the summer holidays at Sports Development camps, Leadership Training and the Athletics Club at Lornshill Academy on Monday evenings. Details on ClacksWeb or please phone 01259 452350.