IT WAS a golden day for Central ACs Under-17 girls relay team as they won the Scottish indoor 4x200m championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow recently.
It was a special occasion for the girls as the event, which was held on February 25, was on alongside the Muller indoor Grand Prix in front of a capacity crowd of 7,000 spectators.
And with the likes of Greg Rutherford, Dina Asher-Smith and Eilidh Doyle competing, the Central stars were rubbing shoulders with the very best athletics has to offer.
At the qualifying competition earlier in the month the team of Elizabeth Thompson, Shona McLay, Lucy More and Katie Sharkey had qualified as fastest team with 1:45.65.
A return to fitness for Briagha Cook saw a change in the team for the final, but Lucy was on standby to cover any last-minute problems.
Indoor 4x200m relays have their own unique challenges and with tight bends making overtaking difficult, the team decided that getting out in front was the best tactic.
With two of the top three ranked athletes in Scotland at 200m in the team in the shape of Elizabeth and Shona leading off, the aim was to leave the other teams chasing.
Elizabeth set off strongly on the first leg powering round the track in a 200m split of 26.3s, an excellent time on the long first leg out of blocks, before handing on to Shona who broke from lanes on the back straight in a clear lead running a fine 26.1s split.
An excellent changeover to Scottish hurdles champion, Briagha allowed her a flying start to keep the opposition at bay as Briagha went round in 26.6s.
Another excellent handoff to hurdler, Katie Sharkey, saw her off to a flyer with the opposition out of sight as she finished with a 25.8s split for a team time of 1:44.77, 1.5s clear of the nearest opposition.
The time was the second fastest ever by a Central AC female team, just 0.5s off the club record and 0.8s off the national record.
They will have one more go at the Indoor League Final, however, but with some more practice the girls will have these records in their sights
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