Peeblesshire News | Sport | Silver lining for local athletes

Friday, 5th December, 2008

Published: Friday, 18th January, 2008 13:00

Silver lining for local athletes

By David Knox

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THERE was a silver lining at the Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, on Sunday for two of the region’s top athletes.

Faye Nicholson ran a personal best on Saturday in the East Under17s 60 metres.

But the 8.36 seconds run could only propel the 14-year-old to fourth in the final.

Another per-g day did bring a medal.

Faye, who is coached by her mum, Linda, led the East Under 17s long jump with a length of 5.07 metres until she was nudged out of gold by Anna Seago.

But the Peebles High pupil did collect an unexpected silver.

Mum Linda told us: “Faye was expecting to go up and be last as the girls in her age group were a bit older than her.

“Faye has been reaching personal bests in training and I thought she would do well.

She has another year in this age group and will be hoping for gold next time.”

Chris O’Hare finished fifth on Saturday in the Celtic Cup cross-country run in Edinburgh.

And tired legs the following day in the Kelvin Hall didn’t prevent him from chasing training partner Douglas Selman all the way to the line for a senior 3,000 metres silver medal.

The 17-year-old may not have been at his sharpest, but was still strong enough to comfortably stride away from the rest of a strong field of Scottish club runners.

Stacey Downie’s return from injury is speeding up and she was delighted to record an indoor personal best of 7.84 on her way to the final of the senior 60 metres.

The 21-year-old from West Linton finished a close fifth in the final – but was just pleased to be back on the track.

She told the Peeblesshire News: “I’m not expecting miracles straight away but I’m getting closer to full fitness with each run.”

Dolphinton’s Steven Charters produced several eye-catching runs of his way to the final of the senior 200-metres.

But being drawn in the tight inside lane almost certainly denied the 21-year-old a medal as he could only finish in fourth behind his training partner Craig Fleming with Chirnside’s Patrick Swan in third.

Steven said: “The inside lane isn’t ideal for a final and I ran a bit slower than what I managed in the semi.”

There was double Borders gold in the girls sprints with Jedburgh’s Sophie Elder winning the East Under15s 60 metres and Demi Yorke from Galashiels breaking the tape over the same distance in the East Under 13s.

And Selkirk’s Iain Douglas collected a bronze in the East Under 17s 400 metres.

Dominic O’Hare ran exceptionally well on his debut to finish fourth in the East Under 13s 800 metres with his big sister Olivia running on for fifth in the Under 15s race over the same distance.

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