TEAM 
Spectators at Caird Park in Dundee on Sunday witnessed the first ever outing of one of the rarest wild animals from the North of Scotland – the HIPPO. No, these are not the variety commonly found on the planes of Africa but a more athletic species participating in the first ever composite team representing the Highlands and Islands. TEAM HIPPO is comprised of athletes who have been selected based on performance to compete in the North East division of the Scottish Young Athletes League.
The cream of young athletes from across the Highlands and Islands travelled from as far afield as Shetland, Orkney, North Uist and Stornoway as well as those on the mainland who traveled to Dundee to compete. There were 52 athletes aged 9 to 16 competing in this the 1st of 3 league matches.
TEAM HIPPO returned victorious, finishing in first place on 534 points with Arbroath and District AC in second place on 418 points. A tremendous victory for this young team who gave their all and showed the level of their commitment to TEAM HIPPO which was highlighted by the selected athletes and coaches from Shetland who travelled on the overnight ferry the night before to return on the overnight ferry on the day of the competition – that’s 28 hours on a boat so they could compete for TEAM HIPPO!
The persistent drizzly rain did not put a damper on the spirit of the young HIPPO’s as there were a number of excellent performances from the team. A comfortable 51.5 second win in the U17 400m from Andrew Raeburn (Caithness AAC) earned him a new personal best and also achieved the Power of 10 UK Top 100 mark. A similarly impressive 400m Hurdles race by James MacPhail (Ross County AC) also earned him a personal best and UK Top 100 ranking with a run of 59.6s. Other personal best performances included Peter Johnson (North Uist AAC) U13 Shot Put 6.58, Craig Campbell (Inverness Harriers AAC) U15 Long Jump 4.15m, Patrick Urquhart (Inverness Harriers AAC) U15 1500m 4:50.00, Hannah Macleod (Caithness AAC) U13 150m 24.1, Chris Fife (Inverness Harriers AAC) U17 800M ??, Karen Horne (Inverness Harriers AAC) U13 High Jump 1.15m. There were double headers from Stuart Michael (Ross County AC) achieving PBs in the U15 400m 67.9 and 800m 2:39.0 with Craig Cameron setting PBs in the U15 Long Jump 4.81m and 100m in 14:00s.
The HIPPO male and female athletes of the match went to Andrew Raeburn (Caithness AAC) for his 51.5s run in the 400m and Paula Gass (Inverness Harriers AAC) for her 24.02m throw in the U15 Javelin.
TEAM HIPPO was supported by a full complement of Officials and the chief team manager Janice MacLeay (Inverness Harriers AAC) was delighted with the support from her age-group team managers and the parents who travelled with the team.
HIPPO is an innovative athletics program aiming to increasing participation and performance in athletics and to provide the opportunity for athletes to come into the sport, compete locally and to support each athlete so they can have the opportunity to reach their full potential in athletics.
HighlandAthletics | sitemap | log in
