LAURA Muir has her sights set on wrapping up a hat-trick of Scottish titles when she takes top billing at the FPSG Senior Championships and Scottish U17 Championships at the Emirates Arena tomorrow, writes Stewart Fisher. Having already claimed the Lindsays Scottish 4K cross country title at Kirkcaldy in November and the Scottish 3000m indoor title at the Emirates early in January, the double European indoor champion from 2017 is expected to compete over the shorter distance of 800m this weekend as she completes the next step of an indoor campaign which will culminate in the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham in early March. She will perhaps have eyes on the Scottish 800m indoor championship best of 2.04.27 - set by Joanna Ross in 2006 - which looks well within her capabilities.
“I’m entered for the 800 and 1500 – but I’m not planning on running both,” she said recently. “I’m running one of them - unless Andy [Young, her coach] has something up his sleeve! I do love racing in Scotland when I can.”
Close to 600 athletes are on the start-lists for the two events, with entries for the FPSG Seniors rising marginally on the 2017 figure, although the list of athletes set to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast this Spring is less than expected, with high jumper David Smith laid low with a cold and his female counterpart Emma Nuttall out with a minor injury.
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One member of Team Scotland for the Commonwealth Games who will be present is Zoey Clark, competing for the first time in Scotland since taking a 4x400m silver medal in the company of Eilidh Doyle for GB and NI in the 4 x 400m Relay at the London 2017 World Championships in London. Zoey, out recently warm weather training in Florida, lines up for the 200m on Sunday as she builds towards the athletics competition in the Gold Coast.
When not otherwise pre-occupied with the last year of her training to become a vet, Muir trains most days at the Emirates Arena under the watchful eye of coach Andy Young and there will no shortage of her other training partners in action on Sunday. Jemma Reekie is lined up for the 1500m while the men’s 1500m could feature a clash of two athletes who represented Scotland in the 4 x 1K International Relay at Holyrood Park – Jamie Williamson and Sol Sweeney. The action starts at the Emirates early on Sunday with the first track event at 9.50am followed by the field action at 10am Come mid-to-late afternoon, the finals will arrive thick and fast as athletes chase Scottish championship medals at both Senior and U17 level. Other athletes to look out for are Michael Olsen, Mhairi Hendry, Heather Paton, Philippa Millage, Rachel Hunter and Maria Lyle.