Scott takes national indoor title after six years of separation

Monday 18 February 2013

Allan Scott won his first Scottish indoor title for six years in Glasgow yesterday, less than 24 hours after coming sixth at the Birmingham Grand Prix.

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Olympian Lee McConnell also captured the first Scottish indoor title of her career – the 200 metres.

Scott, a Beijing Olympian, believes he is returning to his best after taking victory in 7.81 seconds at the Emirates Arena. Following almost two years out, pursuing a rugby career, the 30-year-old is taking every chance possible to test himself.

"I've raced four times in less than 24 hours and that's probably more than in the whole of 2009. I wanted to do the Scottish and finish the season and wasn't sure I would get a lane in Birmingham. It was straight from the track to the airport on Saturday afternoon."McConnell coasted home in 24.06 seconds, holding off young challengers Chloe Lambert and Zoey Clark. "It was good fun against the youngsters," said McConnell."I had decided quite a long time ago to compete in the British International Match in the Emirates in late January and after that it was an easy decision to add the Scottish. "I think I doubled the number of 200m runs I've had in my career with two here so it was nice to make sure there was a Scottish title at the end of it. I've never run a Scottish Indoor championship before, so I guess that's why this is my first title."Allan Smith rebounded from his sub-par showing on Saturday to win the high jump in 2.20m while Jayne Nisbet won the women's event with a season's best leap of 1.80m.Gemma Nicol underlined her return to form with gold in the 400m after breaking her personal best in the heats. Eilidh Child, meanwhile, did likewise, scything down her Scottish indoor 400m record in Birmingham, A run of 51.50 seconds was enough to go fourth in the all-time UK rankings but sufficient only for third in the race, behind world number one Natasha Hastings and Perri Shakes-Drayton. "I still feel there's a little more in there," she declared. "I can now spend a couple of weeks concentrating on my training before the Europeans and making sure I'm in the best shape possible. I want to go there and run even faster and come away with a medal."Lynsey Sharp booked her spot for Sweden with a third place in the 800m while Eilish McColgan will go to Stockholm to try to lower her 3000m personal best after coming fourth in her 2013 debut.In New York, Chris O'Hare broke the Scottish indoor mile record in 3:52.98 to erase David Strang's 18-year-old mark from the books.

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Scott takes national indoor title after six years of separation

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