‘Ming’ Campbell wins at Westerlands

St Andrews was first University out of the blocks when they had a home match against the powerful team.   They had eight victories (M Tretheway 20 yards, D Dempsey 440 yards, M Davies 880 yards, M Snow (Javelin), H Cameron (Hammer) and C Kelk in the triple jump plus both relays, but lost the match 103 to 95.   This was largely due to the four victories won by Norrie Foster but  at least they had started on the summer campaign with victories in sprints, middle distance, jumps and throws.   At times it was thought that St Andrews University did not take the sport too seriously, but in the Scottish League, Division 1, for that summer we see that their fixtures in May away from the University circuit, were as follows:   

On May 5th, away to Bellahouston H; May 8th: Octavians were hosts to St Andrews and Edinburgh Southern; May15th at Scotstoun, Victoria Park, Ayr Seaforth and St Andrews.

A week later, 24th April, 1965, Glasgow University went to Aberdeen and won as they were expected to do.   Their track men were outstanding:  Campbell won the 100 and 220 yards, R Mayberry won the 440, B Scobie won the 880 yards, RD Baillie won the 3 miles, Brown won both hurdles races and they won both relays.   The only track event that Aberdeen won was the Mile where Bill Ewing was victorious.   It was a different tale in the field events however with the home team winning all but two (high Jump and shot putt).   Their winners were J Grant Long jump, Bernie Nottage the triple jump, Taylor won the Discus, Fowlie the javelin and Wilkie the hammer.   Fowlie’s javelin was one of the features of the meeting when he threw 193′ 3″.   The other notable performances were by Min Campbell who equalled ground records in both sprints.

On the same afternoon, at Craiglockhart, Edinburgh University defeated both Strathclyde University and Queen’s Belfast.   Doug Edmunds of Strathclyde set a new personal best of 51′ 8″ in the shot, and Lawrie Bryce, who had thrown the hammer 188′ in midweek, easily won the hammer here with 178′.   

On 1st May it was Glasgow’s turn to beat Queen’s when they went to Ireland for the triangular fixture against that university and St Andrews.   Glasgow’s men scored 83 points against Queen’s 67 and St Andrews 23; and in the women’s contest, Queen’s won with 42 1/2 to Glasgow’s 34 1/2 and St Andrews 20.   The match which was to have been held on anew all weather track had been transferred to a grass track (of doubtful mainenance) and with the win that was blowing, the 100 yards and 120 yards hurdles races were held on the back straight to get the following wind.   Nobody else benefited in that way.   Glasgow’s men  won the 100, 220, 440, 880, 3 miles, 120y hurdles, 440 yards Hurdles, the relay, the shot putt and the pole vault; their women won only two events, the high jump and the shot.     The Glasgow B team took on Strathclyde and Aberdeen Universities plus St Modans at Westerlands and finished a dismal last with 9 points.   It was Strathclyde that was triumphant with 48 points, St Modans had 32 and Aberdeen, ‘unexpected arrivals for the match’, had 14.    C Stewart (S) won the 440 hurdles by 50 yards in 51.1, and Edmunds (S) won the shot by 10′.   

One week later, 8th May, the Glasgow University Club Championships had many excellent athletes competing – WM Campbell, RD Baillie, Norrie Foster, Brian Scobie – but times and performances were all verypoor simply because of the weather.   It was decided to run the sprints with the wind at the back of the runners and Campbell’s 100 yards was done in 9.6 seconds.   He won the 100, 220 and 440 yards, but in many events the number of competitors was small – two in the half mile, three miles, 440 hurdles and some others.   RD Baillie won the Biles Trophy for the most meritrious performance when he won the Three Miles in 14:37.8.   Came the 15th and the British Universities Championships were held at Liverpool on Friday and Saturday.   Among many very good performances from the Scots on the second day, Ming Campbell won the 220, Barclay Kennedy was second in the 440, Bill Ewing was third in the Mile, GL Brown second in the 120 yards hurdles, and among the women EK Patrick (St A) won the 80m hurdles and the long jump.   At home there was a competition at Toryglen in Glasgow  involving Strathclyde, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Newcastle with Newcastle winning the contest.   St Andrews failed to turn up for their match with Victoria Park and Ayr Seaforth in a match totally dominated by the Glasgow club.   

Alistair Blamire (Edinburgh) 30, leading team mate Fergus Murray

22nd May was the Glasgow v Edinburgh for the Appleton Trophy, held this year at Craiglockhart.   Edinburgh retained the trophy although Glasgow won the women’s match with 42 to 35.   Norrie Foster won three events for Glasgow – the 440 hurdles, long jump and pole vault while E Osborne for Edinburgh won both sprints.   Fergus Murray won the Mile and then crossed the line in the Three Miles with team mate Roger Young.   P Kerr for Glasgow won the women’s 100 and 220 yards and for Edinburgh’s women, A Dixon won Long Jump, Shot Putt and Discus.   The last Saturday in May was traditionally the date of the District Championships at and  in the West Championship at Ayr, Brian Scobie of Glasgow was third in the 880, Brown and Kennedy of the University were first and second in the 440 hurdles, Jim Bogan of Glasgow was third in the steeplechase (which was won by former Glasgow student Allan Faulds), Foster of Glasgow won the pole vault, Edmunds of Strathclyde won the shot putt with Lees of Glasgow third, and Edmunds also won the discus with Sandy Sutherland of Glasgow second.   In the East championships, Fergus Murray won the three miles, C Kelk of St Andrews was second in the 440 hurdles, Alistair Blamire of Edinburgh was third in the steeplechase, Santini of Edinburgh was second in the high jump, Howat and Santini of Edinburgh were second and third in the long jump, Nottage of Aberdeen was second in the triple jump, Balchin of Edinburgh won the pole vault, Lawrie Bryce of Edinburgh won the hammer with team mate PJ Scott third, Bryce was also second in the shot, Boulton of Edinbirgh was second in the discus and Fowlie of Aberdeen was second in the javelin.   There were years when the Universities were conspicuous by their absence from the prize lists in the District Championships but 1965 was a good year for them with medals being won across the board.

The Scottish Universities Championships were held at Aberdeen on 29th May.   Fergus Murray had a double – Mile and Three Miles – as did Barclay Kennedy of Glasgow – 440 yards plus 440 yards hurdles – and Mis W McLaren of St Andrews who took the 440 yards and 880 yards.   All three were outdone by another in their championship.   For the women, E Patrick of St Andrews won the 100 yards, the 80m hurdles, the high jump and the long jump but the hardest work of the day wa by Norrie Foster of Glasgow who was mpreparing for his defence of his SAAA Decathlon title the following week.   He won the pole vault and triple jump, was second in the long jump, and 120 yards hurdles, he was also a finalist in the 440 yards hurdles and took part in the Hammer.   There were of course heats for both hurdles races as well as finals.   There was no Campbell in the sprints which were won by Shannon and Osborne, both Edinburgh.   For information, Foster won the Decathlon the following week from Sandy Sutherland, also Glasgow, who had been doing sterling service for his University all year.  The points difference was 6736 for Foster to 5077 for Sutherland.   

The Scottish Championships took place at Meadowbank on 26th June, 1965, and the University athletes acquitted themselves well.   

There was an open meeting at Nethercraigs Playing Fields in Glasgow on 16th April, 1966 in which several University athletes, including some who were in the fir first year of University athletics, took part.   Glasgow Unmiversity had a one-two in the 440 with RT Hodelet winning from G Brown, and there was a similar double act in the shot putt where D Edmunds of Strathclyde defeated G McHugh.   The University season proper started the following week when Queen’s Belfast, had their rvenge for the previous year.   They dominated the triangular with Glasgow and St Andrews winning with 86 points to Glasgow’s  54 and St Andrews  46.   In Aberdeen on the same day Edinburgh defeated Aberdeen and Strathclyde Universities.  90 points to Edinburgh,   70  to Aberdeen and 15 to Strathclyde.   At the former, Glasgow had three double winners – Hodelet in the 440 and 880 yards, GL Brown in the two hurdles races and RD Baillie in the Mile and three.   For Queen’s Kilpatrick won both 100 and 220 yards, and Mike Bull had three when he won the Long Jump, Pole Vault and Shot Putt.   In the women’s events the star performer was G Porter of Queen’s who won shot, discus and javelin, while for St Andrews E Patrick won the 80m hurdles and long jump.   

In the other match, Nottage won the 100, 220 and triple jump for Aberdeen, Edinburgh had a clean sweep of the distance races with Sinclair (880), Elson (Mile) and Blamire being the men responsible.  In the field events LM Bryce won the hammer and shot putt for Edinburgh.   For the women, K Goodfellow of Edinburgh won the 100, 220 and long jump.

St Andrews University won a contest with Heriot-Watt at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh on 7th May by 69 to 59.   Edinburgh AC also turned out a team that scored 57.   Tretheway won both 100 and 220 yards for the hosts, Kelk won the 440 hurdles, Durrant the javelin and Birrell the Hammer.   For Heriot-Watt, the winners were Viddal who won the shot and the discus, and Dobson wn the pole vault.   There were several inter-university meetings on 13th May but the outstanding performance had to be that of RT Hodelet at the Glasgow University championships where he won the 220y (23.6), the 440y (50.8), the 880y (1:53.5)  and the Mile (4:38.8).   The other multi event winner was N Foster who won discus (103′ 10″), shot (40′ 1″) and Hammer (122′ 9″) and was second in the Javelin.    J Bogan won the steeplechase and was second in the Mile, Irishman J Hickey won the three miles and RD Baillie was second in both three miles and steeplechase.   One a  day of multi event winners, G Brown won both hurdles races and I Robertson won both jumps for distance.   On the women’s side of the meeting, W Adam won the 100, the 220 and the 440, and F Fernie won high jump, discus, shot and javelin.   

On the same day, Aberdeen beat St Andrews at St Andrews 72 to 45, and in the women’s triangular competition the points totals were 68 to Dunfermilne CPE, 29 to St Andrews and 18 for Aberdeen.   Meanwhile Heriot-Watt University beat Strathclyde by 98 to 82 at Redford Barracks.   For the Edinburgh team Adrian Weatherhead won three events – half mile (1:58.3), mile (4:23.3) and, unusually, javelin (104′ 9″), and I Dobson also had three wins – 120y hurdles, 440y hurdles and pole vault.   Top scorers for the Glasgow team were DM Edmunds and G Muir.   The latter two athletes had already competed at Craiglockhart in invitation events at an Edinburgh University open meeting and then came to compete at Redford Barracks.   Edmunds won the shot (43′ 9″) and discus (131′ 8″) and Muir the 100y (10.0) and long jump (19′ 11″).

Alastair Johnstone (4th here) in the BUSF at Westerlands

The following week, on May 20th, it was the British Union of Student Federations championships at Birmingham and Lawrie Bruce retained his title with a hammer throw of 179′ 3″.   Hodelet was second to Dave Cropper in the 880 yards, GL Brown of Glasgow injured his foot in the heat of the 440 yards hurdles and could only finish third in the final, and Nottage of Aberdeen was third in both 100 and 220 yards.   The District Championships were held the following week and Hodelet did well to win the 880 yards at the West Championships.   Other good performaces by the students were R Cassie (3rd 440 yards hurdles), J Bogan (3rd steeplechase), HC Reobertson (Glasgow), AI Forster (Glasgow), G Muir (Strathclyde) (1-2-3 in the long jump), Robertson (1st Triple jump), Edmunds (1st shot putt, 2nd discus), Sutherland (1st Discus, 2nd shot), H Doyle (Glasgow 2nd Hammer).   In the East at New Meadowbank, there was a whole host of good performaces by university athletes.   Not all of them wore their university colours preferring to turn out as club representatives; nevertheless in the points competition which was included in the championship Edinburgh University came out on top with Aberdeen University third, separated only by Octavians for whom several university qualified athletes appeared.   The medallists were as follows:

Nottage (Aberdeen) 1st in 100 and 220 yards; Osborne (Edinburgh) 3rd in both 100 and 220; Dixon (Aberdeen) 2nd in 440; Elson (Edinburgh) 2nd in Mile; Patrick (Edinburgh) 3rd in Mile; Murray (Edinburgh) 1st Three Miles; Ewing (Aberdeen) 1st Steeplechase; Bryan-Jones (Edinburgh) 2nd Steeplechase; Allan (Edinburgh) 3rd steeplechase; H Stevenson (Edinburgh) 3rd 440y hurdles;    and in the field events

K Clubb (Edinburgh) 3rd high jump; S Seale (Edinburgh) 3rd long jump and 3rd pole vault; C Balchin (Edinburgh ) 2nd pole vault; L Bryce (Edinburgh) 1st Hammer; J Scott (Edinburgh) 2nd Hammer; DE Clerk, (Aberdeen) 3rd Discus; PJ Eddy (Edinburgh) 3rd javelin.

These two district championship performances indicate how powerful the Scottish Universities were at this point – don’t forget that athletes such as A Weatherhead of Heriot Watt were available – and a combined Scottish Universities team would probably have been a match for any of the other British teams.    The venue the following week for the Universities Championships was Craiglockhart in Edinburgh which unfortunately clashed with the triangular match between Scotland, Wales and the Midland Counties and some of the student athletes were competing at Wolverhampton.   The Roseberry Cup was won by Edinburgh from Aberdeen (who won six titles) and Glasgow ; and in the Edinburgh v Glasgow competition for the Appleton Trophy which was incorporated into the championship, Edinburgh once again defeated Glasgow.   Results, Men first:

1oo yards/220 yards:  B Nottage, Aberdeen, 9.9/22.2;    440 yards:  JMM Dixon, Aberdeen, 51.3

880 yards:  M Sinclair, Edinburgh, 1:57.4;  Mile: WE Ewing, Aberdeen, 4: 18.6;; Three Miles:  AF Murray, Edinburgh, 14:12,6

120y hurdles:  H Stevenson, Edinburgh, 16,1;  440y hurdles: N Foster, Glasgow, 56.8;  Relay 4  x  110:  Aberdeen 43.3

High jump: R Soutar, Glasgow, 5′ 10″; pole vault: C Balchin, Edinburgh, 13/ 3″; long jump/triple jump:  HC Robertson, Glasgow, 23′ 4″/43’2″

Shot/Discus: DM Edmunds, Strathclyde, 49′ 5″*/137’11”; Hammer: LM Bryce, Edinburgh,  183′ 6″; javelin: DG Fowlie, Aberdeem, 184′ 10″

Women:

100/220:  K Goodfellow, Edinburgh, ??/27.4;  440: A Barron, Aberdeen, 64.8;  880: J Goodall, Aberdeen, 2:28*; 

80m hurdles: A Dixon, Edinburgh, 12.5;  high jump: F Fernie, Glasgow, 4′ 9″; long jump: R Mawer, St Andrews, 17′ 1″

Shot: A Dixon, Edinburgh, 37′ 9″; Discus: E Taylor, Aberdeen, 100′ 3″; Javelin: E Sheddon, Edinburgh, 105′

Relay  4 x 110: Glasgow 53.   

*= BCP

The next and final championship of the year was the SAAA on 25th June at New Meadowbank where Bernie Nottage of Aberdeen again ‘did the double’ of 100 and 220 yards in 9.9 and 22.1 seconds.   Dixon of Aberdeen was second in the 440 in 49,3, Hodelet of Glasgow was second in the 880 in 1:50.7, Fergus Murray won the Three Miles in a spectacular 13:46, Bill Ewing was third in the steeplechase in 9:17.4, GL Brown of Glasgow was second in the 440 hurdles in 55 seconds, AL Forster of Glasgow was second in the long jump with 22′ 1 3/4″, D Edmunds won the shot putt with 49′  2 1/2″ , Lawrie Bryce won the hammer with 178′ 11″ and P Scott of Edinburgh was third in the hammer with 160′  4 1/2″.   As had happened in some other matches earlier in the season, some students preferred to use other affiliataions for the competition – eg AL Sutherland competed for Anglo Scots, HC Robertson for Bellahouston Harriers.   

.Dick Hodelet

As an indication of the quality of performance turned in by the students in 1966, the following athletes in running events were ranked by SATS.   Men first.

A very impressive list of names and performances.   The Scottish Universities contributed a lot to Scottish athletics over the years – their contribution to the field events was equally good.

BUSF, Westerlands, 1968

On 22nd April, 1967, Glasgow University defeated St Andrews University at Westerlands by 104 to 73 in the men’s match and the women’s by 76 to 43.   The man of the match was HC Robertson, Glasgow, who won no fewer than four events (120m hurdles, 440m hurdles, long jump, triple jump.)   Other winners for Glasgow were D Walker (100), K Clark (220), J Gilligan (440), W McDonald (880), J Bogan (Mile), A Jackson (high jump), AG Pollock (pole vault), and A Fraser (discus).    In the women’s competition, W Adams, Glasgow won the 100, 220 and 440, F Fernie, Glasgow won the high jump and shot putt.   Other women’s winners were A Ainslie, St Andrews (880), N Barron, Glasgow, (80m hurdles), L Monteforte, Glasgow, (long jump), J Paris, Glasgow, (javelin), A Dale, St Andrews (Discus) and Glasgow won the relay.

A week later Edinburgh defended the Appleton Trophy when they faced Glasgow at Westerlands.   Aberdeen University were included in the match which Edinburgh won with 76 to Aberdeen’s 66 and Glasgow’s 43; in the Appleton Trophy match, Edinburgh scored 109 and Glasgow  82.    The standard was remarkably high with Gareth Bryan-Jones winning the Mile and Iain Young the Three Miles for Edinburgh.   Nottage won both sprints for Aberdeen, Hathorn won the 440 and Sinclair the 880 (both Edinburgh), GL Brown won both hurdles races for Glasgow, and Aberdeen won the relay.   In the field events, HC Robertson won both long and triple jumps, Seale won the pole vault. D Clark of Aberdeen won both discus and shot, Fowlie of Aberdeen won the javelin and Scott of Edinburgh the hammer.   W Adam of Glasgow won both women’s sprints and E Taylor of Aberdeen won discus and shot.   In the other events, Barron of Aberdeen won the 440, Fleming of Edinburgh the hurdles, Fernie of Glasgow the high jump, McRoberts of Edinburgh the long jump and Paton of Aberdeen the javelin.

Seven Universities, including Edinburgh Glasgow, Strathclyde and Aberdeen fought out the Rowland Cup competition against Leeds, Durham  Carnegie and Sheffield at Durham on 7th May.   The result was a win for Leeds from Edinburgh with Strathclyde third, Aberdeen fourth and Glasgow fifth.   Scots victories were from Nottage in both sprints, GL Brown in both hurdles races, Bryan Jones in the steeplechase, Robertson in both jumps for distance, Balfour of Glasgow in the high jump, Seale in the pole vault, Fowlie in the javelin and Bryce, now competing for Strathclyde University, in the hammer. Back at home, Aberdeen defeated both Glasgow University and Jordanhill College at Westerlands.   

Bernie Nottage winning at King’s College, Aberdeen

The West District of the SAAA Coaching Committee held a series of trials at Nethercraigs on the south side of Glasgow where Doug Edmunds won the shot putt with 50′ 9″.   The last Saturday in May, 27th in 1967, was the time for the District Championships and in the West the Universities had quite a few good performances and the debut of John Myatt who was third in the Mile behind McCafferty and Stewart in the colours of Strathclyde University.   Other notable performances by University athletes were the two victories (long and triple jumps) and one second (120 yards hurdles by HC Robertson who was second in the latter event to GL Bronw of Glasgow University.   Brown also won the 440 hurdles, Robin Soutar of Glasgow was second top Crawford Fairbrother in the high jump, Foster of Glasgow was second in both long and triple jumps, Stevenson of Glasgow was second in the pole vault,  Edmunds won the shot and discus, and Lawrie Bryce won the hammer.   In the East, Ewing of Aberdeen University ran away with the steeplechase in the new record time of 9:06.2, Nottage won both sprints yet again with Aberdeen team mate Turnbull third in the 100, Sinclair of Edinburgh U won the half mile with team mate Macfie third, Bryan-Jones and RogerYoung of Edinburgh University had a first and second in the three miles, Allan and Blamire of Edinburgh University were second and third behind Ewing in the steeplechase, and Davidson was third in the sprint hurdles and Stevenson second in the 440 hurdles.   In the field events, in the high jump, Balfour of Edinburgh won and Cunningham of Heriot Watt was third, Gammell of Aberdeen University was second and Rogers  from Dundee University were second and third in the long jump, Balchin and Seale of Edinburgh were second and third behind David Stevenson in the pole vault, Clark of Aberdeen was third in the discus, Fowlie of Aberdeen won the javelin with Burnett of Edinburgh second, and finally, Wilkie of Aberdeen was second in the hammer.

The Scottish Universities Championships were held on 3rd June at Westerlands in Glasgow where, despite it being dry all after noon, a wind speed of 10 to 12 feet per second did the sprinters and long jumpers no favours.   The best championship performances were both in the field events, both in the throws and were by LM Bryce in the hammer (195′ 9″) and D Edmunds in the shot (49′ 8″).   In terms of championships won, Bernie Nottage won both sprints yet again, and in the women’s events A Barron won both 440 and 880 yards events.   GL Brown of Glasgow was favourite for both hurdles rces but broke down injured in his heat of the 440 yards event and could not continue.   Winners, men first:

100 yards:  B Nottage (A) 10.1;  220: B Nottage 22.8;  440: G Millar (S)  48.9

880:  M Sinclair (E) 1:58.6;   Mile: A Weatherhead  4:14.7;   Three Miles:  I Young (E)  14:16

120y H: R Davidson (E) 15.8;  440y H: H Stevenson (E) 57.2;  Steeplechase: G Bryan-Jones (E)  9:17.8

High Jump: R Soutar (G) 5′ 10″; Pole vault: S Seale (E) 13′ ;  Long jump: H Robertson (G) 23′ 1/4″;  Triple jump:  H Robertson (G) 

Javelin: S Seale (E) 181′ ;  Hammer: L Bryce (S) 195′ 9″;   Shot: D Edmunds (S)  49′ 8″;  Discus: D Edmunds (S) 139′ 7″

100y: W Adams (G)  12.3;  220:  G van der Lippe (E) 27.6;  440: A Barron (A)  60.8

880:  A Barron (A) 2:28.9;  80m H:  M Fleming (E) 13.4;   High jump: S Dennier (D) 5′ 2″

Long Jump: L Monteforte (G)  15′ 10  1/2″;  Javelin: E Shedden (E) 115′ 2″;  Shot: E Taylor (A) 37′ 6″

Aberdeen won the men’s relay and Edinburgh the women’s, and the points totals for the championship were:

Edinburgh 113, Strathclyde  82, Aberdeen 70, Glasgow 47, Heriot Watt 28, St Andrews 23, Dundee 14.    

The championships had almost doubled in the number of seats of learning taking part and Dunfermline College of Education and Jordanhill CPE were both knocking on the door, having taken part in a variety of inter varsity and triangular contests over the summer.

W Ewing, Aberdeen University

Appearances of the runners at the end of summer 1967 as they appeared in the SATS Annual for 1968 are as follows.

That the standard was high among the runners is not really in dispute, the tables for the field events are equally good and will be shown on another page.   The university athletics scene had changed dramatically from its beginnings with the four ‘ancients’ where the athletes knew each other, where the inter-varsity meetings and championships formed the major part of their season and where Scottish athletics generally had a keen eye on university athletes and athletics.    Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt and Dundee were already included, as already mentioned, Jordanhill and Dunfermline colleges were edging nto inter- university matches, Stirling was on the horizon.   In time Glasgow Caledonian, the University of the Highlands and Islands, the University of the West of Scotland and others would follow.   The close-knit atmosphere has gone by 1970.