High School sprinter surges ahead

A talented High School of Dundee sprinter is surging ahead in record-breaking fashion.

F6 (S6) pupil Jamie Reid earned Scotland recognition in the course of an impressive athletics season which saw him scoop medals at a series of prestigious events and break some decades-old marks in the process.

Jamie’s run began at the Scottish Schools Athletics Championships at Grangemouth in June where he won the boys B U17 100m title.

That led to his selection for the Scottish boys U17 4x100m relay team which took to the track at the SIAB (Schools International Athletic Board) international event, again at Grangemouth, in July. In competition against opponents from England, Wales and Ireland, Jamie helped the Scotland quartet win the bronze medal. But perhaps even more impressively, in finishing 5th in the individual 100m in a time of 11.17sec, Hawkill Harrier Jamie broke his club’s U17 100m record which had stood since the early 1980s.

Following that, in August the 16-year-old helped the Scottish U18 4x100m relay team to 2nd place at the Celtic Games, which were also held at Grangemouth.

Just a fortnight later, Jamie was back in record-breaking form at the Scottish National U20 Track and Field Championships at Aberdeen Sports Village, where, by crossing the finish line in the mens 200m final in a time of 22.68sec, he smashed the Hawkhill boys U17 200m mark which had stood since 1975.

Impressive performances such as these led to Jamie’s selection for the Scotland squad for the UK School Games at Loughborough University earlier this month. Running in the boys U17 100m at the event - a prestigious multi-sports competition featuring the UK's finest school-aged sports stars – he secured the bronze medal with a time of 11.27sec.

But he wasn’t done there! Just two weeks ago, Jamie rounded of his season in style by breaking another Hawkhill record, this time for the 300m, at the Grangemouth Open Graded meet. 

Jamie said, “When I found out about the first record, it was quite a nice feeling.

“It’s been a pretty good season. I didn’t compete at all last season because of injury, so to come back and be able to run well enough to be selected to run for Scotland has been great.

“I’d like to thank my sprint coach Dave Combe for all his hard work and help.”