The outdoor athletics season began recently for Helensburgh Amateur Athletics Club with their juniors travelling to Kilmarnock to compete in the first Youth Development League of the year.

This competition sees HAAC competing as a combined team with Clydesdale Harriers.

In the U13 boys section both Robert Court and Owen Wilkinson competed in a sprint, shot putt and the 4x100m relay. Robert performed incredibly well in his shot – finishing in third place overall, just one centimetre off his personal best.

The U13 girls category hosted the largest Helensburgh team of the day, with four athletes competing. Evelyn Dennison and Jenny Scott both competed in the 800m, each finishing with a new personal best time.

Sarah Mitchell and Amelia Murphy both had a very busy day. Sarah competed in the 150m, shot putt and 4x100m relay, throwing a PB in her shot putt.

Amelia competing in the 75m, 70m hurdles, long jump and 4x100m relay, managed to reduce her 70m hurdles personal best by over two seconds.

In the U15 boys age group, the three Helensburgh athletes all performed well.

Josh Bain had a very successful day finishing in first place in the 300m with a remarkable time of 43.11 seconds (a PB).

He broke new ground in the discus as well, coming second with another PB. Josh finished his day by running in the 4x100m relay.

Chris Wilson competed in both the 200m and the 4x100m, finishing well in both events. Ewan Robb also had a successful day, finishing third in both the 100m and shot putt, with a PB of 7.88m, and running a strong leg of the 4x100m relay.

Sophie Michie and Amy Court were the only two U15 girls competing from Helensburgh.

Sophie ran in the 100m gaining a new PB of 15.12s, and also competed in the shot putt, javelin and the 4x100m relay, performing well in all four events.

On her return from injury Amy ran in the 200m, finishing strongly in second place in a new PB time of 30.10s, as well as competing in high jump and the 4x100m relay.

The three Helensburgh U17 women also had a highly successful day.

Jennifer McBride was willing to take a brave step out of her comfort zone and become the first junior to compete in the hammer throw and finished in third place as well as securing a new PB in the shot putt.

Jessica Noble ran in both the 1500m, finishing in an excellent second place, and finished off the day by running a leg of the 4x100m.

Chlöe Murphy competed in both the long jump and the 800m, running a new personal best time of 2:39 in the 800m.

In the U17 men age category there was only one competitor who arguably had the busiest day of all.

Finlay Gray competed the gruelling task of running the 800m and the 1500m in the same day, finishing well in both, as well as competing in shot put and the 4x100m relay.

The under 17s team finished the day at the top of the league.

With two more matches in the competition they will need to work hard to retain this position.