Glasgow Schools' Cross Country Championships

The school has been improving in its performance at this event since first entering 4 years ago. On that day we had 1 top 20 across all the race, last year we had 6 and this year we had an incredible 15 top 20 finishers. The school has been going from strength to strength in athletics and cross country, this event  was proof of our athletes performing to a higher level. 

There was some stand out performances from the school. Robaidh Whyte finishing 7th and Patrick In 16th in the S1 Race. Shona Carey 12th and Beth Murray 21st in the S1 Girls race. In the S2s Calum Stewart improved his finishing place by a brilliant 14 places from last year to finish in 9th with Lewis Conley 12th, Findlay 15th and backed up by Alexander, Gilles and James the boys finished 4th team. In the S3 race and overall performance of the day came from Daniel Moran who won the race!!! Daniel showed great tactical awareness and determination to win the gold medal and the schools first ever medalist at this event. Daniel was 6 seconds down on the leader after the first lap but having worked his way through the field he got on to the shoulder of the Academy pupil and went straight past him and opened up a sizeable gap towards the finish. He was greeted by huge cheers from the SGG crowd going into the last 200m! Daniel was backed up with excellent runs from the other S3 boys, all finishing in the top 30! Benjamin proved again he is much fitter than last year by finishing 15th, last year he was in the 40s. Andrew Carey who was representing the school for the first time had a great debut in 18th position. Josh was 22nd and Callum Douglas 28th. Due to their exceptional team performance the boys finished 2nd team overall and the schools first ever team medals. 

Amy Craig who had just seen Daniel win the S3 boys race went next and was running in a combined S4 and S5/6 race. Amy who has improved her endurance year on year was looking to go better than her 9th place in 2015. She certainly did that, Amy finished in 2nd position! Amy had started aggressively going with the pace, she settled down into the 2nd lap and had enough at the finish to hold off the challenge from two athletes. Two individual medals for SGG! Amy also went on to represent her running club the next day at the Scottish National championships, a tough weekend for her but well worth it! Sarah Robertson who competed in the same race as Amy and who was not long back from injury finished a credible 8th in the S5/6 race. Sarah will be looking to move further up the field next year once she returns to full training.

Not to be outdone by the S3 boys, the S4 boys had a point to prove in the team race. The boys had been so close to medals the last two years but were going into this race much fitter than before. Jacob Connelly in his first Glasgow Schools Cross Country ran fantastically well to finish 4th and narrowly behind 3rd position. I have no doubt that he will be even closer next year. Luc Galanti finished in 8th, Lewis Grimmer 9th and Conall Whyte 10th. This was a fantastic team performance and resulted in the boys like the S3s, coming away with silver medals! 

What a memorable day for all participants and for the school. Two individual medals, two team medals, 15 top 20 placings and throughout the field nothing but effort and great performances. Well done to all pupils on your performance at these championships, you have set the bar even higher than before. 

On to next year now. 

S1 Girls 

S1 Boys

S2 Boys

S2 Girls

S3 Boys

S3 Girls

S4 Boys

S4/5 Girls

Glasgow Gaelic School Cross Country Race

Due to a last minute change of plans the annual school cross country changed to a road race due to safety concerns. The new format this year was comprised of just two races, a girls race and a boys race. This meant we had S1s racing alongside older year groups, right up to S5! Both races were very competitive and the cross country training done in core PE this year ensured everybody was ready to complete the 2 mile course as best they could. In the girls race Amy Craig and Shona Carey had an almighty battle at the front of the pack. Annabel MacDonald did her best to stick with the pace for the first lap but Shona kept pushing it up the hill for the second time. Amy had to work real hard to keep up with Shona going down the hill, she then decided to go past Shona in the last 500m and kept a gap enough to win by a narrow margin with Shona 2nd and Annabel 3rd. Here are the results of the individual secondary races. 

S1 

1st Shona

2nd Annabel 

3rd Beth

S2

1st Johanna

2nd Abigail

3rd Shannon

S3

1st Anna

2nd Louisa

3rd Niamh

S4

1st Amy 

2nd Karen

3rd Ruadhan

In the boys race we had Daniel Moran who had won the school cross country races the previous year's up against Jacob Connelly, Lewis Dickson and a whole host of runners who had been going well in training. Daniel, Jacob, Lewis Dickson, Lewis Grimmer and Benjamin were all closely packed for the first 3/4 of a mile. Like the girls race, It was then down to a two horse race with Daniel and Jacob setting an electric pace round the challenging hilly course. Daniel again proved to be the fastest endurance athlete at the school by winning in a very impressive time of 12.11. Jacob was 2nd in 12.29 with Lewis Dickson 3rd in 12.41.

S1

1st Robaidh 

2nd Patrick

3rd Jackie

S2

1st Calum S

2nd Lewis

3rd Findlay

S3

1st Daniel

2nd Benjamin

3rd Calum

S4 

1st Jacob

2nd Lewis D

3rd Conall

What was great to see was the effort people put in during the race both myself and Mr Mackay were very impressed by the hard work put in during the block of cross country in core PE. This hard work paid off with some fantastic performances throughout the the two races. Well done to all competitors. 

World Champions visit SGG!

Two World Champion Athletes visited Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu! Kim Collins from St Kits and Nevis and Richard Kilty from England spoke with S1 pupils and the Giant Heptathlon winning team. Both athletes were in Glasgow as they were competing in the indoor international event at the Emirates. They spoke about their athletics experiences and answered a variety of questions from the SGG pupils and media audience. We appreciate the time that Kim and Richard took to speak to our pupils and visit the school. We wish them all the best for their preparations for the Rio Olympics. 

Giant Heptathlon

Last year the Glasgow Gaelic school finished 7th in the Glasgow Schools Giant Heptathlon, which was a great result. This year the school had arguably the most memorable sporting result of the schools short history with 1st place in the Giant Heptathlon 2016!!! The team consisted of S1&2 pupils with 7 boys and 7 girls making up the 14 strong team. Each individual distance/time counted towards the overall team score. The events which everyone took part in were: javelin, shot putt, long jump, 60m, 60m Hurdles, standing triple jump and 600m. All schools took part in a separate relay at the end of the day too. With each individual's event score counting toward the final school placing it's very hard to keep track of how the team is doing overall until the very end which makes the competition tense throughout the day. The 14 members of the team did their best in each event. Having watched all the 600m races the school had a very strong result particularly in this event with 13/14 athletes from the school coming either 1st or 2nd in their heat. At the end of the day there was 6 X 100m relay heats and finals. Both the girls and the boys teams progressed through the heats as fasted qualifiers for the final races so they were each given lane 3 as the quickest. The pressure was on for them to go against the best of the rest from the other heats. Both teams executed their change overs better in the final and both came away with the victories and trophies for the relays champions. 

There was a great team spirit amongst the 14 athletes with lots of encouragement given to those competing. After the finals the points were given for the final placings of the giant heptathlon. Hearing the school finish as winners was absolutely fantastic! The school had also done very well in the individual events with gold, silver and bronze given to the top 3 results in each heat. Our individual medalists were as follows: Eilidh McD gold and Erin bronze in the 60m sprint, Erin Gold and Eilidh Silver in the 600m, Annabel Gold in the long jump and bronze in the standing triple jump. Devyn Gold in the shot putt, Cailean Gold and Gilles bronze in the Triple Jump, James silver and Calum S bronze in the 60m sprint. Lewis C silver in the 600m.  

Congratulations to the 14 athletes for their superb performance and result at the Giant Heptathlon. The team was:

Chloe Forrest

Eilidh Michie

Annabel MacDonald

Eilidh McDougall

Erin Moran

Shannon Craw

Erin Houston

Calum Stewart

James Diamond

Findlay Dickson

Gilles O'Hanlon

Lewis Conley

Cailean MacDonald

Devyn Heap

Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu Cross Country Championships

So it's that time of year again...Cross Country! Our school Cross Country Championships are on February 9th in Kelvingrove Park. Again this year we the championships will be an inter house competition. The training we are doing in core PE will allow you to take part in the event to the best of your ability. The races will be 3,000m which is just under two miles. This event will also be a selection race for the school for teams for the Glasgow Schools Cross Country Championships which is on the 26th February in Pollok Park. Keep working hard in core PE and see if you can go out running yourself one or two times a week, this will mean you will perform even better for the race. 

S1 Netball vs St Andrews

Well done to the S1 Netball Team who won their most recent Netball League match against St Andrews Secondary School. The girls had a nervy first quarter but quickly got going in the second quarter again. The girls utilised their bench which allowed players to experience different positions and for Shona Carey to experience her first ever game of Netball at WA. The team won the game by 25-2. Seona and Alison worked very well together, although not able to train together weekly the two girls showed great teamwork to work the ball well in and around the circle. Girl of the Game was Annabel MacDonald who was very impressive theoughout the game. 

Netball friendlies vs Bannerman

The S1B and S2 netball team played friendlies against Bannerman on the last week before Christmas. 

The S1 B team was 

Morven

Niamh

Sileas

Mirren

Chloe

Rachael & 

Mia

The girls played well considering it was the very first time they had played in the same team (including in training) and for many the first ever game of netball. The S1s lost 4-1 but they should be very pleased with how they did. Girl of the Game was Mirren Ward. 

The S2s had their first game of netball since the Netball tournament. They quickly got rid of the cobwebs and settled into the game. Abigail Cav and Caitlin were making the most of the opportunities and they won the game comfortably in the end. Girl of the Game Abigail Cavanagh. 

Both teams will be looking to get some more friendlies over the next couple of months. 

Scottish Schools Swimming Championships

Congratulations to Abigail Cavanagh who becomes the first ever pupil from Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu to represent the school at the Scottish Schools Swimming Championships. This is a fantastic achievement from Abigail as all the events at the championships are highly competitive. It takes place at Tollcross on January 30th. Abigail has already gained success this season with a double gold at the Glasgow Schools Swimming Championships in October. Here's a photo of her with her trophy. We wish Abigail all the very best for the Scottish! Go Abi! 

Review of 2015

What a brilliant year 2015 was for the Glasgow Gaelic School. Your efforts in sport have put the school on the map. Although being the smallest secondary in Glasgow by a significant margin, the school is involved in a variety of sport throughout the year. Not only is the school participating in a number of sports, we are very competitive and this was highlighted with a number of successes in 2015! Well done to you all for a great year! Here's the video review: 

https://flipagram.com/f/i3esGEl5FH

Scottish Schools Indoor Athletics Championships

Sgoil Ghaidhlig Ghlaschu have entered a small team for the Scottish Schools Indoor Athletics Championships. This is the first time the school will be represented at these championships. The Age groups are u16 and over 16 for the event. Erin Moran and Eilidh McDougall have been entered in the u16 age category. The girls still will have a couple of years to go in this age group so this event will be great experience for them both. Erin goes in the 200m and the 300m. Eilidh runs in the 60m and 200m too. Jacob Connelly just misses out on the u16 age category so he will also be looking to gain some experience in indoor athletics with still two more years in this category left as he is only in S4. Jacob is entered in the 200m and 400m. Good luck to all three athletes. 

S1 Netball vs Holyrood

Next Tuesday is the first SGG netball game of 2016. The S1s play against Holyrood in the Glasgow Schools League. Here's the team:

Iona 

Seona

Alison

Eilidh Mic

Annabel

Abigail

Anna 

Sophie

Evie 

Good luck girls. 

Up and Coming Dates

Here's some dates for your diary. The next few months involve a lot of athletics along with regular Torglen and Netball fixtures. 

Monday 25th Jan - Giant Heptathlon 

Wednesday 3rd & Thursday 4th Jan -

Scottish Schools Indoor Athletics Champs

Tuesday 9th February - SGG Cross Country Championships

Sunday 21st February - Garscube Schools Cross Country

Friday 26th February - Glasgow Schools Cross Country Champs

Wednesday 9th March - Scottish Schools Cross Country Championships