Hawkins brothers are in the mix for Glasgow 2014

Dec 17 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

Super siblings Derek and Callum Hawkins have taken a giant step closer to their Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games dreams.

The Kilbarchan athletes have been hand-picked to receive additional support in 2013.

It means that the Elderslie-based brothers, Derek, 23, and Callum, 20, are on the list of 51 athletes deemed worthy of backing over the next 12 months.

And they are in good company as the list includes five London 2012 Olympians.

As the countdown to Glasgow 2014 gathers pace, scottishathletics has announced which rising stars will receive specialist support to help them on the road to the Games.

Derek ran 2hrs 14mins 4secs on his marathon debut in Frankfurt a couple of months ago – five minutes inside the required 2hrs 19mins standard for Glasgow 2014.

Even more recently, he showed no sign of ring rust as he stormed to victory at the West District Cross Country Championships.

The Ardgowan Estate, near Inverkip, was the venue for the prestigious event, with Hawkins making a big impression in the muddy conditions.

It was his first race since an outstanding run in Germany and it looked like the rest served him well as he led from the start in the men’s race, staged over 6.5miles, and crossed the finish line in a time of 33mins 55secs.

Younger brother Callum attends Butler University in the United States, where he has been making a name for himself at several athletics meetings this year, racing distances of 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m.

The athletes in the squad receive support from scottishathletics throughout the year and the majority will receive medical back-up from the sportscotland Institute of Sport.

The support isn’t financial as such but helps with competition opportunities and this year there is an emphasis on bringing coaches into the information and education loop and even extends to handing athletes advice and guidelines on social media.

All five of Scotland’s London 2012 track and field competitors – Eilidh Child, Eilish McColgan, Lee McConnell, Freya Murray and Lynsey Sharp – are included as well as Paralympians Libby Clegg and Stef Reid.

There were 41 athletes named this time last year and scottishathletics director of coaching, Stephen Maguire, was at pains to stress those excluded now are by no means being ruled out of the running for Glasgow 2014.

He said: “Just because an athlete isn’t named doesn’t mean the door is closed on them – by scottishathletics or indeed for Glasgow 2014.

“The selection standards for the Commonwealth Games are available online and each and every athlete and coach is invited to study them and strive for them. With the marathon qualification period opening on January 1 and all the rest on April 1, then the race to post them is very much on.”

He added: “With Glasgow 2014 looming ever closer, we naturally have a short-term focus over the next 18 months or so – but we are also looking further beyond that in terms of development.”