Mordi makes her mark yet again

Last year the 21-year-old Fife woman set five Scottish records indoors and out.

Mordi held the native indoor best at 13.14 metres, and had set the national best at 13.24 in England. Yesterday, she eclipsed both of these with her opening effort of 13.31m, then 13.39 in the second and 13.45 in the third.

"I just did not have the legs to go any further," she said, but it is 25 centimetres ahead of Nadia Williams, next best Brit indoors this winter.

Her coach, John Scott, whose long jumper Gillian Cooke has collected World Cup and European bobsleigh medals in the past week, says he is "confident of Noni's ability, in the right kind of competition, to reach 14.05m." The significance of this is that it's the qualifying distance for the European Indoor Championships to be held in Turin, in March.

"I'll go along with John," says Noni. "It's a stretch, but not totally out of reach. I knew I was going well, so this is not a complete surprise."

It is a tough time for the third-year medic. She faces two exams this week, and has been looking after her 13-year-old brother, Dily, while her parents have gone back to Nigeria. "My gran, Comfort, died on Christmas Day, so it's been tough," she said. "Mum and dad have gone to Lagos for the funeral."

Mordi can look forward to the trials in Sheffield next month. However, there is no reason to suppose she will be the only contender. Hurdler Allan Scott kept his powder dry, but his training partner Nick Smith showed that Stuart Hogg's Edinburgh school is firing on all cylinders when he won the 60 metres in 6.66 seconds, having recorded 6.67 in the semi.

This 20-year-old track is not as quick as it was. Smith, who logged a native best of 6.64 last year was pleased but not overly so. "I'd hoped to pull another couple of hundredths out of myself in the final, but after three races and several false starts, it was a bit unsettling.

The Scottish championships are on February 1, "but I'd like a race before then."

Hogg immediately contacted the promoters of the Aviva International at the Kelvin Hall on January 31, to ensure that the 26-year-old Smith has every chance of being considered. The Great Britain team for that match is due to be announced today, and the Fife sprinter, who runs for Shaftesbury Barnet, as of last night was the fastest performer on the UK rankings this year.

This should at the very least gain him a guest lane.

"The laddie's running well, and deserves a chance," said Hogg. "He's done a lot of work, and filled out a bit, put on a bit of muscle. His size, shape, the way he is lifting - I'm happy."

Smith's hurdling training partner, Scott, hopes to hear today whether he will be included in the British team. The option of a place in a Commonwealth Select team also exists.

Other encouraging performances included the 1.80 metres which Jayne Nisbet cleared to take the high jump.

"It was my first competition," said the 20-year-old Edinburgh woman. "I've had a shin injury, so I did my first technical session only last week. That's just a centimetre below my indoor best, and I had three decent attempts at 1.84m today."

The DM Hall event also included the East and West district championships and other highlights included a world veteran record at 1500 metres by Alastair Dunlop.

The Stornoway PE teacher trimmed more than a second and a half from the world over-55 best when he finished in 4min 24.39sec.

Another veteran who excelled was Neil Elliott. The 37-year-old Border Harrier won the shot with 16.56 metres his best for four years and a Scottish 35-plus record.

At the younger end of the spectrum, John McCafferty from Irvine took the senior high jump with 2.03 metres. It was an outstanding pefromance for 17-year-old.