Departing Millburn Academy pupil Grace MacDonald prepares to travel to base of USA Olympic hero Carl Lewis on sports scholarship
A departing Millburn Academy pupil will be crossing the Atlantic Ocean this summer to take up a sports scholarship in Texas.
Grace MacDonald, who turns 18 this Saturday, will attend the University of Houston for the next four years after excelling in athletics.
The Highlander trains with Aberdeen Amateur Athletics Club, where her coach Nichola Crawford was aware of the potential scholarship opportunities and had helped several other athletes make it to America in the past.
MacDonald had offers to keep studying closer to home based on her academic grades, but after recording fast enough times in first the 1500m to be eligible for a full scholarship, then improving times in her more favoured 800m and 400m events, the only question became which university to go to.
It will be a big move, but one that the teenager is looking forward to as she hopes it will open up bigger and better opportunities within athletics.
“I narrowed down the things I wanted – a warm climate, easy access to get home, good coaching facilities and good training partners,” MacDonald explained.
“The process is really long, and I could have gone to lots of different unis, but I narrowed it down to three and me and my mum went to visit them. I chose the University of Houston in Texas, because the facilities were absolutely amazing and the academics are really good too.
“I’m definitely nervous. I don’t think it’s fully kicked in yet that I’m going to the other side of the world.
“We’re going to go out as a family to start with, but after that I will be travelling myself which isn’t something I’ve ever done before. It’s a big step and a big change in my life, but I’m really looking forward to it.
“I know there’s definitely going to be a lot more opportunities that could lead to being picked for Scotland, but I’m not really sure.
“Out there college sport is huge, it’s a totally different league that they run in, and it’s amazing to see all the different athletes I’ll be training and competing with.”
College sports are taken so seriously in the USA that athletes can become celebrities before graduating, and former stars turn their hands to coaching at universities.
At the University of Texas, for example, the head track and field coach is legendary Olympian Carl Lewis, who won nine gold medals at the Games between 1984 and 1996 and broke world records in the 100m, 4x100m relay, 4x200m relay and the indoor long jump – which still stands to this day.
MacDonald may not be working directly with the two-time World Athletics men’s athlete of the year, who specialises in shorter distances, but he will be on hand to offer advice if and when required.
“It’s really funny being a runner, but at first I didn’t really know who he was,” MacDonald admitted.
“Once my mum told me, I looked him up and realised he was the Usain Bolt of his day. He was amazing.
“He won’t exactly be my coach, he’s the head coach of the whole University of Houston track and field, and he will specialise in shorter distances.
“If I’m ever there and have some big questions, I will be able to ask him though. When I told my PE teachers, they were all like ‘oh my goodness’.”
MacDonald also believes that earning her gold Duke of Edinburgh award helped to secure a scholarship.
To achieve that, she had to work for 12 months on volunteering, physical and skill projects, as well as go on an expedition and residential.
Upon completing the award, the teenager was invited down to Buckingham Palace for a ceremony with other gold award holders, where she got to meet Prince Edward.
Before signing off for good at Millburn Academy though, MacDonald still had one final goal in mind.
She went into last weekend’s Scottish Schools Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Grangemouth desperate to get her hands on a gold medal, a prize that had eluded her the whole way through secondary school.
Competing in both the 400m and the 800m, MacDonald would have been seen as one of the favourites to win going in, but she was not nearly so certain of finishing at the top of the podium.
“I was ranked first for the 800m, but a few of the girls hadn’t recorded times this year so I wasn’t really sure how they would be,” she reasoned.
“A lot of them have been progressing really well, so I was a bit nervous.
“I was definitely hoping for a medal, but I didn’t know if it was going to be gold. I hadn’t got that in any of the other years I’ve been down, so I was really happy to get that.
“The day before I had done two 400m races, so I was a bit scared my legs were going to give in and I wasn’t going to be able to run as well as I would have liked to, but it was better than I thought.
“It was quite windy, so my coach just said to tuck in for the first lap and then kick on with 400 metres to go. That’s exactly what I did, and it worked in my favour.”
Having not been selected in first year of secondary school, then losing two years of the competition to Covid, it has certainly felt like a long time coming for MacDonald.
Being able to finally win gold again, then, was the perfect way to say goodbye to school athletics.
“That was huge,” MacDonald added.
“All I really wanted was to get another Scottish Schools’ competition in and get another gold.
“I got one in primary seven, so it took me a few years but I managed to get it, so I was really happy about that.
“The P7 one didn’t really do a track event, so that was actually a cross country gold medal I managed to get.
“I’ve now changed to the track and a much shorter distance, but it’s good.”