Buck earns place in Commonwealth Games (From Gazette & Herald)

Buck earns place in Commonwealth Games

RISING star runner Richard Buck, of Pickering, is hitting peak form with the Commonwealth Games just six weeks away.

The York one-lap specialist moved up to second in the UK indoor rankings with a great time in Vienna yesterday in a triangular match between Australia, Norway and Great Britain & Ireland.

The 19-year-old Nestl Rowntree AC runner flowed round the boards to clock 47.09 seconds - a time bettered only by former World Indoor title holder Danny Caines this season. Birchfield Harrier Caines, working under a new training regime in the USA, ran 46.90 secs to win the Norwich Union International at Glasgow at the weekend.

Buck had an invitation to run in Glasgow on Sunday, but was already booked to run in Bratislava the following day when he came third in an international meeting behind Trafford's Andrew Steele, who won with 48.19 secs.

But Buck, who has earned a call-up for the Melbourne Games, improved on that time considerably when he moved on to Austria to boost his hopes of nailing a relay slot in Australia.

Updated: 15:16 Wednesday, February 08, 2006