Butchart in charge
Olympian helps Central AC to fifth successive win
Olympian Andrew Butchart led his Central AC senior men’s team to the club’s fifth successive win in the Scottish National Cross Country Relays at the weekend.
The course at Cumbernauld was in excellent condition and the men’s race saw Jamie Crowe handing over to Michael Wright in fourth place.
Michael moved to the front and passed a healthy lead to former Scottish Cross Country champion Alastair Hay, who pulled away from the rest of the field to give Andrew as easy run home.
He was never under pressure as he extended the lead to 84 seconds by the finish with Edinburgh University in second and Aberdeen AAC in third.
The senior ladies won silver medal thanks to a terrific final leg by Morag MacLarty. Lyndsay Morrison returned to competition earlier than she would have wanted after a prolonged layoff to lead off for Central and she fought hard to come to the changeover in 16th place.
Fiona Thompson then put in the fastest second leg time to lift the team to seventh and Jennifer Wetton carried the team into a medal position behind Edinburgh University and Victoria Park – more than a minute ahead.
Morag set about closing the gap and turned bronze into silver in the finishing straight with her time of 13:18 the fastest lap of the day to return to finish behind the students.
Central’s second ladies team finished 20th with fine performances from Claire Houston, Kim Timmins, Eleanor Hanson and Jodie Currie while the ladies over 50 team won silver medal through Patricia Milne, Jane Waterhouse and Mary Kerr.
The men’s B team of Aidan Thompson, Conan McCaughey, Cameron Milne and Alex Hendry were competitive throughout finishing in a fine sixth place overall, less than a minute from the medals. On the day all of Central’s runners showed true competitive resolve perfectly reflected by the over-50 team of Charles GrahamMarr, David Eckersley and Hugh Kerr finishing sixth in that category.
The top veteran team of Jans Subke, Ewan Jack, Colin Alexander and Scott Brember finished in a highly respectable ninth in that category while the young team of Tom Watson, Fraser Logan, Jamie Wastling and Euan Brownlee produced another fine showing.
Also running were the teams of Simon Barlow, Kenny Hislop, Sandy MacLarty and Mark Logie; Cameron Campbell, Allan Gall, John Millar; Liam McCabe , David Lindsay, Will Hensman and Ian Dunsmore.
Central’s junior girls fielded a strong contingent and some six teams following the normal format of under-13 followed by under-15 and under-17, all running a 2500metres course.
The A team finished seventh through Jessica Turnbull, Rosie Eckersley and Kate Gallagher with a final time of 30.05. Other teams were Anna McKinnon, Kyra Gibb and Lauren McCulloch; Mia Glen, Elizabeth Thompson and Lauryn Turnbull; Naomi Howlieson, Ciorstaidh Ainsworth and Heather Scott; Finnlaidh Stokoe, Skye Henderson and Madeleine Woods; Ellie Ross, Millie Stokoe and Fiona Davies.
Under-13s Amy Cull and Eilidh Fleming competed well in incomplete teams.
Central’s junior boys teams also ran 2500metre legs with the A team of Finlay Muir, Ben MacMillan and Keir Howlieson all showing great form as they worked through the field to finish fourth overall, only losing out on a medal in a competitive final stretch.
The B team of Cameron Kerr, Thomas Woods and Tom Graham-Marr were 20th while the C team of Euan Campbell, Daniel Bruce and Sandy Holl came home in 28th place.
Finlay Marchant, Cameron Fraser and Ben Hughes (11.46), an under-15 running as an under-17, all produced runs of which they can feel proud and under-13 Ryan McGuire had a solo run in an incomplete team but handled the tough course well.