The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Athletics
The mud failed to dampen spirits as Callum Hawkins and Morag MacLarty celebrated senior titles at the Scottish National crosscountry championships at Falkirk, while Fife AC struck gold courtesy of Anna Hedley and their U20 men’s team, writes our athletics correspondent.
On a day when Callendar Park seemed more suitable for aquatic pursuits, members of Falkirk Victoria surveyed the flooded course at dawn, deciding whether the event should be cancelled. A hastily rearranged start and finish area plus adjustments to the opening section of the course saved the day as more than 2,300 competitors braved the testing conditions. Olympian Hawkins made a late decision to compete and proceeded to make light of the morass to run away from the field, breaking away on the first of three laps comprising the 10km course. Welsh internationalist Kristian Jones, in the colours of Dundee Hawkhill, gave chase but could only watch as Hawkins ground out a 30-second advantage to cross the finish line in 33 minutes 34 seconds. Jones held second place ahead of Lachlan Oates (Shettleston). Dundee athlete Jamie Crowe placed fifth and had the satisfaction of leading Central AC to their seventh consecutive team title. Auchterarder’s MacLarty was equally impressive in the women’s 10km race, winning by 67s from defending champion Beth Potter (VP Glasgow). The Central AC runner finished in 38.32, while Potter came home in 39.39, with Sarah Inglis (Lothian RC) 11s farther behind in third. Central AC made it a double senior team success ahead of Edinburgh University, while Metro Aberdeen in third celebrated their first National team medals. Fife AC showed great strength in depth placing nine runners in the top 70, but could only manage seventh team place. The local club fielded their banker for individual honours in the second race of the day, the U13 girls’ championship. Anna Hedley wasted no time in opening up a 150m lead over the 3.2km course to complete the race in 11.16. Anya Maclean (Garscube) followed 38s later, with Valencia Wright (VP Glasgow) third. A silver lining for Hedley came as Anna Dalglish in 11th, Isla Hedley 18th and Esme Thoms 56th took team silver. Fife AC brothers Tristan and Logan Rees spearheaded the team effort in the U20 men’s 7.6km, placing fourth and fifth, respectively. Sam Fernando in 21st and Gregor Malcolm 22nd battled through the mud to secure the team title for Fife, who finished 52 points ahead of Cambuslang. Sol Sweeney (Perth Strathtay) in seventh and James Donald (Dundee Hawkhill) 17th also excelled at the
sharp end of the race. The Fife U20 women’s team was weakened by the absence of Annabel Simpson and Ailsa Cruickshanks through injury and illness. However Eilidh Smyth 11th, Annabel Personeni 12th and Katie Aitken 31st secured the club’s third set of team medals, finishing third behind Kilbarchan and Edinburgh University. Connor Gourley was Pitreavie’s topplaced athlete of the day, finishing fourth in the U13 boy’s race, just 18s shy of the bronze medal position. Leading results – Men – Senior
10km – C Hawkins (Kilbarchan) 33.34, K Jones (Hawkhill) 34.02, L Oates (Shettleston) 34.52, M Strain (Hunters Bog Trotters) 35.02, J Crowe (Central) 35.29, A Hay (Central) 35.35 … 34 B Potrykus (Pitreavie) 38.11, 48 M Carroll (Perth RR) 3rd veteran 38.50, 69 M Bax (Perth RR) 39.44, 73 D Rae (Fife AC) 39.48. Teams – Central AC 68, Shettleston 155, Cambuslang 203 … 5 Hunters Bog Trotters 245, 12 Perth RR 773, 18 Dundee Hawkhill 970, 24 PH Racing 1409, 28 Fife AC 1589, 33 Strathearn 2196, 37 Carnegie 2354, 38 Falkland TR 2356.
U20 7.6km – B Drury (Aberdeen AAC) 25.45, E Gilham (Kilbarchan) 25.54, J Williamson (Springburn) 25.59, T Rees (Fife AC) 26.02, L Rees (Fife AC) 26.12 … 7 S Sweeney (Perth Strathtay) 26.21, 17 J Donald (Dundee Hawkhill) 27.57, 21 S Fernando (Fife AC) 28.19, 22 G Malcolm (Fife AC) 28.28. Teams – Fife AC 52, Cambuslang 75, Aberdeen 86. U17 5.9km – F Carcas (Edinburgh AC) 21.25, R Gray (Inverclyde) 22.24, C Watson (Inverclyde) 22.26 … 21 C Morris (Fife AC) 23.36. Teams – Kilbarchan 48, Gala 115, Giffnock North 118. U15 4.2km – H Armitt (Giffnock North) 12.51, C McLew (Cambuslang) 13.21, S McGrath (Deveron H.) 13.22 … 18 I McWhinnie (Fife AC) 14.03, 24 R Donald (Dundee Hawkhill) 14.15, 30 B Sandilands (Fife AC) 14.30. Teams – Kilbarchan 76, Cambuslang 88, Edinburgh AC 90 … 7 Dundee Hawkhill 217, 8 Fife AC.
U13 3.2km – H Henriksen (Lasswade) 10.44, L Cairns (Inverness) 10.55, A McGill (Linlithgow) 11.02, C Gourley (Pitreavie) 11.20 … 16 A Douglas (Perth Strathtay) 11.55, 22 L Petty (Dundee Hawkhill) 12.03, 26 T Scott (Dundee Hawkhill) 12.07. Teams – Inverness 51, Giffnock North 101, VP Glasgow 103 … 5 Dundee Hawkhill 175. Women
– Senior 10km – M MacLarty (Central) 38.32, E Potter (VP Glasgow) 39.39, S Inglis (Lothian RC) 39.50 … 8 R smith (HBT) 40.35, 24 H Sharpe (Fife AC) 42.51, 31 M Crawford 43.25, 34 H Rees 43.48, 41 F Bracegirdle 44.16, 48 M Windram-Geddes 44.37, 51 A McGill 44.51, 60 J Cruickshanks 45.34, 63 J Spence 45.54, 66 A Burke (all Fife AC) 46.07, 68 D Placentino (Hawkhill) 10th veteran 46.22, 69 K Kennedy (PH Racing) 11th veteran 46.29, 91 C Jones (Perth RR) 48.55.
Teams – Central 48, Edinburgh Univ 76, Metro Aberdeen 90 … 6 Hunters Bog Trotters 104, 7 Fife AC 130, 18 Perth RR 589, 22 Dundee Hawkhill 635. U20 7.6km – G Black (VP Glasgow) 25.23, A MacFadyen (Forres) 25.36, S Dempsey (Kilbarchan) 25.57 … 10 M Watson (Strathearn) 30.03, 11 E Smyth (Fife AC) 30.08, 12 A Personeni (Fife AC) 30.10, 22 K Reynolds (Hawkhill) 32.47, 31 K Aitken (Fife AC) 36.36. Teams – Kilbarchan 26, Edinburgh Univ 41, Fife AC 54. U17 5.9km –E Wallace (Giffnock North) 23.56, N Lang (Aberdeen AAC) 24.08, C Stewart (Banchory & Stonehaven) 24.21 … 22 L Mccullagh (Fife AC) 28.57, 27 Z Nicolson (Pitreavie) 29.49. Teams – Giffnock North 21, Central 55, Gala 56. U15 4.2km –L Evans-Haggerty (VP Glasgow) 13.54, H Barnes (Giffnock North) 14.13, C Gemmell (Team East Lothian) 14.32 … 6 S Coutts (Pitreavie) 14.50, 14 E Jenkins (Perth Strathtay) 15.07, 30 J Jamieson (Pitreavie) 16.04. Teams – Giffnock North 33, VP Glasgow 77, Kilbarchan 110 … 8 Pitreavie 196. U13
3.2km – 1 A Hedley (Fife AC) 11.16, 2 A Maclean 11.49 (Garscube) 3 V Wright (VP Glasgow) 11.57 … 11 A Dalglish 12.45, 18 I Hedley (both Fife AC) 12.54, 49 M Millar (Pitreavie) 13.43, 54 I Manning 13.50, 55 L Manning (both Hawkhill) 13.51, 56 E Thoms (Fife AC) 13.52. Teams – Edinburgh AC 74, Fife AC 86, Kilbarchan 87 … 11 Dundee Hawkhill 258.