Max helps OKCU to the team title McNeil is magic at stateside cross country
Lothian Running Club star Max McNeil got his cross country season off to a great start by helping his Oklahoma City University club to the team title in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
The first five finishers in each team counted towards points in the overall standings and Max crossed the line in a brilliant fifth place with a time of 25.34 in the 8km event in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
He was the third OKCU runner home with the team packing their leading five runners into the top 10 to seal first place with ease.
On home soil, LRC’s Jo Williams moved up to 13th place on the Scottish women’s 10km rankings for the year, following an excellent run in a high-quality Leeds Abbey Dash 10km on Sunday.
In a race stacked with internationalists, the Lothian runner recorded a new personal best of 35.34, finishing just behind the quartet of runners who were representing Scotland in the race.
This was the first time Jo has broken the 36-minute mark with her previous best being 36.01 set in the Great Scottish 10km at the beginning of October.
The race was won by Eilish McColgan, who currently leads the 10km rankings ahead of Jo’s club-mate Sarah Inglis in second.
The first match in the 2017-18 Borders XC Series got underway at Lauder over the weekend.
Lothian Running Club were represented by the Eades family. David finished 44th overall and fourth in the MV50 category covering the 8km course in 31.12, while Mairi was third in the junior female category (37.36) with Lorna placing 177th of the 269 finishers in (41.07).
Christine Milne was the first LRC runner to cross the finish line in the Run the Wind 10km event at Strathaven, finishing ninth in the overall female category and fourth in the FV45 placings in 41.41.
She was followed home by Gerry McCafferty (46.22), Fraser Ballantyne ( 50.52), Kirsty Gray (51.33) and Mike Murray (53.57).
Stuart Gibson of Cambuslang Harriers (31.50) and Lyndsey Fraser from Edinburgh AC (38.57) were the respective male and female winners.
LRC also had five runners representing the club in the Edinburgh Men’s Health 10km event to round out what was a bust week for the club.
Their finishing positions and times were: 261st Scott Millar ( 43.06), 271st Al Aitken ( 43.19), 372nd David Mabon (44.37), 591st Andrew Corrigan ( 47.13), and 965th Simon Yapp (51.39).