Gold standard displays
THE Lindsays National XC Short Course Championships held at Kirkcaldy was another great day out for Inverclyde Athletic Club.
Julian O’Connor, taking part in the under-15 boys’ 2K race, was experiencing his first national event, and to his credit surpassed all the targets that coach Rhona Bushfield had set him.
And to her delight Julian was still smiling when he finished.
The under-17 women’s race saw the first of Inverclyde’s gold medals as Millie McClelland Brooks, below, controlled the leading pack over the 3K course, pulling away in the closing stages to win by nine seconds.
Ava Beaton continues to improve and a top 20 place saw her achieve all her race targets set by coach Norrie Hay. This should give her confidence for the upcoming West District Championships.
The senior women’s race over 4K had all three of Inverclyde’s competitors finishing in the top 20.
Unfortunately, they were missing a fourth runner to complete what could have been a good team position.
Brogan Wallace continued the excellent form she had shown in the relays to take seventh place.
Meredith Reid also continues to impress and finished in 11th overall to take the silver medal for the under-20s.
Nynke Mulholland was close behind in 16th after showing her usual gutsy finish.
The senior men’s race saw a tremendous number of nearly 500 on the starting line, including 11 wearing the Inverclyde vest.
Ben Potrykus - in the leading group going into the second lap — found himself in a similar situation to the one two weeks earlier at the National relays as he and the two Central athletes were racing for the gold medal.
As they returned to the main field, it was Ben in the Inverclyde vest who was leading the long sprint to the finish, holding off to win by two seconds to take his first individual national medal of the season.
John Bell gave another strong performance to finish as the team’s second counter just ahead of Mark Doherty, who gave Inverclyde their third gold with victory in the V40 category. Ross Gray finished three seconds behind to be the final counter for the team which won silver behind Central AC and ahead of Shettleston Harriers in bronze. Ryan Gray, returning from injury, was just another five seconds behind.
Colin Doherty competed in his first cross country race since he was in the under-17 age group and also finished strongly.
Rob Paterson, returning to racing this season, finished a very creditable eighth in the V 50 category, with David Tamburini and Alan Callan continuing to show progress in the V40 group.
Club captain Sean Gaffney and Jason Kane should gain confidence from their result as they return to race fitness.
Congratulations to all of these athletes and their coaches, Rhona Bushfield, Norrie Hay, Maria Hassan, Martin Mulholland, Chris McKay, Mark Pollard and Craig Ruddy.
Scottish Athletics Cross Country Team Challenge was completed with the results of the short course.
Inverclyde’s senior men were runners-up to Central AC, while the senior women finished in a very creditable 11th place.
Many thanks to Gerry Gaffney and Janice Hendrie for team managing on the day, to Jonathan Cameron for taking on the substitute role of being in charge of the club tent for the event, and to the parents for their support throughout the event.
Inverclyde AC hold numerous sessions over a range of events throughout the week for both juniors (aged eight and above) and seniors.
For more information about club activities, visit www.inverclydeac.org.uk and click on the dropdown button ‘contact us’ or email inverclydeac01@gmail.com Inverclyde AC is supported by Diodes Inc, Inverclyde Council, Inverclyde Leisure, Smiths of Greenock and Succession Wealth.
Inverclyde AC is an accredited club with Active Schools Inverclyde.