Sutherland youngsters strike gold
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
THE North of Scotland Track and Field Championships took place at Inverness on Saturday and with the top athletes from Shetland, Orkney, Stornoway and Uist taking part, as well as huge teams from Inverness and Nairn, the competition for medals was intense.
Most of the young athletes from East Sutherland AC were competing at this level for the first time and they exceeded all expectations by coming away with one bronze, three silver and four gold medals.
In the Under 12 boys’ 800 metres, Adam Allan ran superbly to take the bronze medal in 2.46, followed closely by Shane Turney (2.47), Taran Squire (2.50) and Struan Oliver-Jones (3.06).
The Under 14 boys had to run heats in order to qualify for their 800 metres final and in heat one, Ruaridh Oliver-Jones ran a huge personal best of 2.26 followed by Eoghann Gollan in 2.31. However in the final, the positions were reversed with Eoghann taking the gold medal in 2.27 and Ruaridh the silver in 2.29.
In the equivalent race for girls, Costance Nankivell (2.48) and Rosie Nankivell (2.58) in only their second race ever on the track, looked very comfortable competing at this level.
Liam Barnsby was in a class of his own in the 800 metres for Under 16 boys and dominated from start to finish to take the gold medal in 2.12.
Hanna Cleghorn opted for the 1500 metres for Under 16 girls and took the silver medal in 5.27 whilst Lewis Holmes and Ruairidh Gollan finished fourth and sixth respectively in a top class boys’ race. Finlay Murray produced another superb personal best of 2.01 to claim the silver medal in the 800 metres for Under 18’s. His race against Scottish Junior International Craig Chalmers was one of the highlights of the day.
Scott Fraser was in fine form in the throwing events as he claimed gold in both the Javelin and Shot for Under 18s.
