Young Sutherland athletes hit top form at Nairn
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Thirty one young runners from East Sutherland Athletics Club travelled to Nairn on Saturday for the final of the North District Cross Country League.
Conditions were perfect and the youngsters from ESAC produced a stunning display of distance running and came away with a massive haul of trophies and medals. The final tally included five team titles (15 team golds), two individual golds, two silver and three bronze medals.
In the Under 11 boys’ category, Eoghann Gollan was crowned League Champion with Adam Allan taking a superb silver medal.
Excellent running from Taran Squire and Shane Turney meant that the team trophy went to ESAC by a huge margin.
It was the same story in the Under 13 girls’ section where League Champion, Constance Nankivell, led her team to a resounding victory.
A brilliant individual bronze from Helen Gordon and excellent support from Rosie Nankivell completed the scoring for this talented team.
Despite three successive victories in the North League, the Under 13 boys’ team had to settle for overall team silver. An individual bronze medal from Angus Mohun and outstanding performances from Ruaridh Oliver-Jones, Fraser Roach, Kieran Barnsby and Duncan Macleod, indicate tremendous potential for this young team.
The Under 15 girls’ team of Hanna Cleghorn, Catriona Gordon, Eilidh MacRae, Sarah MacDonald and Rebekah Bryan have worked hard for each other throughout the season and were rewarded with a marvellous team victory.
The same applies to the Under 15 boys, where Alasdair Coupar (individual silver), Ross Gollan (individual bronze), Liam Barnsby and Lewis Holmes all combined superbly to take the team title in style.
Nikki MacDonald, Marion Gordon and Felicity Roach have battled hard all season to try and secure the team trophy for Under 17 women.
Their cause has been helped considerably when, on occasions, they have been joined by Scottish Junior Internationals, Emma and Oonagh Dunnett and this was the case on Saturday when they all contributed to a fine team victory.
In the equivalent race for men, Finlay Murray showed great strength and determination to finish fifth.
Apart from the experienced runners at Nairn, a number of relative beginners from ESAC produced some encouraging performances. Catriona Scott, Catriona Wilson, Struan Oliver-Jones and Fraser Mohun all looked very comfortable competing at this level.
