East District X/C: Broxburn 2012 Gala Harriers & Team Borders
January 16th, 2012There were butterflies aplenty prior to the final round of the East District Cross-Country League held at Broxburn last Saturday with three Borders teams leading their respective age-groups. Whilst the U11 Boys team held an unassailable lead after resounding wins in the previous two rounds, the U11 Girls had a mere 3 points to spare over Central AC and the U17 Men held the slimmest of leads, one point, over Edinburgh AC. But any pre-race nerves were soon forgotten and all three teams scored convincing wins on the day to secure the three League trophies for Team Borders in its inaugural season.
The early morning frost was out of the ground long before the crack of the gun for the first race broke the still air, and with the cloud cover keeping the temperature well above freezing, conditions were near perfect. Jamie Logan (Gala) again showed great promise in the U11 Boys race, sprinting clear up the home straight for victory over the 1-mile course in 7 minutes 19 seconds. Andrew Hogg (Gala) was only 10 seconds behind in 4th and with Euan Hood (Moorfoot) back to form in 8th (7.41) it was another comfortable team win which confirmed the League title and the Edinburgh Southern Harriers Trophy by a massive margin of 113 points. Rory Williams (Gala, 9th in 7.50), Marshall Smith (Gala, 11th in 7.59) and Jamie Kinghorn (Gala, 13th in 8.01) brought Team Borders “B” home as second team on the day which sneaked them into 2nd overall by one crucial point. So a 1-2 for the Team Borders U11 Boys and not to be outdone, the U11 Girls, running over the same course, followed up with a 10-point winning margin on the day over Central AC giving them the League title and the Lanark District Council Trophy. Mairi Wallace (Moorfoot) recovered from illness to come home 2nd with a very strong run in 7.44, Cara Hogg (Gala) was 7th in 8.16 and Kazya Stevens kept on well for 9th in 8.30.
The league title was beyond the U15 Boys who went into this 3rd leg lying 3rd team overall but well behind the runaway leaders Edinburgh AC. However Fife AC were only 8 points ahead in 2nd place so were within reach if each of the 3 counters could improve 3 places against their Fife opposition. And so it proved with the Team Borders U15 Boys winning the team competition on the day with very strong runs from Jack Stanners (Moorfoot/Selkirk) 4th over the 4km course in 14.48, Kobe Stevens (Moorfoot) having his most impressive run of the season in 5th in 14.54 and Nathan Cox (Gala) 9th in 15.07.
The combined U17/U15 girls team also faired well with an improved 2nd place on the day courtesy of Gala trio Kerri Sandilands (13th in 16.51), Lucy Henderson (14th in 16.57) and Becci Couch (16th in 17.04), however this just failed to lift them to an overall podium place.
And so to the final nail-biter for Team Borders, the U17 Men’s race over 6km. With an ankle injury and illness restricting the recent training of the team’s two strongest runners thus far, Adam Craig (TLJT) and John McLean (Moorfoot/Selkirk), the odds on them retaining their one-point margin over Edinburgh AC looked to be lengthening. But a strapped-up Adam beat the pain barrier to produce another strong run for 2nd in 21.01 and John belied the odds to come home 5th in 21.31. Sandwiched between them was Jacob Adkin (Moorfoot) who produced the run of his life to finish 4th in 21.23, clinching a 9 point winning margin on the day over Edinburgh and securing the G.K. Aithie Shield and a third League title for Team Borders.
Moorfoot coach Gregor Nicholson was at pains to point out though that other Team Borders runners played their part too. “Whilst the first three Team Borders runners in each race scored the points for the team, the contribution made by everyone who ran should not be underestimated. Even if they are not a team counter, they can push back counting runners from other teams by finishing as high as they can and that certainly proved to be the case in several of the age-groups at Broxburn.”
Other finishers for Team Borders were:
U11 Boys – 30th Joe Brown (Gala), 32nd Mark Purves (Gala), 48th Max Logan (Gala).
U11 Girls –17th Riannon Fagan (Gala), 18th Christie Rout (Gala),
U13 Boys – 36th David Collins (Moorfoot)
U13 Girls – 20th Ailsa Innes (Moorfoot), 23rd Katie Brown (Gala)
U15 Boys – 11th Paul Henney (Gala), 21st Ruairidh Britton (Moorfoot)
U15/U17 Girls – 18th Sophie Collins (Moorfoot U17),28th Niamh Shaw (Moorfoot, U15)
U17 Men – 8th Rowan Marr (Gala), 12th Lucas Cheskin (Moorfoot), 16th Fraser Wardhaugh (Gala)
In the U17 Women’s race Louise Mercer, representing Teviotdale Harriers, finished 5th and Scout Adkin (Moorfoot) was an encouraging 13th home in the combined Senior/U20 Women’s race and 3rd U20 Woman.
“This combined Borders team from three of the four formal clubs in the region – Gala Harriers, Moorfoot Runners and TLJT – puts us on a more level footing with the big clubs in the East of Scotland, the likes of Edinburgh, Fife, Central and Aberdeen, yet it still leaves us with a considerably smaller population catchment area than these clubs, and less than a quarter of the population of Edinburgh. When you factor in that Teviotdale Harriers opted to retain their independent club status in the East League and that there are a host of young runners on the Borders Games circuit who are not members of the 3 participating clubs, to come away from our first season as Team Borders with 3 of the 8 age-group trophies for the East league is fantastic. It is a credit to all the coaches involved and demonstrates that the Borders is punching way above our weight in cross-country running in Scotland.”
In addition to the superb results attained by the junior Team Borders, Gala’s senior men and women were determined not to be outdone.
Over the 3.5 mile senior women’s course, Dianne Lauder powered her way through the field to finish in 4th place, with fellow team mates Rachel Fagan, Gillian Duncan and Fiona Shepherd having great runs to ensure not only 5th place on the day but a sensational 3rd place and bronze medal overall after the 3 rounds. This matched their placing last year and with fierce competition from big city clubs and those with larger memberships, this was a fantastic result for the ladies and evidenced all the hard winter training and teamwork which has contributed towards it.
Again, not to be outshone, some strategic team selection over the cross country season meant that the veteran men (40+) were lying in a good place going into this, the third and final round. Although final times and individual names and positions are not yet confirmed, the vets finished in 4th place on the day but this was enough to nudge them into the bronze medal position to match the ladies – a wonderful achievement. Last year they were 10th so this represented a really impressive improvement. Their slightly younger counterparts, the senior men did well to capture 7th place on the day, which gave them 8th overall, again moving up the leader board from last year, which saw them a consistent 11th, both on the day and overall.
All results are awaited from the ScottishAthletics website.
