Historic wins and fierce competition on first weekend of the Lindsays Cross Country Season
Photo: Bobby Gavin
The Lindsays Cross Country Season was back with a bang this weekend as clubs battled it out across three venues for the Lindsays District XC Relay Championships.
Within each district, medals were up for grabs across our three categories; young athletes, senior and masters.
It was great to see a number of clubs come through to take their first podium or title in a number of years or in some cases ever, showing the strength and depth of cross country racing across Scotland.
Congratulations to everyone who took part and thanks to clubs and coaches for supporting the events with big turnouts at each location.
Further thanks are extended to all volunteers and Officials, and in particular our three host clubs; Kilmarnock Harriers in the West, Lothian RC in the East and Inverness Harriers in the North.
Please note results are provisional at this stage, and we are aware with issues in the publishing of the East results.
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East
In Livingston, Falkirk Victoria Harriers made headlines by taking the Senior Male title for the first time in over 40 years (50:23), and their first podium since the 2000-01 season .
After a solid opening leg from Luke Culliton, a rapid second leg from Kane Elliott saw them move up from 9th to 2nd place prior to the next changeover.
A solid split from Keiran Reilly saw them maintain their position throughout the 3rd leg before Ben Macmillan finished the job pushing through on the final leg to take their first win since 1984.
Photo: Neil Renton
Corstorphine AAC finished just ten seconds back for silver, with Central AC coming through to take third on the final leg. Corstorphine also took the masters title for the third year in a row.
The fastest lap was set by Lasswade AC‘s Christian Graham (11:54), the only runner to dip under the 12 minute mark.
There was also a shift in the podium in the women’s event, with Edinburgh AC taking their first title since 2000 and first podium in three years (42:58).
Their team Nancy Scott, Kirsty Walker and Beth Ansell led from the off, putting in a big gap to the rest of the field at the beginning of the race and finishing clear of second placed Carnethy Hill RC who were closing on the final lap.
Lasswade AC were just behind for third, with a fastest lap (13:36) from Freya Brown enough to move them clear of the rest of the field. Edinburgh did the double by also taking the masters title.
Aberdeen AAC took the win in both junior events.
The Young Females were up first with some stiff competition amongst clubs. Gala Harriers took the silver in that event for their first ever medal in this particular race. Edinburgh AC came through on the final leg to take the bronze.
In the Young Males, solid legs from all athletes saw Dunfermline Track & Field Club move clear of the rest of the field to finish 2nd, with Lasswade AC also consistent at the front of the race to claim 3rd.
Photo: Neil Renton
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North
With thanks to Charles Bannerman
At Bught Park in Inverness, Inverness Harriers had a clean sweep of all four young athletes and senior events, and by healthy margins, on home ground.
Luke Davidson posted the fastest lap of 12:42 with support from Ruairidh Stirling, Andrew Baird and Jack Ross to take the men’s title in 53:21, three and a half minutes clear of Highland Hill Runners who just pipped Moray Road Runners for silver.
The Hill Runners also took the male masters title.
Helen Leigh anchored the Inverness women’s team (46:48) to victory following opening runs from Katie Wilson and Catriona Fraser.
Leigh’s 15:16 was the fastest lap by one second from Gemma Waterston of Moray Road Runners who finished second, almost three minutes behind the winners.
Highland Hill Runners took third, with Forres Harriers taking the win in the masters competition.
In the Young Males event, it was a clean sweep of all three medals for Inverness (25:41 winning time), with them also claiming 1st (28:13) and 2nd in the Young Females race. Peterhead AC claimed the bronze in that race.
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West
In Kilmarnock, there was no change to the top of the podium for the Senior Men, with Cambuslang Harriers taking the win for the third year in a row (45:04).
The team of Jamie Mackinnon, Fraser Stewart, Gavin Smith and Cameron Smith was enough to see them hold off a charging Inverclyde AC who closed the gap to 14 seconds for silver, thanks to the fastest lap of the day (10: 42) from Ben Portykus on the final leg.
Inverclyde finished over a minute clear of Shettleston Harriers in third place, with Bellahouston Road Runners taking the masters title.
In the Women’s race, Shettleston prevented a Cambuslang double by taking their first title since 2023 (38:19).
Their team of Aoife Carr, Lynn McKenna and Fionnuala Ross set three of the four fastest laps, taking them well clear of second placed Cambuslang who finished over two and a half minutes later.
Glasgow University Hares and Hounds finished in third, with Kilmarnock Harriers taking the masters title for the first time.
The Young Males, Giffnock North AC made it a 9th title in a row (24:14), with Kilmarnock and Law and District AAC taking 2nd and 3rd respectively.
However, there was a change of the guard in the Young Females race, with Law & District winning their first title (26:31).
They finished 30 seconds clear of Ayr Seaforth AC who took silver ahead of Giffnock AC in the bronze position.
Photo: Bobby Gavin
Tags: Lindsays Cross Country Season
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