Champions are crowned in our Junior Hill League

Saturday 30th September 2023

Our Junior Hill League U20 champions, Isla Paterson and Harris Pagett (photos by Phil Mestecky)

SA Junior Hill League 2023 – Final

Cioch Mhor near Dingwall was the venue for the final Scottish Athletics Junior Hill Running League for 2023.

A fifth league win for Lasswade’s Rowan Taylor, out of the seven races he entered this year, cemented a well-deserved U17M league title for him.

Alastair McLean’s second place on the day, just four seconds adrift of Rowan, secured third place in the league for the Ayr Seaforth athlete and gave him a full set of finishes in the eight league races – the only athlete to achieve that this year.

Katie Meek’s win for Inverness Harriers in the U17W category pulled her up into second place overall in the league standings, overtaking Gala’s Ava Richardson by just two points!

In the U15 Girls race, Katie’s sister, Anna, scooped the maximum 25 points giving her a third place finish in the league with club-mate, Rosie Conroy second on the day.

Overall, the league has been very successful, with the highest ever number of athletes completing the series representing 19 different clubs and four of the races attracting well over 50 junior athletes.

The 2023 League Winners and Runners-up, who all received trophies and prizes, were:

U15G
Winner: Anna Elizabeth Ross (VP-Glasgow)
Runner-up: Holly Simpson (Giffnock)

U15B
Winner: Joel Gillan (Central)
Runner-up: Ethan Scobie (Giffnock)

U17W
Winner: Kirsty Rankine (Gala)
Runner-up: Katie Meek (Inverness)

U17M
Winner: Rowan Taylor (Lasswade)
Runner-up: Struan Gatherer (Perth Strathtay)

U20W
Winner: Isla Paterson (Gala)
Runner-up: Rachel Giffen (Springburn)

U20M
Winner: Harris Pagett (Strathearn)
Runner-up: Irvine Welsh (Gala)

Congratulations to all who completed the league this year and especially to our winners and runners-up.

Thanks to all the race organisers and their teams of helpers for a brilliant set of races this year and for giving these young hill runners such a fantastic opportunity to take part in our sport.

With thanks to Phil Mestecky

Junior Hill League champions – above our U17 Winners, Rowan Taylor and Kirsty Rankine and below our U15 Winners, Joel Gillan and Anna Elizabeth Ross