Junior Hill League on the up with entries rising again
Seven ever-present athletes from our Junior Hill League (see names at foot of story)
By Phil Mestecky
The 2026 Scottish Junior Hill Running League season came to an exciting climax at Suidhe Hill in Kincraig near Aviemore on Saturday.
In the U14 Girls championship, Rowan Johnston has been dominant in this year’s league with four wins and a second place.
A confident run from the Gala Harriers athlete at Suidhe Hill saw her take the maximum points and secure the league title from Annie Arnott of Central AC.
For the boys, with Harris Turnbull of Strathearn opting to race the Applecross Duathlon instead, the door opened for Harry Lever of Aberdeen to take the league title with a fine race win on Saturday.
Harris held on to the runners-up slot with Rio Biddlecombe of Shettleston third on the day and therefore third place in the league.
In the U16s, Ella Hunter of Central AC had a comfortable win at Suidhe and that was enough to confirm her as the Girls champion with Florence Skinner of Garscube second.
Yuen Shan Lam needed to win or come second on Saturday to take the title. However, the Harmeny athlete was fighting off a heavy cold and could only finish third on the day.
That gave Lasswade’s Francis Ovani-Finnegan the chance to claim the league title with a welcome return to form for the race win and maximum league points. Yuen Shan had to settle for second place in the league by just a single point!
In the U18s, with their key rivals for the titles not being able to run at Suidhe Hill on Saturday, both Ben Hodson of Stewartry AC and Lucia Connell of Strathearn Harriers had already done enough in previous league races to hold on to their top spots.
Two wins (Dumyat and Cademuir) and second place at Broughton meant Lucia ended up on 80 points with Anna Meek of Inverness just one point behind and Bella Moran of Moorfoot a point further back after picking up the maximum at Suidhe.
Ben has won all four races that he took part in this year, but needed help from Jack Foley to claim the title. By winning on Saturday, Jack deprived Blair Beverley of Law and District of the maximum points he needed to overhaul Ben for the title. However, Blair was able to confirm his excellent second place in the league.
The U20s League was settled after the Cademuir Rollercoaster in August with Harmeny’s Kieran Hardie and Emily Atkinson of Haddington Running Club taking their respective titles.
Scottish Athletics Junior Hill Running League winners and runners-up 2026
U14 Girls
Winner: Rowan Johnston, Gala Harriers. Runner-up:
U14 Boys
Winner: Harry Lever, Aberdeen AC; Runner-up: Harris Turnbull, Strathearn Harriers
U16 Girls
Winner: Ella Hunter, Central AC; Runner-up: Florence Skinner, Garscube AC
U16 Boys
Winner: Francis Ovani-Finnegan, Lasswade AC; Runner-up: Yuen Sham Lam, Harmeny AC
U18 Women
Winner: Lucia Connell, Strathearn Harriers; Runner-up: Anna Meek, Inverness Harriers
U18 Men
Winner: Ben Hodson, Stewartry AC; Runner-up: Blair Beverley, Law and District AC
U20 Women
Emily Atkinson, Haddington Running Club; Runner-up: Hania Czebreszuk, Aberdeen AC
U20 Men
Winner: Kieran Hardie, Harmeny AC; Runner-up: Lachlan Thomas, Ross County AC
However, even more important than who won what is how well supported the league is these days!
This year, we saw a record number of 77 athletes travelling the length and breadth of the country on the quest for league points and their memento for completing the series.
Thanks to all athletes and especially their parents for their support and commitment.
There were also seven ever-present athletes that managed to get to all seven of the league races on offer:
Andrew Grant (U20), Strathearn Harriers; Blair Beverley (U18), Law and District AC; Angus McCarthy (U16), Gala Harriers; Austin Denny (U16), Harmeny AC; Euan Grant-Pantrey (U16), Shettleston; Annie Arnott (U14), Central AC; Rio Biddlecombe (U14), Shettleston
Photos by Neil Renton
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