Scottish Schools Cross Country Championships – Irvine – 9 March

Silver Medallists Lewis, Bruce, Gregor, Jake

Juniors Bring Silver Medal Success for Academy

Hermitage Academy pupils secured one set of Team medals, came close to another and produced a host of outstanding individual performances at the Scottish Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships held at a cold and blustery Beach Park in Irvine.

Competition was tough, with the Hermitage squad joining almost 700 other athletes from across Scotland. The small, medium and large loops making up the various distances were also tough in the windy conditions and with each incorporating a few testing hills, although this was happily countered by generally firm underfoot conditions.

Hermitage’s medals came in the Under 14 Boys race, contested by a field of almost a hundred and racing over a distance of 3000 metres. Gregor Chambers and Lewis Campbell were always to the fore for the Academy, Gregor eventually clinching a top twenty place, 19th in 12 mins 44 secs. Lewis finished strongly just four places behind in 12:55. With four to count for the team score eyes were peeled for the rest of the squad and they duly delivered. Bruce Cromar was next home, 37th in 13:15. Jake Gumbrell completed the scoring team, four places and nine seconds behind, and was followed by Liam Kavanagh in 51st, Raymond Slaughter in 84th and Euan Mair in 92nd. A team score of 119 points gave the Academy the Silver medals behind Gryffe High School.

The opening race had seen the day’s largest field, 128 runners, line up for the Under 14 Girls race over 2400 metres. Mhairi Cromar and Kara Bruce led the charge for the Academy, Mhairi taking 17th place in 11:53 with Kara close behind in 22nd with 12:04. Chloe Murphy ran a solid race to finish 43rd in 12:40. Lydia Porter Smith agreed to run as a last-minute substitute so as to complete a scoring team and bravely completed the race in 122nd. To the credit of all of them their total of 204 points placed them fifth, but only 12 points away from the Bronze medal score of Inverness Royal Academy.

Hermitage’s highest individual position came in the Girls 14 – 15 race over 3000 metres. Competing against well over a hundred other girls Melissa Robinson produced the race of her life and was delighted to finish 15th in 13:11. Maddie Joseph finished in 75th while credit goes to Amy Dobrijevich, pitched into this level of competition for the first time, bravely finishing in 105th.

It was left to Megan Robertson and Caitlin McAllister to complete the Academy squad, contesting the Girls 15 – 17 race over 4000 metres. A field of almost a hundred lined up with Megan eventually finishing 46th in 19:09 and Caitlin in 63rd position.

National U14 Indoor Championships – 3 March

We said a few weeks ago that if Emma Scott continued to excel at the brand new Emirates Indoor Athletics Arena we’d have to rename it the Emmarates Arena.

Well, the talented Junior has fulfilled her indoor season promise in outstanding style. The twelve year old set no fewer than five Personal Best (PB) performances in one day and gained an individual Silver Medal at the Under 14 National Indoor Championships. Along with athletes drawn from all over Scotland the event attracted some quality competitors from Ireland and the North of England

In her opening heat of the 60 metres Emma stormed to third place and a new PB of 8.88 secs (was 8.95) to progress to the semi-final. Here she again lowered her PB, this time to 8.77, but finishing fourth she narrowly failed to make it through to the final.

In the Long Jump, Emma carried on where she’d left off in the sprints. With her opening jump she took her PB from 4.29 metres up to 4.34 and finished Round 1 in second place of the 30 competing athletes.

In Round 2 she again improved her PB, this time to 4.36 to remain in second place as Irish athlete Ciara Deely from Kilkenny produced what would be the eventual Gold medal jump of 4.79. Despite a foul in Round 3 Emma remained in second place and thus qualified for a further three jumps as one of the best six athletes.

A further foul in Round 4 saw no change in Emma’s position but another Irish athlete moved into second place in Round 5 with a 4.39 jump. As the final jumper in the final round, Emma had a Bronze Medal in her grasp but, not satisfied with that, she soared out to yet another PB, 4.65, to reclaim the Silver.

Emma’s remarkable day concluded with one final jump – on to the podium to collect that richly-deserved medal. Her exploits consolidated her position at the top of the Scottish Under 13 rankings for the year for both these events but more importantly have moved her to number one in the UK for the Long Jump, holding out the promise of many more podium appearances to come.

National Cross Country Championships – 23 February

A sun-drenched afternoon is not your usual cross-country experience but the grassy and muddy undulating courses were certainly familiar as the National Championships returned to Callendar Park in Falkirk for the climax of the Cross Country season.

Our Juniors were well-represented in what was the largest entry field for some 16 years.

Mhairi

Our Under 13 Girls Squad continued the excellent form they’ve shown over the winter. Silver medallists in the County Championships they went on to place fourth in the West Districts. Lining up at Falkirk with the cream of Scotland’s young talent, and with four to count in the scoring team against three at County and District level, they did the Cub proud in taking seventh place of the 18 Clubs who had mustered a scoring four.

As she’s done all season, Mhairi Cromar, individual Silver medallist at County level, lead the team home. Racing over an undulating two mile loop, firm in places, boggy in others, she clocked 15:16 to take an excellent 21st place in the 127-strong field. Kara Bruce, Bronze County medallist, was next home for the Burgh, placing 35th in a time of 15:47. Completing the scoring team, Maddy Joseph and Chloe Murphy battled each other to finish just two places and two seconds apart, 60th and 62nd respectively in 16:28 and 16:30.

Gregor

Under 13 Boys contested the same two mile loop, with a similar-sized field of 130 runners. The Burgh boys packed well and their leading three finished within a few seconds of each other. Gregor Chambers showed he’s returning to form after a bout of chickenpox floored him for the early part of the season. He was first home for the Burgh, in 34th place with a time of 14:09. Just two places and two seconds behind, with another fine run and a further year to go in this age-group, was Michael Miller, closely followed in 40th place by Lewis Campbell (14:17). The squad was completed by Bruce Cromar, 82nd in 15:21 and Ewan Mair, 125th in 18:23 to claim 10th place of the 19 Clubs.

Morag boldly leading the U15 Girls

Morag Paterson’s form in the District Championships, where she was 8th, had earned her selection for the Inter-District match in Edinburgh in January and she consolidated her position as a first-year Under 15. Running the large loop of the park measuring four kilometres her time of 17:09 brought her home in 23rd place of the 93 finishers. Excellent backing from the rest of the team gave the girls 6th place of 10 complete teams in the age-group. Melissa Robinson, another first-year, produced another fine run to finish 31st in 17:27 with Megan Robertson 61st in 18:48 and Caitlin McAllister 83rd in 20:51.

It was left to Fin Richie to round off the afternoon for the Burgh Juniors. Still a first-year, he lined up against 78 others in the highly competitive Under 17 Men’s Age-Group. After a daunting two medium laps for a total of 4 miles he placed 70th in a time of 29:58.

Renfrewshire Road Races – 3 February

Battered at Battery Park

Our juniors crossed the water to Greenock to take part as guests in the Renfrewshire Road Race Championships. Battery Park in Greenock was taking a battering from near gale force winds and so running conditions were very difficult.

Under 11 Boys got the racing under way with Cameron Cromar the first of no less than five of the family taking part on the day. Cameron finished 21st in a time of 7 mins 45 secs for the one mile extended circuit of the park.

Sorcha, Charlie, Courtney and Charlotte

Charlotte Caskie was always prominent amongst the 41 Under 11 Girls racing over the same loop. Her sixth place was best for the Burgh Juniors on the day, clocking 7:08. Charlie Bridges, 11th in 7:20, Sorcha Hicks, 12th in 7:29 and Courtney Sutherland, 16th in 7:36, all showed great promise for a Burgh squad that would have placed third had they been eligible for team awards.

Three Hermitage Primary kids also took part in their first-ever races. Katy McGillivray placed an excellent 20th in 7:46 while twin brother Calum clocked 8:06 and Tavish Hicks 9:48 despite twisting his ankle.

Under 13s and Under 15s negotiated two and a half loops of the park for their two mile races. Melissa Robinson was the squad’s sole competitor at U15, placing 8th of the 18 girls in 12:45.

Jake, Bruce, Michael, Gregor and Ewan

The strong competition was most evident in the U13 Boys race, won again by Ryan Gray, of host club Inverclyde AC. The District and National Cross-Country champion clocked 10:45 to retain his County road title. For the Burgh, Michael Miller and Gregor Chambers raced to top ten finishes, Michael 8th in 12:14 with Gregor a couple of places behind in 12:38, just holding off a challenge from Bruce Cromar who finished one place and two seconds behind. Jake Gumbrell clocked 12:50 for 15th place and Ewan Mair 14:54 for 25th.

Mhairi finishing

Mhairi Cromar again led the Burgh U13 girls home, clocking 13 minutes exactly for 11th place. Kara Bruce was 20th in 13:49 while Chloe Murphy battled both the wind and severe stitch to keep going and finish 31st in 15:15.

The day’s racing was rounded off by the Senior 5 mile Championship. The out-and-back course from the park and along the esplanade was a battle into the wind on the return half, with parents Michelle Hetherington and Campbell and Erica Cromar all taking part. Michelle placed sixth overall of the 42 women and second in the Over 40 age-category with her time of 32:24. Erica clocked 37:12 to finish 25th. The Mens field numbered almost one hundred with Campbell clocking 33:42 to finish 60th.

National Indoor Open – 19 January

60m PB for Emma

Sprinter Emma Scott is clearly relishing the brand new Emirates Arena in Glasgow. A week after excelling for the Club in the League match there she returned for the National Indoor Open Meeting and set a new Personal Best in the 60 metres.

She’d lowered her PB to 9.08 secs the previous week but the National Open offered a higher level of competition. Emma seized the opportunity, slicing over a tenth of a second from her best and comfortably breaking the nine second mark with a time of 8.95 secs.

The talented twelve year old also contested her other favoured event, the Long Jump. Her best jump on the day was 4.22 metres, her second best ever and just 7 cm short of her PB.

Although the season is young yet, Emma can be proud to be sitting at the top of her age-group ranking in Scotland for both these events.

Emma is now looking forward to her third visit to the Emirates Arena when she will contest both events in the National Under 14 Championships. Success there and we’ll be renaming it the Emmarates Arena.

Indoor League – 13 January

Ewan and Emma Excel at the Emirates

Hamish, Erica and Morag

Our Juniors were thrilled to take part in the first Indoor League meeting held at the brand new Emirates Arena in Glasgow. 42 Burgh athletes competed in the state-of-the-art facility alongside over 500 others representing clubs from across Central Scotland.

Best performances for the Burgh came from Under 13 Girl Emma Scott and Under 13 Boy Ewan Robb, who both won their respective Long Jump events with an identical distance – 4.12 metres.

Emma's Dip Finish

The pair also enjoyed success in the 60 metres sprint. Emma clocked 9.08 secs to claim second place of the 30 girls competing while Ewan’s 8.98 placed him equal second of the 29 boys.

Amy Court also claimed a second place, jumping 1.64 metres to finish runner-up from the 19 competitors in the Under 11 Girls Standing Long Jump.

28 teams competed in the Under 15 Girls age-group where Alex Burns took third place in the Long Jump with 4.35 metres. Best Middle Distance result for the Burgh came in the same age-group, Morag Paterson running a new 800 metres Personal Best time of 2 mins 32.3 secs to finish fifth.

A number of Britain’s Olympic athletics heroes will grace the same track on Saturday when the 5,000 seat arena hosts its first world class meeting. The Aviva Indoor International will see a GB squad go head-to-head with the USA, Russia, Germany, and a Commonwealth Select.

Inter-District Cross Country – Holyrood Park – 5 January

Morag

Morag Paterson, Mhairi Cromar and Kara Bruce, shared the stage with a host of Olympic and World Champions at the weekend. They were selected to represent the West District in the Scottish Inter District Cross Country races which surrounded the televised International events in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh.

All three qualified to represent West District versus the East and the North after good finishes in the West District Championships last December. Morag and Mhairi had gained automatic selection, finishing eighth and twelfth in their respective races, while Kara had finished agonisingly one place outside the fifteen automatic slots. However, that disappointment turned to delight when she was called up from the reserve list.

Mhairi Finishing

Mhairi and Kara lined up with another 36 Under 13 Girls for their race – three laps of the small, 1 kilometre loop round the Park. Mhairi clocked 13 mins 5 secs to finish 20th in the highly competitive field and was ninth finisher for the victorious West team. Kara justified her late call up with 31st place in 13:31.

An identical number of Under 15 Girls lined up for their race, this time comprising four loops of the park. After settling in well on the opening laps Morag unfortunately pulled a back muscle just after half way but bravely carried on to finish 32nd in a time of 18:07.

Following in the girls’ footsteps, Ethiopian Genzeze Dibaba won the invitation women’s 3km race ahead of Olympic 5,000m champion Meserat Defar, also of Ethiopia.

Kara

All three Burgh athletes relished the atmosphere surrounding the event – the growing crowds attracted by the International races; the huge screen and TV gantries all round the course. Having had a taste of the big-time they will aim to repeat the experience next year and will inspire their clubmates to strive to join them.

West District Cross Country Championships – Inverkip – 8 December

Ardgowan Estate at Inverkip in Renfrewshire provided some traditional pasture land for the West District Cross Country Championships. Athletes however had to contend with a quagmire on those sections of the course where the frost had come out of the ground and rock hard, pitted sections where it hadn’t.

After their recent successes in the County Championships, our Juniors were stepping up a level but cemented their standings with an excellent fourth place for the Under 13 Girls, fifth for the Under 15 Girls and seventh for the Under 13 Boys against the best of the West.

Katherin minus a shoe

A field of 77 Under 13 girls got proceedings underway, tackling the largely flat trail of two miles. Individual medallists at the County Champs, Mhairi Cromar, Silver, and Kara Bruce, Bronze, again lead the way for the Burgh. Mhairi’s strong running carried her to 12th place in a time of 12 mins 49 secs while Kara’s dogged pursuit saw her finish four places behind in 13:04. Katherin Slaughter meanwhile had lost a shoe in an early boggy section of the trail and thus also lost the momentum that would have surely seen her finish higher up. Her determination saw her finish in 13:23 to complete the Burgh scoring trio with 22nd position, just five places ahead of Emma Scott who clocked 13:38.

Lewis Campbell was again best of the Burgh boys, finishing 22nd of the 70 in the Under 13 Boys race over the same two mile loop with his time of 12:04. Just three places and six seconds behind, Michael Miller again underlined his potential in this his first year in the age-group. Bruce Cromar completed the Burgh scoring team in 42nd place (12:53) and the squad was completed by Raymond Slaughter, 61st in 13:54.

Morag

An outstanding run from Morag Paterson secured the Burgh’s best individual position of the day. Lined up with 59 others to contest the Under 15 Girls race over an extended loop of two and a half miles she stormed through the field in the second half of the race to finish eighth overall in 18:04. Another fine run from Melissa Robinson saw her take 19th place in 18:36. Megan Robertson’s 33rd place in 19:33 completed the scoring team with useful backing from Caitlin McAllister, 46th in 21:22.

The Burgh’s sole representative amongst the 35 boys lined up for the Under 17 race faced a daunting two lap course covering four miles. As a first year in the age-group and thus racing this distance for the first time, Fin Richie stuck to the task, clocking 26:12 for 30th place.

Dunbartonshire County Cross Country Championships – Maryhill – 24 November

Our Juniors continued their recent medal-winning form at the Dunbartonshire County Cross-Country Championships. After a mudlark in Maryhill Park the kids returned with an impressive medal tally of four individual medals and three sets of team awards.

All of the Junior races were over the same hilly, muddy, boggy one mile loop, tackled once by the Under 11s, twice by the Under 13s and three times by the Under 15s.

The opening race, for Under 11s, saw a total of 55 boys and girls set off. Charlotte Caskie got the afternoon off to a great start for the Burgh squad, clinching the Silver medal with her time of 6 mins 51 secs. Sorcha Hicks was 7th of the 25 girls competing with a time of 7:10. Charlie Bridges (7:37) and Courtney Sutherland (7:41) finished in 10th and 11th. With three to count for the team score the Burgh’s total of 19 points was matched by Victoria Park City of Glasgow but the Burgh girls were awarded the Gold medals on countback.

In the best family tradition, Cameron Cromar produced a fine run in 6:57 to finish 7th of the 30 boys with Cole Murray 25th in 7:59.

Facing a daunting two laps of the course, 30 boys and 27 girls lined up for the Under 13s race. Mhairi Cromar claimed the Burgh’s second Silver medal with a time of 13:57 and was followed home by Kara Bruce who took the Bronze in 14:13. An anxious wait for the third counter was ended when Chloe Murphy’s 15:42 brought her home in ninth, with Jessica Noble (15:57) two places behind. A team total of 14 points earned the girls the team Silver awards.

Not to be outdone, the Burgh boys also claimed Silver. Michael Miller led the charge for the boys, taking 5th place in 13:06, immediately followed by Bruce Cromar (13:16). Liam Kavanagh completed the scoring trio in 12th (14:09). Raymond Slaughter (15:41) and Ewan Mair (17:35), 12th and 27th, completed a strong Burgh quintet.

Melissa Robinson and Morag Paterson faced a gruelling three laps of the by now well churned up trail alongside 19 other Under 15 girls. Melissa proved the stronger of the two on the day and claimed the Burgh’s fourth individual medal finishing third in 22:08 with Morag 9th in 24:02.

At the end of a very successful afternoon a delighted squad looked forward to swopping the mud bath of Maryhill for a hot bath at home.

Indoor League – 18th November

Our Juniors gladly took some relief from the rigours of winter training and cross country racing to enjoy some indoor competition at the opening match of the Scottish Athletics Indoor League at Kelvin Hall Indoor Sports Arena. The Olympic effect was very much in evidence as a record number of teams from across central Scotland took part resulting in a two hour over-run of the programme.

The Burgh’s recent intake of Under 11s, competing for the very first time, were a great credit to Coaches Elaine Hamilton and Bev Murphy who have only had the kids for a number of weeks. By completion of the competition the Under 11 Boys had placed 8th of 14 teams while the Under 11 Girls placed 14th from 19. Pride of place went to Amy Court, equal first Girl in the Standing Long Jump with 1.90 metres. For the boys, Cameron Cromar placed 4th with 1.62 with Drew McCann 6th with 1.52. Hamish Paterson also took a 6th, clocking 10.17 secs for the 60 metres.

Other U11 results: 60 metres – Katie Flett, 11.01, Amber Harvey, 11.39, Cameron Cromar, 10.61; 600 metres – Amy Court, 2:31.8, Hamish Paterson, 2:16.9, Drew McCann, 2:26.3; SLJ – Amber Harvey, 1.38.

Best performances for the Under 13 Boys came from Ewan Robb. Third place in the Long Jump (3.78) and 6th in the 60 metres (9.14) were significant contributions to the Burgh “A” team’s position of 11th of 29 teams. Finlay Hyde placed 4th in the Shot Put with 4.73 metres.

Emma Scott excelled for the Under 13 Girls, finishing 2nd in the Long Jump (3.89) and 3rd in the 60 metres (9.21). Good points also came from Abbie Murray, 2nd in the Shot Put with 6.42 helping the “A” team to 10th place in the largest age-group of the day with 30 teams.

Other Under 13 results: 60 metres – Rachael McAuley, 9.94, Holly McPhail, 10.91, Ben Davis, 10.19, Finlay Hyde, 10.53; 200 metres – Abbie Murray, 35.0, Iona Stewart, 37.8, Jake Gumbrell, 33.1, Finlay Hyde, 35.5; 800 metres – Charlotte Caskie, 2:59.7, Jessica Noble, 3:01.2, Charlie Bridges, 3:04.4, Michael Miller, 2:45.3, Jake Gumbrell, 2:49.2, Liam Kavanagh, 2:54.1; Long Jump – Rachael McAuley, 3.27, Charlie Bridges, 2.52, Jake Gumbrell, 3.20, Liam Kavanagh, 2.61; Shot Put – Jennifer McBride, 4.60, Michael Miller, 3.36.

In the Under 15 Girls 28 teams competed with the Burgh “A” team finishing joint 9th. Alex Burns and Katie MacGregor both claimed 3rd places, Alex with a 4.37 Long Jump and Katie with a 7.15 Shot Put.

Other Under 15 Girls results: 60 metres – Alex Burns, 8.91, Katherin Slaughter, 9.30, Shona Donald, 9.51; 200 metres – Shona Donald, 32.1, Maddie Joseph, 33.5, Kara Bruce, 36.2; 300 metres – Katherin Slaughter, 50.5, Melissa Robinson, 52.3, Maddie Joseph, 53.2; 800 metres – Morag Paterson, 2:49.4, Mhairi Cromar, 2:49.9, Kara Bruce, 2:56.8; 60 metres Hurdles – Melissa Robinson, 12.33; Long Jump – Mhairi Cromar, 3.08, Katherin Slaughter, 3.08; High Jump – Kirsty Scott, 1.30, Melissa Robinson, 1.15; Shot Put – Kara Bruce, 3.79.

Scoring consistently across the events, the Burgh Boys “A” team finished 16th of 26 teams. Results: 60 metres – Raymond Slaughter, 8.88, Ewan Mair, 11.12; 200 metres – Raymond Slaughter, 29.6; 800 metres – Gregor Chambers, 2:47.2, Bruce Cromar, 2:49.1; Long Jump – Gregor Chambers, 3.54, Bruce Cromar, 3.05; Shot Put, Raymond Slaughter, 6.29, Ewan Mair, 4.11

Pick of the performances for the Under 17 Men, helping them to 9th place of 21 teams, was Fin Richie’s 5th place in the 800 metres with 2 mins 19.2 secs. Meanwhile the Burgh’s Under 17 Women took 12th spot from 21 teams with Megan Robertson 4th in the Shot Put with 6.80 metres.

Other Under 17 results: 60 metres – Laura Jackson, 9.61, Aidan Sutherland, 8.01; 200 metres – Laura Jackson, 32.7, Calum Stewart, 27.5; 300 metres – Megan Robertson, 48.9, Caitlin McAllister, 55.5; 400 metres – Fin Richie, 60.7; 800 metres – Megan Robertson, 2:41.2, Caitlin McAllister, 2:55.9; Long Jump – Laura Jackson, 3.07, Calum Stewart, 4.55; Shot Put – Calum Stewart, 7.18.

All in all, a very encouraging start to the Indoor League for all the Burgh teams as the athletes look forward to a further two matches over the winter.

Awards Night

The double Paralympian from Beijing (2008) and London (2012) and British Number 1 wheelchair tennis player, Gordon Reid, was guest of honour at our  Junior Presentation night.

Introducing Gordon, Lead Coach Chris Colmer expressed the club’s delight that he had been able to make room in his hectic touring and competition schedule to come along and make the presentations.

The evening kicked off with awards for the Club Championships held at the end of the summer. The format is multi-discipline where competitors must do one sprint event, one middle distance, one jump and one throw. Times and distances are then weighed against respective scoring tables to provide points for each event with the highest total points scorers declared the winners.

The Under 11 Champions were Abbie Murray and Ewan Robb. Second and third-placed for the girls were Rachel McAuley and Charlotte Caskie and for the boys, Angus McNeill and Kerr Robertson.

Last year’s Under 11 Champion, Emma Scott, claimed the Under 13 title in her first year in the age-group, ahead of Maddie Joseph and Mhairi Cromar. Under 13 boys Champion was Liam Kavanagh with Raymond Slaughter and Gregor Chambers in second and third.

Megan Robertson repeated last year’s success as Under 15 girls champion, ahead of Katie MacGregor and Alex Burns. Jake Sutherland won the title for Under 15 boys.

The Championship presentations were rounded off by Fin Richie claiming the Under 17 boys title.

The presentations then moved on to a number of other awards determined by the Club Coaches.

The Stevenson Shield is presented to the club athlete who has produced the best performance in the Jumping events.  There was little doubt about who should receive this trophy this year. A terrific Long Jump of 4.29 metres at a League match in Wishaw in August placed Emma Scott as high as sixth in the Scottish Under 13 rankings for the event.

The Sloan Trophy is awarded to the club junior with the best overall performance in Throwing events.  Our thrower of the year also made it into the Power of 10 rankings – rated 14th Under 15 in Scotland for the Discus with a throw of 21.21 metres. Demonstrating her all-round ability in a season where injury has curtailed her sprinting, the Sloan Trophy went to Katie MacGregor.

Ewan Robb was awarded the Eric Liddell Memorial Cup for best Sprints performance of the year. His early competition experiences have been in endurance events but an excellent sprint race at the Club Championships demonstrated his wider potential and earned him this award.

This year’s decision on the Middle Distance award – the Prentice Shield – was made very difficult after a string of excellent performances at Cross Country, on the roads and on the track. This difficulty is reflected in the fact that no fewer than five club athletes feature in the Power of 10 rankings for Middle Distance, ranked across eight events. The coaches therefore decided to make two awards – one for boys and one for girls.

For the girls, mention was made of Megan Robertson, ranked 44th at 800 and who was also selected to represent the West in the Inter-District Cross Country in Edinburgh in January, while Maddie Joseph features in the rankings at both 800 and 1500, ranked 47th and 39th respectively. But the award for the girls went to another athlete featuring twice in the rankings, 29th at 800 and 25th at 1200, and Mhairi Cromar was declared the inaugural winner of the Endurance Cup.

The award for the boys was down to a straight battle between two boys who were rarely more than a few seconds apart in their results. Both ran personal bests for 800 at the Miler Meet in Glasgow in June which placed Lewis Campbell 52nd in the rankings and Gregor Chambers 54th. However, at the Miler Meet in August, Gregor also ran an impressive new personal best for 1500, 5 mins 12.52 secs, placing him 31st in the rankings and thus earning himself the Prentice Trophy for Middle Distance.

The five most recent winners of the Most Promising Athlete award were present on the night and most feature already in this report. The latest addition to this roll of honour, Maddie Joseph, did so on the back of Power of 10 ranking in her specialist events of 800 and 1500 to which she added a further ranking, 15th in the Discus Throw, surprising and delighting everyone, including herself.

The Merit Shield is awarded for the best endeavour from a club athlete. The Coaches were unanimous in recognising Chloe Murphy – a pleasure to have in the training group and an example for others to follow, someone who always gives of her best in training, week in week out, through winter and summer, and regularly makes herself available for competition, indoors or outdoors, road, country or track.

The final award of the evening was voted for by the athletes themselves – “Athletes’ Athlete of the Year”. Preliminary voting the week before had produced a short list of five nominees – Bobbie Fotheringham, Cameron Dye, Gregor Chambers, Katie MacGregor and last year’s inaugural winner, Megan Robertson. Once the votes had been collected and counted the final accolade of the evening went to Katie MacGregor.

Lead Coach Chris Colmer thanked Gordon for presenting the awards before the Juniors put him on the spot in a very informative and engaging Question and Answer session. Gordon’s achievements in the face of adversity have no doubt inspired more than a few of those present.

Scottish Secondary Schools Road Relay Championships – Grangemouth – 10 November

Thirteen of the fourteen runners in Hermitage Academy’s four teams in this event, held in and around Grangemouth Stadium, were from the Club.  A hugely successful day for the Academy was topped off by the S1 Girls team seizing an excellent podium position.  The team of three, Mhairi Cromar, Kara Bruce and Katherine Slaughter, beat all but one of the other 25 teams in the largest field of the day to claim the Silver medals.

Each ran an identical leg of the 1400 metre loop around the track and the adjacent red blaes pitches. On the opening leg, Mhairi clocked 5 mins 58 secs to hand over very much in contention in fourth place. Kara moved the team up a place and into a medal position on the middle leg with her time of 6:06. On the closing leg Katherine set off fast, quickly gained another place and held on to finish with the fastest time of the trio, 5:52, to claim those coveted Silver medals.

The following race, for S1 Boys, was in the same format and distance. The Academy trio of Lewis Campbell, Jake Gumbrell and Gregor Chambers lined up determined to emulate the Girls’ success they’d just witnessed. And they nearly made it, finishing an agonising three seconds outside the medals in fourth position of the 15 teams in their race.

Again the lead-off runner, Lewis, had the team in contention at the end of his 5:31 leg handing over in fifth. Jake’s 5:49 on the middle leg moved the team up to fourth. Had Gregor not been laid low all week with Chickenpox the ending would most certainly have been different but despite a brave run in 5:48 the team were denied that third spot by just those three seconds.

The other two races, one for Boys and one for Girls, featured four runners per team, two Under 15 and two Over 15, each running an extended leg of 2237 metres.

The Academy girls grabbed a top ten finish in ninth place of the 18 teams in their race. Morag Paterson’s opening leg of 8:47 was fastest for the quartet. Melissa Robinson was the other U15, clocking 9:04 while Over 15s Caitlin McAllister and Megan Robinson clocked 9:32 and 9:19 respectively.

In the concluding race the Academy boys finished 11th of the 13 competing teams, Cameron Dye clocking 8:45, Callum Rosie 8:55 and Sean Cairns, the only non-HAAC Junior,  9:16 before Fin Richie recorded the quartet’s quickest time, 8:16.

Lasswade Open XC – Gorebridge – 4 November

Our Junior Cross Country squad travelled across the country to Midlothian for Lasswade AC’s Open Cross Country races at Gorebridge. Clear blue skies and warm sunshine had all but cleared the overnight frosts.  However, the course itself was the usual demanding challenge – the long boggy stretch by the railway no longer frozen over but still icy cold and that “killer” hill less than half a mile from the finish.

By the end of a very successful afternoon the squad had repeated their team successes of the previous year, returning home with two sets of Silver team awards.

Charlotte

Under 11 Girls kicked off proceedings, running the shorter one mile loop.  The day’s largest field, 41 runners, toed the line and by the finish Charlotte Caskie’s strong running had carried her to 14^th place with her time of 6 mins 38 secs.

The Under 13 Girls tackled the gruelling two mile large loop and five Burgh Girls lined up against 33 other competitors.  Mhairi Cromar carried on the fine form she’s shown in the

U13G Before

Cross Country Relays, racing to a top ten finish, 9^th overall in 15:23.  Kara Bruce was next home for the Burgh in 13^th place in 15:51 and the scoring team was completed by Maddie Joseph, 16th in 16:03.  The team total of 38 points earned the squad the Silver team awards.  Chloe Murphy in 21^st place and recent recruit Jessica Noble, racing this distance for the first time, in 28th made up the quintet, clocking 16:33 and 17:47 respectively.

U13B Before

Winner of the Under 11 race the previous year, Jake Gumbrell, tackled the two mile loop for the first time in the Under 13 Boys race, lining up alongside Michael Miller and 26 other hopefuls.  Jake had to settle for 17^th place this time with a time of 15 minutes dead.  Michael meanwhile has been impressive since joining the club less than a year ago.  Unafraid to mix it in the leading pack he produced another storming run to claim another top ten finish for the Burgh, coming home 8^th in 14:11.

Caitlin securing Silver for the U15G Team

A strong trio lined up for the Burgh alongside twelve others in the Under 15 Girls race, again over the two mile loop.   Morag Paterson’s fine recent form continued as she picked up a few places in the final 400 metres to eventually finish 5^th in 15:18.  Megan Robertson’s strength carried her to 9^th in 15:44 and with Caitlin McAllister finishing 12^th in 16:38 the team total of 26 points rounded off a very successful afternoon for the squad with another set of team Silver awards.

It was left to parent Campbell Cromar to complete the afternoon’s racing.  Tackling three laps of the two mile loop in the Senior and Veteran Mens race he finished in 49:17 for 40^th place.

 National XC Relays – Cumbernauld – 27 October

In the climax to the Cross Country Relays season, our Juniors pitted themselves against Clubs from the length and breadth of Scotland in the National Championships.  Held again in the grounds of Cumbernauld House the event this year attracted a record number of teams – 68 finished in the Young Females race and 80 completed the Young Males race.  Each race comprised three laps of the sapping 2500 metre course, stage 1 for Under 13 athletes, stage 2 for Under 15 and stage 3 for Under 17, although for the latter two stages athletes may be moved up from the age-group below.

Mhairi

With a number of incomplete teams embarking on the opening stage for Under 13 Girls, Mhairi Cromar and Chloe Murphy lined up for the Burgh against 85 other hopefuls.  Mhairi brought the Burgh “A” team home in 26^th place with her time of 11 mins 44 secs while Chloe finished 51^st for the “B” team with 12:32.

On the Under 15 stage Morag Paterson picked up four places to 22^nd.  Her excellent time of 11:28 put her in the top 25 Under 15 Girls times on the day.  For the “B” team Kara Bruce (U13) moved up an age-group yet still managed to improve the team to 40^th with her time of 12:08

Melissa

Both Megan Robertson and Melissa Robinson also moved up an age-group, in their case to tackle the U17 stage.  Megan’s 12:15 brought the “A” team home in 27^th place overall from those 68 complete teams finishing while Melissa’s 12:10 moved the “B” team up to 35^th.

For the Burgh Boys Gregor Chambers and Michael Miller tackled the opening stage alongside 92 other U13 boys.  By the handover only seven seconds separated the Burgh pair, Gregor bringing the “A” team home in 36^th place in 10:51 with Michael’s 10:58 placing the “B” team seven places behind. 

Two Under 13 boys moved up to tackle the U15 stage. Reflecting the much stiffer competition at this level Lewis Campbell ran exactly the same time as clubmate Gregor on stage 1 (10:51) but handed over for the “A” team in 53^rd position.  Cameron Dye ran stage 2 for an incomplete “B” team finishing in 11:40 for 71^st place.

On stage 3 for the “A” team Under 17 Calum Wilson clocked the fastest Burgh time of the day, 10:47, bringing them home in 59^th place.

Dunbartonshire AAA XC Relays – Dumbarton – 20 October

Our Juniors turned out for their second outing of the Cross Country season at the Dunbartonshire Athletic Association Cross Country Relay Championships in Levengrove Park, Dumbarton. 

The first event was a straight race for Under 11 athletes over the short loop of 1500 metres with 31 boys and girls lining up together.  Charlotte Caskie has a year’s experience behind her and she was first of the Burgh youngsters home.  She claimed the Silver medal for Girls, impressively finishing fifth overall with her time of 7 mins 28 secs.  Sorcha Hicks was next home for the Burgh finishing in 7:57.  Courtney Sutherland won’t forget her Cross Country debut for the Club.  She lost both of her shoes in the boggiest section of the course but bravely carried on in just her socks to finish in 8:21.  To make her debut even more memorable her time added to those of Charlotte and Sorcha gave the girls the Team Silver awards.  Two boys also made encouraging Cross Country debuts despite being amongst the very youngest in the field.  Following in impressive family footsteps Cameron Cromar finished in 8:11 with Cole Murray a few places behind in 8:49.

The relay format applied for the other young athletes race – three runners per team, one each in the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 categories with some latitude in the final two legs where athletes may be moved up one age-group.  Each leg comprised the longer 2500 metres loop.

Kara

Thirty nine athletes lined up for the opening leg.  Kara Bruce got the Burgh Girls “A” team off to a solid start, coming home in sixth place of the Girls teams with her time of 11:13.  U13 Mhairi Cromar moved up to tackle the U15 leg and clocked the third fastest time of the day for all the Under 13 Girls, 10:43, to improve the team to fourth.  On the final leg, Caitlin McAllister (U15) moved up to U17.  A steady run in 11:52 saw the Girls finish fifth.

Chloe Murphy and Jessica Noble had also lined up on the opening U13 leg albeit with no-one to hand over to.  The pair finished eighth and ninth Girls, clocking 11:34 and 11:58 respectively, the latter marking a very encouraging debut for Jessica, the youngest athlete in the race having been born on the very last day of the cut off date for the age-group.

Michael

With no Under 15 or Under 17 boys available we were unable to field complete teams but the Under 13 boys, whether on their own leg or in some cases moving up to the U15 leg,  all gave a good account of themselves.  None more so than Michael Miller.  Still in his first year in the age-group he finished fourth boy on the opening leg with his time of 9:53.  He handed over to Cameron Dye, moving up to the U15 leg.  Cameron’s 10:16 brought him home in fifth place by the end of the leg.

Jake Gumbrell took on the opening leg, clocking 10:24 for eighth place and handing over to Gregor Chambers.  With the carrot of Cameron ahead of him, Gregor proceeded to clock the fastest time of the day of the Burgh boys, 9:49, in moving up to sixth.

Having rushed to take part after a morning football match Liam Kavanagh’s leg weariness wasn’t helped by the muddy conditions as he clocked 11:05 for fourteenth place on the opening leg.  Taking over, Lewis Campbell now had Gregor and Cameron to chase.  By the finish he’d clocked 9:52 and moved through the field to tenth.

Bruce Cromar and Ewan Mair completed the squad, running individually on the opening leg.  Ewan’s steady running brought him home in 12:43 while Bruce achieved a top ten finish with his 10:31.

 West District XC Relays – Kilmarnock – 13 October

The Juniors kicked off their Cross Country season at the West District Cross Country Relay Championships held in Kilmarnock.  The shorter distances of the relay format generally suit the faster runners but the Kilmarnock course is a great leveller, its traditional farmland setting being more a test of stamina and strength.  The heavy rains of the night before also helped, or hindered, depending on your background.

 With team selections hampered by the event falling in the middle of the Schools’ October break it was left to the female side of the club to fly the Burgh flag.

 The relay format calls for three runners per team, one each in the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 categories with some latitude in the final two legs where athletes may be moved up from the age-group below.  Our girls had to utilise this ruling, fielding two Under 13s, Kara Bruce and Mhairi Cromar, and an Under 15, Melissa Robinson.  All the more credit to them therefore for achieving an excellent 24^th place of the 56 teams representing the best of the West.

All runners completed the same undulating loop measuring 2,500 metres and Kara got the team off to a solid start, clocking 12 minutes 28 seconds to finish 44^th of the 65 girls contesting a congested opening leg.  Despite competing against mainly Under 15s, Mhairi stormed through the field with her time of 11:10 moving the Burgh up to 26^th.  Melissa likewise was racing largely against older runners but she too picked up a few places, clocking 11:28 to claim that 24^th place.

Triangular Match vs Stornoway and Aberdeen – 1 September

A small group of Juniors undertook the long trip to Stornoway for an end-of-season competition. Combining with Clydesdale Harriers as they have successfully done in recent seasons in the Young Athletes League the joint team lined up in a triangular match against Aberdeen AC, recent winners of the North Division of the YAL, and the hosts Stornoway AC.  

A stormy crossing the previous day, with a number of the squad suffering seasickness, was far from ideal preparation. And on the day itself, the weather gods had clearly decided to make up for the drought conditions the Hebrides had suffered for some months. Lashing wind and rain prevented all of the competitors from reproducing their best form but after a very closely-fought contest the joint Helensburgh / Clydesdale team were announced as the winners, by just one point, from Stornoway.  

Top points earner for the Burgh squad was Under-18 Charlotte Jennings-Maun with wins in the Long Jump (3.55 metres), Shot Put (5.31) and Javelin (13.53). Katie Macgregor (U14) also excelled in the field taking 1st place in the Shot Put (7.43) and Javelin (14.67).  

The rest of the squad, Erica Paterson (U18), Fin Richie, Megan Robertson and Caitlin McAllister all U16 and U14s Mhairi Cromar, Mackenzie Serpell, Maddie Joseph and Morag Paterson all made solid contributions to the overall winning effort. And with that winning margin at just one point it proved the old adage that in team competition such as this every point counts. There could be no better example than Mackenzie who unfortunately aggravated a recent pulled muscle in her opening event but managed to finish and claim a single point for doing so.  

A splendid buffet and Ceilidh in the evening gave all the athletes a chance to mingle. As luck would have it the following day dawned bright and clear. At least this brought the consolation of a relatively calm sea crossing for the return leg of what had been a most memorable trip for all involved. 

Junior Great Scottish Run – 1 September

Meanwhile another group of Juniors made the shorter and less dramatic trip to Glasgow for the Junior Great Scottish Run. Previously held on Glasgow Green, this year the event moved to the city centre, starting and finishing at George Square and comprising a two-lap route totalling 3 kilometres.  

Over thirteen hundred boys and girls aged from 9 to 17 lined up, although the Burgh contingent were all in the 11 – 12 age-group. After a fine season on the track Gregor Chambers produced another outstanding performance, placing well inside the top one hundred overall in 68th place and 14th in the Boys 11 – 12 age-group with his time of 11 minutes 32 seconds. An excellent run from Jake Gumbrell in 12:08 saw him narrowly miss the top hundred in 105th overall and eight places behind Gregor in the age-group.  

Equally impressive were the strong-running Emma Scott and Kara Bruce, claiming top ten Girls finishes in the age-group. Emma was eighth and Kara ninth with their finishing times of 12:20 and 12:30 placing them close to the top hundred overall in 124th and 138th places.  

Euan Mair completed the group, another solid run bringing him home in 17:48 to finish 801st overall.  

Glasgow Miler Meet – Scotstoun – 29 June

By its name, the Glasgow Miler Meet harks back to the traditional distances of Middle Distance running – the mile and the half mile (880 yards). However, the races are over the modern, metric equivalents. The opening meeting of this year featured no fewer than eleven separate 800 metre races, involving 87 athletes. All the heats comprise runners of similar ability regardless of age with the only distinction being separate male and female races. Every race is allocated a pace maker, racing at a pre-announced pace, with the aim of dragging competitors to new Personal Best times.  

A group of Helensburgh Athletic Club’s juniors took advantage of the set up and the cool but windless conditions at Scotstoun Stadium to do just that.  

Eleven year olds Lewis Campbell, Gregor Chambers and Jake Gumbrell were in the same heat and thus had their own race within a race. With previous PBs of 2 mins 43.4 secs and 2:43.5 respectively there was nothing to choose between Lewis and Gregor beforehand and as the race unfolded it was clear there was going to be very little to separate them again. The pair raced themselves into second and third places of the seven in their heat. Lewis again was marginally the quicker, the pair slicing over six seconds from their PB to finish in 2:37.01 and 2:37.21. Meanwhile Jake conjured up a strong finish to also improve by six seconds, clocking 2:43.31.  

Mhairi Cromar set a new PB of 2:39.67 just three weeks previously and so it was a tall order to improve again. However, the twelve year old’s brave running in the pack following the pace maker was rewarded with a fractional improvement, finishing fourth in a heat of eight with 2:39.19.  

Eight athletes also lined up in fourteen year old Megan Robertson’s heat, with a designated pace significantly quicker than her PB of 2:35.84. Wisely not getting sucked into too fast an early pace she maintained her own rhythm to finish sixth and took over three seconds off her PB, clocking 2:32.40.  

The faster you get the harder it becomes to improve again. With a PB already at 2:12.2, Fin Richie is fast. On this occasion the fifteen year old couldn’t match that form in his heat but did clock his third fastest time ever, 2:16.36.  

The Burgh squad are to be congratulated for returning with five Personal Bests from six athletes – proof that the concept of paced races and quality fields clearly does encourage athletes to reach new heights.  

Young Athletes League – Grangemouth – 27 May  

Our juniors carried on their successful start to the track season with some fine performances in the Young Athletes League match at Grangemouth. The club combines with Clydesdale Harriers in a joint team in Division 2 of the League. The League format is two competitors per team per event, nominated as “A” string and “B” string.  

Four individual performances will merit inclusion in the current year’s overall Scottish rankings once the results are ratified.  

Mhairi Cromar is already ranked at 800 metres for Under 13 Girls but on this occasion contested the 1200 metres. Brave enough to share the lead on the middle lap she eventually finished fourth overall with a time of 4 mins 16.72 secs which will place her in the top ten in Scotland for the event.  

Maddie Joseph ran the 800 metres this time and with her new-found confidence sliced a huge 15 seconds from her previous best. Her time of 2:43.02 placed her 2nd A and allowed her to leap frog Mhairi in those rankings where they are both in the top 40. Maddie earned further good points taking 3rd A in the Shot Put with 5.81 metres.  

Gregor Chambers is already ranked in the top 25 Under 13 Boys for 1500 metres and he consolidated his position with another ranking performance. Running just 1.5 secs outside his PB he took 2nd B position with his time of 5:23.73.  

Emma Scott is just outside the Under 13 Girls rankings for her favoured middle distance events but here surprised everyone, including herself, showing a fine turn of speed over the 150 metres sprint. Her time of 22.48 secs placed her 4th A on the day and will place her in the top 20 in the event rankings. Emma also earned good points in the Long Jump, her 3.70 metres placing her 3rd A.  

Other good middle distance performances came from Under 15 Girls Morag Paterson and Megan Robertson. Morag clocked a fine 5:31.06 to finish 1st B on her competitive debut at 1500 metres while Megan sliced five seconds from her PB for 800, clocking 2:35.84 to finish 2nd B.  

Now competing at Under 17 level Fin Richie was just outside his PB in a highly competitive 800, finishing 4th B with his time of 2:14.47.  

Under 17 Girls Annie Eldhose and Charlotte Jennings-Maun had their own private head-to-head contesting the same three events. Annie was quicker over 100, 15.11 (7th A) to Charlotte’s 15.20 (6th B) while the latter took revenge over 200, 31.41 (3rd B) to Annie’s 31.81 (6th A). Their third event was Annie’s favoured event, the Shot Put. Annie placed 3rd A with a throw of 7.04 metres while Charlotte threw 5.59 for 2nd B.  

All-rounder Katie MacGregor showed her versatility in the Under 15 Girls events. In the 75 metres Hurdles she placed 4th B with a time of 17.53 secs and in the Shot Put she threw 7.05 for 5th A. In the Long Jump she reached 3.77 for 7th A and was joined by Hope Hastings who jumped 3.53 metres for 5th B.  

Under 13 Boy Liam Kavanagh was the Burgh squad’s top points earner. He finished 3rd A in the Long Jump (3.84), 4th A in the 100 (14.92) and 5th A in the 200 (31.42).  

Inter-District Cross Country – Edinburgh – 7 January

Megan

Local athletes Megan Robertson and Lewis Serpell had a chance to share the stage with a host of Olympic and World Champions at the weekend. They took part in the Scottish Inter District Cross Country races which surrounded the televised International events in Holyrood Park in Edinburgh. Both qualified to represent West District versus East and North after good finishes in the West District Championships last December.  

Megan, a Hermitage Academy pupil and member of Helensburgh Athletic Club, raced in the Under 15 Girls event. The select field of 27 covered four laps of the park, each of one kilometre. Megan ran strongly throughout to finish 23rd in the obviously highly competitive field with a time of 19 mins 51 secs. Megan’s selection had been particularly meritorious as this is her first year at Under-15 and she can thus look forward to another year in this age-group.  

Lewis

An equally competitive field of 33 Under 13 Boys lined up to contest their race covering three laps of the park. Lomond School pupil Lewis, who runs for Victoria Park City of Glasgow AC, put in his trademark steady race and sprint finish to cross the line in 13:46 in 28th place.  

Both athletes relished the atmosphere surrounding the event – the growing crowds attracted by the International races; the TV gantries all round the course. Having had a taste of the big-time both will strive to repeat the experience next year.  

Beith New Year Races – Glengarnock – 2 January

Nine Juniors and two Seniors lost no time in getting their racing vests back on after Christmas and New Year, travelling to Ayrshire for Beith Harriers’ New Year Road Races on Monday the 2nd of January. Windy, wintry conditions may have resulted in smaller fields than usual but the Burgh contingent relished the competitive opportunity.  

Chloe

The opening races, over a three-quarters of a mile loop were for Under 11s with the Boys first. Liam Kavanagh and Jake Gumbrell had their own private tussle, Liam eventually finding the faster sprint in the finish. He took fourth place with a time of 4 mins 42 secs with Jake fifth, just two seconds behind. In the Girls race, Chloe Murphy and Charlotte Caskie were an excellent second and third respectively with their times of 5:09 and 5:16.  

Gregor

The Burgh Boys had no fewer than four athletes in the Under 13 Boys race, over the large loop of 1.2 miles. Gregor Chambers was quickest of the quartet, claiming second place overall with a time of 7:36 . Calum Caskie matched his wee sister’s third place with his time of 7:53, chased home all the way by Bruce Cromar, fourth in 8 mins dead and Ewan Mair, seventh in 9:18.  

Megan Robertson used the event as a tuning up race for the Inter-District Cross Country in Edinburgh this weekend. Clocking 7:17 for the 1.2 mile loop in the Under 15 Girls race she placed a close-up third behind a couple of other girls selected to represent the West District on Saturday.  

In the Senior race competitors faced four laps of the 1.2 mile loop. Michelle Hetherington was fourth woman overall but claimed the first Veteran prize with a time of 31:11. She also claimed the scalp of Campbell Cromar. Out injured for the latter part of 2011 Campbell nonetheless made a good start to 2012 with his time of 32:20.  

Michelle had closed her 2011 racing account in similar prize-winning style. In Ayr’s Boxing Day Turkey Trot 10K, with a field of almost 250, she was again fourth woman overall and first Veteran with her time of 41:27.  

County Cross-Country Championships – Dumbarton – 26 November

Jake

A great turnout, great performances and great results saw our Juniors return from the Dunbartonshire County Cross-Country Championships at a rain-sodden and wind-swept Levengrove Park in Dumbarton with an impressive medal haul – despite the energies expended at their Presentation night the night before.    

Jake Gumbrell set the standard in the opening race – a one mile loop of the park for Under 11 Boys and Girls. Once he’d worked his way to the front of the field he was never headed and claimed the gold medal with a time of 7 mins 12 secs. Liam Kavanagh took the bronze medal just 15 seconds behind. Ewan Robb and Jack McLean made impressive cross-country debuts, finishing 10th and 11th respectively of the 28 boys in the race with their times of 8:00 and 8:06. With the first three finishers counting for the team score the Burgh Boys total of 14 secured first place.    

Emma

24 girls lined up with the boys and Emma Scott made it a winning double for the Burgh. Running strongly throughout she beat all but five of the boys to finish first girl with her time of 7:40. Holly Walker was next home for the Burgh, 7th in 8:35. Chloe Murphy was tripped and fell in the opening thirty metres but picked herself up and worked her way steadily through the pack to finish 9th in 8:52. Not only was it a double individual gold but the girls’ score of 17 was good enough to match the boys’ first place in the team awards – a clean sweep if such a thing is possible in cross-country.    

Morag

Under 13 runners faced a large loop of the park plus a lap of the football pitches in their two mile race. Morag Paterson showed a welcome return to form, taking the individual bronze medal with her time of 14:24. She was closely followed home by Mhairi Cromar, 5th (14:31) and Melissa Robinson, 6th (14:36). The team total of 14 brought them the silver team awards just two points behind Victoria Park City of Glasgow. Excellent packing from the rest of the squad was good enough for them to finish as third team in the 33-strong field, Rachel McLean finishing 13th (15:49), Kara Bruce 17th (16:11) and Kirsty Scott 23rd (17:08).    

The Burgh U13 Boys team finished just out of the medals in fourth place. Lewis Campbell and Gregor Chambers had their customary “race-within-a-race”, Lewis finishing tenth of the 28 boys competing with Gregor one place behind and respective times of 13:23 and 13:30. Bruce Cromar chased them all the way to finish in 14:08 for 13th place. Calum Caskie was 19th in 15:02, Raymond Slaughter 22nd in 15:29 and Ewan Mair 24th in 16:22.    

A combined race for Under 15 Boys and Girls and Under 17 Men and Women saw them tackle a three mile route comprising two laps of the park. Calum Wilson clocked 21:35 for seventh place in the Under 17s while Megan Robertson claimed fifth in the Under 15s with a time of 23:07. It was left to Maddie Robinson to claim the Burgh Juniors’ final medal as runner-up in the Under 17s with her time of 24:55.    

Five individual medals and four sets of team awards sent a very proud squad home to Helensburgh and no doubt a very welcome hot bath.    

Presentation Night – 25 November 2011

Commonwealth Games athlete Claire Gibson was our guest of honour at the Club’s Junior Presentation night. The 28 year old competed for Scotland in Delhi last year in her own specialist event, the 800 metres, and also ran a leg of the 4 x 400 metres relay in the qualifying round, helping Scotland make it to the final where she made way for 400m specialist Lee McConnell.  

Introducing Claire, Club President Kevin Johnson remarked upon how the Scottish International and four-time Scottish Champion over 800 metres had joined Kilbarchan AC as a nine year old, had been a member ever since, was still coached by the same coach, Derek Parker, and was now proud to be Club Captain.  

The evening kicked off with awards for the Club Championships held at the end of the summer. The format is multi-discipline where competitors must do one sprint event, one middle distance, one jump and one throw. Times and distances are then weighed against respective scoring tables to provide points for each event with the highest total points scorers declared the winners.  

The Under 11 Champions were Emma Scott and Jake Gumbrell who have carried all before them so far in the current cross-country season but clearly demonstrate some all-round ability. Runners-up for the girls were Chloe Murphy, second, and Jennifer McBride, third.  

Katie MacGregor and Cameron Dye carried off the trophies for Under 13s, ahead of silver medallists Kirsty Scott and Gregor Chambers and bronze medallists Mhairi Cromar and Lewis Campbell.  

The Under 15 Champions were Megan Robertson and Morgan Serpell. Charlotte Jennings-Maun won the silver medal for the girls with Hope Hastings taking the bronze.  

The Championship presentations were rounded off by Fiona Cameron carrying off the Under 17 girls awards.  

Katie

The presentations then moved on to a number of other awards determined by the Club Coaches.  

Katie MacGregor was declared “Sprinter of the Year” and awarded the Eric Liddell Memorial Cup. Katie produced Personal Best after Personal Best through the summer. 14.24 secs for the 100 metres and 29.4 for 200 saw her finish the season ranked just outside Scotland’s top twenty Under 13s in both events.  

The Sloan Trophy is awarded to the “Thrower of the Year”. Annie Eldhose is a late-comer to the Club but is realising her potential as a thrower. A Shot Put of 8.05 metres in the summer placed her inside the top thirty Under 15s in Scotland.  

“Middle Distance Runner of the Year” and recipient of the Prentice trophy was Fin Richie. Fin was in excellent form in the early part of the track season, setting new PBs of 2:17.13 for 800 metres and 4:41.39 for 1500 that placed him 37th and 31st respectively in the Under 15 rankings for Scotland. An unfortunate snowboarding accident has sidelined him for the last few months but everyone is delighted he’s on the mend, no longer on crutches and was on hand to collect his award.  

The award to the year’s “Most Promising Athlete” went to Jake Gumbrell. Just over a year previously Jake made his club debut at the Lasswade Cross-Country. He finished a very good sixteenth but vowed he would return this year and do better. He did just that – in fact he won it.  

The Merit Shield is awarded for the best endeavour from a club athlete. This year’s award went to someone who is not always there when the prizes are handed out but is never far away when the compliments are handed out. Always giving his best – in training or competition – and always a delight to have in the training group, the coaches took great pleasure in recognising Ewan Mair.  

The final award of the evening was introduced for the first time this year – “Athletes’ Athlete of the Year”. Preliminary voting by the Juniors themselves the week before had produced a short list of four nominees – Bruce Cromar, Megan Robertson, Mhairi Cromar and Raymond Slaughter. In a final ballot on the night Megan Robertson was declared the inaugural winner.  

Kevin thanked Claire for presenting the awards before the Juniors put her on the spot in a very informative and engaging Question and Answer session. Claire’s achievements have no doubt inspired more than a few of those present. And if Glasgow 2014 is a little too soon for them they nonetheless know who they’ll be cheering on.  

Scottish Athletics Indoor League – Kelvin Hall – 13 November 2011

Our Juniors numbered 32 of the record number of 469 young athletes from across central Scotland contesting the opening match of the Scottish Athletics Indoor League at Kelvin Hall Indoor Sports Arena.    

Our recent intake of Under 11s, competing for the very first time, were a huge credit to Coaches Paula McAllister and Elaine Hamilton who have only had the kids for a number of weeks. By completion of the competition the Under 11 Boys had placed third of fifteen competing teams while the Under 11 Girls also placed third, from twelve teams. Pride of place went to Saul Eadie who won the Standing Long Jump with a leap of 1.90 metres. Ewan Robb jumped 1.74 to take the runners-up spot after producing a third place in the 600 metres with his time of 2 mins 9.8 secs, while Jack McLean took fourth in the 60 metres sprint in 9.91 secs. Rachel MacAuley and Iona Stewart were third and fifth in the Girls’ 60m (10.16 and 10.91 respectively) with Rachel also third in the SLJ (1.64) where Charlie Bridges was fourth with 1.44. Other Under 11 results: 60m – Jamie Thompson, 11.14; 600m – Saul Eadie, 2:24.8, Iona Stewart, 2:31.9 and Charlie Bridges, 2:31.5.    

23 Boys teams and 23 Girls teams competed in the Under 13 age-group, providing stiff competition for the Burgh contingent. The Girls’ “A” team placed 6th and the Boys “A” team 10th. Best placings for the girls came from Maddie Joseph, 3rd in the Shot Put with 5.58 metres, Katherine Slaughter, 5th in the 200 metres with 33.1 secs, Mhairi Cromar 5th in the 800 metres with 2:50 and in the Long Jump where Emma Scott and Mhairi were 5th and 6th, jumping 3.35 metres and 3.23 metres respectively. Mackenzie Serpell took 6th in the 60 metres hurdles with 12.98 secs.    

For the boys, Liam Kavanagh’s 9.47 secs placed him 5th in the 60 metres while Lewis Campbell and Gregor Chambers had their own private tussle drawn together in the same heat of the 800 metres. Lewis edged out his rival by just one tenth of a second, 2:43.4 to 2:43.5. By the conclusion of all the heats they placed 6th and 7th on the day. Gregor also placed 7th in the 60 metre hurdles with his time of 12.78.    

Other Under 13 results: 60 metres – Mackenzie Serpell, 10.31, Chloe Murphy, 10.45, Rona Wilson, 11.47, Bruce Cromar, 10.09 and Finlay Hyde, 10.69; 200 metres – Lucy bilson, 37.4, Raymond Slaughter, 33.7, Calum Caskie, 34.1 and Ewan Mair, 39.1; 800 metres – Emma Scott, 2:54.8, Maddie Joseph, 2:58.1 and Jake Gumbrell, 2:49; Long Jump – Rona Wilson, 1.86, Jake Gumbrell, 3.00, Liam Kavanagh, 2.88 and Finlay Hyde, 2.85; Shot Put – Katherine Slaughter, 4.21, Lucy Bilson, 3.29, Lewis Campbell, 5.16, Calum Caskie, 5.11 and Raymond Slaughter, 5.05.    

With a total of 25 teams the Under 15 Girls was the largest age-group and the Burgh “A” team scored consistently across the events to eventually place 8th. Megan Robertson garnered good points in the 800 metres, 2nd in her heat and 4th overall in 2:41.9. Katie MacGregor demonstrated her multi-event capability by taking 4th in the Shot Put (6.91), 8th in the 60 metres hurdles (11.82) and 9th in the 60 metres (9.01).    

Other Under 15 results: 60 metres – Cara Wilson, 10.06; 200 metres – Hope Hastings, 31.3; 300 metres – Megan Robertson, 50.2, Melissa Robinson, 57.5; 800 metres – Morag Paterson, 2:58.2; 60 metres hurdles – Melissa Robinson, 13.01; High Jump – Kirsty Scott and Melissa Robinson, both 1.20; Long Jump – Hope Hastings, 3.25, Kirsty Scott, 3.12; Shot Put – Cara Wilson, 5.36.    

The Burgh girls finished 12th of the 18 teams competing in the Under 17 age-group. Charlotte Jennings-Maun took 5th in the 800 metres with 2:48.3 along with 10th in the 200 (31.3) while Erica Paterson was 10th in the 60 metres with 8.96.    

All in all, a very encouraging start to the Indoor League for all the Burgh teams as the athletes look forward to a further two matches over the winter.    

Lasswade Open XC – Gorebridge – 6 November 2011

Our Junior Cross Country squad made the trip across the country to Midlothian for Lasswade AC’s Open Cross Country races at Gorebridge. Early morning fog cleared away to leave clear blue skies and warm sunshine – not your normal cross-country conditions. However, the course itself was the usual demanding challenge – the long boggy stretch by the railway and that “killer” hill. The various courses comprised either a small lap of 1 mile or a big lap of 2 miles, both of which incorporate that hill less than half a mile from the finish.    

By the end of a very successful afternoon the squad had amassed one individual Gold medal and two sets of team awards.    

Jake and Lasswade's Greg Louden, GB Youth Internationalist

Jake Gumbrell it was who produced the individual winning performance, just one year on from his debut for the Club in this same race. Lining up alongside 26 rivals in the Under 11 Boys race Jake took the race on from half way, broke his challengers on the hill and cruised home to victory and a rapturous welcome from his clubmates. His winning time of 5 mins 46 secs for the one mile small lap gave him a six second advantage over the runner-up.    

Chloe, Emma and Charlotte

Under 11 Girls had kicked off proceedings, running the same one mile loop. Emma Scott led the team to the Silver Team award, running strongly to finish fifth overall of the 33 starters in 6:27. She was ably backed up by Chloe Murphy in 10th place (6:49) and Charlotte Caskie in 18th (7:02).    

All four of the Burgh Boys in the Under 13 Boys race have another year in that age-group, making their excellent Silver team awards even more of an achievement.    

Lewis, Bruce, Ewan and Gregor setting off

Gregor Chambers was first home for the Burgh, finishing strongly after the gruelling two mile large loop and clocking 14:29 for 9th place of the 28 starters. He was followed home by Lewis Campbell, just one place and 17 seconds behind. Bruce Cromar completed the scoring team in 19th place in 16:11 with Ewan Mair making up the fab four with his time of 18:52.    

The Under 13 Girls ran the same course and five Burgh Girls lined up against 34 other competitors. Mhairi Cromar carried on the fine form she’s already shown in this her first year in this age-group. Her determined running saw her cover the two miles in 14:53 to claim 8th place. Melissa Robinson was next home for the Burgh in 18th place in 15:41 and the scoring team was completed by Maddie Joseph, 22nd in 15:59. The team total of 48 points saw the girls just outside the awards in fourth place. Morag Paterson in 29th place and Kara Bruce in 30th made up the quintet, clocking 16:33 and 16:45 respectively.    

Megan Robertson and Maddie Robinson were our sole representatives in the Under 15 and Under 17 Girls’ races respectively. Megan’s race was over the single large loop where her strength carried her to 7th position in the 16-strong field in a time of 15:08. Maddie meanwhile bravely tackled a combination of a big lap and a small lap and twice up that hill, covering the three miles in 25:12.    

National Cross-Country Relays – Cumbernauld – 22nd October 2011

A windswept Cumbernauld played host to the National XC Relays for the 11th time.  A busy afternoon kicked off with the Young Athletes Relays – separate races for boys and girls, three runners per team, one each in the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 categories with some latitude in the final two legs where athletes may be moved up one age-group. Each leg comprised an undulating 2500 metres loop, although the youngsters had the best of the underfoot conditions as the course churned up with each passing race.    

As she’d done in the previous County and District events, Mhairi Cromar, still a first-year in her age-group, got the Burgh Girls A team off to a tremendous start coming home in 22nd place of the 65 competing Girls teams on the opening leg with her time of 11:51. Laid low with flu all week and moving up an age-group Morag Paterson’s brave running brought her home in 26th in 12:58. Also moving up an age-group Megan Robertson clawed back three places with her time of 12:22 to bring the team home in 23rd place.    

Kara Bruce was brought into the team only on the morning of the event and made a strong debut at this level finishing the opening leg in 46th place in 13:11. Melissa Robinson moved up to run the U15 leg and moved the team up as well, finishing 37th in 12:46 before handing over to her big sister Maddie whose closing leg of 13:35 saw the team finish 38th.    

Lewis Campbell opened for the Burgh Boys team, clocking 11:22 to finish 38th of the 74 teams. Cameron Dye moved up to tackle the U15 leg and battled bravely to clock 12:17 and hand over in 55th place. Calum Wilson clocked the fastest leg of the Burgh contingent, 11:04, to improve the Boys finishing position to 53rd.    

Dunbartonshire Cross-Country Relays – Helensburgh – 15th October

The Club played host to the Dunbartonshire Athletic Association Cross Country Relay Championships. Duchess Woods was the setting for the event and anyone familiar with the surroundings will appreciate the hill climb involved in following the footpath up to the railway line and back down. Add on an opening and closing couple of hundred metres round Lomond School’s Rugby pitches, boggy after recent rains and more and more churned up by each race and you have a true test of stamina for all involved.    

The first event was a straight race for Under 11 athletes over the short loop of 1500 metres with 13 boys and 17 girls lining up. Our own Jake Gumbrell showed his rivals a (figuratively) clean pair of heels, holding off a late challenge to take the tape and the Gold medal in 6 mins 55 secs. Emma Scott took Silver in the Girls race after a race-long tussle with Victoria Park City of Glasgow’s Amy Bissett, both girls swopping the lead the whole way round. Just one second separated them at the finish with Emma clocking 8:05. Backed up by Chloe Murphy (8:48) and Sophie Monteath (9:15) the Burgh girls were runners-up in the team awards. Newcomer Charlotte Caskie ran well on her debut to finish in 8:33.    

The relay format applied for the other young athletes race – three runners per team, one each in the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 categories with some latitude in the final two legs where athletes may be moved up one age-group. Each leg comprised the longer and hillier 2400 metres loop.    

Mhairi Cromar got the Burgh Girls A team off to a cracking start coming home in second place of the twelve competing Girls teams on the opening leg with her time of 9:35. Despite valiant efforts from Megan Robertson (U15) on the second leg (9:58) and Maddie Robinson (U17) on the third (10:22) both slipped a place and the girls finished just outside the medals in fourth.    

Katherin Slaughter led off strongly for the Girls B team finishing leg 1 in third place with a time of 9:53. Melissa Robinson (U13) and Caitlin McAllister (U15) each moved up an age-group on legs 2 and 3, clocking 10:37 and 11:13 respectively to finish eighth.    

Running as incomplete teams a number of other Under 13s showed the Club’s growing strength in depth. On the opening leg Rachel McLean clocked 10:38 and Kara Bruce 10:52 while on the second leg Maddie Joseph was timed at 10:37 and Kirsty Scott 11:25.    

On the Boys side, injuries and absence meant that four Under 13s combined to make up two incomplete teams. For the A team Lewis Campbell ran a storming opening leg, finishing third of the twelve starters in 9:11. Running against mainly older boys on the second leg Gregor Chambers shipped only two places with his time of 9:24. Raymond Slaughter kicked off for the B team clocking 10:26 with Bruce Cromar on the second leg finishing in 9:54. Running the opening leg as an individual Calum Caskie clocked 9:32.    

Former Burgh athlete Lewis Serpell was second fastest on the opening leg in 8:44, helping VPCoG to the team gold medal.    

West District Cross-Country Relays – Coatbridge – 8th October

Our Junior Cross-Country squad got their Winter racing season under way in the West District Relay Championships at a dreich and rain-sodden Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge.    

And Megan Robertson celebrated her fourteenth birthday by anchoring the Club’s girls’ team to an excellent fifteenth place of the forty-odd teams representing the best of the West.    

The relay format calls for three runners per team, one each in the Under 13, Under 15 and Under 17 categories with some latitude in the final two legs where athletes in the may be moved up one age-group. So it was for the Burgh, with Morag Paterson, an Under 13, contesting the Under 15 leg and Megan, an Under 15, contesting the Under 17 leg.    

Under 13 Mhairi Cromar got the team off to a great start on the opening leg, tackling the soggy 2,500 metre trail in a time of 10 mins 22 secs, to hand over in 13th place. Morag more than held her own against some older runners on leg two and improved the team’s position to twelfth with her time of 10:32. Megan likewise competed well in an older age-group and her time of 10:23 brought the team home in fifteenth place.    

Fund-raising bag-packing – Tesco 10 September 2011

Kelsey and Jennifer

 A huge WELL DONE to the 25 Juniors who helped out at various times with the fund raising bag packing in Tesco on Sunday.  The excellent turnout had the tills covered from 10 in the morning until half passt four.  Their tremendous efforts exceeded Paula’s wildest expectations, raising the awesome total of 663.30! The money will be used to subsidise the new tracksuits with some left over for some new equipment.    

The day was also an excellent PR exercise with loads of positive reactions to the Junior’s efforts.    

Take a bow the fantastic twenty-five – Lucy Bilson, Gregor Chambers, Mhairi Cromar, Bruce Cromar, Shona Donald, Rachel Drysdale, Cameron Dye, Annie Eldhose, Jake Gumbrell, Chloe Hassall, Hop Hastings, Finlay Hyde, Katie MacGregor, Caitlin McAllister, Jennifer McBride, Euan Mair, Chloe Murphy, Kelsey Pearson, Mary Reynard, Megan Robertson, Maddie Robinson, Emma Scott, Kirsy Scott, Lewis Serpell and Rona Wilson.    

Junior Great Scottish Run – Glasgow Green – 3 September 2011

They're off!

Our junior athletes produced some great performances at the Junior Great Scottish Run in Glasgow. Over 1200 youngsters aged from 9 to 16 took part in the 3 kilometre race round Glasgow Green.
    

Emma Scott took pride of place for the Burgh, finishing first girl in her age-group (9-10) with a time of 13 mins 46 secs for 219th place overall. Highest overall finisher for the Burgh was Jake Gumbrell, also in the 9-10 age-group, who impressively made the top 100. Jake’s time of 12:09 earned him 90th place overall and 5th boy in his age-group. Mhairi Cromar, in the 11–12 age-group, clocked 12:30 to finish in 115th overall and 4th girl in that age-group while Gregor Chambers ran 12:46 to finish 24th boy in the same age-group and 135th overall. Charlotte Jennings-Maun was 17th girl in the 13–14 age-group in 208th place with her time of 13:36. Kirsty Scott was 23rd girl aged 11–12 finishing in 14:31 and the Burgh contingent was completed by Euan Mair (11-12), 16:58 and Georgina Jennings-Maun (9-10), 17:01.    

Scottish Young Athletes Road Race Championships – Rouken Glen – 20 March 2011

Our Junior endurance squad brought the curtain down on their winter season when they lined up for the National Young Athletes Road Race Championships at Rouken Glen Park in Glasgow. For Megan Robertson and Caitlin McAllister it was their third National event in four weeks, having already contested Cross-Country outings in the Scottish Championships in Falkirk and the Scottish Schools Championships at Irvine.
Returning to “terra firma”, Megan rounded off the season in impressive style, producing her highest-ever finish at a National event. A highly competitive field of 65 runners lined up for the Under 13 Girls race – a single, 2,600 metre loop of the park. After conquering the climbs in the first half of the race, Megan’s strength in the second half carried her inside the top twenty at this level for the first time, eventually finishing 16th in a time of 10 mins 28 secs.
Caitlin McAllister has been improving with each race in this her first season and clocked 11:05 to claim 38th place. The youngest of the trio making up the team was Melissa Robinson, whose time of 11:49 for 52nd spot took the team to seventh overall – a splendid climax to the season.
Lewis Serpell raced the same loop alongside 56 others in the Under 13 Boys race. As a first year in this two-year age-group he sensibly settled mid-pack in the early stages before picking off a few places in the second half to finish 25th in 9:40, with the promise of more to come next year.    

Scottish National Cross Country Championships – Callendar Park – Falkirk – 19 Feb 2011

Not to be outdone by the efforts of the seniors, coach Hamilton mustered an enthusiastic group of juniors to take part in the Falkirk event. The Club’s Under 13 Girls Squad continued the excellent form they’ve shown over the winter. Bronze medallists in the County Championships they went on to place seventh in the West Districts. Lining up at Falkirk with the cream of Scotland’s young talent, and with four to count in the scoring team against three at County and District level, they did the Cub proud in taking eleventh team place.
As she’s done all season, Megan Robertson lead the team home, achieving her highest-ever position in the “Nationals”. Racing over an undulating two mile loop, boggy enough in places for some runners to lose a shoe, she clocked 15:47 to take 26^th place in the field of almost one hundred. Morag Paterson is in her first year in this age-group and didn’t have that many other first-years ahead of her as she finished just nine places and nineteen seconds behind Megan. Caitlin McAllister was third home for the Burgh, 75^th in 17:41, with Melissa Robinson completing the team just two seconds and two places behind.    

Calum Wilson made a successful return to Cross-Country after a knee injury, contesting the Under 15 Boys race over two and a half miles and clocking 18:47 for 99^th position.    

Beith Harriers New Year Road Races – 2 January

A quartet of  Juniors lost no time in getting their racing vests on in the New Year, travelling to Ayrshire for Beith Harriers’ New Year Road Races on Sunday the 2nd of January.    

Mhairi earned herself a prize of a Selection Box when she took an excellent third place in the Under 11 Girls race. Mhairi’s time for the three-quarters of a mile loop was 5 mins 22 secs. In an equally competitive Under 11 Boys race, her twin Bruce was a second slower in placing ninth with Euan 13th in 6:15.
Completing the quartet was Megan whose strong running placed her fifth in the Under 13 Girls race, clocking 7:42 over the larger loop of a mile and a quarter.    

Christmas Handicap – 19 December

Congratulations to Cameron and Megan, respectively Under11 and Under 13 winners of the Christmas Handicap. Eight Juniors took part on the snow-covered loop round South King Street, Henry Bell Street and East Clyde Street, with the Under 13s doing two laps.    

Cameron started as back-marker in the Under 11s but overtook everyone else to finish in 5 mins 50 secs. Mhairi finished second and was fastest girl in 6:20. Third fastest was Jake (6:21) followed by Bruce (6:38), Holly (7:11) and Euan (7:38).    

Megan’s time for the double lap was 12:43, followed by Melissa in 14:48.    

Dunbarton AAA XC Championship – Maryhill Park – Glasgow – 27 November

Emma & Mhairi

At the Dunbarton AAA XC Chamionship races at a snowy but none the less sunny Maryhill Park the Burgh were well-represented in the Junior races, coming away with three sets of team awards and one individual medal.    

The individual medallist was Cameron Dye who took slver in the Under 11 Boys race over the single lap of the park measuring 1200 metres.  Settling comfortably behind the early leaders, Cameron came through strongly at the end to finish third of the 21 starters with a time of 4 mins 33 secs.  However, the runner-up was ineligible for a County award and so Cameron recieved the Silver. Bruce Cromar was next for the boys, timed at 5:03 in 8th place while Euan Mair completed the scoring team in 12^th place (5:26) for a total of 33 points and well-deserved silver team awards.    

The Under 11 Girls team was led home by Mhairi Cromar, just out of the individual medals in 5^th place with her time of 4:55.  Close behind, good running from Emma Scott (5:07) and Maddie Joseph (5:13) brought them home 8^th and 9^th respectively to match the boys in securing the silver team awards.  Holly Walker completed a strong Girls squad in 12^th place in a field of 21 in 5:21.    

Under 13s faced two laps of the park.  In the Boys race Lewis Serpell was prominent throughout, eventually finishing strongly to take 5^th position in the 19-strong field in 8:54.  Thomas Smith stuck to the task on his debut, clocking 12:06 in 17^th place.    

Good pack running from the Burgh Under 13 Girls gained them the bronze team medals in a field of 21 runners.  Megan Robertson led them home in 7^th place (10:06).  Just two places behind, Morag Paterson clocked 10:13 with Caitlin McAllister a further three places back in 10:34.  They were backed up by Melissa Robinson, 14^th in 10:48.  Click here for  Pictures    

Lewis tackling the mud

Mhairi tackling the hill

Lasswade AC Open Cross Country – Gorebridge – 7th November

Clear blue skies and a sprinkling of snow on the Pentland Hills made a scenic backdrop for Lasswade AC’s Open Cross Country races at Gorebridge, Midlothian.  However, heavy rain the previous day had left the underfoot conditions boggy to say the least!  The various courses comprised a combination of a small lap of 1 mile and a big lap of 2 miles, both of which incorporated a “killer” hill just half a mile from the finish.    

Undeterred, our strong contingent of Juniors, including a couple of first-timers, produced a string of fine performances.  As did the couple of Seniors / parents who accompanied the squad.    

Top individual performance came from Lewis Serpell in the Under 13 Boys race over the big lap.  In his first year in this age-group Lewis took an excellent 5^th place from the 24 starters, covering the two miles in 14 mins 22 secs.    

The Under 13 Girls ran the same course and a fine collective effort saw them secure the Bronze team medals.  Megan Robertson and Morag Paterson had their own tussle to eventually finish 8^th and 10^th respectively in the 31-strong field.  Megan clocked 15:55 and Morag 16:03.  Caitlin McAllister completed the scoring team in 22^nd (17:23) with Melissa Robinson 27^th in 19:05.    

Under 11’s contested the opening two races over the small lap with 48 runners in the Girls race and 42 in the Boys.  The Burgh girls team finished 5^th with Mhairi Cromar first home in 20^th place with a time of 6:50.  Maddie Joseph, racing in Club colours for the first time, was next in 30^th (7:23) followed by Mackenzie Serpell 39^th (7:35) and Holly Walker 41^st (7:37). Jake Gumbrell marked a fine debut for the club leading the boys team home in 16^th place in 6:19.  Bruce Cromar was next home in 32^nd (7:02) with Ewan Mair 41^st in 8:18 completing the team.    

With the combined Under 17 and Under 20 Women’s race comprising a big lap and then a small lap, Madeline Robinson slogged her way round the three miles and twice up that killer hill to take 9^th place with a time of 25:31.    

Almost a hundred Senior men lined up for the last race on the card, knowing full well that the course was well and truly churned up even before they set off on their three big lap mudlark.  The killer hill held no fears for Iain Walker, with his preferred discipline of hill-running, and he came home in 22^nd place, clocking 41:19 for the six miles.  Campbell Cromar meanwhile made 10^th in his Over 40 age-group, placing 48^th overall in 45:12.    

Junior Great Scottish Run – Glasgow Green – 5th September

Our Junior members were well-represented in the Junior Great Scottish Run, held on Glasgow Green.  The 3 Kilometre event attracted a field of over 1200 runners ranging in age from 9 to 17 and a number of our kids produced prominent results within their respective age-groups.    

Fin Ritchie was fastest of the Burgh representatives, clocking 11 mins 49 secs to finish 68^th overall and place 12^th in the Boys age 13 category.  Lewis Serpell, aged 11, finished 150^th overall in 12:20 to take 8^th place in his group.  12 year old Megan Robertson was the Burgh’s fastest girl, her time of 12:54 taking her to 150^th overall and an excellent 6^th in her age group.    

Morag Paterson (11) achieved tenth place in her age group, clocking 13:57.    

Highest age group placings were achieved by 9 year olds Emma Scott and Mhairi Cromar who were an impressive 4^th and 5^th respectively with times of 14:41 and 14:46.    

Thirteen year olds Erica Paterson and Charlotte Jennings Maun raced side by side until the final strides, Erica finishing in 15:07 with Charlotte just one second behind.  Morgan (13) and Mackenzie (10) Serpell clocked 16:31 and 17:32 respectively while 9 year old Georgina Jennings Maun completed the Burgh contingent clocking 17:49.    

CSSAL League Match – Grangemouth – 25th April

Our juniors got their League season under way with a visit to Grangemouth for the opening match in Division 3 of the Central and South Scotland League.    

Following a good cross-country season, Megan Robertson and Morag Paterson put their endurance base to good use to produce Personal Best performances in the Under 13 800 metres. Megan clocked 2 mins 46.7 secs to finish third in the “A” string event while Morag was first “B” string in 2:58.1. Not to be outdone Mhairi Cromar took second in the U11 Girls 800m with 3:09.4 while her twin Bruce was fourth in the Boys race in 3:10.1.    

In the sprints, Fiona Cameron was second in the U15 100 metres in 14.53 secs, as was Katie MacGregor, making her track debut and timed at 16.74 in the U13 race. Rona Wilson and Jennifer McBride also made a fine debut, respectively placing third in the U11 80 metres “A” string and “B” string with 15:08 and 15.65.    

Megan Robertson showed her versatility by winning the U13 Long Jump with 3.11 metres with Melissa Robinson second “B” string athlete with 2.70. Fiona Cameron’s 3.72 took fourth place in the U15 event with Erica Paterson only 5 cm behind to win the “B” string. Mhairi Cromar’s 2.79 gave her fourth in the U11s where Mackenzie Serpell won the “B” string with 2.66. Bruce Cromar jumped 2.64 to be second-placed U11 Boy while Xander Stevens won the “B” string with 2.47.    

Josie Lynch’s throw of 11.52 metres placed her second in the U15 Discus.    

Fin Ritchie was a one-man scoring machine in the U15 Boys age-group, placing fourth in the 400m (1:09.5), third in the 800m (2:42.5) and second in the Discus (6.97).    

Other performances:    

U11G – 800m – Mackenzie Serpell, 3:29.8; 80m – Jennifer McBride, 15.65    

U11B – 800m – Ewan Mair, 3:46.3; 80m – Xander Stevens, 15.24, Bruce Cromar, 15.97    

U13G – 100m – Melissa Robinson, 18.74    

U15G – 100m – Josie Lynch, 15.91; 800m – Erica Paterson, 3:16.0, Charlotte Jennings-Maun, 3:16.8; Discus – Charlotte Jennings-Maun, 9.74    

The afternoon was rounded off as usual with the relays (4 x 100m) where the Burgh gained good points. The U11 Girls squad of Mhairi Cromar, Mackenzie Serpell, Rona Wilson and Jennifer McBride won their race in 1:16.4. The U13 squad (Melissa Robinson, Megan Robertson, Morag Paterson and Katie MacGregor) and U15 squad (Josie Lynch, Charlotte Jennings-Maun, Fiona Cameron and Erica Paterson) both finished second in 1:05.4 and 1:01.0 respectively.    

Scottish Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships – Irvine – 14th March

A bright and breezy Beach Park in Irvine was again the setting for the Scottish Secondary Schools Cross-Country Championships, with over 700 athletes from across Scotland taking part, including a small contingent from Hermitage Academy. The small, medium and large loops making up the various distances had one thing in common, a few testing hills, although this was happily countered by generally firm underfoot conditions.    

The largest field of the day, 133, lined up for the opening race, for Girls under 14, facing a distance of 2,400 metres. Megan Robertson quickly established a position in the top thirty and used the experience of a good winter’s training and racing to good effect in sticking with the early pace to eventually finish in an excellent 27th place in a time of 11 mins 51 secs.    

Despite feeling unwell in the days before the race, Madeline Robinson took her place on the start line for the Girls 15 – 17 race, over 4,000 metres. A spirited run in the circumstances brought her home 55th of the 84 finishers in 19:46.    

In the Over-17 Girls race, also over 4,000 metres, Cheryl Clark clocked 20:45 to finish 26th of the 34 competitors.    

Scottish Athletics Indoor League – Kelvin Hall - 21st February

Junior members enjoyed what was for most of them a rare competitive outing at this time of year, taking part in the Scottish Athletics Indoor League at the Kelvin Hall.    

Not so rare for Fin Richie and Megan Robertson though. The indoor competition fell less than 24 hours after racing an energy-sapping two miles in the National Cross-Country Championships. To their delight, the pair shrugged off their soreness to record Personal Best times (PBs) over 800 metres indoors. Competing for the first time as an Under 15, Fin clocked 2 mins 44.3 secs, 8th fastest of the 11 boys competing. Megan clocked 2:52.6 to finish 9th fastest of the 19 girls competing in the Under 13 age-group. In the same event, Morag Paterson excelled in her first race since moving up to Under 13, missing out on breaking the 3 minute barrier by just one tenth of a second to place 12th.    

Other good middle distance performances came from twins Mhairi and Bruce Cromar, both recording PBs in their respective Under 11 600 metres events. Mhairi improved by five seconds to 2:17.0 to place 6th of fifteen girls competing while Bruce’s new PB of 2:18.8 placed him 11th of the thirteen boys.    

Best sprint performance came in the Under 15 age-group where Fiona Cameron’s 29.6 secs in the 200 metres was 5th fastest of seventeen girls. Lewis Serpell again produced the best Jumps performance. His 3.62 metres in the Under 13 Boys Long Jump placed him 5th of the 14 competitors. Megan Robertson again demonstrated her versatility, claiming 6th place of the sixteen competitors in the Under 13 Shot Put with her 5.30 metres.    

Other results:    

Under 11 – 60 metres – Mackenzie Serpell, 10.54; Standing Long Jump – Mackenzie Serpell, 1.52, Bruce Cromar, 1.40, Mhairi Cromar, 1.36.    

Under 13 – 60 metres – Saul Collins, 9.84, Kate Storey, 10.56, Hazel Stanfield, 10.84; 200 metres – Morag Paterson 35.9, Melissa Robinson, 38.0; 800 metres – Jacob Chown, 3:19.1; 60m Hurdles – Lewis Serpell, 12.66; Shot Put – Saul Collins, 4.26; Long Jump – Kate Storey 2.57, Hazel Stanfield, 2.55.    

Under 15 – 60 metres – Jamie Dods 8.95, Charlotte Jennings-Maun, 9.97; 200 metres – Jamie Dods, 30.5; 300 metres – Chloe Hassall, 58.1; 800 metres – Chloe Hassall, 3:19.7; 60m Hurdles – Erica Paterson, 11.92; Shot Put – Jamie Dods, 6.81, Charlotte Jennings-Maun, 4.44; Long Jump – Fiona Cameron, 3.31.    

National Cross-Country Championships – Callendar Park, Falkirk – 20th February

Maddie sprinting for home

In the Junior races at a frost-bound Callendar Park, Under-13s Fin Richie and Megan Robertson faced an undulating two mile loop while Madeline Robinson in the Under 15s faced a further half mile which thankfully was on the flat.    

Fin ran well to squeeze into the top 50 of the 121 competitors in the Boys U13 race, clocking 14:31. Megan then clocked 16:09 for 64th of the 115 in the Girls U13 race before Madeline’s 18:18 in the U15 Girls gained her 53rd place from the 101 finishers.    

Christmas Handicap – Sunday 20th December

Only three Juniors turned out for the Handicap.  Well done to the three of them for getting round the snow-covered pavements so quickly and without mishap.  Melissa Robinson ran 6 mins 31 secs for the one lap, 1200 metre course for Under 11s.  U13s ran two laps for 2400 metres with Fin Richie clocking 12:01 and Megan Robertson 12:32.    

Maddie Robinson and Cheryl Clark took part in the Senior Tortoise and Hare Handicap.  Cheryl was quickest of the twenty “Tortoises” clocking 9:58 on the first of her two runs over the 1 mile plus loop.  Maddie meanwhile clocked a consistent 14:38 and 14:36 for her two runs over the larger loop of just under two miles for “Hares”, helping her team to fifth place.    

Scottish Athletics Indoor League – Kelvin Hall – 13th December 2009

An excellent turnout and some good results at this the first Indoor match of the winter.    

Best-placed team were the Under 13 Boys, seventh of the fifteen teams in their age-group.  Lewis Serpell was the top points earner with third place in the 60 metre hurdles (12.65 secs), fifth in the Long Jump (3.79 metres) and ninth in the 800 metres (2mins:57.1 secs).    

For the Under 13 Girls, Megan Robertson was third in the Shot Put (5.72) while Rebecca Gibbs, in her first-ever competition, placed eighth with 4.88.  Megan also took tenth place in the 800 metres with a new Personal Best of 2:53.0.    

In the Under 11 Girls, Mhairi Cromar was fifth in the 600 metres (2:21.9) while MacKenzie Serpell was sixth in the Standing Long Jump (1.54 metres).    

Other results:    

Under 11 – 60 metres – Mackenzie Serpell, 10.81; 600 metres – Bruce Cromar, 2:19.1; Standing Long Jump – Mhairi Cromar, 1.34.    

Under 13 – 60 metres – Katie MacGregor, 9.96, Hazel Stanfield, 10.77 and Jacob Chown, 11.14; 200 metres – Kate Storey 35.9, Saul Collins, 38.9 and Hazel Stanfield 37.3; 800 metres – Melissa Robinson 3:15.3; Shot Put – Jacob Chown, 4.82; Long Jump – Melissa Robinson 2.80 and Kate Storey 2.61.    

Under 15 – 60 metres – Fin Richie, 9.77 and Charlotte Jennings-Maun, 9.98; 200 metres – Fiona Cameron, 30.7 and Jamie Dods, 30.8; 300 metres – Josie Lynch, 54.4; 800 metres – Chloe Hassall, 3:19.7; Shot Put – Jamie Dods, 6.86 and Josie Lynch, 5.13; Long Jump – Jamie Dods, 3.93.    

Under 17 – 60 metres – Morven Thompson, 9.61; 60 metres Hurdles – Madeline Robinson, 12.27; 200 metres – Madeline Robinson, 31.9; Long Jump – Morven Thompson, 3.70; Shot Put – Madeline Robinson, 5.76    

West District Cross-Country Championships – Irvine – 5th December 2009

Megan

Irvine Bogside was “as good as it gets” for cross-country running when it hosted the West District Championships – mild, calm, dry conditions overhead whilst underfoot was, as the location suggests, boggy, but only in bits.    

Fin

In the junior races, Megan Robertson, Fin Richie and Madeline Robinson all ran strongly to finish well up their respective fields.    

Maddie

The Under 13s faced the large two mile loop with Fin clocking 13:17 to finish 28^th in the Boys race while Megan ran 14:55 for 30^th in the Girls race.  Madeline tackled almost three miles in a mixed Under 15 / Under 17 race, finishing 24^th Under 15 in 21:01.