XCC Report – Alloa 22nd November 2014
Saturday 22nd November was the 2nd East District League match, with Pitreavie well represented in all age groups. With the endurance runners focused on the East District Champs on 6th December and attaining those Scotland East vests, this was a good test for legs and lungs on an extremely muddy and challenging course.
It was great to have a team in the under 11 girls race, Isla Booth brought the team home in 17th place, followed by Kerry McNaulty (22nd) and Abbie Chisholm (29th) all girls finished looking strong.
Next it was the turn of the under 11 boys, another fantastic result for Conor Gourlay finishing 4th, and a good position for Ross Birrell in his first outing on the country for Pitreavie placing 23rd well up the field.
Sarah Coutts gave Pitreavie their first win of the day, finishing very strongly even after a face plant in the mud; she was closely followed by Jenny Gillanders in 4th place. Jemma Jamieson and Lauren Blair battled it out for 18th and 19thplace. Other runners placed well with Jennifer Brydon 28th, Skye Marshall 32nd, Ailsa Marsh 36th and Lucy Telfer 53rd. This was good enough to give Pitreavie 2nd team on the day.
In the Under 13 boys race Lewis Blair was the best placed runner finishing in 7th place, backed up by Euan Johnston in 22nd and Aaron Robertson in 34th place – all solid performances from three boys who are all 1st year in this age group. Conor Allan started the race but had to pull up with a calf strain, wishing him a speedy recovery.
In the U15/U17 girls race “Sister Act” Emily and Zoe Nicholson were the first two finishers in 6th and 11th place respectively. Leah Davie was the 3rd counter for the team finishing in 12th place, and 2nd U17 girl. Other runners placed as follows; Iona Crawford (22nd), Ciara Bowman (27th) Sophie Telfer (28th), Hannah Dow (53rd) Molly Cunningham (65th), Hannah Gillan (66th) and Erin Graham (67th). The U15/U17 girl’s team placed 2nd on the day.
In the Under 15 Boys Pitreavie were brought home by James Adam in 10th place, followed by Alex Johnston in 16th, next to finish in the mud was Dylan Thomson in 33rd place, Liam Murray in 39th and Liam Gillan in 43rd.
Next up were the Under 17 men, Tyler White was first to finish in 18th place, followed by Andrew McNair in 23rd place and Corey Smith our fantastic club Youth Rep in 26th place.
In the Senior races Rebecca Burns finished the race in 9th place, not enjoying the mud today! Colin Lamont and Neil McLachlan finished in 97th and 124th place in a field of close to 250 runners!
All in all a great day for the club, we could have done without the torrential rain at the start of the day, great to see so many supportive parents and friendly faces – see you at Broxburn on 17th January – we need to put out strong teams to bring up our team positions and make sure that we find a way to get the club tent there!
Penny Hicks – XCC Team Manager
