The Lindsay’s East District Cross Country Championships saw Pitreavie AAC athletes compete in Dundee on Saturday. The fantastic venue was a first, with the tough course initially flat and fast, followed by sharp bends and hills.
Anya Morrison, in her first year as an U15, lead the U15 Pitreavie girls team with a strong performance and sprint finish to complete the 4.1k course in 17:02, followed by Erin Macfarlane who finished in 17th place, just out of possible qualification reach. Rebecca Sludden and Maya Millar finished in a respectable 32nd and 33rd place. The girls team finished in a well deserved 5th place, with 60 points, only 18 points behind medal position.
Connor Gourley, running solo, represented the U17 men. A week of illness took its toll, and he finished in 12th place, with a time of 20:42, with his training partner Ben Sandilands from Fife AC finishing 2nd. At the previous race in Broxburn he and his training partner finished in 1st and 2nd places respectively.
Both Anya and Connor should qualify for selection at the Scottish Inter District Cross Country in Stirling in January, based on previous strong top 10 performances.
In the U15 boys, Caleb Macleod came in first for Pitreavie, with a 20th place in a time of 15:47, followed by Ollie Rodger in 41st place, and Roy Taylor in 47th place. These were good, solid results for the U15 boys who were all in their first year. This result gave the team 9th place on the day.
The U13 girls Ariane Baillie and Katie Thomson performed solidly on the day, finishing halfway up the field in 28th and 29th place respectively.
In the combined Seniors and Masters race Jeff Farquhar, Masters, battled the elements and continued his great run of performances as the first V60 with a time of 35:20, 1st male V60, and an overall placing of 133. He was followed by Craig Shield, Senior, in 250th place.
Pitreavie had two women competing, with Kirstyn Suttie, Senior, and Morna Fleming, Master. Kirstyn dug deep to sprint the final stretch producing a great performance in a competitive field with her time of 39:51 and 46th place, followed by Morna, V65, in 85th place and first V65.
