The second race of Central Athletic Club’s 2022-23 cross country series was held on Saturday 24 December in the Laigh Hills Park in Dunblane with an unseasonably mild morning making it excellent conditions for the 24 athletes completing the course.
Derek Easton had laid on an interesting course for the youngsters which passed through the start and finish area a couple of times, keeping the spectators involved.
It was Under-15 Boy Conall Paterson who showed his strength and experience to complete the course of something a bit over a mile in 7 minutes 10 seconds. Fraser Kingsley (8:12) stuck well to the task to finish as second Under-15 Boy and Matthew Inman completed this age group with an 8:40 effort. Cameron Tanner proved the strongest of the Under-13 Boys on the day with a fine run of 8:08, here followed home by further strong efforts from Luca Shepherd (8:52) and Alfie Laing (9:14). Ben Homncik (8:26) ran well throughout to head home the Under-11 Boys with Matthew Owen and Hugh Thomas both sprinting to the finish to record 8:55 and Finlay Gallagher in close attendance (8:59). Zachary Walker (9:27) and Rory Meyler (9:58) completed the Under-11 Boys efforts on the day. Harris Robertson (9:11) had another fine run and continues to lead the Under-9 Boys category.
Under-13 Girl Emily Stanford (7:36) again caught the eye as she headed home this age group with Nora Thompson (9:33) running confidently for second in the age group while Emily Watkin and Jessica Walker completing this age group with a sprint finish, both recording 10:10. There were further top performances in the Under-15 age group with Niamh McKinley (7:44) taking the honours from the ever improving Fia Watkin (7:56) and good effort from Dara Clark (9:29). Hannah Inman (8:25) continues to stand out as she again headed home the Under-11 Girls while there was more good performances in this age group from Lila Robertson (9:21), Zoe Beaton (10:11) and Iona Clark (12:41).
The race series now moves on to Fintry Rugby Club on Saturday 21 January with registration from 11.30am and warm-up at 12 noon.
Full results are in this spreadsheet: