Active Stirling organised the annual Stirling Schools cross country championships at Queen Victoria School in Dunblane on Wednesday 28 January 2026. There were 6 competitions for each of boys and girls, with races for P6, P7, S1, S2, combined S3 and S4, and combined S5 and S6 with 31 primary schools and 9 secondary schools represented. Central members played a strong part in representing their schools across the various races with adult members assisting with marshalling and officiating.

The largest field of the day was the P6 Boys with 97 competitors. First home was Harris Robertson (Newton) in 6:05 with two Newton teammates close behind: Finlay Kynaston in 11th in 7:03 and Hamish Gallagher in 17th in 7:13. Hadley Masson (Gargunnock) placed 34th in a well-packed field in 7:31. The three Newton boys’ performances gave their team silver medals.

Among the 65 P6 Girls, Aila Campbell (Thornhill) was a clear winner in a fast time of 7:08, with Isobel Denholm (Bridge of Allan – 6th, 7:44) and Niamh Hastie (Killearn – 12th, 8:04) not far behind. Isobel’s run helped Bridge of Allan to the team gold.

In the race for P7 Boys, Luca Pizey (Buchlyvie) ran strongly to finish 12th in 6:45 followed by Rory Beaton (Thornhill – 18th, 6:51) and Henry Larcombe (Bridge of Allan – 30th, 7:10) .

The P7 Girls race had a large club contingent among the 71 runners, and Gracie Short (Newton – 2nd, 6:48) was the first in a close group of club finishers followed by Ruth Thomas (Doune – 5th, 7:13), Jessica Gardner (St Ninians – 7th, 7:25), Rosie Sutton (Balfron – 9th, 7:38), Elise Barn (Newton – 10th, 7:44), Greta Shaw (Doune – 11th, 7:47), Skye Pringle (Doune – 15th, 7:53), Nina Norve (Newton – 19th, 7:56) and Noa Martinez (Cornton – 20th, 7:58). There were team medals aplenty with club athletes contributing to Newton winning team gold and Doune team silver.

The races for secondary pupils were in the afternoon, led off by 39 S1 Boys and Brody Scanlon (Wallace – 4th, 11:36), Finlay Gallagher (Dunblane – 5th, 11:44), William Barnes (Dunblane – 9th, 12:15), Rory Meyler (Dunblane – 11th, 12:34) and Jack Morrison (Balfron – 31st, 14:54) did the club and their schools proud. In the team competition Brody and his teammates gave Wallace team gold while the strong Dunblane team took home bronze.

In the 29 strong S1 Girls field, club athletes led the field home with Zara Williams (Stirling) winning in 12:09 and Lila Robertson (Dunblane) 2nd in 13:15. Lila was backed up by Brooke McCreadie (Dunblane) in 5th in 13:58 and the Dunblane team scooped the gold medals. Rebecca Gribbon (Balfron – 10th, 14:40) and Isla Still (Balfron – 19th, 17:04) also finished well and ensured that Balfron took home bronze in a very tight tussle for the lower medals.

It was a similar story among the S2 Girls where Central clubmates and Wallace teammates Olivia Denholm (2nd, 13:09), Zara Hector (3rd, 13:29) and Sophia McMahon (4th, 13:43), backed up by Freya Reid (15th, 15:49), made it inevitable that Wallace would win team gold, with the team result calculated on a school’s first three athletes.

The S3/S4 races saw success for Central athletes in both Boys and Girls. Gavin Rodger (Balfron) just missed out on an individual medal finishing 4th in a tight finish in 10:19, but led his Balfron team to bronze medals, and Fraser Cheyne (Dunblane – 7th, 10:54) completed the score for his Dunblane team to win gold. Among the girls, Emily Watkin (McLaren) took a decisive individual win in 11:42 and a club 1-2-3 was completed by Rachel Fulbrook (Dunblane – 2nd, 12:23) and Elspeth Callan (Dunblane – 3rd, 13:18) with Summer Johnston (Fairview) not far behind (6th, 14:26). Rachel and Elspeth’s placings led Dunblane to team gold.

The Watkin household saw further success in the S5/S6 Girls when Fia Watkin (McLaren) won a tight victory against Katherine Mitchell (Dunblane) with both athletes timed at 13:02.

Congratulations to everyone who took part. Apologies to any club members who we have missed in the results. If we’ve incorrectly claimed you as a member, come and join us at training – you might like it!

Active Stirling’s event report, including full results, is at https://www.activestirling.org.uk/news/stirling-pupils-shine-at-annual-schools-cross-country-championships . The leading finishers in each category will be considered for selection for the Stirling team at the Scottish Primary and Secondary Schools cross country at Kirkcaldy on 25 April.