Category: Cross Country

This years Scottish National Cross Country Championships took place today at the regular venue of Callendar Park, Falkirk in somewhat different conditions from what we are used to for most of the event. Gone was the wind, rain, mud and even the snow and athletes were instead greeted with unseasonably warm and very dry conditions although the rain did arrive before the event concluded.

Ayr Seaforth were again well represented from the U13 age group through to the Seniors in what was the largest field ever at the nationals. with the total number of entries put at 2458 it was the largest since the mens and womens Championships were combined in 1993-94.

First up was the U13 Girls who raced over a 3100m course where 146 athletes completed the course. Seaforth athletes were Iona Hubbard (12th-13:37), Anna Kirk (33rd-4:15), Sophie McCallum (38th-14:20), Sophie McColm (57th-4:50) and Katie Murray (72nd-15:19) with the Seaforth team narrowly missing out on a bronze medal taking 5th place overall.

The U13 Boys had the same 3100m course with a field of 185 contestants. Evan Kelly (38th-13:10) was first home followed by Ethan Polson (53rd-3:26), Daniel Byers (64th-3:37), Fraser McIntyre (75th-13:46) and Callum Moir (77th-13:47).

The U15 athletes had a slightly longer 4100m course for both girls & boys with the girls running first. Morven Hubbard (1st-17:10) led the way from the only other Seaforth entrant who was her sister Islay Hubbard (72nd-19:00).
The U15 Boys saw sole Seaforth representative Euan Bell (43rd-15:51).

The last Junior Seaforth athlete of the day was U17 Woman Emma Frew who claimed 28th-28:54 over the 6000m course.

Sandwiching the U20 races were the Senior athletes with the Senior Women taking to the stage first over the 10000m course. A massive field of 319 completed the race with Gael Neill (159th-53:09) and Kirsty Green (313th-70:03).

The Senior mens race had an even bigger field of 719 athletes with the hardy Seaforth team taking 28th team position overall. Individual places and times were Kenneth Neill (91st-39:04), Stephen McCrorie (294th-44:37), Stuart McClean (314th-45:04), Alasdair Meldrum (320th-45:3), Simon Kirk (370th-46:24), Iain Pettigrew (48:32), Laurence Baker (571st-51:15), Ian Morrison (618th-53:09), Stuart McColm (631st-53:45) and Peter Laing (664th-55:11).

For most this will be the end of the cross country season and some may have a well deserved break before they get down to the serious business of the 2019 track season. Many thanks to all of the coaches who have prepared the athletes over the winter for these Championships.

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This years West District Cross Country Championships took place at a very wet and muddy Kilmarnock yesterday. While the strong winds of earlier in the week had gone the mud was as bad as ever with the rain returning before the event finished.
The first race of the day was the U13 Girls race which unfortunately was victim to an error on the course where the runners were marshalled over a far shorter course than the 3200m they were supposed to run, the organisers however decided that the results stood which saw Ayr Seaforth off to a good start with Iona Hubbard taking second place with the team of Iona Hubbard, Anna Kirk & Sophie McCallum taking the Team Silver medals.
The U13 Boys followed and this time there was no marshalling mistakes. Over the 3200m course the Seaforth team of Ethan Polson, Calum Moir & Daniel Byers took 5th place overall.
The U15 Girls was the next race which was over a longer course of some 4000m and this was followed by the U15 Boys who took on the same distance.
The next race where Seaforth was represented was the U17 Women over 5500m and it was in this race we saw the performance of the day with Rosie Davidson taking the Gold medal.
The Senior Women then took on the same 8500m course that the Senior would run in the last race of the day with the U17 Men competing on the 5500m course in between these races.

Cross country now takes a break until the National Championships which are in Falkirk towards the end of February.

West District XC 2018 - U13 Girls

West District XC 2018 - U13 Boys

West District XC 2018 - U15 Girls

West District XC 2018 - U15 Boys

West District XC 2018 - U17 Women

West District XC 2018 - Senior Women

West District XC 2018 - U17 Men

West District XC 2018 - Senior Men

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This years Ayrshire Cross Country Championships took place at an unusually sunny Kilmarnock on Saturday although conditions underfoot were still slightly soft in places. First up was the U11 races where Seaforth athlete Brady McLean took the Gold medal in the boys race. There was success in both U13 races however with Iona Hubbard taking Gold & Anna Kirk the Silver in the girls race while Ethan Polson took Silver & Daniel Byers Bronze in the boys race. Euan Bell followed this taking Silver in the U15 boys race while Morven Hubbard also took Silver in the U15 girls race. Not to be outdone it was then the turn of Scott Sprang to take Gold & Emma Frew also Gold in the U17 races. The final races of the day were the Seniors where Toni McIntosh won Gold in the womens with twin sister Laura Wallace taking bronze, in the mens race Lewis Ross won bronze while also taking the position of 1st in the U20 section. All in all it was good day for Ayr Seaforth and full results can be found below.

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U11 Boys

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U11 Girls

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U13 Boys

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U13 Girls

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U15 Boys

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U15 Girls

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U17 Men

Ayrshire XC 2018 - U17 Women

Ayrshire XC 2018 - Senior Men

Ayrshire XC 2018 - Senior Women

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This years Scottish National XC Relay Championships took place on Saturday at a somewhat mudless Cumbernauld which is extremely unusual. On a day with a bright,sunny sky and low temperatures there was no sign of the mud which is a normal feature of this course but this in no way made it any easier for the competitors who still had to negotiate the rolling hills of the course.
The first race of the day was that of the Young Females where teams of 3 compete with an U13 athlete running the 2500m course first followed by either an U13 or U15 who then hands over to either an U15 or U17. Seaforth had 3 complete teams and an incomplete team competing in this race with Team 1 giving the club their best result of the day with 8th place.
Next up was the Young Males who ran in the same format with there being 3 complete teams and an incomplete team.
With only 2 Senior Women available on the day it was an incomplete team of Gael Riddle & Ruth Kirk who competed in the Masters Women section taking on a 4000m course. The Senior Men were well represented with 3 complete teams taking on the 4 x 4000m course. Full results can be seen in the tables below.

National XC Relays 2018 - Young Females

National XC Relays 2018 - Young Males

National XC Relays 2018 - Masters Women

National XC Relays 2018 - Senior Men

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This years Ayrshire Cross Country Relay Championships took place on Saturday at Irvine Sports Club. Conditions were favourable with the rain holding off till the Senior races although the lack of mud underfoot may have confused a few. There was success on the day for several Seaforth teams with the U11 Boys(A) taking Silver, U13 Boys (A) taking Silver, U13 Girls (B) taking Gold & the (A) team Bronze, Mens (A) took Bronze while the Womens (A) won Gold. Full results can be found below.

Ayrshire XC Relays - U11 Boys

Ayrshire XC Relays - U11 Girls

Ayrshire XC Relays - U13 Boys

Ayrshire XC Relays - U13 Girls

Ayrshire XC Relays - U15 Boys

Ayrshire XC Relays - U15 Girls

Ayrshire XC Relays - Senior Men

Ayrshire XC Relays - Senior Women

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This years West District Cross Country Relay Championships took place at an exceptionally wet Irvine Beach Park yesterday but despite the weather around 1200 athletes took part.
Seaforth had teams featuring in each race and first up was the Young Females. This race like the Young Males comprises of teams of 3 athletes each running over a 2500m course. The first runner is an U13 athlete with the second either an U13 or U15 and the third runner either U15 or U17.
In the young Females race which had 45 complete teams, Seaforth had 3 complete teams competing with the first leg runners being Iona Hubbard (Team A), Sophie MCcColm (Team B) and Sophie McCallum (Team C). It was Iona Hubbard who led the race home with a sizeable lead to hand over to the second leg runners who were Morven Hubbard (Team A), Anna Kirk (Team B) and Katie Murray (Team C). For the third and final leg it was Emma Frew (Team A), Evie Mackay (Team B) and Isla Hubbard (Team C) who set off with Team A coming home in 5th place, Team B in 16th place and Team C in 20th place.
The next race was the Young Males where Seaforth had 2 complete teams and an incomplete team in a race with 40 complete teams. First leg runners were Conor Scobie (Team A), Calum Moir (Team B) and Fraser McIntyre (Team C) who then handed over to Alex Crooks (Team A), Daniel Byers (Team B) and Euan Bell (Team C). With no third runner for team C it was left to Scott Sprang (Team A) and Max McLean (Team B) to take up the challenge with Team A coming home in 11th place and Team B in 26th place.
The Senior Women were next up in a race with 34 complete teams. This race was competed by teams of 3 athletes each taking on a 4000m course. With only one complete team and a solo runner it was Laura Wallace (Team A) and Ruth Kirk (Team B) who set off with Laura followed by Gael Neill and Toni McIntosh who brought the team home in 10th place.
The Senior Mens race comprised of teams of 4 athletes each taking on the same 4000m course as the Senior Women. Seaforth had 3 complete teams in a field of 85 complete Senior teams and it was first leg runners Grahame Hopper (Team A), Alasdair Meldrum (Team B) and Laurence Baker (Team C) who led off handing over to Stephen McCrorie (Team A), Simon Kirk (Team B) and Peter Laing(Team C). With persistent rain once again falling it was then the turn of Craig Brown (Team A), Iain Pettigrew (Team B) and Stuart McColm (Team C) who handed over to final leg runners Kenny Neill (Team A), Paul Turnbull (Team B) and Stuart McLean (Team C). In the final overall standings in the Senior category Team A were 28th, Team B 58th and Team C 72nd however in the Seniors only category Team A were 23rd while in the Masters category Team B were 12th and Team C 16th.
Next up is the Ayrshire Cross Country Relays next weekend followed by the National Cross Country Relays at Cumbernauld.

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This years National Cross Country Championships took place at Callender Park, Falkirk on Saturday in conditions completely different from last year when it was a washout. There was a much smaller contingent from Seaforth this year but those who did compete had a memorable day. 

First off were the U13 Girls with Seaforth but a problem with the chip timing system for this race has left it somewhat difficult to provide accurate times for those outside the top finishers. What is without question is that the finish order for Seaforth was Islay Hubbard 35th (no time), Tess Crooks 67th (15:13), Sophie McColm 74th (15:16), 

The U13 Boys race was next and by this race the timing system was fully operational. Adam Currie led the Seaforth athletes home taking 38th position in a time of 2:42 for the 3100m course followed by Brodie McGregor 91st (13:30), Connor Scobie 119th (13:58) and Calum Moir 120th (3:59).

The U15 Girls race was next over a 4100m course and it was in this race that the Seaforth performance of the day was witnessed with Rosie Davidson narrowly missing out on a podium finish taking 4th place in 15:39. She was followed by team mates Isla Kirk 44th (17:42), Morven Hubbard 49th (17:49), Kitty Cooper-Hinton 117th (19:59) and Efthalia Karouzaki 33rd (22:19).

The U15 Boys raced over the same course with sole Seaforth representative Alex Crooks finishing in 67th place with a time of 16:15.

The only U17 athlete from Seaforth was U17 Woman Emma Frew who raced over a 6000m course to take 13th place in 26:25.

With there also being no U20 athletes from the club it was left to the Senior Men to complete Seaforth participation on the day. As usual this race has an enormous number of athletes competing with no fewer than 623 this year. The first home wearing the red cross of Seaforth was Kenny Neill who took 96th place after running over 10000m in a time of 38:01 followed by Alasdair Meldrum 347th (44:19), Iain Pettigrew 460th (47:43), Laurence Baker 468th (47:59), Ian Morrison 530th (50:45) and Stuart McColm 556th (52:30).