Ayr Seaforth headed to Callendar Park, Falkirk on Saturday with a healthy contingent of 25 athletes to participate in the Scottish National Cross Country Championships. Entries this year were at a 16 year high with 1955 competitors entered. The biggest growth being in the youngest age-group with 172 entered in each Under-13 boys and Under-13 girls categories.
The first race of the day was the boys under 13 where Ayr had 5 runners. Lewis Ross finished in a creditable 18th place followed by Ewan McLevy (30th), Ross Nicolson in his very first race(32nd) and Daniel Martin (69th). Unfortunately although he started Steven Martin had to pull out due to illness.
Next up were the under 13 girls in which Ayr had 4 runners all making their first appearance on the National stage. The final positions were Mia Cullis (85th), Emily Cleer (97th), Caitlin Chilton (107th) and Beth Littlejohn (112th).
The under 15 boys were next followed by the under 15 girls. In the boys race Seaforth’s sole representative was Fraser Stirling who finished in an excellent 17th position from 112 starters. This was Frasers first year in the age group and he has acquitted himself very well against older and more experienced runners. In the girls race there were 6 runners representing Seaforth. The best finish of the day went to Kirstin Oakley (5th) followed by Lisa Rennie (59th), Beth MacRae (63rd), Jacqueline Gibson (74th), Rebecca Martin (81st) and Rebecca Watson (91st).
The women’s u17 race and u20 race both had single Seaforth runners. Rachael King, who was also making her first appearance finished in 43rd place in the u17 race while Katie Sprang was 15th in the u20 race.
The final race of the day was the senior men’s race which had an entry of 720 runners. Ayr had 7 runners in this race and their final positions were Laurence Baker (270th), David Hughes (285th), Kevin Bloy (294th), Peter Laing (335th), Paul Turnbull (382nd) and Ian Baird (459th). Unfortunately Tom McCulloch injured his calf during the race and had to pull out.
