North District Cross Country, Dornoch - 01/11/2008

The young athletes of Caithness Amateur Athletics Club who live in both Caithness and Sutherland have come together recently to compete in two of the North District Cross Country League fixtures. The first of those was hosted in Dornoch by East Sutherland AC and the second in Elgin by Moray Road Runners.

Dornoch was a new fixture on the North District calendar and proved popular with most of the athletes. It was a predominantly flat tree-lined course which tested the athletes over the maximum permitted distances under Scottish Athletics rules. Apart from a very tight start and finish to the courses, the rest of the races were on forestry tracks allowing athletes to change positions as they moved up and down the field of athletes.

Stephanie Andrews in the Under 11 Girls was CAAC's highest finisher in this age group in second place.

In the Under 11 Boys, Lewis Holmes turned the tables on team mate Ruairdh Gollan by finishing first where as Ruairdh had taken the honours in the previous fixture in Fort William. Third placed Caithness athlete, Murray Mackay, made up the Sutherland based trio to take first team for the second consecutive fixture.

In the Under 13 Girls, again there was a change in order with Shannon Eyers and Lauren Lafferty coming home ahead of team mates Sarah Henderson and Hannah Macleod. These girls are using each other well to put in some excellent results. Ross Gollan continued his winning ways leading the field home and with Alastair Cooper and Rorie Stewart in third and fourth places, they dominated the team race.

Emma Dunnett, in her first league race this season due to illness, showed a return to form with a relaxed second place and with the assistance of Oonagh Dunnett and Sarah Mackinnon they coasted to first team place. Jake Anderson, also in his first race of the season, demonstrated his new found strength with a well deserved fourth place.

Also looking strong was Duncan Paterson who finished fourth in the Under 17 Men. Duncan who is a first year Under 17 is proving his potential over the longer distances, which bodes well for his future as a senior runner.

To the delight of the Caithness team, Andrew Douglas pulled on his Caithness vest for the last time prior to leaving for New Zealand. Finishing in second place behind Ben Livesey of Forres Harriers, Andrew was three minutes clear of the rest of the senior field. Also pleasing was the presence of a full Caithness Senior Men's team comprising of Mathew Sutherland, David Spencer, Sandy Christy, and John Douglas.

The results are as follows:-

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