North District Cross Country Championships, Inverness - 17/01/2009

After a break in the North District fixture, the Caithness Amateur Athletic Club athletes travelled last Saturday to Inverness for the 4th League event of 6 in the season. With individual athletes and team placings being decided over the top 4 individual placings and team points, there was everything to play for.

The Caithness athletes have been training hard, and as many other Clubs saw their numbers drop and performances marred, the hardy Caithness team recorded some of their best performances of the season to dominate a number of age groups.

Out of the 6 junior races, CAAC won 3 individual races and took top team place in 4 age groups which will have an impact on the overall North District Cross Country results as the athletes get ready for the final 2 fixtures.

First up in Inverness was the Under 11 Girls and although the team came home in 2nd place behind Inverness Harriers, they had the closest finish to the Inverness team with only 4 points separating the teams. Of particular note in that achievement was Sarah MacDonald who had previously never placed higher than 10th, but who stunned her team mates by coming home in 3rd place, followed closely by Stephanie Andrew in 4th.

Megan Mackay in 11th place, has counted for the team by placing in the top 3 Caithness athletes in all 4 fixtures which is excellent for her first cross country season.

The Under 11 Boys saw Lewis Holmes take his third victory in the league fixtures, well ahead of team mate Ruaraidh Gollan in 2nd place. Murray Mackay in 4th place, like Megan Mackay has also scored in all 4 teams and recorded his highest finish. The boys took 1st team and dominate the overall team placings.

The Under 13 Girls saw a mixture of successes with Sarah Henderson dropping to 16th place after a fall but showing true cross country spirit in completing the race. Felicity Roach was 1st counter for Caithness in 8th place with other team counters, Lauren Lafferty (9th) and Erin Mackay (10th) having a sprint finish to determine their final placings.

Lauren has counted for 3 of the teams and all of the Caithness athletes were delighted to see Erin back running after a layoff due to injury and illness that has seen her out of action since her success as part of the Caithness girls relay team which took gold in the North District Relay Championships in October.

The Under 13 Girls team took 1st place in Inverness for the first time with Inverness Harriers unable to put together a team. This could bring them up the overall team rankings and close the gap to first place.

Ross Gollan in the Under 13 Boys not only came home 1st in Inverness but also with the win secured the League Championship as with 4 1st placings he cannot be beaten. With Alistair Cooper in 2nd place, he recorded his top finish and kept himself in the frame for a possible individual medal at the end of the season.

Dean Britton ran the race of his season with an 8th place finish, 5 places better than any of his previous races. This secured him a team placing and hopefully a new found confidence for the future races. The boys took 1st team place for the 4th time this season.

After an Interdistrict silver medal a week ago, Emma Dunnett took control of the Under 15 Girls race in Inverness and showed her domination by finishing 1.41min ahead of the rest of the field over a 5 kilometre course. Finding a return to form was twin sister, Oonagh Dunnett who like Dean recorded her best placing of the season with a well deserved 2nd place. With Sarah MacKinnon making up a solid team performance in 8th place, the CAAC girls recorded their highest team points total to pull further away from Inverness Harriers in the overall standings.

The Under 15 Boys team unfortunately suffered because of an injury carried by David Gardner which meant that the team was depleted to 2 athletes. Jake Anderson showed a strong performance finishing in 4th place and Rob Murdoch had his second highest finish of the season with a 6th place.

The only other Caithness athlete was Graeme Taylor in Under 20 Men's race. Graeme has not competed in any of the Leagues this season and as such this formed part of his training as he took on the best of the North men. Finishing 2nd in the Under 20's race and 24th in the Men's placings demonstrated a good level of endurance over a hilly 8.7 kilometre course.

With another League fixture in a week's time, there is all to play for in many of the age groups and Nairn could see a number of other age group winners being determined. Other final placings may go all the way to the wire in the final League fixture in Keith on the 14th February.

Full CAAC results:-

Photos:-

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