North District Cross Country Championships, Nairn - 31/01/2009

With only two races left in the North District calendar, the athletes who travelled from Caithness Amateur Athletic Club to Nairn were anticipating some hard races as final placings were fought for in the overall league. Nairn races have a reputation of being run over extremely short courses, but with a mix terrain of sand, dunes grass, rivers and trees, they can prove tough for anyone who has not yet developed a solid endurance base.

As in Inverness a fortnight earlier, Caithness AAC won 3 individual races and this time took top team places in 3 age groups with a couple of final results being decided prior to the last league fixture in Keith on the 14th February.

In the Under 11 Girls, Megan Mackay had the race of the season finishing in 5th place in what was an outstanding performance. Megan also competes in Highland dancing and the leg strength gained from this stood her in good stead for the conditions underfoot on the beach and dunes. One of the Sutherland based athletes who compete for Caithness, Stephanie Andrew, finished just ahead of Megan to continue a good series of results over the winter. Along with Rebekah Bryan, also from Sutherland, the girls took 2nd team behind Inverness Harriers and look set to take 2nd overall in the league standings.

The Under 11 Boys saw Lewis Holmes take his fourth victory in the league fixtures and his commitment and team spirit will be sorely missed when the Sutherland based athletes leave CAAC at the end of the cross country season. Ruairdh Gollan from Sutherland did not run to his usual form but still managed to take 5th place and along with Mark O'Brien who scored is first team points in 9th place, this saw the boy's team continue their unbeaten run.

The Under 13 Girls saw a mixture of successes with Sarah Henderson recovering well after a disappointing race in Inverness to finish 7th at Nairn. Erin Mackay, who is based in Sutherland continues her return to form and finished in 8th place. Hannah MacLeod finished 11th just ahead of team mate Lauren Lafferty who had been lying 8th during the race before dropping back due to ill health. The team again picked up 2nd place and look on course to get second overall in the league.

Ross Gollan in the Under 13 Boys continued his unbeaten run of victories and did not show any signs of slowing despite having a comfortable lead on the rest of the field. Alisdair Cooper, who like Ross is based In Sutherland, came home in 3rd place and it will go right to the last fixture to decide if Alisdair will take home a silver or bronze placing overall. Rorie Stewart was back in form after a disappointing run in Inverness and took 6th place. The boys took 1st team place for the 5th time this season and cannot be beaten by any of the other competing teams.

Emma Dunnett played out a tactical run in the Under 15 Girls race as she kicked for home with 1 mile to go leaving a final gap of 36 seconds between her and Mairi MacLennan from Inverness Harriers. Although Emma cannot be beaten in the overall league standings, Mairi can share the Under 15 Girls title if she finishes ahead of Emma at Keith.

Oonagh Dunnett also got herself into a hard fought battle for 3rd and 4th place against ex-CAAC member, Jade Currie with Jade finally taking 3rd in a sprint finish. Oonagh needs to finish ahead of Jade at Keith to gain a final medal placing in the leagues but regardless of her final placing, the twin sisters along with team mate Sarah MacKinnon have secured the team title with another solid victory in Nairn.

Jake Anderson demonstrated tactical and physical dominance in the Under 15 Boys race by kicking for home also 1 mile out and as he picked up the pace he secured his second 3rd place finish of the season. Rob Murdoch struggled with the tough conditions underfoot but showed great determination in finishing 7th.

Duncan Paterson made a tactical error in the closing stages of the Under 17 Men's race which saw 4th place being stolen from him in a dive for the line. Despite this, his race performance was excellent with a great show of physical and mental strength.

Graeme Taylor in the Under 20 Men's race finishing 2nd, just 11 seconds behind the winner, Robbie Cammack.

Full CAAC results:-

Photos:-

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