LASSWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

The above event takes place at Holyrood Park in Edinburgh as part of the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country event which includes some of the worlds top cross country runners.  Last year saw one of the most exciting races I have seen at the event with Callum Hawkins giving the home crowd something to cheer about as he gave it everything to try and win the senior race, narrowly missing out in the final sprint to the line.

Lasswade have always had a number of athletes selected for the East of Scotland team in recent years and they have always performed well. This year is no exception with five athletes having been selected:

Ross Wolfenden (U13)
Harry Henriksen (U15)
Christian Graham (U17)
Magnus Tait (U17)
Sarah Tait (U17)

Why not make a day of it and come along and cheer on your team mates and also watch some top international athletes in action.

Congratulations to all of the athletes selected and good luck on the day!

The East District Cross Country Championships took place at a cold and frosty Deans in Livingston on Saturday 9 December with 24 athletes from Lasswade AC competing. The frost made the ground hard underfoot although still suitable for spikes.

The first race of the day was the under 13 girls with 4 girls from Lasswade competing. First Lasswade finisher was Olivia Meikle finishing just inside the top 30 in 29th, she was followed by team mates Amy McLaughlin 36th, Skye Foster 50th and Niamh Inglis 54th.

The under 13 boys were next off and Lasswade had 6 six boys in this race. First home for Lasswade was Ross Wolfenden in 14th, all of the other boys were tightly packed with Cameron Chambers 39th, Matthew Cartledge 40th, Alistair Scott 41st, Alasdair Brown 45th and Alec Miller 48th.

Cameron Chambers in U13 boys race

Flying the Lasswade flag for the under 15 girls was Abby McGlone who had probably her best run of the season so far to finish just outside the top 20 in 21st place.

The under 15 boys were in a similar position with Harry Henriksen ill, Cameron Dickson was the only Lasswade athlete finishing in 56th place in a close finish on the run in with an athlete from Corstorphine.

The under 17 and under 20 women ran together and we had 1 under 17 and 3 under 20 athletes competing. In the under 17 race Sarah Tait ran her best cross country race for sometime working her way through the field and looking stronger as the race progressed finishing in 5th place. In the under 20 race Lauren Dickson ran very well considering she was feeling unwell before the race. Lauren finished just outside the medals in 4th place, Ailsa Innes was next finisher in 11th with Niamh Shaw in 13th place. This meant the girls won 2nd team missing out on gold by only three points!

Lauren Dickson in U20 women’s race

In the under 17 and under 20 men we had four under 17 runners.  Christian Graham who has been in great form so far this season was out in the lead early on in the race and had to contend with a dog chasing the runners and almost tripping him up on a number of occasions over the first mile of the course.  Once again Christian ran very well to win the U17 race but showed his strength and speed by passing the leader of the U20 race, who had another small lap to run, on the run in to the U17 finish. Next finisher was Magnus Tait who has been struggling with a back injury but still managed a top 10 finish in 9th, he was followed by Euan Hood in 20th place and Daniel Kelly 33rd. The boys done well to win the silver team medal, like the U20 women just missing out on gold by only three points.

We had no senior men or women running, however we did have 1 lady in the masters race. Linden Nicholson finished 98th overall and 40th in the masters race.

In the mens masters we had 3 athletes with Andrew McGlone leading them home in 39th place followed by Scott Dickson 82nd and Dave Scott 83rd.

It was great to have Lasswade AC so well represented in these championships and athletes doing so well.  The selections for the inter district have not been announced yet but based on the selection criteria I estimate that we could potentially have 8 athletes picked which is not too bad from 24.

Well done to everyone who competed and in particular to our medal winners both individual and team.

For full results please click here

The second of this winters East District League matches took place in a snow covered Alloa on Saturday 25 November. Although the conditions were cold and dry, the course soon became very muddy and slippy and only got worse as the day progressed.

The first race of the day was the under 11 girls and Lasswade AC fielded five athletes with Abbie Foster leading the team home finishing in an impressive 2nd place with Hannah Knipe 9th and Eloise Scott 20th.  Team mates Sophie Birse and Amy Rutherford improved on their finishing positions from Stirling to finish 44th and 50th respectively.   The girls finished the day off with being the winning U11 girls team!

The under 11 boys were next race to set off with four Lasswade AC athletes taking part. Andrew McWilliam was first Lasswade finisher in 11th place. Rory Stobie was next counter in 33rd with Harry Miller in 52nd and Max Stobie 84th.

There were five Lasswade athletes in the under 13 girls race. Olivia Meikle was first home in 17th place followed by Amy McLaughlin 39th, Skye Foster 57th, Rebekah Knipe 59th and Fiona Eades 62nd.

The under 13 boys were next to get underway and we had a magnificent seven boys in the field. First home for Lasswade was Ross Wolfenden finishing in 10th. He was followed home by team mates Cameron Chambers 47th, Matthew Cartledge 48th, Alex Miller 51st, Alistair Scott 64th, Jared Stobie 72nd and Alasdair Brown 74th.

In the under 15/17 girls we had two athletes with Sarah Tait (U17) having a good run and working her way through the field to be our first finisher in 9th place. Team mate Abby McGlone (U15) was next Lasswade athlete home in 36th.

Unfortunately we had no U15 boys running yesterday.

Next to set off were the under 17 men and we had three runners. Christian Graham running well so far this winter was once again the runaway winner, Euan Hood having a better run was in 15th with team mate Daniel Kelly in 29th.

We had no ladies competing yesterday.

In the last race of the day which was the senior men we had five Lasswade athletes competing and first home was Scott Thomson in a very respectable 13th , he was followed home by Jamie Darling (U20) in 73rd, Andrew McGlone 111th, Dave Scott 154th and Graham Knipe 176th.

Although cold and very muddy it was a great day of cross country running and really good to see so many athletes coming out to support the club. The number of Lasswade AC athletes competing was good although slightly down on the first match at Stirling. We still fielded 31 athletes but did have a few incomplete teams. Currently in the league the only teams placed are our U11 girls who are in 2nd position and U17 men who are 3rd so we need to make sure we have a good turnout for the last match in Broxburn in January.

There were quite a few improved performances so well done to everyone and thank you for your support.

Kirk and Linda

The National XC Relays took place last weekend with two Lasswade AC young male teams, one masters team and an incomplete senior men’s team competing.

The young male athletes had done well in recent years finishing just outside the medals in 4th and 5th place over the last two years.  First off for us this year in the young males was U13’s Dexter Howard and Cameron Chambers who both ran well over a challenging course in windy conditions with Dexter first home in 43^rd place and Cameron not too far behind in 61st place.

Dexter handed over to Harry Henriksen (U15) who produced  one of the outstanding performances of the day to bring us into the top 10 handing over to Christian Graham (U17)  in 9^th place. In our second team we did not have another U15 runner, however Alec Miller (U13) stepped up to the plate and had a strong run handing over to final leg runner Magnus Tait in 74th place.

Christian who has been running very well in races so far this winter now set to the task of pulling back a few more places. It was another fine performance by Christian bringing the team up to 6^th place, once again just a few places outside the medals. In terms of times we were less than a minute behind the winners and only 36 seconds behind the runners up!  Magnus Tait (U17) in his first race of this winter season put in a strong run to bring the team home in 54th with his individual time just outside the top 10 fastest of the day for U17 boys.  Well done to all the boys.

In the men’s event we had one complete masters team and unfortunately due to injury an incomplete men’s team. The masters team of Andrew McGlone, Peter Ness, Scott Dickson and Graham Knipe acquitted themselves well with the team finishing in 16th place. It was nice to have a separate masters team and see how they finished in that category.

All of the runners in the incomplete men’s team ran very well, it was just a pity we did not have a final leg runner. Scott Thomson ran a strong first leg to keep us inside the top 30 in 27th place. Martin Gore and Jamie Darling both had good runs and we were 30th at the end of stage 3.

Congratulations to everyone on their own individual performances and thanks for representing the club so well.