LASSWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

The final East District Cross Country League match of this winter season took place at Broxburn on Saturday 18 January 2014.

The league covers all age groups from Under 11 boys and girls through to senior men and women and Lasswade had athletes competing in all age groups with the exception of under 11 girls.

In the under 11 boys race we had seven athletes competing with Kurt Robertson leading the team home in 6th place overall.  The others competing were Lois Grahame (20th) Cameron Dickson (35th), Eoin Morton (38th), Christopher Statham (44th), Ethan Gordon (59th) and Clark Lennie (64th).

The next race  was the under 13 girls and with our Inter District winner Sarah Tait unwell it was left to Caroline McKinlay to represent the Lasswade girls. Caroline ran a strong race to finish 19th overall. Lasswade’s Magnus Tait led the way in the under 13 boys race with another fine win. It completed a clean sweep of three league wins this season for Magnus. He was followed by team mates Rory Ferguson (17th) and Lawrie Wilson (46th).

The under 15/17 girls was the next race and we had two runners,  Lauren Dickson with another fine performance in 5th place followed by team mate Lauren Wilkie who finished strongly in 35th.  In the under 15 boys race we had three runners led  home by Matthew Smith (26th) followed closely by team mate Jamie Darling (28th) and Thomas Snodgrass (38th).

Kyle McKenzie was the sole Lasswade runner in the under 17 men, he had a solid run to finish in 21st place.

In the women’s race we had three athletes competing and Keira Murray with a strong run in 5th pace led the team home, next in was Amy Frankland with a fine run finishing 15th overall and 2nd under 20, Cathy Dickson ran well to bring the team home, finishing in 71st place.

The final race of the day was the men  with the biggest field and 255 finishers. There were seven Lasswade athletes competing with Peter Avent the first Lasswade runner home (28th), next in with a strong run was Martin Gore (42nd) followed by John Murray back from a recent injury (74th), Scott Dickson running with a sore knee was next to finish (164th) then came Doug McDonald (179th)  closely followed by  Phil Parr-Burnham (196th) with Derek Wilkie the final Lasswade athlete (232nd). 

Well done to everyone who turned out and competed for the club on Saturday. Thanks to you all and also to the parents/supporters that came along on the day.

Final Team Finishing Positions in the League were as follows:

Under 13 Boys – 4th Team
Women – 7th Team
Men – 8th Team

For full results please click here 

The Inter District Cross Country Championships took place on Saturday 11 January 2014 as part of the Bupa Great Winter Run 2014.

Lasswade Athletics Club had five athletes selected for the East District Team Sarah Tait (Under 13 Girls), Magnus Tait and Rory Ferguson (Under 13 Boys), Lauren Dickson (Under 15 Girls) and Keira Murray (Women).

It was a beautiful dry and sunny morning although a cold windy day with little protection from the wind for the athletes on an open and flat course.  The first race of the day was the under 13 boys which proved to be a close race with Magnus Tait in amongst the leaders from the start and fighting it out for the medals at the end. Only four seconds separated the first four runners with Magnus just missing out in 4th place. It’s always difficult to finish just outside the medals and Magnus was a bit disappointed but it was a great run by him! Team mate Rory Ferguson one of our newer members who has only ran a couple of cross country races ran very well to finish in 30th place.

The next race was the under 13 girls and this was another  close race with Lasswade’s  Sarah Tait up amongst the leaders from the start.  In the final lap there was still  a group of four or five runners in contention,  including Sarah who showed her strength pushing on into a headwind to move clear of the field and win by four seconds at the finish! 

Our next athlete was Lauren Dickson in the under 15 girls and  it was another good performance with Lauren working hard throughout the four lap race.  Lauren finished just outside the top 10 in 11th place.  Another fine run.

The final Lasswade Athlete competing was Keira Murray in the Women’s race. The senior course was slightly different to that used for the younger athletes in that they crossed the road and used ‘haggis knoll’ as part of the course, a little hill although I am sure it felt pretty hard after a few laps.  Keira worked hard throughout the race and was working in a group of three of four athletes just outside the top 10 for part of the race. Keira finished well in 14th place.

It is fantastic for Lasswade AC to have athletes selected for these events and even better when they all do so well.

Congratulations to you all on your performances yesterday.

For full results please click here

The East District Cross Country Championships took place last weekend in Dundee on a cold afternoon with a light covering of snow on the ground.

There were a number of Lasswade athletes competing and hopes were high for a few medals based on performances in the league matches so far.  The athletes did not disappoint with Sarah Tait leading the way in the Under 13  girls and picking up a well deserved silver medal with team mate Caroline McKinlay running well to finish 25th. The next race was the Under 13 boys with Sarah’s brother, Magnus, improving on his bronze medal of last year to win the race this year, he was closely followed by team mate Rory Ferguson in second place, and our third counter was Lawrie Wilson in 29th. The boys picked up the silver medal in the team race.  It was a great start to the day!

In the Under 15 girls, Lauren Dickson, last year’s under 13 winner ran well to finish in 7th place with team mate Lauren Wilkie finishing fast in 33rd place. Our Under 15 boys team hit by injury and illness only had one runner, Jamie Darling who ran well to finish 35th.

We are struggling in the Under 17 age group for cross country runners and had no boys or girls competing which is disappointing.

Amy  Frankland was our only representative in the Under 20 women race and she ran strongly to finish 6th.

In the Under 20 men we had hopes of a team medal as we had three Under 20 men. Unfortunately, it was not to be as Callum Clark who has been running well had to withdraw due to a back injury and Ross Henderson dropped out with a groin injury that has been bothering him for a while. It was left up to Rowan Marr who ran a good race to finish just outside the top 10 in 12th place.  Looking at the team placing there were only two complete teams so at worst we would have got a bronze had the team been complete.

In the women’s race there was an air if excitement as Freya Murray Ross (former Lasswade athlete) and older sister of Keira was running.  It was a good race with Freya and Morag McClarty and Freya ended up finishing second.  Keira ran very well finishing in 8th place.

The final race of the day was the men’s race, unfortunately we had a few of our key runners, Peter Avent, Barney Phillips, John Murray, Owen Miller missing for a variety of reasons and the team was incomplete.  Martin Gore returning from injury led the team home with a strong run finishing 46th, next home was Paul Bellamy in 142nd followed closely by Scott Dickson in 151st.  New recruit Doug MacDonald finished 176th and Derek Wilkie nursing a leg injury finished 227th.

Well done to everyone who took part and represented the club. It looks like the club will have good representation once again at the Inter District match in Holyrood park in January, congratulations to those athletes selected. For full results please click here

The final league match is at Broxburn on 18 January 2014 and we really need everyone to make every effort to compete if they can so please put the date in your diaries.