Gala runners finish league fixtures

Borders athletes took to their marks at Broxburn on Saturday for the last fixture of the East District Cross Country League.
Team Borders members in the U15/U17 women's race at Broxburn, which featured Gala Harriers.Team Borders members in the U15/U17 women's race at Broxburn, which featured Gala Harriers.
Team Borders members in the U15/U17 women's race at Broxburn, which featured Gala Harriers.

Young runners from across the region took part in the competition as part of the successful Team Borders franchise, with the U17 men and U15 girls/U17 women’s teams winning silver in the team event, and the U13 boys team securing bronze.

Gala Harriers trio Faisal Khursheed, Calum Tharme and Yousef Khursheed had fantastic runs to secure the U17 men’s team silver for Team Borders, with Faisal finishing second in a time of 19.13, Calum seventh (19.54) and Yousef 15th (20.42).

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Katie Rourke was eighth (16.19), with Mairi Wallace 12th (16.41) and Beth Hobbs 15th (16.47) to win the U15 girls/U17 women’s team silver, with Eilidh Forbes (27th, 18.05), Katy Wilkinson (31st, 18.30) and C. Morrison (34th, 18.41) also producing great runs for that age group.

The U13 boys team secured the bronze thanks to fantastic runs from Gregor Collins (fourth, 10.12), E. Christie (eighth, 10.34) and P. Cannon (24th, 11.10), with team-mates E. McConnell (32nd, 11.25) and T. Pickburn (49th, 12.25) also running well for the team.

Two athletes competed for Team Borders in the U11 girls race with H. Hobbs finishing ninth (6.07) and Isla Paterson 17th (6.25) to achieve 13th position for their team – a great result, as the team had to shoulder 150 penalty points for not having a third counting runner.

The U11 boys team had five athletes competing and gained sixth position overall. K. Taylor was first home for the team (18th, 5.51), followed by C. Rankine (19th, 5.55), D. Lancaster (25th, 6.04), B. Allan (26th, 6.07), and J. Lockyer (27th, 6.10).

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The U11 girls team also secured sixth place with their team of six athletes. M. Forbes was 13th (11.51), with E. Minto 14th (11.57), M. Hobbs 21st (12.20), C. McGorum 25th (12.25), M. Collins 27th (12.28), and I. Taylor 52nd (13.38).

Results were combined from the three East District fixtures in Stirling, Alloa and Broxburn to award the overall team winners in each age group, as well as overall team league winners.

The team totals for the season saw the U11 Team Borders girls finish 11th, with the U11 boys team in eighth. Following fantastic runs throughout the season, the U13 girls team finished just out of the medals in fourth position, with the U13 boys 15th.

The U15 girls/U17 women’s team finished in a creditable sixth position, while the U15 boys’ team was eighth.

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The U17 men’s team also just missed out on a medal position, coming fourth.

Senior athletes also competed at Broxburn with the Gala Harriers senior/U20 women’s team securing eighth position overall. Kirstin Maxwell was 11th in a time of 22.14, followed by Rachel Fagan (39th, 25.19) and Eileen Maxwell (67th, 28.02). In the senior/U20 men’s race there was a large field of 267 runners. On-form Darrell Hastie was first home for the Gala Harriers team (17th , 28.53), with Marcus D’Grossa 28th (29.53), Bob Reid 163rd (36.24) and Derek Brydon 204th (39.07). The Harriers team was 18th overall.

The Gala Harriers senior women’s team finished eighth for the season, with the male senior team in 10th.

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