Fife AC get amongst the medals as cross country season starts

The junior girls started the day in style, with the A team of Katie Sandilands (u13), Isla Thoms (u15) and Anna Hedley (u17) seeing off competition from Aberdeen AC and Edinburgh AC and retaining the title they won at Glamis Castle last year.

The club had three teams in the top 15, with the B team of Holly Ovens (u13), Ruby Russell (u15) and Isla Hedley (u15) finishing eighth and the C team of Freya Hedley (u13), Esme Thoms (U15) and Libby Smith (u17) finishing 12th.

There were some exceptional individual runs too, with Katie Sandilands sixth fastest U13 of the day in 10.33, Isla Thoms fastest u15 of the day in 9.37, Ruby Russell eighth fastest u15 of the day with 9.52 and Anna Hedley fastest u17 of the day in 9.13.

The senior women’s A team of Jenny Selman, Laura Gibson and Annabel Simpson also secured the gold medal, holding off competition from reigning champions the Edinburgh University.

With Annabel and Jenny running the first and second fastest legs of the day, clocking 14.15 and 14.40 respectively, the trio eventually won by nearly 30 seconds.

The B team of Amie Watt, Halina Rees and Jen Cruickshanks finished 10th while the C team of Michaela McLean, Innes Bracegirdle and Mary Western finished second veterans team behind Edinburgh AC.

The senior men’s A team of Ryan Lafferty, Tristan Rees, Derek Rae and Kevin Wood produced their best cross country relays performance in recent years, running brilliantly to secure the bronze medal.

Tristan, who had returned home from Spain where he is currently studying, ran the second fastest leg of the day behind Central AC’s Jamie Crowe with a speedy 12.35 clocking.

The B team of Alistair Gudgin, Rory Scott, Russell Hall and Adam Scott finished 14th while the C team of Ben Kinninmouth, Iain McWhinnie, Gavin McWhinnie and Craig Morris finished 22nd.

The junior boys A team of Archie Suttie (u13), Guillem Penacchio Torres (u15) and Ben Sandilands (U17) finished sixth while the B team of Sanderson brothers Andrew (u13), Christopher (u15) and Michael finished 20th.

The stand-out junior boys run came from Ben Sandilands, who ran the second fastest u17 leg of the day with an 8.31 clocking.

Fife AC has announced that a new jumps training group led by Scottish and Great Britain internationalist Nony Mordi is starting.

Nony, who is the current Scottish triple jump record holder and has a wealth of experience to share, will lead the group at the St Andrews University athletics track on Thursdays at 6pm.

It is open to anyone from secondary school age onwards.