A COUNTY-based judo club has enjoyed another successful year, capped with a record medal haul at the Scottish National Championships.

Sportif Judo Club's squad returned to the county with a record 68 medals, including 25 gold, 16 silver and 27 bronze from the competition at Ravenscraig Sports Centre near Motherwell to top the medal table.

That followed on from an impressive showing at the JudoScotland-Sportif International Tournament, where the club won two gold medals, five silvers and six bronzes.

They also recorded a haul of eight gold medals, seven silvers and 10 bronzes at the U12 Scottish Championships in Edinburgh, and winning two golds, two silvers and two bronze medals at the under 12s British Championships, also held in Edinburgh.

The outstanding performances at the Scottish Championships were led by Sophie Wood, of Sanderson's Wynd Primary School in Tranent, who stormed to a third consecutive Scottish title before going on to win the U12 British title.

Her older sister Hannah, a Ross High School pupil, also won gold in the cadets category, and a silver medal in the junior section, while there was golden success too for Catherine Brownlee (Ormiston), Harry Lee from Gifford, North Berwick's Griffyn Williams and Cameron Fraser, of Tranent.

The silver medal haul was shared between Tranent trio Ryan Thomson, Sonny Middler Burrows and Lewis Fox, and Maya Semple and Holly Cotter, both of (Athelstaneford).

Completing the county club's successes at the event were another Tranent duo, Samuel Walker and Luke Henderson, who both won silver medals.

Their efforts were praised by Peter Gardiner, head coach at Sportif Judo, who told the Courier: "Reaching the milestone of ten consecutive years in a row at the top of the national table is a nice achievement , but actually the biggest success is the ongoing long term commitment and hard work of the players and their parents as a coach I would like to thank everybody for all their efforts."

Both Wood sisters and Brownlee also received Judo Scotland Grand Prix awards for 2016.

For more information on the club, which is based at Meadowmill Sports Centre, call 01578730452 or email info@sportifjudo.com.