IT WAS a great day out for Team East Lothian (TEL) athletes at the National Cross-Country Relay Championships in Cumbernauld on October 22.

In typical cross-country conditions of mud, rain and hills, there were impressive team and individual performances.

Relay teams were made up of one runner from each of the age categories: under-13, under-15 and under-17, with separate girls’ and boys’ races.

A valiant performance from the TEL girls’ A team, saw them take home a superb silver medal.

Morven Kenny, Cerys Wright and Maja Thomson put in a real battle over the challenging course to fight through the field to the silver medal position.

East Lothian Courier: Fraser Lupton, Ronnie Brown, John Marshall, Innes Wright, Thomas Gornall, Matthew Connolly and Josh Cooper were representing Team East Lothian in CumbernauldFraser Lupton, Ronnie Brown, John Marshall, Innes Wright, Thomas Gornall, Matthew Connolly and Josh Cooper were representing Team East Lothian in Cumbernauld

Kenny set the team up well in her first leg with a solid run to put them in seventh place.

Wright and Thomson steadily fought their way forward to fifth and then second respectively, just seven seconds behind gold in the end.

They had exceptional runs in the second and third leg, with Wright the fastest under-13 girl on the day and Thomson the fastest under-17 girl.

Meanwhile, Cara Lai, Sula Russell and Eily Sinclair made up the TEL girls’ B team and had a really strong race to come 22nd out of the 66 starting teams.

In the boys’ race, there were some fantastic individual runs from TEL athletes.

Unfortunately, late injury meant that the A team was not complete; however, athletes can still run their leg and compare their times to their fellow runners.

East Lothian Courier: Cerys Wright finished on the podium after an impressive run at Cumbernauld. Image: Michael PhilpCerys Wright finished on the podium after an impressive run at Cumbernauld. Image: Michael Philp

Josh Cooper raced the first leg and finished in 15th place, while Ronnie Brown ran the third leg and clocked a time that would have placed him as the ninth fastest under-17 boy at the event.

TEL submitted two further boys’ teams in the event.

Lachlan Baillie, Howie Allison and Innes Wright finished as the 15th fastest team overall, with Allison recording an excellent time which placed him as the fifth fastest under-15 boy.

Matthew Connolly, Thomas Gornall and John Marshall finished in 34th position and, with a massive field of 78 starting teams, this was a great result for the Team East Lothian boys.