IT WAS a fantastic day for Team East Lothian athletes at the National Cross Country Championships at Callendar Park, Falkirk, on Saturday.
Now in its 125th year, the event is the pinnacle of the cross-country season for club athletes in Scotland, and in terms of medal count this was the most successful one ever for Team East Lothian (TEL).
Their results included three team medals – one silver and two bronze – as well as one individual gold.
Cerys Wright was crowned under-13 girls’ national champion, with the team medals going to the under-13 girls (bronze), under-17 women (bronze) and under-17 men (silver).
It was a good start from the gun, with the under-13 girls’ race the first race of the day, and Cerys Wright, from Team East Lothian, going into the lead early on and holding first place right to the finish line.
It is the first time that a girl from Team East Lothian has ever won the national title.
Previous champions from the club include brother Angus Wright, as well as Corey Campbell, and previous individual medallists include Cera Gemmell, Freya Brown and Howie Allison.
Also putting in excellent performances in the race were Flora Lawson, Morven Kenny and Sula Russell.
Their finishing positions of 21st, 44th and 54th – alongside the first from Wright – won them a superb team bronze medal.
Josh Cooper led the way for Team East Lothian in the under-13 boys’ race and had a fantastic to run to finish in 29th position. Team-mates Jacob Lamb and Ben Anderson ran well to finish 69th and 91st respectively.
Lois Thomson was the solo girl from TEL in the under-15 girls’ race and she had a strong performance to finish 32nd out of a field of 120.
There was great representation in the under-15 boys’ category, seven TEL athletes tackling the 4.3k course.
Howie Allison was the first county finisher, having a great run for 11th.
With four counting towards the team totals, Magnus Lawson was 36th, Charlie Copp 40th and Joe Smith 41st. Their team finished in seventh place and they were supported by Jake Page (46th) and Thomas Gornall (70th).
The under-17 women also had a strong contingent and some great racing resulted in an excellent team bronze medal for Rachel Stevens, Eily Sinclair and Ella Nicholson.
Stevens was the first finisher from TEL in 16th place, with Sinclair in 20th and Nicholson in 23rd. They were supported by solid performances from Olivia Robbins in 29th, Jessica Bullen in 50th and Cristina Eliot in 61st.
It was a superb silver medal for the under-17 men, each of the four runners counting towards the position.
Ronnie Brown gave it his all to finish in 12th position, with Aidan Page (20th), Innes Wright (21st) and Jamie Smith (30th) running well to get the team silver podium position – the best team medal that TEL has won at the national championship.
Angus Wright was the sole representative for TEL in the under-20 men’s category and had a strong run over the 6.8k course to finish in 15th.
Megan Wright, team manager at TEL, said: “All of us from TEL are delighted with the performances from the athletes – not just the effort that they put into their individual races, but the way that they work together as a team to achieve these results.
“It’s this team spirit that captures what TEL is all about and it’s a great achievement for a club of our size to perform so well at a national level.
“As well as the results, it’s brilliant to see the athletes enjoying cheering on their club mates and getting so much enjoyment from the sport.”
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