Athletes wrap up cross-country season in impressive fashion

More than 2,200 runners were in Callendar Park on the outskirts of Falkirk for the prestigious event, which essentially brings the Scottish cross-country season to a close.

Underfoot conditions were soft but not the usual mud, and the early-morning frost was soon gone from an unusually sunny February morning.

Team East Lothian (TEL) had 11 athletes competing in the various age groups from under-13 to under-20.

Ava Rose Curtis finished in 15th place in the under-13 girls' race on Saturday

Unfortunately, a number of illnesses and injuries prevented TEL from fielding enough runners in any age group to compete for team medals; however, there were a number of individual successes.

First race of the day was the under-13 girls’ 3.3km race, where Team East Lothian had three girls competing.

Imogen Turner ran into the lead after the starter’s gun went off and extended this lead throughout the race to take a convincing win and gold medal in 12m42s.

Tessa Russell was one of three Team East Lothian athletes competing in the girls' under-13s race

Ava Rose Curtis was the next TEL athlete across the line in this competitive event in 15th place (13m43s) and Tessa Russell came home in 45th place in 15m05s.

In the under-13 boys’ 3.3km race, Tom Ibbs ran superbly to come home in 19th place in a time of 12m54s.

Both Ibbs and Russell will have another chance in this age group next year, where many of the competitors from the weekend will move into the under-15 age category.

Sula Russell was the only TEL girl in the under-15 4.3km race and ran very well to come home in 61st place in a time of 19m55s.

Jacob Lamb, Thomas Gornall and Joe Smith all finished in the top 60 in the under-15 boys' race

In the under-15 boys’ race, Joe Smith had a fantastic run to cross the line in ninth-place overall in a time of 15m35s.

He was followed by Thomas Gornall in 35th place (16m41s) and Jacob Lamb in 57th place (17m28s).

The next race of the day was the under-17 men’s race, where TEL only fielded a single runner.

Running a very clever race, Ronnie Brown made his way from eighth place to cross the line in third overall and take the Scottish Athletics under-17 men’s bronze medal.

Ronnie Brown finished on the podium after an impressive performance in Callendar Park

In the under-20 men’s 6.8km race, Jamie Smith ran well to cross the line in 29th place in a time of 24m42s.

Lastly, Ella Nicholson had a superb race in the under-20 women’s event to come home in 14th place in a time of 29m28s.

Meanwhile, three athletes from North Berwick High School, who compete for Lasswade Running Club, also enjoyed success.

In the under-15 girls’ event, which featured well over 100 runners, Freya Brown ran a great race to win the silver medal.

Freya Brown took silver in Falkirk

Team-mate Cerys Wright, despite not being well, had a brave run to finish closely behind in fifth. Both contributed to their team winning overall gold.

In the under-17 boys’ race, Innes Wright had an excellent run, finishing 12th in a highly competitive field.

The trio have since been selected to compete for the East of Scotland in the inter-counties cross-country in Nottingham next weekend.

Haddington Juniors Athletics Club was also represented at the event.

Archie Brown finished 47th in the under-13 boys’ event while Emily Atkinson had a brilliant run in the under-15 girls’ race to finish 18th.

Freddy Fendig, William Nathan and Jonah Pegg all had strong runs in the boys’ under-15s event, their first big race.