North District Cross Country - Fort William - 10/11/2007

Thirty five athletes ranging in age from 9-45 years competed in the North District cross country fixture at the weekend. This, the second fixture of the season was held at Fort William on what is notoriously one of the toughest course in the circuit.

Along with the 23 athletes who live in Caithness, the team was joined by 11 of its members of live and train in Sutherland under the watchful eye of their coach John Davies. Also joining the team on this occasion was Andrew Douglas who as well as being a CAAC member also trains and competes for Glasgow University where he is studying.

For Fort William the conditions on the day were favourable with a stiff breeze but almost dry conditions overhead; the conditions underfoot were as always - wet and even wetter. However Caithness athletes are on the whole a hardy bunch and most rose to the challenge and Coach Sophie Dunnett was delighted with the performance of the Caithness athletes.

Competing in the U11's age group in her second only cross country race and first race away from home, Megan Mackay excelled herself in finishing 7th with the disadvantage of running in two right trail shoes; the appropriate left partner having been left at home. Aspen Priddy who placed 4th in Thurso in the first league fixture showed great strength of character to come home ahead of the rest of the field with Hannah MacLeod a close 2nd place. These two girls along with Rebecca Bryan in 3rd place, secured Caithness the first team win of the day with 297 points.

The Under 11 boys was dominated by Caithness's Sutherland team mates with Ross Gollan 1st, Lewis Holmes 2nd and Alistair Cooper 4th taking 1st team again for Caithness with 296 points. In the Under 13 girls, Emma Dunnett finished 1st out of 17 athletes, some 18 seconds ahead of team mate Erin Mackay who coped well in the tough conditions although the course was taking its toll as she entered the final field. 3rd team member, Oonagh Dunnett was one casualty of the conditions although a strong finish saw her taking 5th place and again securing first team placing for Caithness with 295 points.

The Under 13 boys team was missing team members, Rob Murdoch and Liam McAdie, but the remaining boys placed well with top finisher Rorie Stewart equalling his 5th place in the first fixture and the team finishing 3rd with 273 points. Leanne Eyers and Hannah Patterson in the Under 15 girls race found the conditions tough but demonstrated their developing potential for endurance in placing 5th and 6th respectively. They finished 2nd team behind Inverness Harriers purely because they do not have a 3rd team member.

The Under 15 boys develop in competence with every race and this was again the case in Fort William. Duncan Patterson took 3rd place in a strong field of 16 athletes with David Gardner and Jake Anderson completing the team, which finished 2nd overall with 285 points. Sam O'Kane more know for his throwing potential demonstrated how effectively an athlete who trains hard can compete with confidence in cross country and his involvement in this discipline of athletics will help provide a good endurance base for his coming track and field season.

Rebecca Manson was the sole Under 17 Woman which is a lonely way to run a race but up against athletes of national standard she came home in 5th place. In the Under 17 Men, a team of four athletes competed with top finisher for Caithness being Graeme Taylor in 3rd place. This was Graeme first race this season against Robbie Gamock from Moray Road Runners and Grant Cameron from Forres Harriers and the outcome was pleasing as athletes such as Graeme are aiming to peak around January/February time when the Interdistrict and National Championships take place. Alistair Black who is a first year Under 17 finished 6th in Fort William and third team member was David Mitchell in 8th place, with the boys winning the team competition with 286 points.

The Senior Ladies competing over the same 4 mile course as the Under 17 Men saw Caithness athlete Sheila Gollan take victory of local athlete Dawn Scott for the first time since Sheila's return to competition last year. Team mate Sophie Dunnett came home in 15th place, somewhat down the field but professed to have enjoyed the scenery and thoroughly appreciated all of the support from the athletes on her way round.

A similar situation was played out in the Senior men's 6 mile race when Andrew Douglas showed excellent form in finishing 2nd behind well known national athlete Ben Livesey from Forres Harriers. In doing so Andrew has secured himself a place in the North Interdistrict team to compete in Edinburgh in January. Team mate Sandy Christie finished in 28th position and as such had more time to appreciate the stunning backdrop to this cross country course.

The results for Caithness were as follows:-

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