Caithness Sports Council Sportswoman of the Year Award 2009 - Emma Dunnett

Background:

Emma is a Caithness girl, and has always lived in Thurso. She attended Miller Academy Primary School before moving up to Thurso High School where she is currently in second year. She has been a member of the Caithness Amateur Athletic Club since she was 8 years old. Since joining the Club she has participated in all areas of athletics but has found her interest to be in cross country. Emma has competed in cross country at north district level since she was 9 years old and has just finished her 5th cross country season. Although she still competes in track and field events, her real passion lies with cross country and trail running. She also trains with some of the senior runners and participates in their trail running events.

Achievements:

As a first year athlete in the Under 15 age group, Emma's focus for the winter was to be on training, with competitions providing a benchmark of her present attainment and to rate her increased endurance, strength and speed. Emma is coached by her Mum, Sophie, as part of a dedicated squad of athletes who all have a passion for cross country. Along with guidance from Mike Johnston, National Endurance Manager, Emma has an excellent support network which has played its part in her success over this winter.

However the majority of the credit must go to Emma who is diligent about her training and race preparation. She completes five training sessions a week, covering between 15-25 miles depending on the specific phase of her training schedule. Emma's commitment to her training is transparent in that she rarely misses a training session. Emma has managed in one short season to collect the most national medals of all Scottish athletes in her age group and has represented her country twice; all at the age of 13.

The cross country session starts in October when Emma and other national level athletes are completing heavy training and as such the performance goals are geared towards the back end of the season; February to March. At North District level Emma achieved gold in the ND Cross Country Leagues, along with contributing to the Under 15 Girls team gold. She also anchored the CAAC girl's team home to gold in the North District Relay Championships in Strathpeffer.

In the North District Championships in Forres, Emma was still focusing on high mileage training and as such her silver medal was a good indicator of the preparation that was being targeted at preparation for the first of the national level competitions. The first of these competitions was the Inter-District Championships in Edinburgh in January. This was the point at which Emma's future potential within cross country started to emerge as she produced the outstanding performance of the day with an individual silver medal; one of only two medals by North District athletes that day.

From this Emma went onto to compete at the Scottish National Championships at Falkirk in February and out of fields of up to 102 runners, she took home a bronze medal in what was another demonstration of her tactical patience in pacing the race well in the closing stages. From Emma's performance at the Scottish National Championships she was selected to compete in the Home Counties International in Nottingham and finished a commendable 40th out of over 300 runners in her first ever competition at this standard.

Emma also represented her school in winning the gold medal at the North District Schools Championships held at Gordonstoun. Following on from this she built on her success and achieved a gold medal at the Scottish Schools Championships at Irvine which was last attained by a Thurso High School pupil some 30 years ago. As a result of this Emma was selected for her first International competition representing Scotland at the International Schools Championships at Bangor, Wales where she finished 13th and counted towards the Scotland teaming taking a bronze medal.

Emma returned to national level competition when she achieved an individual silver medal and was lead home the gold medal winning team at the Scottish Road Race Championships, running for Edinburgh Athletic Club. This particular race demonstrated her ability to transfer her talents from cross country to road racing which is an aspiration that she holds for her future development.

As a result of her consistent placings over the winter, Emma was selected to represent Scotland at the London Mini-Marathon; this was her second International vest. Emma was 29th out of 300 runners which is a commendable performance with the opportunity to be selected next year for the same age group.

Emma has established her name on the National circuit with four individual and one team National medal. In addition she has been selection for the Scottish Schools and Scottish Athletics teams and she continues to show a great deal of potential borne out of hard work.

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