It was as you were in Cumbernauld on Saturday as Scottish clubs competed for national titles plus news of the international cross-country at Belfast

LINDSAYS SCOTTISH NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY RELAYS, Cumbernauld, October 22

Central AC again dominated the senior men’s race, taking the title for the ninth time in 10 years but such was their strength in depth that it was the B team that took the honours with their A team in third!

Central won by nine seconds courtesy of Luca Fanotolli (12:40), Cameron Milne (12:36) and Tom-Graham Marr (12:13) though it was Englishman Kieran Reilly who took them into the lead as he passed Central A team runner Alistair Hay. Even faster on the last leg was Ben Potrykus who gave Inverclyde AC the silver medals.

Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds won the women’s title with European under-20 champion Megan Keith anchoring them to victory as the club became the first winners of the Marjory Cook Trophy.

Constance Nankivell (14:34), Alice Goodall (14:23), Sarah Calvert (14:43) and Keith (13:36) combined as Edinburgh University also took fourth and fifth in the race to show their overall strength.

Fife, with 800m Commonwealth Games representative Jenny Selman, were second while Shettleston Harriers’ bronze was their first ever women’s medal.

PH Racing from Fife did well in the masters categories winning the men’s title and finishing second in the women’s race.

Cumbernauld took the M50 title.

Men (4x4km):

1 Centr B 49:50 (L Fanottoli 12:40, C Milne 12:36, T Graham-Marr 12:13, K Reilly 12:23)
2 I’clyde 49:59 (A Douglas 12:25, J Bell 12:30, R Gray 13:01, B Potrykus 12:03)
3 Centr 50:01 (C Phillip 12:35, B Macmillan 12:12, H Hickey 12:32, A Hay 12:42)
4 Kilb B 50:21 (E McKerral 12:34, C Matthews 12:19, R Ferguson 12:35, J McKinlay 12:53)
5 Giff N 50:54 (R Good 13:00, R Macdonald 12:51, C Harper 12:33, D Robinson 12:30)
6 Shett 50:58 (S Taha Ghafari 12:22, C McGarrity 13:05, L Oates 12:26, M Turner 13:05)
7 Glas U 51:14
8 Cambus 51:23
9 Dund H 51:25
10 A’deen 51:55
11 Fife 52:22
12 Edin U 52:40
13 Cors 52:56
14 I’ness 53:17
15 Stir U 53:52
16 Edin 54:00
17 Centr C 54:02
18 Edin U B 54:26
19 Cambus B 54:38
20 Edin U C 54:53

M40+:
1 PHRC 57:01 (R Clark 14:25, M Ryan 14:24, A Davis 14:09, B Hukins 14:03)
2 Gala 57:07
3 Shett 57:23

M50+ (3x4km):
1 C’nauld 44:52 (S Allen 14:13, R McEachers 15:56, A Cameron 14:43)
2 Cambus 45:19
3 Cors 45:38

Young males (3×2.5km, U13-U15-U17):

1 A’deen 27:06 (A Henthorn 10:04, H Callander 8:46, H McKay 8:16)
2 Giff N B 27:16 (E Scobie 9:47, T Robin 8:51, O MacDonald 8:38)
3 Giff N 27:20 (L Muir 9:44, M Shaw 9:05, A Nugent 8:31)
4 Falk VH 27:48
5 Harm 28:02
6 Giff N C 28:05
7 Edin 28:36
8 Harm B 28:50
9 Lass 28:51
10 Giff N D 29:03

Women (4x4km):
1 Edin U 57:16 (C Nankivell 14:34, A Goodall 14:23, S Calvert 14:43, M Keith 13:36)
2 Fife 59:19 (I Hedley 15:09, J Selman 14:12, M Crawford 15:32, S Pennycook 14:26)
3 Shett 59:31 (A Carr 15:02, R Joss 15:22, H Terrance 15:17, F Ross 13:50)

4 Edin U F 59:50 (N Carr 14:39, I Vareille 15:16, C Purcell 15:01, H Anderson 14:54)
5 Edin U G 60:13 (F Bun 14:54, C Clare 14:36, G Pow 15:16, K Purcell 15:27)
6 Giff N 60:43 (K Brown 15:12, Y McNairn 15:25, R Mowat 15:57, H Ryding 14:09)
7 Edin 60:51
8 I’clyde 61:54
9 Cambus 62:11
10 Edin U C 62:21
11 Cors 63:13
12 Edin B 63:47
13 Ayr S 64:19
14 Glas U 64:25
15 Stir U 64:39

W40+ (3x4km):
1 Garsc B 47:23 (L Bell 15:10, G Blee 16:12, K White 16:01)
2 PHRC 49:17
3 W End RR 51:05

W50+:
1 Giff N 52:34 (A Chong 16:06, S Lewis 18:23, H Carswell 18:05)
2 Edin 52:37
3 Gala 54:12

Young females (3×2.5km, U13-U15-U17):

1 Giff N 31:00 (E Caldow 10:43, F Campbell 10:04, E Dougal 10:13)
2 E Loth 31:07 (M Kenny 11:06, C Wright 10:17, M Thomson 9:44)
3 Giff N B 31:26 (M Boothman 10:43, S Wilson 10:20, E McLennan 10:23)

4 Falk VH 31:32
5 Giff N C 31:33
6 I’ness 31:38
7 Falk VH B 31:41
8 Lass 32:01
9 Gala 32:03
10 A’deen 32:23

Bobby Rea International Cross Country, Billy Neill MBE Country Park, Dundonald, October 22

European champion Nick Griggs and Briton Izzy Fry led the European challenge in the well supported event which was blessed with sunny, warm weather.

The International Cross Country was held in conjunction with the NI & Ulster Even Age Group Championships and the Bobby Rea Cross Country which saw over 1500 athletes take to the start line across all age groups, from under-10s through to masters.

The athletes had to contend with a hilly course, and despite the heavy overnight rain, conditions did not adversely affect the world-class Ethiopian athletes who were always well to the fore in both the men’s 8km and women’s 6km events.

In the men’s race, Ethiopia’s Gizealaw Ayana soon went ahead and at the end of he first lap he had established a 30m lead over a group of some 10 athletes which included all the top Northern Ireland contenders including the NI & Ulster Team of Eskander Turki, Craig McMeechan, John Craig and Gary Crummy along with Nick Griggs and Finn McNally.

Ayana, 19 had already proved his form three weeks earlier when he finished second in Cardiff’s Half-Marathon in 60:17.

He also competed in the Cardiff Cross Challenge the weekend before, and here he crossed the line 12 seconds ahead.

There was however a concentrated battle for the chasing places with Griggs, Turki and McNally finally breaking away from the remainder of the field. Griggs, 17, produced an impressive acceleration of pace in the final lap where he made substantial inroads into Ayana’s lead, finishing in second place, also taking the men’s under-20 championship title in a time of 25:36.

Eskander Turki fought grimly to hold on to third spot in 25:42, only three seconds ahead of Finn McNally who finished in 25:45.

Griggs, who ran a 3:56 mile earlier this year, said: “I was pleased with that especially as I’ve never run cross country before over 8km. I sat with the other guys for two laps and then thought I’ll give it a go as I felt fresh. Maybe I would have got closer to the winner if I’d gone earlier. I’m definitely going for the Euro Cross in Turin in December though I don’t do a lot of cross country. My main aim next summer is the Europeans in Romania.”

In the women’s event World University cross country champion Izzy Fry made valiant efforts to stay in contention with the Ethiopian pair of Medina EIsa Kumanda and Melknat Wudu Sharew.

After two laps the Ethiopian duo were some 20m ahead of Fry but the gap increased substantially from there to the finish. In a sprint finish to the line Kumanda just got the verdict over Sharew both with the same time of 21:07.

Newbury’s 22 year old Fry finished third in 21:48 with Jodie McCann of Dublin City Harriers in fourth in 22:15.

The NI & Ulster team consisted of Nikita Burke who finished fifth in 22:23 with Natasha Adams close behind in seventh place in 22:35 and Edel Monaghan in 11th place in 23:41.

Fry said: “The Ethiopians went out hard from the start and I suffered a bit as I went with them, however I recovered a bit later on. As well as cross country I also race indoors and also on the track. I’m aiming to gain GB selection for the Euro Cross Country soon at the trials in Liverpool. I was ninth in the Under-23 race last year. I’m with a very good training squad in Manchester under the guidance of Helen Clitheroe which includes Ciara Mageean.”

The Northern Ireland and Ulster Championship events brought athletes from across the nine counties to compete for the Club, County and Individual Championship titles and Qualification through to the All Ireland Championships on November 20 in Donegal.

The under-20 event, held alongside the senior men’s International, saw Griggs claim the title in 25:36, with second and third places going to Callum Morgan in 26:27 and Matthew Lavery in 27:04.

For the under-20 women, Amy Green won the title in a time of 23:52, with Lagan Valley Ac’s Marianne Doherty in second place in 25:22 followed by Finn Valley’s Emer O’Brien in third place in 25:37.

Seamus Robinson took the under-18 title in 16:45 while Anna Gardiner (15:20) won the women’s equivalent.

Emer McKee won the under-16 girls title, in a time of 11:42 while Caolan McFadden won the boys equivalent in 10:34 while Rory Armstrong (8:05) and Abby Smith (8:44) won the under-14 races.

Oisin McBride (4:29) and Kate Kelly (4:37) were the under-12 winners.

1 Ayana Gizealew ETH 25:24
2 Nicholas Griggs IRL 25:36
3 Eskander Turki IRL 25:42
4 Finn McNally IRL 25:45
5 Craig McMeechan IRL 26:06
6 Crummy Gary 26:10
7 John Craig 26:18
8 Callum Morgan IRL 26:27
9 Matthew Lavery IRL 27:04
10 John Black 27:12
11 Peter Gracey 27:22
12 Luke Kelly GER 27:28
13 Jimmy Sloan IRL 27:31
14 Brandon McKeown IRL 27:32
15 Stephen Connolly IRL 27:35
16 Oisin Toye IRL 27:38
17 Emmet Mcgurn 27:44
18 Oran O’Hare IRL 27:46
19 Fionntan Campell IRL 27:46
20 Jonathan Spratt IRL 27:53
21 Adam Spratt IRL 27:54
22 James Monaghan IRL 28:05
23 Michael Crawley 28:10
24 Peter Donnelly 28:15
25 James Miney 28:19
26 Jonathan Scott 28:25
27 Joshua Martin 28:36
28 Aaron Woodman 28:44
29 Garry Morrow IRL 28:48
30 Stephen Lunn IRL 28:51
31 Neill Weir 28:52
32 Brian McElvanna IRL 28:54
33 Brendan Mccambridge 28:55
34 Christopher Dean 28:56
35 Jamie Mcmeechan 29:00
36 Pearse Mcbriaty 29:05
37 Ciaran Mckendry 29:05
38 Lorcan Mcgurk 29:07
39 Aaron Rush 29:12
40 Oisin Kelly IRL 29:13
41 Matthew Willis 29:32
42 Kieran Scullion 29:37
43 Christopher Devine 29:45
44 Daniel Bradley 29:53
45 Gareth Watton 29:56
46 Alastair Rodger 29:56
47 Ciaran Goss 30:04
48 Chris Moran 30:04
49 Daniel Squires IRL 30:10
50 Andrew Mcintyre 30:10
51 Daniel Dines 30:11
52 Fearghal Delaney 30:11
53 Paul Carron 30:13
54 Francis Marsh IRL 30:14
55 Chris Mccaffrey 30:19
56 Tony Stanley 30:20
57 Marc Devlin 30:26
58 David Mckeague 30:28
59 Mark Cornett IRL 30:33
60 Edward Cook 30:36
61 Roger Aiken 30:40
62 Chris Drysdale 30:45
63 Dennis Scott 30:47
64 Mark Smith 30:49
65 Deane Fisher 30:55
66 Danny Ranaghan 30:56
67 Francis Donnelly 30:58
68 Turlough Donnelly 31:04
69 Tom Magee 31:12
70 Stephen Hoey IRL 31:24
71 John Nicholson 31:25
72 Calum Irvine 31:28
73 Alistair Duffield 31:29
74 David Curran 31:31
75 Cole Aron 31:32
76 Simon Doyle IRL 31:32
77 Ryan Donnelly 31:33
78 David Proctor 31:36
79 Jason Mcminn 31:42
80 David Turtle 31:54

Women: CC:

1 Medina Eisa ETH 21:07
2 Melknat Wedu ETH 21:07
3 Izzy Fry 21:48
4 Jodie McCann IRL 22:15
5 Nakita Burke IRL 22:23
6 Hannah Gilliland IRL 22:28
7 Natasha Adams IRL 22:35
8 Rebekah Osborne IRL 23:25
9 Alison Stocks 23:26
10 Kelly Neely IRL 23:39
11 Edel Monaghan IRL 23:41
12 Amy Greene IRL 23:52
13 Sarah Lavery IRL 24:06
14 Kerry Bamber IRL 24:12
15 Joanna Mills 24:21
16 Gillian McCrory IRL 24:23
17 Rachel Gibson IRL 24:30
18 Tanya Cumming 24:51
19 Katie Moore IRL 24:56
20 Kelley Haniver 25:11
21 Kathleen Law 25:14
22 Sarah-Jane Mcfadden 25:19
23 Marianne Doherty IRL 25:22
24 Fiona McQuillan IRL 25:33
25 Emer O’Brien IRL 25:37
26 Lindsey Smyth 25:42
27 Anna Byrne 25:43
28 Natalie Hall 25:44
29 Kirsten Herpe 25:45
30 Debbie Mcconnell 25:48
31 Kate Mulholland 25:54
32 Laura Devine 25:55
33 Roisin Rocks 26:04
34 Shilleer O’kane IRL 26:06
35 Maeve Haigney 26:11
36 Emma Mulholland 26:15
37 Nuala Bose IRL 26:19
38 Claire Francis 26:21
39 Kate Mccyrstal 26:21
40 Kathryn Rafferty 26:30
41 Niamh Mcgarry 26:32
42 Louise Jones 26:38
43 Chloe Crossley 26:41
44 Orlagh Mckavanagh 26:42
45 Clair Quigley 26:49
46 Catriona Edington 27:04
47 Amanda Perry 27:06
48 Sharon Madine 27:08
49 Oonagh Haughey 27:14
50 Lindsay Doulton 27:23
51 Una Mcconnell 27:28
52 Edwina Ternan 27:29
53 Anna Donnelly 27:29
54 Siobhan Quinn USA 27:31
55 Aoife Dunlop 27:36
56 Mairead Mcmanus 27:37
57 Athanasia Sevastaki 27:39
58 Judith Buchanan 27:39
59 Claire Reid 27:40
60 Amanda Jackson 27:43
61 Shannon Clegg 27:46
62 Niamh Kellett 27:48
63 Judith Worthington 27:59
64 Julie Wilson 28:03
65 Jenny Finlay IRL 28:09
66 Alexa James 28:10
67 Grainne Brinkley 28:11
68 Gemma Blake 28:12
69 Lisa Tomalin 28:29
70 Sarah Gibson 28:32
71 Jillian Redpath 28:33
72 Christina Mcconnell 28:39
73 Abby Andrews 28:44
74 Erin Havern 28:46
75 Leanne Spick 28:46
76 Aine Mcneill 28:54
77 Donna Daly 28:59
78 Kelly Squance 29:04
79 Roma Doherty 29:04
80 Emma Stevenson 29:05