Inverclyde AC start cross country season with a bang

The club had a very successful summer on the track and in the mountains, but the arrival of autumn has made it time to turn attention to the cross-country scene.

Inverclyde AC runners showed up well at the Championships (Image: Inverclyde AC)

Starting off the day were the Inverclyde AC’s junior girls. On the first leg was Rosie Callan who got the girls off to a great start in the hunt for a medal, finishing in 12:05.

She handed the baton to Olivia Lyne, who crossed the line in a fantastic time of 10:44 to give Grace Barry a fighting chance of a medal on the final leg.

Barry took off in hot pursuit of the third place athlete, and was gaining ground the whole way, but in a tense finish the Inverclyde trio missed out on bronze by just two seconds.

The contest was similarly tight between Inverclyde’s C and E team, with the C team of Annie Henry, Lucy Neilson and Amber McIlroy just edging out their counterparts Rosa Currie, Nina Spirit-Hawthorne and Pearl Paterson by eight seconds.

There was also very good runs from Breagha Stevenson, Cara McDougall and Emma Bain in the E team.

In the junior boys' race Louis Reid got the lads off to a good start in a time of 10.22, while Charlie Lyne worked hard to produce a very good run of 10:27.

Liam Kane, despite not feeling well in the week before the race, produced a strong run to bring the team home in 16th.

Next up was the senior women’s relay race, with IAC holding high hopes of a medal with a strong team of Millie Brooks, Nynke Mulholland Stumer and Maisie Watson.

Millie was the first runner home in the first leg, coming home 30 seconds ahead of her nearest rival, while Nynke increased the gap to 40 seconds by the end of her run.

Maisie found herself closed down in the final leg by a fantastic run by her Cambuslang rival, who pipped her to gold at the line with an incredible effort.

In the B team Kay Greg had a great run, showing that her recent consistent training is paying off, while Faye Currie also had a very good run on the second and Naomi Spirit-Hawthorne showed up well in the final leg on her debut for the club.

IAC also had high hopes of a medal in the senior men's race, with Ben Portrykus coming home first in the opening leg, 15 seconds ahead Ryan Gray, whose effort secured his place in the A team for the National Relay Championships in a couple of weeks.

Ross Gray maintained Inverclyde's lead over the hard-chasing Cambuslang in the second leg, and despite going the wrong way, while Colin Docherty had a very strong run, only to be caught by Kilbarchan and, towards the end by Cambuslang.

Setting off in third place in hot pursuit of the medals ahead, Mark produced a great run to claim second place for the Inverclyde senior men, with Cambuslang finishing the winners as they had in the women's race.

Inverclyde's strong showing in the event also featured a great run from Robert Paterson, whose time wasn't too far away from the runners in the A team.

If you are interested in coming along to training nights with Inverclyde AC, you can get in touch via inverclydeac.org.