LASSWADE ATHLETIC CLUB

This seasons East District Cross Country Championships took place at Balgownie playing fields in Aberdeen this weekend. It was a beautiful cold and frosty day with good conditions underfoot on the course.

The first race of the day in which Lasswade at any athletes was the under 13 boys. Lasswade got off to a good start with Francis Ovanni-Finnegan having a great race to finish inside the top 10 in 8th place.

The u15 girls were next to the start line and Lasswade had four girls in this race. Cerys Wright had a dominant run to lead from gun to tape for a comfortable win. Team mate Freya Brown had a more conservative start but was always towards the front of the race and worked her way through to finish 3rd place. Team mates Beth McWilliam and Emma Thomson both had strong runs to finish in 15th and 18th place respectively. Fantastic performances by the girls who also won the team race!

Howie Allison was our only competitor in the u15 boys. Howie was in the leading group of athletes with eventual winner Ray Taylor of Falkirk. Ray opened up a little gap with Howie following not too far behind as they began to move away from the field. Ray went on to move further ahead with Howie finishing comfortably in 2nd place.

In the u17 ladies race Bethan Kitchin was our only athlete. Bethan ran well to finish just outside the top 15 in 16th place.

Next it was the turn of the u17 Men with four Lasswade athletes in the race. There was quite a big lead group going into the first lap with both Andrew McWilliam and Innes Wright in amongst the group.Team mates Laurence Ward and Magnus Lawson were just a little further back. Andrew began to move away from the leaders on the first lap and had a gap going into the second lap. Innes was in the chasing pack of around seven athletes before the group broke up in the final section of the race. Great performances by the boys with Andrew in 1st place, Innes 7th, Laurence 20th and Magnus 27th. The boys secured another team win for Lasswade!

Olivia Meikle was our only runner in the u20 women’s race. Olivia had a strong run to finish inside the top 10 in 9th place.

In the ladies race we had three athletes, leading the way was Lauren Dickson pushing in the lead group from the start and looking strong Lauren finished in 2nd place. Team mate Amy Frankland always inside the top 10 worked her way through on each lap with a solid run to finish in 5th place. Cathy Dickson was our third counter in 41st place and 2nd W50 to match Lauren’s finishing position!

In the men’s race we only had one athlete, Ken McWilliam. Ken confirmed post race that he started off a bit quick but still put in a good performance to finish inside the top 100 in 92nd place and 7th M45.

A great day for Lasswade AC with two team wins and five individual medals.

Although still to be confirmed it looks like we will have around 10 athletes automatically selected for the east district team for the Inter District Championships.

For full results please click here

Congratulations to all of the athletes on their individual performances.

Photos courtesy of Neil Renton

If you wish one of these for Christmas the last day for ordering for Christmas is Tuesday 5th December by noon.

If you wish to purchase a club hoodie or the new t-shirt for Christmas please complete google form within the following link

http://www.lasswade-ac.org.uk/club/competition-vests/

Any orders received after this date won’t be received prior to Christmas as the order won’t be placed until the start of 2024.

Unfortunately due to the track being covered in snow, and for the safety of all coaches, helpers and athletes trying to get to Dalkeith,  training sessions are cancelled for all groups.

Enjoy your rest and hopefully it’ll all be gone by Monday!

Last weekend the UKA cross challenge took place at Sefton Park, Liverpool with a number of Lasswade AC athletes competing.

Cerys Wright running in the U15 girls race finished 13th overall and 2nd Scot just two seconds behind Lois Macrae of Inverness Harriers.

In the U17 mens race Andrew McWilliam finished 3rd with team mate Innes Wright in 16th place in a field full off Scots with seven in the first sixteen finishers.

In the women’s race Sarah Tait just back from West Virginia, USA, finished in 30th place overall and 7th u23 narrowly missing selection for British team for the European Cross Country Championships in Brussels on 10 December.

Harry Henriksen in the men’s race finished 34th overall and 11th u23. As a first year u23 Harry will have another couple of opportunities to gain selection.

Congratulations to all the athletes on their performances.

For full results click here

As the nights are getting colder, it’s important that athletes are dressed appropriately for training. Athletes who are not suitably clothed for a session maybe asked to sit out the session. We are hoping that this would be a last resort and that we can offer athletes some additional layers to enable to take part in the session. If you have any pre-loved kit that you could donate to the club for this purpose then please hand them into the coaches (ideally kit in good condition and laundered).

An important thing to remember is that the temperature can drop quite quickly at Dalkeith, so whilst the weather at the start of the session maybe “OK”, by the end of the session, the temperatures can easily drop below zero. Children also lose heat much faster than adults so they can develop hypothermia much quicker.

Please look at the chart below for recommendations on what to wear.

This seasons National Short Course Cross Country Championships took place at Lanark on 4 November. The conditions at Lanark were much better this year than in 2022 when it was wet, windy and miserable. This year we were lucky to have a dry and mild day.

Lasswade AC were well represented and had high hopes of winning a few medals both individual and team.

The first race of the day was the under 15 girls and Lasswade AC had a great turnout with five athletes , Cerys Wright, Freya Brown, Beth McWilliam, Isla Taylor and Emma Thomson. Cerys was at the head of the field in a battle with Lois MacRae of Inverness. It was a close race with Cerys just getting pipped in the final stage by one second to finish in 2nd place. There were great performances by team mates Freya Brown in 6th, Beth McWilliam 21st, Isla Taylor 24th and Emma Thomson 33rd.

Cerys, Freya and Beth won the team race – a fantastic start to the days races.

Next to toe the start line were the under 15 boys. We didn’t have a complete team in this race with only two athletes, Howie Allison and Aaden Robertson. It was a solid performance by Howie to finish inside the top 10 in 8th place with Aaden taking part in this event for the first time finishing 24th.

The under 17 ladies were next off and a late withdrawal due to injury meant we only had two athletes Bethan Kitchin and Eloise Scott. Both had strong runs with Bethan 31st and Eloise whose been concentrating more on shorter events over the summer finishing in 57th.

We had a strong team in the under 17 men, Andrew McWilliam, Innes Wright, Rowan Taylor and Laurence Ward and they were the next race. Andrew set off with a clear goal and was in a battle with Oliver Patton of Kilbarchan for much of the race but finally got the better of him over the final stages to win by four seconds. A fantastic race and third title of the year.

Great performances by Andrew’s team mates with Innes 7th, Rowan 11th and Laurence 42nd.

Andrew, Innes and Rowan won the silver team narrowly missing gold by one point.

We had one master in the ladies race with Alison Binns taking part in the race for the first time and finishing 234th overall.

We also had one master in the men’s race with Oscar Gomez Morillo in his first cross country season finishing 462nd.

Well done to all the athletes and congratulations to you all on your individual performances. It was fantastic to see the club so well represented and doing so well on the day.

For full results please click here

This seasons National Cross Country Relays took place this today at Cumbernauld. There was some concern about the weather with red and yellow weather warnings for other parts of the country, however although wet and very muddy on some parts of the course it turned out to be a beautiful and mild day in Cumbernauld.

The first event of the day was the young females, we had entered two teams but unfortunately one of our u13 girls had to withdraw. This left one complete team with all three girls running well. The team moving through from 42nd after the first leg to 31st at the end of the second leg and 25th after the final leg. A great performance by Laura, Beth and Bethan.

In the young males we had two teams and our first team got off to a good start with Francis Ovanni-Finnegan handing over to second leg runner Aaden Robertson in 17th place. Aaden ran a strong leg to hand on to final leg runner Andrew McWilliam in 11th place. Andrew ran the 2nd quickest leg of the day to bring the team home in 7th place. A fine performance by the boys and arguably better than they ran in the East District Relays two weeks ago.

Our second team finished in 37th place after a solid start by Fraser Houston in 52nd, 2nd leg runner Struan Milne moved the team up a few places to 48th with final leg runner Rowan Taylor posting the 7th quickest leg of the day to bring the team home in 37th place.

We had one ladies team with Amy Frankland having a great run on the first leg, handing over to second leg runner Olivia Meikle in 6th place. Olivia having just moved up to the under 20 age group had a fine run to finish in 9th place and pass on to Claire Houston. Claire ran really well to hand on to final leg runner Alison Binns in 11th place. Alison drafted in at the last minute having raced the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago had a fine run to bring the team home in 22nd place. A fine performance by the ladies and I think we have created a new mixed category with a Senior, U20, M40 and M50 in one team!

Congratulations to all the athletes on their performances.

For full results please click here

The first of this seasons East District Cross Country League matches took place at Beveridge Park in Kirkcaldy on Saturday 14 October. It was a dry and sunny afternoon with excellent conditions underfoot for a cross country race.

Lasswade had reasonable numbers competing with 22 athletes taking part on the day, however there were still teams short of runners. All of the female teams with the exception of the senior women were complete, however it was a different story for the boys with only u17 boys fielding a complete team.

Under 17 boy Andrew McWilliam was our highest finisher in 1st place, closely followed by team mate Rowan Taylor in 2nd place with Innes Wright completing the team in 7th place.

Well done to everyone who took part and thanks to everyone for their help on the day.

For full results please click here

Next match is Dundee on 18 November, hope to see you all there.

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Good luck to the Lasswade athletes competing in the East District XC Relays in Livingston today. We have a good turn out from the Young athletes with 3 teams in the Young Females and 2 in the Young Males races. There are also one senior women’s team and one Master’s Men’s team also out in action.

Live Results: https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2023/GBR/edxcr/

We’re urgently looking for volunteers to join the team to help organise the Lasswade 10 Road Race on Sunday, 3rd March 2024. The road race has been one of our major fundraisers in the past and with the cuts in funding that many organisations like Lasswade AC are facing in the current climate, it’s vital that we boost club funds by making sure that this event happens in 2024.

Please email chair@lasswade-ac.org.uk if you can help or speak to Keith or Kirk at training nights.