Juniors Help Team Borders to East XC League Titles

Moorfoot juniors played a significant part in helping Team Borders to three East League titles at a grey and damp Broxburn on Saturday.

The Under-11 Boys, racing over 1.6k and leading by 32 points after the first two rounds, were the first to clinch the season silverware. Corran Carrick-Anderson put in another excellent performance for a close 3^rd place with Ethan Elder the second counter in 10^th. 

The U-13 Girls also led going into the third and final leg but by a less secure margin of 13 points. Solid runs were called for to stave off the expected challenge from Central and the girls duly delivered with Mairi Wallace and Beth Hobbs having a private battle of their own for 4^th and 5^th over the 3k course, Mairi getting up in the final few strides to just pip Beth on the line. Anna McGorum was close behind in 9^th.

Next up it was the turn of the U13 Boys who only held a vulnerable 4-point lead over Corstorphine prior to the gun. Euan Hood outsprinted two rivals in the home straight for 7^th, thus contributing to an extended winning margin for the Borders boys.

Whilst that was an end to the trophy bagging, there were some other notable performances, none more so than the eye-catching 3^rd place by Elena McGorum in the U11 Girls’ race. Support from clubmates Eilidh Mooney in 8^th and Megan Hobbs in 16^th saw the girls finish only 2 points away from a team win on the day and in a creditable 3^rd place overall, a mere 5 points adrift of Edinburgh in 2^nd.

The U17 Boys also ended the season in a podium position, 2^nd on the day over 5.8k to Edinburgh and 2^nd overall behind clear winners Aberdeen. Kobe Stevens was 12th on the day and a significant points contributor over the season. 

Ailsa Innes was the sole runner from the Borders in the combined U15/U17 girls race, so no team points, but a solid run for 23rd.

Also running in the senior races at Broxburn were 17 year-olds Jacob Adkin and Sophie Collins both first-year juniors. Running in a massive field of 255 runners, Jacob produced another strong performance to finish 14^th overall and 2^nd U-20 while Sophie kept on well to finish 4^th U-20 and 48^th overall in a field of 105 women.