Millie McLelland-Brooks was the latest Inverclyde Athletics Club member to stand on the
podium at the Scottish National Cross Country Championships, claiming silver at
Callendar Park in Falkirk in the Under-17 women’s race.
It became the third consecutive medal at the Championships for the runner, who still has
one more year at the age group.
Last year, she finished second in the Under-15 women’s race and won the Under-13 race
two years earlier, shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic, which cancelled the 2021
edition.
She pulled off another successful day in Fakirk, finishing in a time of 24:31, 14 seconds
behind the winner Caitlyn Heggie of Ross County. Heggie had finished third behind Millie
in last year’s race. Inverness’ Katie Meek completed the podium.
Female excellence could be found elsewhere too, with Nynke Mulholland securing a top
10 finish in the senior women’s race. Again showing her experience over the distance,
Nynke had a career-best result of seventh in the race, just over two minutes adrift of the
winner, Scout Adkin of Moorfoot. Last year, Nynke had just missed out on the top 10 in
11th place.
The future was bright for the women’s team too, with the Under-13 girls’ team finishing
sixth. Olivia Lyne led the charge in 33 rd , flanked by Grace Barry in 49 th , Kiera Gregory in
60 th , Pearl Paterson in 70 th , Nuala Munro in 79 th and Leah Kane in 107 th , proving there is depth in the squad.
Charlie Lyne was the sole runner for Inverclyde in the Under-13 boys’ race, finishing 76 th at
his first National Cross Country Championships. Liam Kane was impressive in the Under-
15 boys’ race too, finishing 58 th .
Finally, the senior men’s team came out in strong numbers for the last race of the day,
finishing fifth overall. With late withdrawals, a medal would not be on the cards, but there
was a positive number of runners in the squad, with 17 in total.
Off the back of a successful indoor track season, Ben Potrykus was the first home for the
team, missing the podium by just three seconds in fourth place – behind the podium of
Logan Rees of Fife, and the Central pair of Jamie Crowe and Hamish Hickey.
Two were in the top 10, as Adam Craig came in six places behind his teammate – another
strong showing as he continues preparations for the London Marathon. Although unable to
count towards the team points due to eligibility criteria, Elisha De Mello made his debut in
the stripes and finished 25 th – 10 spots in front of Ross Gray.
Brothers Mark and Colin Doherty were 44 th and 59 th respectively, with Jack Letson
rounding off the six counters in 119 th . Mark was the second athlete to cross the line in the
Vet 40 category, while Robert Paterson had a fantastic finish in 157 th – being the first Vet
50 home.
Some familiar faces in Michael Houston and Craig Ruddy returned from spells of illness
and living in England to compete, sandwiching club captain Sean Gaffney, who managed
to make the top 200. David Henderson and Allan Callan provided more depth in the
veteran categories inside the top 300 alongside Jason Kane. Paul Friend and Neil
McLaughlin finished back-to-back in 358 th and 359 th , followed in by Robert Gray in 518 th .
In the Under-20 men’s race, Peter Bradshaw – running for Edinburgh University – finished
fourth, missing the podium by six seconds.