Inverclyde Athletics Club’s Millie McClelland-Brooks claimed more silverware a week on from becoming Scottish Under 17 Athlete of the Year, winning by the largest margin at the Scottish National Short Course Cross Country Championships.
A 15-second gap in the Under 17 Women’s race over just three kilometres showed the teenager’s fastest
leg at the National Cross Country Relay Championships was not an outlier.
Millie crossed the line at Lanark Racecourse in 10min 39sec and was joined on the podium by Natsai
Nyabadza of Harmeny and Zara Redmond from Kilbarchan.
She is now set to race at Liverpool at the British trials for the European Cross Country Championships, moving up to the Under 20 category for this event.
In the following event, Liam Kane put in a strong effort to finish 77th
in a stacked Under 17 Men’s race.
Keira Gregory was solidly in the mid-pack of the Under 15 Girls’ race, finishing 60th.
Nynke Mulholland-Stummer and Ben Potrykus were the top finishers for Inverclyde AC in the Senior
women’s and men’s races respectively, finishing either side of the top 10.
Nynke came off a top-10 time at National Relays to finish 11th in a time of 14:05, being pipped to a spot
by British internationalist Alice Goodall.
In a field of nearly 300 athletes, Rachael Cunningham continued showing signs of improvement, placing 65th in a time of 15:44.
Ben, one of the medal contenders in the men’s race and the defending champion, was in the leading pack
on the first lap, but ultimately finished ninth in a race won by Central’s Jamie Crowe in 11:26.
Ben was 15 seconds off the leader in 11:41, leading the team to sixth place.
The brothers of Ross and Ryan Gray showed a mature display to come in as second and third counters,
both coming through the field steadily to finish in 27th and 30th place respectively in 12:14 and 12:16.
Michael Houston was the final counter for the team, doing his best against stomach cramps to finish 75th
in a time of 12:43.
Jason Kane and Alan Callan were the remaining runners in the stripes, finishing in 215th and 235th respectively – well within the top half of the field.