Best for the West at JIA
A youthful West of Scotland reclaimed the Junior Inter-Area Championship title from North following two days racing on local soil but had to work hard through the classes to achieve the win.
The relay races at Muiravonside proved decisive, as West scoped out a 12 point margin to take into the second day. North struck first in the Girls race, where Hazel Cload took back six minutes on the closing leg to overcome Hannah Inman for the win after Esme Finch and Rose Martin had put West in front. North were also third, but the West team of Sophie Edward, Catriona Downie and Hanna Brindley was 80 second faster than the best East team for 4th.
West dominated the Open race, as Lucas Baikie and Lachlan Carruthers sent Peter Owen out for the closer with a two minute margin over East, three West teams in the top four and North, who had back-loaded their teams, some way off the pace.
Peter mispunched within sight of home, and this allowed Alexander Hunt to come in for the win ahead of West II, turning the 3rd place he'd been handed by Matthew Inman and Sean Truswell into gold. The third West team was in and out of the medals during the day, but Fraser Cheyne ran on successfully to cement 3rd, with James Edward and Ethan Baikie also making valuable contributions.
West did just enough in the Individual races at Barrwood to take the win, but it was a much closer affair. The Yellow classes were first to score, and Leo Lockyer was 2nd (19.20) ahead of Ethan Baikie (23.28), with North taking one of their three class wins. In the girls race, the best of the West were Emma Cheyne (18.39) and Catriona Downie (19.25), who were 3rd and 4th, trailing the two North runners.
Sophie Edward (26.33) had a big win on Orange, and on the boys course, Luc Darvill (24.58) was 2nd, ahead of Sean Truswell (26.14). West made hay on the Light Green course though, where Hannah Inman (32.57) led home AYROC's Vira Bogachova for a West 1-2, and James Edward won the boys race in 29.56, with Lucas Baikie backing him up in 3rd (31.32).
The absence of both girls on Short Blue hurt the team total, but Alexander Hunt (2nd in 55.43) and Matthew Inman (5th in 68.37) added to the score on the Blue boys course. The senior courses went pretty much to schedule, with Peter Owen (67.42) 3rd on Short Brown, and Scarlett Kelly (59.56) 13 minutes ahead of Sophie Howard for the Blue girls win,
West seemed to have done enough to score a one point win, but there was a late twist as a North runner who had been disqualified for a mispunch on the Light Green course was reinstated after an appeal, and the scores were tied. West won the trophy on a recount of class wins, 4 to 3.