Double Tops in Inter-Clubs
FVO claimed its 9th consecutive Scottish Inter-Club Championship title by 10,000 points from ESOC, with a strong performance across the board.
The championship has undergone a number of changes over the years, with the Scottish Score, the Scottish Championships and the 11 Man Relay all being used in the past to determine the winner. However the current format sees 12 events in a variety of formats used to assess the club with the best athletes, so it's more of a marathon and more representative of form.
FVO has four of the top 10 scorers (Alison Cunningham, Jason Inman. Hannah Inman and Roger Goddard) in the entire competition, and 11 of the 24 with more than 6000 league points, but with 144 individual scorers, or around 50% of the membership so it's a sterling effort from top to bottom.
The juniors have remarkably taken the top three places in the Junior Inter-Clubs, holding off the challenge of the A teams from each and every other club. Their strength in depth at this level is evident, with seven counting teams in the league, and half of an eight one, and 84 junior runs recorded over the season. Indeed, had the juniors been a separate club, they'd have been 2nd in the Big league, although there's still enough in reserve to ensure that the oldsters are still #1.
The Tinto Twin night/day event in Lanarkshire was the final counting event, and it brought FVO two overall class winners amongst a host of top performances. Although TINTO no longer stages the event, the mantle has been picked up by STAG, and events in the TINTO heartland of South Lanarkshire were a fitting nod to what's always been a top-class event.
The Night stage, at Lanark Racecourse, had a smaller than normal turnout, due to the snowy weather, but Jon Cross won on the Green course in 31.28 to set himself up well for the weekend, and Rachel Kirkland (38.42) was 3rd on the same course, as the leading lady.
Normal service was resumed for the Day stage at Strathclyde Park, as the snow melted away like, well, snow, and Jon was 3rd in 34.32 to wrap up the overall M55 title. Rachel was one place further back (37.24) but claimed the prize in W50.
Lucas Baikie won on Light Green in 26.12, and was joined in the winner's circle by Sean Truswell (17.09) who held Sophie Edward (26.21) back in 2nd on Orange. Off the podiums, Dominic Edward was 4th (50.31) on Brown, against men half his age, as was Emma Cheyne (23.04) on Yellow., Fraser Cheyne came back in 56.50 on Blue for a 10 second margin on Rob Truswell, and 5th position. James Edward was 7th (40.48) on Green, and Liz Godfree was 10th (47.32) on Short Green, three seconds ahead of Mike, who is on the dishes.