Four Horses at the A(lyth)pocalypse
FVO's juniors added a fourth consecutive Dala Horse to their trophy cabinet, as they successfully defended the Jamie Stevenson Trophy with a a strong team performance at Hill of Alyth.
Heavy overnight rain failed to dampen the spirits of the athletes, and FVO was able to display its power from the outset, with more than 35% of the parading competitors in blue and gold. It wasn't just about team size though, and FVO had athletes on seven of the eight podiums following the racing, the only exception being Green girls where they were lacking their three GB athletes.
Peter Owen was 2nd in Green boys (38.48), while the Light Green classes had Lucas Baikie (22.17) top in the boys division, with James Edward 2nd (27.06), and Esme Finch was 2nd in Light Green girls (30.07).
They made hay in the Orange classes, taking all three boys medals as well as two in the girls class Lachlan Carruthers (22.19) topped the pack from Sean Truswell (22.36) with Luc Darvill 3rd (28.51). Sophie Edward won the girls division (29.39) with Aayla Tijhuis 3rd (51.55)
And in the Yellow classes, Leo Lockyer was the top boy (14.32) , and Catriona Downie, who has yet to experience defeat as a Jamie Stevenson competitor had the girls bronze in 18.08. The team podium was the same as last year, with INVOC four points behind FVO's total of 598, and a MOR team which only had girls in the scoring positions was 3rd (575). The history of the competition, which dates back to 2003, now shows six FVO victories, although they have some way to go to match MAROC's total of 15 wins, including 12 in a row from 2008 to 2019 and the COVID shutdown.
There was also a local event for supporters, and FVO athletes took 10 of the 15 podium places.
Dom Edward topped the pack on the Brown course in 43.36, and Jonathan Molloy (59.11) was 2nd on Green, with Alistair Skeffington (74.56) 3rd. There was a full set on Light Green, where Rona Molloy (32.09) was top, from John Owen (38.54) and Liz Owen (39.46).
The Orange course was won by Glenda Carruthers in 38.05, and Rona Lockyer (42.38) was 3rd, while on the Yellow course, some of the juniors who still require to be shadowed featured strongly, and Aurora Lockyer (19.38) had the win from Elias Skeffington (21.24)