Scottish Power Secures JIRCs win
Scotland's juniors continued one of the longest winning runs in the history of sport, as they won their 15th consecutive Inter-Regional Championship with a dominant performance near Stanstead Airport.
The event sees nine English regions competing against the national teams of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and the Scots, under the mentorship of FVO's Roger Goddard, were able to utilise their full squad, with several fringe athletes making their first appearances.
Recent championships have seen a battle between Scotland and Yorkshire for the crown, and Scotland won three of the individual classes on the opening day to Yorkshire's two to open up a 15 point margin to take into the relays. Host region East Anglia won the remaining class, but the real momentum to the Scotland aspirations came in the shape of a 5-0 lead on 2nd place finishes over Yorkshire.
Local athletes were prominent in the Scottish cause, and Hannah Inman was victorious in W14, in a time of 26.01, securing the trophy for event MVP, and while Esme Finch was 3rd on the course (30.44) her score could be discarded, as this was one of two classes where Scotland was able to post a full podium.
Fraser Cheyne was 7th in M16 (39.28) and Peter Owen was 12th in a wide-open M18 (52.46) which saw seven different regions represented in the top 10. Lucas Baikie was promoted to M18 for the day, and was one place behind Peter (54.05) and Matthew Inman was the third FVO member in the field, where he was 24th (66.45).
The Scots still needed a professional showing in the relay to cement the win, and while Yorkshire won the men's race, Scotland were 2nd and 3rd to equal their effort. The women's race was dominated by Scotland, who took the first two places in the standings, leaving Yorkshire with too much to do, and an 18 point gap here meant Scotland establishing the 2nd-highest winning score, with 529 points.
Plans are already in place for the 2027 championship, which will be held in the West Midlands, before the event returns to Scotland for the first time in 12 years in 2028, and if Scotland were to win again next year, it would meant that the 2028 team would be comprised almost entirely of athletes born after Scotland's last defeat at this level.