Falkirk Victoria Harriers: Youngsters post impressive results at recent Scottish and Forth Valley meets

There were several top spots for the Vics in action and those added to the all important points total which count towards the final league match next month. Due to the number of competitors, some races had several heats. In the 800m race heats, Luke Culliton finished second for U17s in 1:56.76, Andrew McKechnie finished sixth in the U20s in 2:03.81 and Hamish Lamont finished sxith in the U17s in 2:06.95.

In the women’s U17 800m event, Charlotte Horne finished 11th in 2:32.59. In the 100m heats, Luca Capani was third at U17 in 11.91. In the 200m races, Hamish Lamont was 13th at U17 out of a huge number of athletes in 25.22 and Abbi MacLeod was first at U20 to finish in 26.18.

In the 1500m women’s race, featuring 17 runners, Katie Christie was the first U20 to cross the line in 4:44.33 and Niamh Brown was sixth senior in 5:10.03.

In the field events, Hamish Lamont finished third at U17 for his long jump 5.57m. In shot putt, Noah Anderson finished sixth for his shot putt throw of 8.51m. Finally, in the women’s long jump, Selina Henderson was fourth senior at 5.27m, Ellie Buchanan, eighth senior at 4.59m and Louisa Kane was fourth at U20 hitting 4.45m.

Meanwhile, in the Forth Valley League a day earlier, a number of Vics’ youngsters had great results on the day, scoring points for the club.

Hannah Johnston got the races off to a good start, coming first in the 75m hurdle event. In the 800m A race, Skye Robertson came second (U15) and Kostas Jakubiak came third (U13). In the B race, James Allison (U11), Alexander Millar (U13), Melissa McPhee (U15) and Lewis McFarlane (U15) all came first.

In the 600m, Arianna Bennet (U11) finished first and in the 1500m A races, Aine McAtarsney (U13) came second, Blair Anderson (U13) first and Daniel Alexander (U15) third. In the B races, Elliot Fawkes (U15) finished second. The final track event was the 4 x 100m relay races, also with great results for the young athletes.

In the U11 girls’ group of Niamh Flaherty, Isla Hedges, Erin Donaldson and Arianna Bennett took second place. The U11 boys team consisting of William Luke, Austin Gardiner, Benjamin Anderson and Patrick McAtarsney also took second. The U13 girls’ group of Ella Shepherd, Neve Taylor, Kirsty Sedman and Emma Crawford took third and the U13 boys team of Callan Campbell, Kostas Jakubiak, Alexander Millar and Blair Anderson took first.

Over in the field events, in the high jump, Fiona Rue and Luke Sedman took 1st places in the A jump while Cahal McAtarsney took 1st and Josie Anderson took 2nd in the B jump. In the A long jump, Kostas Jakubiak, Neve Taylor and Callan Campbell all took 1st place and Skye Robertson took 2nd place. In the Javellin throw A group, Callan Campbell took 1st place and in the B group, Emma Crawford took 3rd.