A day of mixed fortune, National XC, 20 February

Falkirk's Callendar Park was the venue for the National Cross Country Championships 2010.The day was blessed with brilliant sunshine but hard underfoot conditions.

 

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the club.In the closest finish in the history of the Championships Shettleston lost their National Senior Men's team title to Inverclyde AC  by one point.It was a fantastic race for the spectators, with the team title swinging between the two clubs over the three laps. It was only in the finishing straight that the title was decided.It was Inverclyde's first ever senior team title and the club send their congratulations to Inverclyde. Tsegezab Woldemichael was the best placed Harrier in the men's race finishing 2nd, one place better than last year. It was almost a repeat of 12 months earlier with Ally Hay of Central AC sprinting to victory in the home straight.

 

1st Inverclyde Ac 101pts

2nd Shettleston -102pts ( T.Woldemichael 2,T.Mengisteab 6, J.Lennox 13,T.Fay 21 ,M.Graham 28,P.Sorrie 32 )

3rd Central AC 171pts

 

In the Junior Men's race Matthew Gillespie just missed out on the title finishing second behind Callum Hawkins of Kilbarchan AC.Matthew has been ill the last few weeks and this affected his ability to cover Callum's break in the last lap.First year Junior Lachlan Oates finished 5th.

 

The star of the day for the club was Ahmed Hassan, who won the U/15 title. This is the first time since 1972 a Shettleston athlete has won this title. He was a clear winner breaking clear with 800m to go.

 

Illness and injury hampered the U/15 girls team chances but the team of Laura Penrice (16), Jemma McQuillian (39), Danielle McConway (41) and Victoria McGloin (74 ) ran well to finish 4th.

Shannon McLellan became the first ever U/17 girl to compete in the National and finished 18th overall.

 

Photos in the Gallery.

Full results can be found on the Scottish athletics website.