by James Kinnaird
The 2024 Scottish Student Sport Cross Country Championships were hosted in Aberdeen on Saturday the 16th of November. The event saw students of all abilities travel from up and down Scotland to compete in the event on a cold Saturday afternoon in the northeast.
The event was organised by Aberdeen University Athletics Club president Margarita Radeva alongside Scottish Student Sport and Robert Gordons University Athletics Club. Across the day we would see the individual men’s and women’s champions crowned as well as team champions from both the men’s and women’s races.
Alongside a chance to win silverware for their respective universities, the competing athletes also had a chance to book their place at the Inter District Cross Country Championship, held in Glasgow on January 11th. The top 12 from each race in Aberdeen would be selected to run at the event, earning a chance to prove themselves at the highest level.
The course itself was the same for both the men’s and women’s events, two laps of a challenging 4.25km loop totalling 8.5km on the predominately grass surface of Balgownie Playing Fields and the surrounding woodlands.
The racing began just after midday with the women’s race containing 34 participants. Edinburgh University’s Emily Shaw gained an early lead over fellow Edinburgh runner Caitlyn Heggie with Glasgow University’s Emily McNicol also in pursuit. Shaw extended her lead and took a commanding win with McNicol in second and Heggie in third.
However, just off the podium in fourth place was Aberdeen’s Emma Jenkins with an impressive time of 33 minutes 16 seconds, just six seconds off the podium places. The team results for the women’s race saw Edinburgh take first, Glasgow second, and Strathclyde third.
Shortly afterwards it was time for the men’s race, with 84 runners taking part. As the race progressed a leading pack of ten runners formed, with four runners from Stirling and Edinburgh alongside a single runner from Scottish Rural College and another from Robert Gordon University.
First over the line was Edinburgh’s Matt Knowles, followed by Stirling’s Ryan Martin and Edinburgh’s Conor Gourley, Lucas Cairns, and Chris Bain rounding out the top five, four of which from Edinburgh. Jack MacKinnon was the first home from Aberdeen with a strong run in 36th place. In the men’s team championship, Edinburgh took top spot, with Stirling in second and Glasgow in third.
Overall, a great day of sport in Aberdeen, with Edinburgh being the standout performer taking home both teams’ championships. Yet, strong showings from Glasgow Stirling and Aberdeen leave many runners much to be pleased with.
