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Inverness teenager wins Scottish young sportswoman of the year award


By Staff Reporter

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MEGAN Keith’s meteoric rise in athletics and orienteering in 2019 continued as she was named Scottish young sportswoman of the year.

The 17-year-old received the accolade at the Scottish Women in Sport Awards in Glasgow.

Megan Keith with her award.
Megan Keith with her award.

The Inverness Orien-eering Club athlete was part of the Great Britain team which claimed gold at the World Junior Orienteering Championships in Denmark in July.

She also won gold in the sprint at the European Junior Orienteering Cham-pionships in France in September.

Keith, who is in her final year at Millburn Academy, said despite her international achievements it was still a shock to be named young sportswoman of the year.

“It was a very exciting night,” she said.

“It was one of the later awards on the night and I was nervous seeing other people going up to get their awards before me.

“I knew there was a one in three chance of me winning, so it was brilliant when I did.”

Her international success is even more impressive considering she has only been involved in competitive racing for less than two years.

“I got involved with the orienteering club in Inverness a number of years ago.

“But I only started competing at national and international level about 18 months ago, so I haven’t been competing long on the bigger stage.

“Orienteering is like a time trial race.

“You are given a compass and map of checkpoints that you need to reach and complete the course in the fastest time.”

Keith made a big impression in long distance running this year, winning the River Ness 10k in Inverness in October.

She also won under-20 gold at the National Short Course Cross Country Championship in Kirkcaldy and also claimed bronze in the senior race.

Keith, who plans to go to university after finishing school, has no set objective for her athletics career.

She is just looking to continue enjoying competing, whatever the results.

“I have been running for a long time but only started doing well at the start of this year at national level,” said Keith.

“I have no plans at the moment, but I want to keep competing and having fun.”


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