Mixed fortunes at cross-country fixture for Inverness Harriers
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The title fortunes of Inverness Harriers’ senior teams suffered very mixed fortunes at Saturday’s penultimate North Cross Country League match at Nairn.
The women’s squad secured victory on the day with maximum points and also won their title ahead of the season’s climax.
However, the Inverness men suffered a clear defeat by Moray, who now have a double digit overall points lead.
The women’s perfect score came with a clean sweep of the top-three places, with GB junior internationalist Megan Keith a runaway winner from Gemma Cormack, while Emily Andrew took third place.
This means that the Inverness team has already regained the crown without needing to run a step in the final match in Forres on Saturday, February 15.
However, Cormack and Andrew have now set up an intriguing winner-takes-all battle for the individual title.
But with Moray packing three in the top four in the men’s race, Inverness’s four-point lead was converted to a Moray advantage provisionally estimated at 10-15 points. The Inverness counters, led by fifth-placed Donnie MacDonald, also comprised Graham Bee, Rob Burnett and Paul Miller.
This deficit will be difficult for Inverness to pull back in a single race at Forres.
Following a switch last week by hill internationalist Caroline Marwick, another high-profile senior Inverness runner has announced a change of club to Highland Hill Runners.
Gordon Lennox, also a former Highland Cross winner, left Inverness in the autumn and is now undergoing the change of club process.
The junior league contests also approached a conclusion, and Lucas Cairns (under-17 men) and Anna Cairns (under-15 girls) continued their unbeaten records to clinch these individual titles.
