Following a successful middle distance running career in his own right, including a GB international vest at under-23 level, the 36-year-old is now enjoying remarkable success as a coach.

Prior to the presentations Andy undertook a highly informative question and answer session with the club coaches and some of the older juniors. It was then on to the presentations, kicking off with awards for the Club Championships held at the end of the summer.

The format is multi-discipline where competitors must do one sprint event, one middle distance, one jump and one throw.

The under-11 champions were Amy Court and Hamish Paterson. Second and third-placed for the girls were Sophie Michie and Isla Stewart, while the boys’ runner-up was Keir Lang.

Last year’s under-11 champion, Ewan Robb, claimed the under-13 title in his first year in the age-group while in the closest contest across the age-groups Michael Miller was a single point behind in second place with Bryn Davies third. The under-13 girls champion was Jessica Noble, with Abbie Murray and Anna Greetham in second and third.

Alex Burns was crowned the winner of the under-15 girls competition with second place going to Mhairi Cromar and third to Melissa Robinson. For the under-15 boys the winner was Raymond Slaughter with Gregor Chambers second and Bruce Cromar third.

The championship presentations were rounded off by Erica Paterson and Calum Stewart claiming the under-17 titles.

The presentations then moved on to a number of other awards, determined by the club coaches. The Stevenson Shield, presented to the club athlete who has produced the best performance in the jumping events, went to Alex Burns after a bronze medal-winning long jump of 4.54 metres at the Scottish Schools Championships and a new high jump personal best of 1.50 metre.

Alex also improved her long jump personal best to 4.68 to finish the season ranked 16th under-15 in Scotland as well as 11th in the high jump.

Katie MacGregor retained the Sloan Trophy, awarded to the club junior with the best overall performance in throwing events after she collected also took a bronze medal at the Scottish Schools Championships, throwing 22.98 in the discus and also finished the season ranked in two separate events at under-15 — 11th in discus and 16th in shot put with 8.24.

Ewan Robb was another to retain a trophy, in his case the Eric Liddell Memorial Cup for best sprints performance of the year. Personal bests of 14.06 seconds for 100 metres and 29.7 for 200 earned Ewan under-13 ranking spots of 27th and 55th respectively.

The two trophies for middle distance were a tough call after excellent performances at cross country, on the roads and on the track.

Mhairi Cromar retained the Endurance Cup after a fourth place in the under-14 West District Championships 1500 metres and a seventh at the National Championships ending the season ranked 50th for 800 metres (2:33.5) and 20th for 1500 (5:39.19).

Michael Miller is similarly ranked twice, 30th for 800 (2:30.67) and 18th for 1500 (5:03.81). That latter time took fifth place in the National under-14 Championships, making Michael a worthy winner of the Prentice Trophy.

The latest addition to the roll of honour is the Most Promising Athlete award which went to Jessica Noble. After little more than a year with the club she ended her first-ever track season featured in the under-13 rankings for three events — 55th for 200 metres (30.5), 50th for 800 (2:43.9) and 20th for 1500 (5:39.19).

The Merit Shield is awarded for the best endeavour from a club athlete and the coaches were unanimous in recognising Anna Greetham for her commitment to training and to competition where she is willing to have a go at any event when asked and give it her best shot.

A new award was introduced this year — The President’s Award for Inspiring Performance, kindly donated by outgoing president Kevin Johnson. Newly-elected Joint Club President Laura Johnstone was delighted to recognise Melissa Robinson’s steady progress through the age-groups to a season where she has begun to reap the well-earned rewards.

The final award of the evening was voted for by the athletes themselves — Athletes’ Athlete of the Year. Preliminary voting the week before had produced a short list of five nominees – Alex Burns, Ewan Robb, Finlay Gray, Iona Stewart and Kara Bruce. A very close vote resulted in the top two having the same number of votes and thus the final accolade of the evening will be shared by Alex and Kara.

Joint club president Euan Crumley thanked Andy for presenting the awards and for the very informative and engaging question and answer session beforehand. The examples of Andy and Laura will have inspired coaches and athletes alike to build on the successes already achieved.