HELENSBURGH’S young athletes competed against some of the best in Scotland in indoor and outdoor competitions last weekend.

A great turnout saw Helensburgh Amateur Athletics Club fielding eight teams in the 4x200m relays at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

This was the first time a number of the athletes had run a relay there, so there was lots of nervous energy at the start, but this turned in to some hard fought races and great performances all round, building experience and confidence for all athletes.

Running alongside the relay championships were the SAIL finals which saw the U17 men’s team of Josh Bain, Chris Wilson, Ewan Robb and Bryn Davies competing against the best teams in Scotland across a range of sprints, hurdles and endurance runs, plus long jump, high jump and shot putt.

All athletes put in great performances, with most performing above or close to their personal bests, securing HAAC fifth position overall – still a great achievement given that they were up against many of the best athletes in their age group from across Scotland.

Meanwhile, a small contingent travelled to Hopetoun House in Queensferry to complete the national schools’ cross-country event against other schools from across the country. With huge entries across each of the age groups there were some great performances despite the cold, windy and often snowy conditions.

In the U14 girls’ race Beatrice Puxley finished 69th, whilst in the boys’ race Cameron Williams came in 47th and Andrew McNair 61st.

But the performance of the day was from Iona Wilson in the 14-15 years girls’ race: she finished in a fantastic 12th place in a race which saw the top eight runners chosen to represent Scotland in the forthcoming International Cross Country race in Nottingham.

Other great runs were put in by Jenny Scott (37th) and Amirah Hassan (68th)

Despite suffering a lingering illness earlier in the week Katie Flett ran in the 15-17 years race and finished a respectable 72nd place.

A number of athletes were also prepared to brave the winter weather conditions again the following day to travel to Greenock and compete in the National Young Athletes road race, however this was unfortunately cancelled at the last minute due to the deteriorating weather conditions.