HSOA Championships 2008
A great day in excellent weather was had by all at Carse with 251 competitors taking part. It was good to see most of the previous schools back and some newcomers too, with Inshes Primary in particular making an impressive debut. Logie, Dyke and Applegrove also made the trip from Moray to see how its done in the Highlands and they hope to be setting up their own area championships there soon.
On the individual front there were many impressively fast performances and worthy champions. Special mention should be made of Rowan White who despite still only being in P4, raced away with the Primary Boys White title and there were very fast times in their classes by Bethany Irvine, Callum White, Eliza Petrow, Eilidh Urqhart and Craig Campbell. The Moray competitors also showed a good turn of speed and we can foresee potentially close inter-district competitions in the future. Two competitors who should be congratulated for overcoming particular difficulties to take part were Alister Garrow from BSGI and Cameron Torrance from Nairn.
The team competition has often been dominated by the bigger schools, but Tomnacross showed what can be done by storming to the Primary Boys title with a clean sweep of the medals on yellow. Similarly Culloden overcame the disappointment of having to share the title last year by taking 4 of the 6 places available and the title of Secondary Boys Champions. In the Girls Primary, Cawdor's strength in depth helped them retain the title but watch out for those newcomers Inshes who weren't far behind in second. Nairn girls cruised to the Secondary Girls title again, but perhaps they need to watch out for Culloden who with enthusiastic support from their teachers are looking threatening for next year. Overall it was impressive to see so many more schools taking part, 21 this year, and many of them getting points on the board.
Many thanks to the helpers, planners and organisers. Particular thanks to Rowan and Callum White and Sam Gebicke-Kerr who were invaluable in helping with the computing and results.
Results:
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