MORE than 600 pupils from across the Borders lined up on the starting line of the biggest and best ever schools cross country championships last week.

The secondary and primary school races organised by the Scottish Borders Athletics Development Group and Borders Sport and Leisure Trust, took place at Netherdale on Thursday.

Following a day of thrilling finishes and eye-catching performances it was Peebles High and Priorsford Primary who left with the respective trophies.

Athletic development officer Neil Renton said: "A record number of 40 primary schools and all nine secondary schools were represented at this year’s Borders Schools Cross Country Championships.

"This is an excellent initiative from the Scottish Borders Athletics Development Group working in partnership with local clubs, along with support from Borders Sport and Leisure and students from Borders College.

"Opportunities have now been provided for all school pupils across the Borders to participate in cross country. It was really exciting to see youngsters from all areas of the Scottish Borders competing at such a high standard."

The P6 Boys race over 2km started the day’s proceedings and Earlston were first on the medal board with a convincing win by Euan Christie in a time of 8.08 seconds.

Ritchie Mitchell from Clovenfords was next home in 8.21, winning a tight battle for second just ahead of Priorsford’s James Clare.

James led Priorsford to team silver with a total 29 points but it was their Peebles rivals Kingsland who took the team title with 27 points from Jake Lockyer (6th), Jack Murphy (10th) and Rory Laidlaw (11th).

The P6 Girls race saw a clean sweep of the individual medal positions by Priorsford.

Emily Carrick-Anderson came out on top to take the gold medal in 8.46 with Esme Minto only three seconds adrift in second. Third home for the bronze was Holly Hobbs in 9.04 and for good measure team-mate Christina McGorum was 4th in 9.10, impressive running from the four Priorsford girls.

The P7 boys race saw a repeat of last year’s P6 one-two with Gregor Collins from St Peter’s again taking the title in a time of 7.36 ahead of Murray Aiken of Priorsford. The race for bronze saw three runners cross the line within a second of each other with Blake Hedley from Melrose just getting the verdict. Silver medallist Aiken led Priorsford to the team title, supported by Keith Kitching (4th) and Fraser Stewart (12th).

The P7 Girls race concluded the morning’s proceedings and there was another repeat champion from 2015. Kingsland’s Madeline Collins came home in 8.42 from Derri Burton of Howdenburn. Maisie Ballantyne took the bronze in 8.51. Priorsford took their third team title courtesy of Katie Grieve (5th), Ellie Farndon (7th) and Lucy Smith (10th).

In the overall Primary Schools Team Championship Priorsford were clear winners with 75 points. Defending champions Kingsland finished second on 190 points and Earlston’s 298 points was enough to place them third team just ahead of Melrose on 304 points.

The afternoon action kicked off with the S1 races over 2km. Scottish U13 800m champion Michael Girdler from Peebles was a comfortable winner of the S1 Boys’ race, crossing the line in 7.20, with Kacey Bunker from Galashiels taking the silver in 7.55. Maxwell Drummond from Peebles took the bronze in 8.04 and with Euan Maciver home in 9th that secured the team title for Peebles with a total of 9 points ahead of Hawick (26 points) and Earlston (37 points).

Hannah Little from Peebles was a very impressive winner of the S1 Girls race with only the first two boys ahead of her. Hannah’s time of 7.59 was 32 seconds clear of the silver medallist Charlotte Morrison, also of Peebles, ahead of Mhairi Forbes from Earlston. Eilidh Mooney from Peebles just missed out on an individual medal but had the consolation of her 4th place finish giving Peebles 7 points which comfortably secured the team title from Earlston (16 points) and Berwickshire (34 points)

In the S2 Boys 3km race the Peebles duo of Ethan Elder just beat Corran Carrick-Anderson. Team-mate Craig Angus just held off Fellow Peebles runner Michael Smith to take the bronze, giving Peebles the minimum possible team score of 6 points. Berwickshire were 2nd (20 points) and Earlston 3rd (39 points).

The Peebles S2 Girls race also saw a clean sweep of the first four places by Peebles. Charlotte Clare won from Beth Hobbs and Elena McGorum. Earslton were 2nd team (23 points) and Galashiels were 3rd (34 points).

Hawick got themselves on the medal table with both silver and bronze in the S3 Boys 3km race through Fraser Clyne (11.32) and Jamie Armstrong (11.47). But it was Peebles runner Euan Hood who strode away with the title. Support from Joe Robertson (4th) and Finlay Collins (5th) secured another team title for Peebles. Hawick were 2nd (19 points) and Berwickshire 3rd (31 points).

In the S3 Girls race Anna McGorum won for Peebles from Rhiannon Fagan of Earlston with Dayna Anderson further back in third. With Earlston’s third counter Amy Inglis home in 8th that gave Earlston a total of 13 points in the team race, a total which was matched by Peebles through Lucy Gray in 5th and Rachel Isherwood in 7th.

The Open races concluded the day with Peebles and Earlston again doing battle in the Open Girls 3k race. The individual placings saw a repeat of the S3 race, Mairi Wallace of Peebles securing the gold from Earlston duo of Katie Rourke and Elena Heger. A

The Open Boys 4k race saw Gavin Bryson (Earlston), Thomas Otton (Galashiels) and Kobe Stevens (Peebles) were all in contention but Bryson took the race by the scruff of the neck from the gun coming home in 12.32 for a winning margin of nine seconds ahead of Otton and Stevens.

Peebles not surprisingly ran out comfortable winners of the overall Secondary Schools Championship with 78 points across all eight races. Earlston were second with 193 points and Jedburgh third on 468 points.

Athletics Development co-ordinator Gregor Nicholson said: “We’ve witnessed another fantastic day of running at Netherdale showcasing some impressive running talent from across the Scottish Borders but also great commitment and determination from nearly 600 finishers, a healthy increase on last year.

"It’s an event which is made possible only with the support of many, including Borders Sport and Leisure Trust, the HNC and HND sports development students from Borders College, Gala RFC, Scottish Borders Council and our fantastic team of volunteer helpers and marshals. We are very grateful to them all.”