Harriers Celebrate Successful Year

Our city’s long-established local athletics club, Perth Strathtay Harriers, celebrated and recognised the efforts of some of its members throughout the 2017 season in an awards ceremony last weekend. Nine trophies were handed out to young members, as well as recognising the individual male and female club champions across the different age groups.

The 2017 ceremony took place on Sunday 4^th February at the North Inch Community Campus and parents, club volunteers and athletes all gathered to celebrate some of the fantastic achievements of the club members over the past twelve months.

Ben Greenwood was named the Athlete of the Year, with cross country runner Sol Sweeney receiving the award for Most Improved Athlete. Shannon Stark and Robert Young won the Female and Male Club Person accolades, while youngster Freya Howgate said she was “very privileged to have been nominated and to have won the President’s Award” – which was presented to her by the club’s chair, Jim Hunter.

The club champions for each age group were also recognised on the day, and under 15 girls’ champion Lauryn Wood was delighted with how 2017 turned out for her.

“I was very happy to be named the U15 girls’ champion which finished off a very successful season for me. My goal for the year was to throw over 30m and break the RAM record, which I managed to achieve.

“On top of that, I managed to win silver at East Districts, silver and bronze at the Scottish Schools and won gold at the Perthshire Schools County Sports, breaking the javelin record in the process. So I exceeded my goals and expectations and it has been my best year yet!”

Jim Hunter was also keen to stress how proud he was of the athletes’ achievements over the year and he was delighted with the turnout at the North Inch Community Campus.

“2017 was another outstanding year for our volunteer led athletics club,” Jim said.

“The Harriers annual awards ceremony is the perfect opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate the achievements of our athletes at regional, national and, for some, international level.”

Here’s the full list of winners from the Perth Strathtay Harriers awards ceremony:

Athlete of the Year – Ben Greenwood

Most Improved Athlete – Sol Sweeney

Female Club Person – Shannon Stark

Male Club Person – Robert Young

President’s Award – Freya Howgate

Cross Country Male Senior – Sol Sweeney

Cross County Male Junior – Alex Douglas

Cross Country Female Senior – Emma Jenkins

Cross County Female Junior – Rose Ryan

Individual Club Champions in 2017:

U11 – Fraser Flood (male) and Erin Lee (female)

U13 – Alex Douglas (male) and Eve Garry (female)

U15 – Kairn Brand (male) and Lauryn Wood (female)

U17 – Ben Wightman (male) and Emma Rutherford (female)

U20 – Ben Greenwood and Sol Sweeney (joint male winners) and Hannah Johnston (female)

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Strathtay Harriers train at the George Duncan Athletics Arena throughout the week, and for more details you can visit their website or Facebook page.

The Strathtay Harriers club vision is to, “to develop an informed, educated and inclusive athletics community and create a clear pathway to ensure that people of all abilities are supported to participate, progress and perform in athletics.”