Over the course of the month of March and as a new element to the active schools and community sports programme for 2016, P4-P7 pupils from the Newton Stewart Area were invited to take part in an after school x-country league in the lead up to the large annual cluster festival in April.
There were 4 fixtures spread across the Machars which saw Blairmount, Bladnoch Park, Port William’s Kings Green Caravan Park and Minnigaff Pavilion providing the settings. The league attracted runners of all abilities whether to improve fitness levels, improve performance or simply to enjoy themselves in the fresh air. The Cross Country League placings as below taken from the 4 venues; P4 Boys 1st Mackenzie Sharples, Minnigaff Primary 2nd Jake Devine, Wigtown Primary 3rd Thomas Simpson, Wigtown Primary P5 Girls 1st Ella Simpson, Wigtown Primary 2nd Jo Marshall, Minnigaff Primary 3rd Sophie Barclay, Minnigaff Primary P5 Boys 1st Finlay Rodger, Kirkcowan Primary 2nd Sam Moore, Minnigaff Primary 3rd Kieran Mc Knight, Minnigaff Primary P6 Girls 1st Drew Lochrie, Port William P7 Boys 1st Zak Service, Kirkcowan Primary Kirrougtree played host to the annual Machars Primary x-Country festival for the first time in its history last week. The event was held in partnership with Forest Enterprise Scotland and was split over two mornings which saw over 300 pupils from P5-7 taking part in the event. Once again, JB Print kindly sponsored the race numbers and certificates for all competitors. Being a new venue, it was a learning curve for organisers and competitors alike but the order of play ran smoothly and proved very popular with everyone involved. The setting was beautiful with the runners being guided through the natural forestry paths, grass trails and woodland scenery by a team of volunteer stewards. The cluster was split into the following two groups: Group 1 (Wednesday 13 April): North Machars: Penninghame, St Ninians, Minnigaff and Creetown Group 2 (Friday 15 April): South Machars: Port William, Kirkinner, Whithorn, Garlieston, Wigtown and Kirkcowan Following the tallying of points for final placings, for the fourth year in a row Penninghame Primary school were crowned champions with Kirkcowan taking the spoils for the Team Relay. Overall SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP (points tallied for final placings): 1st Penninghame (75 points) 2nd Wigtown (45 points) 3rd Kirkcowan (40 points) 4th Whithorn (29 points) 5th Port William (28 points) 6th Creetown (21 points)
Overall TEAM RELAY Champions 1st Kirkcowan 2nd Wigtown 3rd Creetown Councillor Tom McAughtrie, Chairman of the Community and Customer Services Committee said; “It is fantastic to see the Machars schools having the opportunity to take part in a sports event at an exciting and very much accessible venue on their doorsteps. The festivals ran very smoothly with a lovely buzz at the visitor centre. He added “The partnership work, efforts of the pupils, staff and volunteers certainly contributed to a successful and positive experience for all involved.” |
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