Gold medal double for Aoiffion

YOUNG athletes from Langholm were out competing across Scotland at last week’s Scottish Athletics District Championships events. The District Championships are a significant event in the athletics calendar with the North and East Championships held in Aberdeen this year and the West in Championships in Kilmarnock. Fourteen-year-old Aoiffion McVittie Brangan was on form as she achieved two gold medals. She made the long journey to Aberdeen for the weekend where she would compete in the U16 Girls 100m and 200m. On a weekend not made for PBs, Aoiffion, on the Saturday, won her 100m heat in a new unofficial PB of 12.31 seconds with a tail wind. She then came first with a new official PB of 12.69 seconds into a strong head wind to win the gold medal. On the Sunday, Aoiffion won her second gold medal of the weekend with a time of 26.05 seconds into another very strong head wind. Evelyn Bell, 15, and Jessica Cuthbert, 13, both travelled to Kilmarnock on Saturday for the West District Championships. Evelyn progressed through the heats of the U16 Girls 100m and finished eighth in the final. In the U14 Girls, Jessica competed in the 100m, 200m and High Jump in a new format from Scottish Athletics where they scored points based on performance, which would lead to a gold, silver or bronze badges being awarded. Jessica ran 14.45 seconds in the 100m and 29.36 seconds in the 200m and, jumped 1.29m in the high jump to collect a gold badge for her points total. All three athletes receive support through the “Welcome to Langholm” Future Champions Awards.