GALA Harriers celebrated a year of continued success and growth at their presentation night on Saturday.

More than 70 members – junior and senior – packed the clubhouse at Ladhope in Galashiels in an evening where their achievements were awarded with an array of medals and trophies.

The club, dubbed “the green machine” by members on social media, has enjoyed a phenomenal year with a number of athletes of all ages representing Gala at Borders, district and national level.

The Harriers ladies Masters team also won the Club Sport Ettrick and Lauderdale Team of the Year, and last weekend were awarded their third consecutive gold medal at the Scottish Masters Cross Country Championships.

While some of the club’s competing members have notched up a number of achievements this year, it was also stressed that the Harriers welcomes athletes of all ages and abilities and the barrier of the club being viewed as only for “elite” runners was being broken down.

The club’s newly-elected President Graeme Murdoch said: “This is a family club for all ages and stages and I am delighted to see so many members here, particularly the large number of juniors here tonight.

“This is a great opportunity to look back and celebrate the success and achievements of all our club members.”

The prizes were presented to the recipients by men's captain Billy McCulloch and ladies captain Fiona Dalgleish.

A large number of medals and trophies were awarded to youngsters competing in the Club’s Junior Championships.

The young athletes took part in the pentathlon event held at Tweedbank Sports Centre in August to gain points towards the championship in U11, U13 and U15 age groups.

Young runners from the club who represented Scotland East at District level were also awarded medals on the night.

The award for Most Improved Junior went to Faisal Khursheed. Recounting his achievements, Graeme said: “Faisal has had an excellent 12 months that has really seen him step up a level in terms of his training and performance in races.

“He is rapidly becoming established as one of the top runners in the Under 17 age group and in the past year has twice finished runner up in league cross country races.

"He also won an excellent silver medal at the East District Cross Country Championships in Aberdeen and finished a fantastic 4th place whilst running for the East of Scotland at the Inter District Cross Country event in January 2017.”

Most Improved Senior athlete was Lindsay Dunn who has had an exceptional 12 months since joining Gala Harriers.

Graeme said: “Always committed in training, Lindsay works hard and everybody has seen the progress she has made.

" She embraces all types of races and distances and has tackled races from the Great Winter Run five kilometre, up to the Glen Ogle Ultra, with coastal runs, cross country races, and marathons in between.

“She is always looking to better herself and this award is the committee and coaches' recognition of this.”

The JSD Nisbet Trophy for Endeavour went to Club Together Officer and former Club President Gerry Moss.

Awarding the trophy, Graeme said: “Gerry is a real community person and is very approachable.

"He has worked very hard to break down barriers for the club so that it is no longer perceived as being a club for elite runners.

"He has done a power of work both behind the scenes for the committee and in coaching. He has also succeeded in attracting new people to come along to the club. This is a well-deserved award going to Gerry.”

Three of the Harriers’ highly successful Ladies Masters athletes, Fiona Dalgleish, Jenny Forbes and Anya Campbell, were also awarded medals after representing Scotland in the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International in Dublin.

A number of seniors picked up awards for races held by the club annually, ranging from a track 800m to the Hollybush 10km.

Graeme also paid tribute to the club’s dedicated team of coaches. He said: “They put a huge amount of work in behind the scenes to plan and support the many sessions offered by the club and we are extremely grateful to them for all of their hard work.”

Jan Brown was presented with flowers after working tirelessly throughout the day with her family to provide the presentation night buffet.

Ladies captain Fiona Dalgleish received a bouquet in recognition of her hard work in submitting entries for the club for various events over the past four years.

Rounding up the presentations, Graeme said: “On behalf of all of the committee I would like to thank everyone for making Gala Harriers what it is - the coaches, the backstage team who work so hard behind the scenes and the parents who ferry their children to training week-in week-out and give us their support.”

The evening’s celebrations finished with three of the club’s athletes turning their talents to music - Rory Campbell (guitar/vocals), Anya Campbell (flute) and Sara Christie (vocals) performed a varied repertoire of songs from Guns ‘N’ Roses to Blondie, and Robbie Williams to Frozen.

Season's Results

Ladhope XC 2015: 1st Darrell Hastie; 2nd Kate Jenkins; 3rd Michael Haywood and Fiona Shepherd.

National XC Championships 2016 : 1st Male finisher – Darrell Hastie; 1st Female finisher – Jenny Forbes.

Hollybush 10km: 1st Jakki Stewart; 2nd Lindsay Dunn; 3rd Kate Darlow.

Gala Harriers 10km: First Gala Harriers finisher – Marcus D’Agrosa.

Junior Club Championships:

U11 Boys – 1st Rory Hamilton and Dima Graham; 2nd John Imray; 3rd Monty Aplin.

U11 Girls – 1st Maria Imray; 2nd Isla Paterson; 3rd Marrtje de Zoeten.

U13 Boys – 1st Gregor Collins; 2nd Ewan Jones; 3rd Logan Moscrop.

U13 Girls – 1st Mairi Forbes; 2nd Naesima de Zoeten; 3rd Orla Folan.

U15 Boys – 1st Jake Shepherd; 2nd Innes Campbell.

U15 Girls – 1st Freya Docherty.

Track 800m: 1st Male – Tim Darlow; 2nd Rory Campbell; 3rd Bob Johnson.

1st Female – Gillian Duncan; 2nd Anya Campbell.

Track 5000m – 1st Male – Darrell Hastie; 2nd Marcus D’Agrosa; 3rd Bob Johnson.

1st Female – Kate Jenkins; 2nd Gillian Duncan.

Henderson Race 2016: 1st Matthew Aplin; 2nd Fiona Shepherd; 3rd Kirsty Wilson.

Club XC Championships 2016: 1st Male – Bob Reid; 2nd Craig Mattocks; 3rd Andrew Lawrie.

1st Female (New Zealand Cup) – Dianne Lauder; 2nd Fiona Dalgleish; 3rd Kate Jenkins.

Niel Potts Trophy: 1st Bob Reid; 2nd Kevin Stevenson; 3rd Andrew Lawrie.

Most Improved Junior: Faisal Khursheed.

Most Improved Senior: Lindsay Dunn.

Endeavour Trophy (J.S.D. Nisbet Trophy): Gerry Moss.

Representative Honours: East District – Gregor Collins, James Logan, Susannah Godfrey-Faussett, Yousuf Khursheed, Dianne Lauder; Scottish Masters: Fiona Dalgleish, Jenny Forbes, Anya Campbell.