THE cream of young athletes from the Scottish Borders took to the national stage at the weekend.

And they returned with a stack of medals.

More than 1,000 athletes competed at Grangemouth in the Scottish National Age-Group Championships over the two days.

Berwickshire’s Cameron Tindle, who competes for Edinburgh AC, completed a sprint double in the Under 20s age-group on Sunday.

The 17-year-old stormed to victory in the 100 metres with a time of 10.88 seconds, despite a 2.6 headwind.

And he followed it up with an another powerful run to break the tape in the 200 metres in a time of 21.46.

There was also a gold medal for Selkirk’s Zaynah Aziz, who broke the championship record on her way to victory in the Under 17s 1500 metres steeplechase.

The 15-year-old clocked a time of 5.25.38 to win by 30 metres from Glasgow’s Holly Little and Louise McCullagh of Fife.

Coach Stephen Nisbet told us: “Zaynah ran well and she is making progress in a fairly new event to her.

“She still has another year in this age group and we can improve on the technical side of her racing over the next 12 months.” Adam Leighton, who competes for Lasswade, retained his Under 13s high jump title with a height of 1.52 metres.

The 12-year-old won by nine centimetres from Falkirk’s Murray Brown.

And there was a further gold for Moorfoot athlete Michael Girder who stormed to victory in the final of the Under 13s 800 metres to break the championship record.

The West Linton athlete clocked an impressive 2.12.56 for the two laps to win by around 10 metres.

Coach Gregor Nicholson told us: “Running sensibly, Michael slotted in on the heels of the leaders after 200 metres and followed the fast pace before moving out round the home turn and kicking away down the home straight.

“He was more than two seconds clear of silver. Not only was that a four second personal best time but it was nearly a full second inside the previous Scottish Championship record set back in 2005.” Girder followed up his gold with silver in the Under 13s 200 metres with a time of 26.41.

But there was disappointment for Berwickshire’s Rosie Brown who was beaten into silver on the count-back in the Under 15s pole vault.

The 14-year-old former Gala Harrier, who was recently crowned Scottish Schools champion, was tied with Emma Hayes of Montrose with heights of 2.40 metres.

Ellie O’Hara from Cardrona won double silver on Saturday.

The 12-year-old, who competes for Edinburgh AC, clocked 11.67 seconds to finish just behind Central’s Briagha Cook in the Under 13s 70 metres hurdles.

And she was back on the podium a short time later after finishing runner-up in the Under 13s long jump with a distance of 4.60 metres.

Selkirk’s Henry Clarkson also earned a silver medal.

The 16-year-old reached 13.08 metres in the Under 17s triple jump to finish second behind Glasgow’s Aidan Quinn.

Clarkson, who competes for Lasswade, also finished fifth in the long jump with a distance of 6.34 metres.

Lauder’s Gavin Bryson finished well to take bronze in the final of the Under 20s 5,000 metres.

The 17-year-old, who runs for Edinburgh AC, clocked 16.50 seconds to finish third behind Inverclyde’s Jonathan Glen.

There was also a bronze medal for Jedburgh’s Jazmine Tomlinson.

The 18-year-old, who runs for Edinburgh AC, finished third in the Under 20s 100 metres.

And a short time later she finished fourth in the Under 20s 200 metres.

There was also a bronze medal for Craig Mullins of Peebles in the Under 20s hammer.

Ethan Elder from Peebles, who recently won the Philiphaugh Hill Race, punched well above his weight to finish fourth in the Under 13s 1500 metres final.

Chirnside’s Keira Waddell was also just one place out of the medals in the Under 15s javelin.

The teenager was just 31 centimetres away from finishing third.

Ailsa Innes from Peebles, who was running for Lasswade, qualified as the fastest loser in the Under 17 800 metres in 2.23.77.

And she made great progress in the final to finish fifth.

Charlotte Morrison, also from Peebles, set an 11 second PB of 5.37.44 in finishing seventh in the B final of the Under 13s 1500 metres.

West Linton’s Dominic O’Hare finished seventh in the final of the Under 20s 1500 metres with Thomas Otton from Heriot crossing the line in 11th.

Niamh Shaw, who was wearing the Lasswade colours, ran well to come within a second of her personal best in the Under 20s 1500 metres to cross the line in sixth with a time of 5.05.34.

Kobe Stevens from Peebles, in his first year in the Under 20 age-group, ran strongly for a fastest loser spot in the 800 metres finishing in a time of 2.02.21, but didn’t have the legs to trouble the leaders in what was a relatively slow tactical final.