Southern Athletics League
There were some outstanding performances by our senior ladies and mens team at the third Southern Athletic League fixture at Oxford on Saturday 23rd. June. In a very competitive battle with Woking and the host club Oxford City with great team work we finished 2nd behind Woking, with Oxford City in 3rd and City of Plymouth in 4th place.
Starting with the ladies it was great to see Amanda Obijiaku (U17) win the A string 100m, and Megan French (U20) finish 2nd in the B string. In the 200m Amanda finished 3rd in the A string and Megan French looked very strong winning the B string. Congratulations to Amanda on her selection for the English Schools Championships in July in Birmingham where she will run the 200m for London Schools. Marcia De Silva (U17) looked very smooth finishing 3rd in the A string 400m, with Abigail Kingston finishing 3rd in the B string. In the 800m Steph McCall was 2nd in the A string in a very close finish with the Woking athlete running 2.19.11 and Marcia ran strongly in the B string to also finish 2nd. Steph McCall looked very smooth winning the 1500m and Mary James won the B string. Mary also looked a class apart in the 3000m which she won convincingly and Linda Ingrams ran well to win the B string. Abigail Kingston did well in both the 400m hurdles and the 100m hurdles. Mary James had a very busy afternoon as she also finished 2nd in the 2000m steeplechase. In the relays our 4x100m team of Anna Given, Megan French, Ella Price and Amanda Obijiaku finished a very close 2nd to Woking and the 4x400m team finished 3rd.
In the field our ladies also did very well. Anna Given (U20) was joint 1st in the high jump with 1.50 and Amelia Clark (U17) was 2nd in the B string. In the triple jump Anna was 4th and Amelia 3rd. In the long jump Amelia was 4th as was Amanda Obijiaku. The standard in the throws as very good and Joanna Barnaby (U17) and Sadia Kabeya (U17) were 3rd in the shot with throws of 10.10m and 9.10m respectively. Joanna was second in the discus with 34.76m and Annabelle Knutson (U17) was second in the B string with 24.68m. In the hammer Sadia was 3rd in the A string with 36.32m and Jill Lula was 3rd in the B string. Ella Price (U17) was 3rd in the A string javelin with 25.34m and Annabelle Knutson was 4th in the B string.
Turning to the men with a number of our sprinters unavailable U17 Gon Declercq who is training with Ray Thompson at Track Coulsdon for 400m stepped up to fill the gap and ran the 100m and 200m gaining us valuable points. Stephen Babalola added to his busy afternoon also running the 100m and Sam Birch added to his events running the 200m. It was great to have Richard Morris back from injury and he ran very well in the 400m hurdles looking back to his best winning the A string in 56.33. Stephen Babalola won the B string. These two also tackled the 110m hurdles with Richard finishing 3rd in the A string and Stephen 2nd in the B string. Richard also ran a very good 400m finishing 2nd in the A string in 54.02. William Bardsley was another athlete who had a busy afternoon as he finished 2nd in the B string 400m. William was 3rd in the A string 800m in 2.06.42 and Sam Birch was 2nd in the B string in 2.09. Ben Coldray looked really impressive winning the 1500m in 4.21.61 and Joe Lyne travelled all the way from Manchester to win the B string in 4.23.76. In what seemed only a few minutes after finishing the 1500m Ben was back in the track in the 2000m steeplechase where he showed his pedigree winning in 6.20.39. Andy Tindall ran strongly to take 2nd in the B string. Joe Croft looked very strong winning the 5000m in 15.53.66 and William Bardsley won the B string. Our 4x100m team finished 3rd and our 4x400m team finished 2nd.
In the field Darren Brown was 2nd in the high jump with 1.70m and Marcus Romilly won the B string also jumping 1.70m. In the long jump Darren was 2nd in the A string and Stephen Babalola won the B string. Stephen won the triple jump with 12.42m and Darren finished 2nd in the B string. Stephen also took 3rd place in the pole vault showing what a versatile athlete he is and how important to the team. Tom Bullen finished 3rd in the A string shot with 14.07m with Nathan Fergus winning the B string with 12.91m.Tom was 2nd in the discus with 43.92m and Nathan won the B string with 36.88m. Tom was 2nd in the javelin with 41.92 and Marcus Romilly who unfortunately damaged his hamstring in the high jump and was hampered in his throwing was 3rd in the B string. Ben Myburgh was 4th in the hammer and the very busy Tom Bullen was 3rd in the B string.
Thanks to our team of officials who went along to assist and well done to our team on an excellent result. Lets hope we can do as well in the remaining 2 fixtures.
SURREY TRACK & FIELD CHAMPS
Our athletes had a very successful Surrey Track and Field Championships at Kingsmeadow over the weekend of 12th/13th May winning a total of 17 medals, 8 gold, 5 silver and 4 bronze. Saturday’s weather was cloudy and cool in the morning but with continuous rain in the afternoon, but on Sunday the conditions were much better with a cool morning but beautiful afternoon.
Starting with the sprinters Deji Bello won gold in the U13 boys 200m in a very close race running 26.16, and it was great to see William Martin who has only been training with the sprint group for about 1 month making the final and finishing 7th. Deji then went on to win the 100m in 12.64 with Tate Williams also making the final running 14.35. In a very close U15 boys’ 200m final Leo Neiro won bronze in 25.20 just pipping his team mate Nathan Huggins who was 4th in 25.29. Aaliyah Brown who has only been training at Crystal Palace for 6 months ran very well to make the final of the U15 girls 100m where she finished 7th in 13.48 having run 13.31 in the semi-final. Harry Callanan made the finals of both the U20 mens 100m and 200m where he just missed out on a medal in the 100m finishing 4th in 11.40, and 5th in the 200m in 22.96. Gon Declercq running in his first county championships and in a relatively new event for him, ran well in the U17 mens 400m finishing 6th in his heat in 55.60. Charlie Goriup just missed out on a medal in the U20 mens 400m finishing 4th in 52.75. Mason Owusu-Dellimore and Seyi Bello both had good runs in the U15 boys 100m finishing 5th in their respective heats in 13.05. Keli Agbenu finished 5th in his heat of the U20mens 100m in 12.00. Maya Barnwell finished 7th in her heat of the U15 girls 200m in 29.91.
There were some great performances in the middle distance races. Harley Norman had a very strong run to take the U17 men’s 1500m title against strong opposition in an impressive time of 4.11.41. Following him home and both getting PBs were Joe Seal in 8th with 4.27.1 and Owen Waite in 9th in 4.31.40. Jack Burton braved the very warm conditions on Sunday afternoon to try the 3000m for the first time and was rewarded in the U17 mens race with a time of 9.52.32 for 6th place.
The U15 boys 1500m final was probably the race of the championships and it was great to see Felix Vaughan storm down the home straight to take the gold medal in a new personal best of 4.18.40. Conrad Norman (Epsom and Ewell), who is Harley’s brother and trains with Guy Holden’s group had a great run in the U13 boys 800m final to win gold 2.19.13. Olivia Thompson just missed out on making the U15 girls 1500m final finishing 7th in her heat in 5.13.It was great to see Annice Kemp and Laila Morrell tackling the U13 girls 800m and as first years in this age group gives them valuable experience for next year. Brandan Morrell finished 4th in his heat of the U15 boys in 2.27.50 and Owen Waite got a new PB in the U17 mens 800m with 2.12.71. It was good to see a senior man competing and Gavin Englefield just missed out on making the final of the senior mens 800m finishing 5th in his heat with 2.15.96.
Turning to the field our jumpers also did well with Gabriella Thoburn taking gold in the U15 girls’ high Jump equalling her PB with 1.51. Anna Given also took gold in the U20 womens high jump with 1.45m. Deji Bello added to his 2 gold medals in the sprints with silver in the U13 boys’ long jump with 4.77. Leo Neiro had a tremendous first jump in the U15 boys’ long jump with 5.68 which was a huge PB, and only narrowly lost the lead in the last round so took silver. Alex Berard also jumped a PB of 5.12 to finish 5th. Seyi Bello just missed out on making the final 8.
Our throwers also had great championships. Tom Bullen showed that all the hard work he had put in over the winter was put to good effect taking the senior men’s title in both the discus and shot. He threw 44.15 in the discus and 13.33 in the shot. He was well backed up by Nathan Fergus who took silver in the shot with 12.20 and bronze in the discus with 38.33.
Evie Nimako who has only just taken up the event took silver in the U13 girls shot with a throw of 7.15.
Joanna Barnaby performed up to her usual high standard and was also a double medallist, taking 2nd in the U17 girls shot with 11.45 and bronze in the discus with 31.69. Philip Bartlett took bronze in a very competitive U20 men’s discus final with 40.43. Tate Williams in his first Surrey Championships finished 4th in the U13 boys shot with a new PB of 7.77.
Congratulations to all our athletes on their achievements.
News
SOUTH of ENGLAND T&F CHAMPIONSHIPS
There were some very good performances by our young athletes in the South of England Track and Field Championships at Lee Valley over the weekend (11/12 August). Jack N’Douba had a great run to finish 2nd in the U13 boys 100m in 12.56, and Deji Bello just missed out on a medal finishing 4th in 12.78. However Deji (above) went on the win the long jump with a massive personal best of 5.30m. Felix Vaughan continued with his championship winning season taking the U15 boys 1500m title in 4.22.85.
ENGLISH SCHOOLS' T&F CHAMPS Felix Vaughan wins National Title
Congratulations to Felix Vaughan who, running for Surrey Schools, won the Junior Boys 1500m at the English Schools Track and Field Championships at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham on 14th July. Felix cruised through his heat on Friday winning in 4:18.17. In the final he ran a very mature and intelligent race, keeping out of trouble for the first two laps, ensuring he was well placed with the leaders as the race unfolded. He was with the top four athletes at the bell and moved into second with 200m to go. Coming off the final bend he kicked for the finish and opened up a huge lead, and won by over 3 seconds, in 4:11.63 with a 61s last lap. This improved his pb by 5s and moved him to the top of the UK U15 1500 rankings. A brilliant performance. The race can be viewed at the following link - Felix's race starts at 3:18:30 in the 8+hrs of the days recording (Make sure it connects to Day 2 - 14th July)
http://www.runjumpthrow.com/videos/24283
We had 4 other athletes at the Championships. Amanda Obijiaku running for London Schools in the Intermediate girls 200m did very well to make the final where she finished 8th after good runs in the heats and semi-final.
India Lodge-McGhie ran for the London Schools in the Junior girls 100m but did not progress from the heat.
Gabriella Thoburn who has had an amazing season with personal bests galore and who was competing in the junior girls high jump for London Schools really suffered from nerves in her first English Schools competition and was a long way off what we know she is capable of. However it is her first year in this age group and she will no doubt come back stronger next time.
Harley Norman running for Surrey Schools in the Intermediate boys 1500m suffered in the hot conditions running 4.09.91 but unfortunately not qualifying for the final. He too is a first year in this age group and will certainly gain from the experience.
Well done to all our young athletes, just making the English Schools Championships is an achievement.
EBBISHAM LEAGUE
With Track Coulsdon bathed in sunshine we welcomed athletes and supporters to the 2nd Ebbisham League boys match on Sunday 10th June. The weather must have brought the crowds out as it was packed along the finishing straight and with 11 clubs and 193 non scoring athletes we were in for a very busy afternoon.
The match started with the hurdles and new recruit Ben Tookay had a very good race and in a blanket finish placed 3rd in the U15 boys 80m. Next up were Alex Yague and Eralbi Hyselli in the U13 boys 75m race and they ran well to finish 3rd and 5th respectively. Deji Bello continued his amazing season winning both the 100m and 200m and although slightly down on his long jump still finished 2nd. William Martin was 2nd in the B string 100m and 4th in the 200m. Leo Neiro and Mason Owusu-Dellimore looked very impressive in the U15 boys 100m both finishing second in the A & B string races. Nathan Huggins stormed round the bend in the U15 boys 200m to win by a considerable margin against strong opposition. New recruit Jeaden Toko-Appiah was 3rd in the B string and ran well in the A string 300m to finish 4th in 45.1. Jack Chaudhury ran a very well judged race in the U13 boys 800m to finish 2nd in a new personal best of 2.33.4. Tom Harmer in his first track race for the club did very well to finish 3rd in the B string in 2.42. In the U15 boys 800m Brandan Morrell was 4th in the A race and Alfie Smith was 3rd in the B race. Brandan also finished 3rd in the B string 300m with 46.5. Luke Danby had an excellent race in the U13 boys 1500m to finish 2nd in a new personal best of 4.54.8. Felix Welsh ran well in the B race to also finish 2nd in 5.24.4. In the U15 boys 1500m Martin van Domselaar and Ian Cotton both finished 4th in the A and B strings. Looking very impressive Gon Declercq won the U17 boys 400m in a new personal best of 54.3.
Turning to the field Ben Tookay won the U15 boys high jump with 1.45m. Ryan Mcqueen was 5th in the B string. Our U13 boys also did well in the high jump with Daniel Haydon finishing 2nd with a jump of 1.30m and Tunrore Adeniji finishing 3rd with 1.20m. Noah Kyriakou was 3rd in the B string long jump. Leo Neiro did very well in the U15 boys long jump his best being a jump of 5.54m the same distance as the winner who won on count back having had a better 2nd jump. Alex Berard won the B string with 4.92m. Mason Owusu-Dellimore and Samuel Owen gained us valuable points in the U15 boys shot and discus finishing 4th in each event. Myles Lewis-Berryman was 3rd in the U13 boys’ javelin with Tate Williams 2nd in the B string. Tate finished 3rd in the discus and Harry Sturgess threw very well to win the B string. 4x100m relay team were very competitive and in a very tight finish the U13 boys’ team finished 2nd and the U15 boys’ team were 3rd.
We had around 40 non scoring athletes taking part for the club some for the first time. They all did very well and there were some impressive performances. It was amazing seeing our 5 non scoring U13 boys 4x100m relay teams in a blanket finish across the track!
The match finished with us in 2nd place only 3 points behind Herne Hill Harriers and beating Croydon Harriers which was a great result. We move on to the last fixture in July at Waltons new track can we dare think about winning that event.
It was a tremendous advert for the club as despite the numbers we managed to finish the meeting on time. This was down to great team work with members coming early on Sunday morning to put the hurdles out and prepare the throws/jumps areas. Thanks to our timekeepers, track judges and field officials who did great work throughout the meeting and to the mums who looked after the refreshments and the results team who did such a wonderful job. A great afternoon of competition and a great result for our team.
SURREY SPORTSHALL
Mason Owusu receiving his award for Top Under 13 Boy in the Surrey Spotshall League from Surrey County Presidents Peter and Sue Shilling.
National XC Champs
FIRST MEDALS FOR OVER 50 YEARS
With blue skies and bright sunshine Parliament Hill definitely put on a beautiful day for the National Cross Country Championships on 24th February. The cold wind dried out some of the course but there was enough mud to make it a real challenge. Our juniors again did very well with some excellent performances.
Our U15boys team won an amazing bronze medal only missing out on silver by 5 points. They were led home by Felix Vaughan who had a great race finishing 9th in 15.47. Considering he is a first year in this age group his performance was even more outstanding. Next home were the dynamic duo of Nick Smith and Joe Seal and just as they have been almost inseparable results wise all season, they finished on the same time of 16.38 but Nick taking 46th place and Joe 49th. Jack Burton completed the scoring team also having a great run and finishing 59th in 16.45. Owen Waite had a strong run to finish 283rd, Thomas Porter 293rd, Oliver Anderson 346th and Joe Lawrence 393rd. There were 504 finishers in the race.
The U13 girls team finished in 40th spot with Sophia Lorke leading the team home in 107th place. Louise Maignan (above with Sophia) finished in 111th place despite being tripped coming down the hill to the finish and being badly spiked in her calf, which necessitated a visit to hospital for 14 stitches in the deep wound, truly showing irrepressible spirit. Annice Kemp was next home in 342nd spot with Fleur Coppack completing the scoring team in 408th place. There were 467 finishers. Brandan Morrell had a fine run in the U13 boys race finishing 80th in 12.47 and Martin van Domselaar in his first National finished 203rd in 13.29. There were 570 finishers in this race. Ellie Osmond had a strong run in the U15 girls race finishing 192nd with Katie Mooney also running really well to finish 221st. There were 464 finishers. Zak Hansen had a tough time running with a stitch for most of the U17mens race but he dug in and finished in 347th place. The U20 men had a tough 10k to contend with. James Lyne was first home in an excellent 72nd place in 36.22 showing that his training for the Reading half marathon is paying off. Next home was Henry Stiff in 205th place with Luke Netts in 208th position. Well done to all our juniors and valuable experience for some of our younger members running in the National for the first time.
