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 7^th. 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 4^th 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 7^th 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 4^th in 11.40, and 5^th 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 6^th in his heat in 55.60. Charlie Goriup just missed out on a medal in the U20 mens 400m finishing 4^th in 52.75. Mason Owusu-Dellimore and Seyi Bello both had good runs in the U15 boys 100m finishing 5^th in their respective heats in 13.05. Keli Agbenu finished 5^th in his heat of the U20mens 100m in 12.00. Maya Barnwell finished 7^th 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 8^th with 4.27.1 and Owen Waite in 9^th 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 6^th 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 7^th 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 4^th 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 5^th 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 5^th. 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 2^nd 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 4^th in the U13 boys shot with a new PB of 7.77.

Congratulations to all our athletes on their achievements.   

WOODCOTE PRIMARY SCHOOLS XC

The final Woodcote Primary School league fixture went ahead on Saturday in very tough conditions with driving winds and snow, but it did not stop close to 250 youngsters taking part. First off were the Year 3 & 4 girls and Matilda Welsh of Cumnor girls and SLH won with Holly Fitch-Carpenter from Smitham in 2^nd place,  and Abbie Edie of Chipstead Valley and SLH in 3^rd. As he had done in the previous races Pieter Ten Cate of Smitham and SLH stormed away to win the Year 3 & 4 boys race with Ben England-Smith of Gresham in 2^nd place, and Samuel Little of SLH in 3^rd. Annice Kemp of the Hayes and SLH made it 3 wins out of 3 winning the Year 5 & 6 girls race from her sister Phoebe Kemp of the Hayes and SLH in 2^nd, and Fleur Coppack of St.Aidans and SLH in 3^rd place. Laila Morrell had her best run of the season finishing in 4^th and there were excellent runs by Scarlett Nimako and Sam Moon of SLH in 6^th and 8^th places respectively.

Noah Findell of Smitham and SLH had a fine run in the Year 5 & 6 boys race winning, with Tom Harmer of the Hayes and SLH having his best run of the season to finish in 2^nd place, and Max Lorke of Gresham and SLH in 3^rd place. 

As it was the final race individual awards for the season are as follows;

Year 3 & 4 girls 1^st Abbie Edie, 2nd Holly-Fitch-Carpenter, 3^rd Maya Rungusumy.

Year 3 & 4 Boys 1^st Pieter Ten Cate, 2^nd Samuel Little, 3^rd Ben England-Smith.

Year 5 & 6 Girls 1^st Annice Kemp, 2^nd Phoebe Kemp, 3^rd Fleur Coppack.

Year 5 & 6 Boys 1^st Noah Findell, 2^nd Max Lorke, 3^rd Tom Harmer.

The team awards are as follows;

Year 3 & 4 Girls 1^st Smitham, 2^nd Margaret Roper, 3^rd Cumnor Girls

Year 3 & 4 Boys 1st Smitham, 2^nd Margaret Roper, 3^rd Woodmansterne

Year 5 & 6 Girls 1^st St.Aidans, 2^nd The Hayes, 3^rd Woodmansterne

Year 5 & 6 Boys 1^st Coulsdon CofE, 2^nd Margaret Roper, 3^rd The Hayes.

The Mark Burtwell Cup for the overall winning school was won by Margaret Roper with Woodmansterne and the Hayes tied for 2^nd place.

Despite the weather it was a great end to the season although at 8.30am with the snow really coming down and the wind howling I was wondering why it had seemed a good idea to go ahead!   A big thank you to all the club members and parents who have helped over the season and to our young hares who have done such a good job in leading the races and sweeping the field along. 

Further afield in Leeds we had Felix Vaughan running in the Junior boys race for Surrey Schools in the English Schools cross country Championships. Just to reach these championships is really tough as only the top 8 runners from each County can qualify to enter and to do this Felix had won the Surrey School championship in January. Felix has had an amazing season but unfortunately picked up a cold and cough during the week and was not 100%. He finished 12^th which was a good result but because of his accomplishments this season was hoping for better. I am sure he will bounce back quickly and be back to his best for the coming track season.

Our athletes had further success at the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships held at Crystal Palace on Saturday. Olivia Thompson did brilliantly to finish 4^th  in the Under 15 girls event, and Matilda Purnell performed equally as well,  finished 2^nd in the U10 girls event but on the same points as the winner.

A good weekend all round.