Southern Athletics League

The Southern Athletic League women’s and men’s team got off to the perfect start to the track and field season with a win at the David Weir Leisure Centre on Saturday 15^th April. Up against the host club Sutton and District who had home advantage we scored 210.5 points to win the match with Sutton in second with 190.5points, Hercules Wimbledon in 3^rd with 160 points, and Swale in 4^th with 109 points.

The whole team worked really hard and there were excellent performances on the track and field. It was good to see some of our U17 athletes stepping up to the senior team and doing very well.

In the sprints Davina Boateng won the 100m A string and was just pipped out of first place in the 200m. Lohita Allen-Aigbodion ran very well in the B string 100m and 200m to finish 2^nd in both. Amy Billups won the A string 400m and it was great to see Alison Collins winning the B string 400m. Amy also ran very well to win the A string 800m and Katie Lowe in what I believe was her first track competition won the B string. Mary James looking fully recovered from her recent sub 3 hour marathon, ran very strongly to win the A string 1500m, and was 2^nd in the 3000m. Tessa Billups despite still having problems with a foot injury was 3^rd in the B string 1500m. Katie Lowe followed up her run in the 800m with a solid run in the 3000m to place 3^rd in the B string.

Turning to the men Bill Porter was 2^nd in the A string 100m and Sharif Quansch won the B string. They paired up again in the 200m where Sharif  was 2^nd in the A string and Bill was 3^rd in the B string. U20 Charlie Goriup had a fine run in the 400m to finish 3^rd in the A string, and Richard Morris ran very well to finish 2^nd in the B string. U20 James Lyne battled hard in the 800m to finish in 3^rd place in the A string race, and he was followed in by U17 Callum Hockley who ran very well to finish 2^nd in the B string race. Callum definitely looked more at home on the track after his last cross country run in the National had seen him finish covered from head to toe in mud! But the endurance he has gained over the winter will stand him in good stead for the track season and races ahead. Pat Canavan looked very smooth finishing 2^nd in the A string 1500m, and John Foss finished 3^rd in the B string. U20 Toby Phillip had a good run in the 1500m but in very blustery conditions he did not get the time his performance deserved.  Tom Higgs is transferring his excellent cross country form to the track and he won the 5000m A string, and there was a fine run by Dillon Wyman to finish 2^nd in the B string race. Richard Morris ran really well to win the 400m hurdles A string race. Could he repeat his win in the 2016 Surrey Championships next month in the 2017 championships? Stephen Babalola also looked very strong winning the B string race in one of his many events over the course of the meet. Richard and Stephen also both took maximum points in the 110m hurdles.

Turning to the field there were tremendous performances by our throwers. In the shot Frankie Evans was 2^nd in the A string and Joanna Barnaby won the B string. In the discus Joanna and Frankie were both 1^st.Maya Smith won the A string hammer and Frankie won the B string. In the javelin Ella Price was 2^nd in the A string and Maya 3^rd in the B string. Anna Given was 2^nd in the high jump, and Ella Price was 3^rd in the long jump A string and Jill Lula jumped for the team and was 3^rd in the B string. Ella Price did the triple jump for the first time in a competition and finished in 2^nd place.

The men did equally as well with the throwers again being outstanding. Nathan Fergus won the A string shot and Erasmus Dwemoh won the B string. Nathan also won the A string discus and Tom Bullen won the B string. Ben Myburgh was 2^nd in the A string hammer and Erasmus won the B string. In the javelin Tom Bullen was 2^nd in the A string and Charlie Goriup was 2^nd in the B string. The dynamic duo of Darren Brown and Stephen Babalola covered the jumps with them both winning the A & B triple jump, both finishing 2^nd in the high jump and long jump.

There were some excellent performances in the relays with the ladies 4x100m team of Ella Price, Lohita Allen-Aigbodion, Mei Matthews and Davina Boateng winning from a strong Sutton squad. The mens 4x400m team of Richard Morris, Sharif Quansch, Bill Porter and Charlie Goriup brought the meeting to a great end winning a very exciting race with fine runs from all the team.

An excellent start to the season so hopefully we will carry the momentum to the next fixture well done to our team.

Inter counties XC

There were some fine performances by our athletes taking part in the Inter-Counties Cross Country Championships held at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire on the 11^th March. All representing Surrey, Julia Tomzcak had a brilliant run to finish 4^th in the U17 girls race and with two other Surrey athletes in 1^st and 2^nd place Surrey convincingly won the U17 girls title. Steph McCall was 27^th in the Senior womens race and was the third scorer for Surrey and they took the Senior womens title. William Bardsley running in the U20 mens race was 4^th Surrey scorer and the team were placed 6^th.    

Medals at Surrey Indoor Champs

Anna Given and Mei Matthews represented SLH at the Surrey Indoor Championships on 19^th February.  Competing in the U17 Girls High Jump Anna and Mei both equalled their personal bests of 1m 50cm to finish in 2^nd and 3^rd places.  Anna just pipped Mei on countback for the silver medal.  The winner was Jess Collins from HHH with an indoor personal best jump of 1m 63cm.  All age groups from across Surrey and Sussex competed together on the day and Anna and Mei finished ahead of all other athletes apart from Jess.  Following on from Amelia Clarke’s bronze in the U15 high jump at these champs last year and with Gabriella Thoburn a real high jump talent at Crystal Palace SLH is beginning to shine at high jump.  

At the same championships Philip Bartlett gained a silver medal in the U/17 Mens shot putt with a throw of 12.89m.

Young Athletes Uncover Pirie Bench on Farthing Down

For the last few weeks, some of the Junior A Squad have been doing long Sunday runs on Farthing Down, with two lap guided tours of the league course, plus extra hills to make 6-7 miles @ 7:45 pace. During our run last week, we discovered the Gordon Pirie bench looking worse for wear and completely overgrown. We therefore decided to resolve the problem the following week, prior to the home league. Hiding secateurs, gloves and Brasso by the bench, we set off for the two and a bit laps, finishing at the south cattle grid. A fast mile from the car park along the road @ 5:27 pace got us back to the bench. After 10 mins cutting back, the bench is visible and usable....but the Brasso made no impact on the many years of tarnish. In case people don't know, the bench is just ~50m up the course from the normal start, to the left of the route and backed onto a thicket and faces south west.... (L-R) in the 'After' photo below are Sam Sheppard, Nathan Sellick and Nick Smith.