Indoor Meeting – Brunel University – 27^th January 2008

A small group of our athletes continued their indoor season at Brunel University last weekend. All of them achieved personal bests in the Brunel Speed and Jumps Series.

Dan Bramble built on last week’s fine long jump performance, again hitting the board accurately from the first round. A solid 6.43 metres in the first round was followed by two jumps over 6.60 metres and, in the final round, 6.78 metres, twelve centimetres beyond his previous best, to take fourth place in a very strong competition. This result takes him to seventh place in indoor rankings for junior men.

On the track, Gbenga Adelana produced a very fast start to win his first race comfortably in 7.37 seconds, well inside his best. Another fast start in a much stronger second race saw him lead for much of the way and hold on well to finish third in 7.31. Kema Egbunike also started well to finish second in 7.95, the first time he has broken the eight second barrier. Pharon Forbes made a very promising club debut with a comfortable first race win in 7.68 followed by third place in a close second race in 7.67

Southern Cross-Country Championships – Parliament Hill – 26^th January 2008

The Southern Cross-Country championships returned to Parliament Hill after a two years away from London. We had our usual mixed results on this tough course. The under 15 boys team recorded the best result of the day finishing fourth "A" team.

The senior women had an excellent result to finish 11^th out of 47 teams. Alison Hopkins made steady progress through the first lap but had to dig in on the second lap to finish 49^th. She was the first Ealing women to beat Fiona Kennedy in these championships since 1998.

Fiona continued her comeback from injury with another well judged run. Early in the race she had been tracked by Lynn Wilson but pulled away to finish 69^th with Lynn ending up 91^st. Patricia Thomas ran a cautious race after twisting her ankle last week and was the fourth scorer in 129^th. Behind her Gill Morgan also ran well to finish 135^th.

The senior men packed well to finish 25^th out of 86 teams, but for the first time in ten years none of the club’s athletes made the top 100. As so often this season Andy Kotsyubka was the first home, finishing 104^th.

Rob Brown was the surprise package of the day scoring his best ever finish in this race. He finished 175^th to turn the table on Bill Gristwood and Andy Dodd. They finished 206^th and 315^th.

Richard Tomlinson made a steady start but worked his way up to 274^th. Chris McIver completed the scoring team in 337^th. Close behind him Steve Plested overhauled Rob Howells as the pair finished 353^rd and 362^nd.

Best junior team were the under 15 boys. Richard Charles led them home in 17^th place with Karnvir Hayer having an excellent run in 22^nd. Christopher Charles in 65^th and Mark Cameron in 90^th completed the scoring team. They were backed up by Tariq Yasin in 120^th and Conor Hearn in 198^th, both taking part in their first major event. All four scoring team members are among the younger ones in this age category and should do even better next year.

With a good turn out in the under 17 men the team finished 14^th overall. The scorers were Jamie Taylor-Caldwell in 58^th, Luke Nicholas 82^nd, Sam Ashcroft 90^th and Chris Hepworth 128^th.

The under 13 Boys were not able to field a full team – a great shame because the three athletes who ran performed extremely well and with a fourth team member would have guaranteed a top 15 placing. Anthony Haynes came in 52^nd with Dalton McGuigan in 54^th. Younger brother Fellan McGuigan finished 106^th.

For the girls/young women, the under 17 team was also short of one athlete. Despite this those who ran performed very well. Hannah Pollak was first in at 81^st, followed by Helena French in 99^th and Elizabeth Matthews in 119^th.

The under 15 girls performed well with a strong run from Georgia Bell, one of the younger runners in this race to finish in 18^th. Daniella Raffel in 80^th, Emma Davies in 87^th and Nicola Shelley 180^th brought the team home in 14^th position.

Some of the under 13 girls team struggled with the tough conditions. The team finished in 29^th position with Shannon Powell 127^th, Grainne Gahan 191^st, Evie King 209^th and Ashley Gould 210^th. Ellis Redmond and Charlotte Gould (211^th and 212^th) completed the Ealing contingent.

Southern Indoor Championships - Lee Valley - 19/20th January 2008

Athletes from the club were in action in the South of England Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre at the weekend and won six medals, three of them gold. The Lewis twins, Mali and Makeda both won gold medals as did Michael Ojo.

Mali set a strong pace in the under 15 boys 400 metres and had a good lead at the end of the first lap. The other athletes set off in pursuit and one drew alongside at the 300 metres mark but Mali was determined to keep in front and finished strongly to pull away again in the home straight and win by two metres in 56.20 seconds, a personal best.

Makeda had already a silver in the long jump with 4.89 metres, and a bronze medal with a fast finish from well off the pace in the 60 metres but she saved her best performance for the 200 metres. She won her heat and semi-final and started well in the final. Although she was headed in the middle of the race she fought back with great determination to take the lead in the last few strides and win in an indoor personal best of 26.23 seconds, making it a complete set of medals.

Michael Ojo provided the third gold medal in the under 15 boys 60 metres. He had led for most of the race in both his heat and semi final but was caught in the last few strides. In the final he produced another very fast start but this time held on to win in 7.45 seconds in a very close finish with only inches separating the first three.

Dan Bramble returned to long jump competition after an injury that has prevented him from training for over a month, to compete in his first competition in the under 20 age group. He hit the board well in the first round with 6.33 metres and improved steadily to take the bronze medal with 6.65 metres in the fourth round, only a centimetre below his best ever. Alex Ojo reached the semi final of the under 20 60 metres quite comfortably but pulled up with an injury that ended his participation in the championships.

Jamie Taylor-Caldwell reached the semi final of the under 17 800 metres and led for much of the race but was caught on the last lap and just failed to make the final. Sean Buckeridge was another semi-finalist in the senior men’s 200 metres. Kema Ekbunike and Tarric Lewis both ran personal bests in separate heats of the under 17 60 metres and Kema also ran a personal best in the 200 metres.

Metropolitan League - Horsenden Hill - 19th January 2008

Last week’s torrential rains almost caused the cancellation of the Metropolitan League cross-country races at Horsenden Hill. Fortunately the course had dried out enough by the weekend to let the event go ahead.

We had another good turn to consolidate our position in the league. Martha Reynolds was our only individual winner, taking the Under 15 & 17 girls’ race.

The senior women had their best result of the season to finish fifth. Alison Hopkins ran an aggressive first lap and was fourth at the half way stage. She slipped to seventh by the end but this was still the club’s best placing in this race since 2002.

Fiona Kennedy and Lynn Wilson started more cautiously but made steady progress throughout the race to finish 21^st and 24^th. Gill Morgan had an outstanding run to end up 43^rd.

Ashlee McGuigan returned from injury to finish 50^th with Nikki Baker completing the team in 61^st.

The under 15 and 17 girls team bounced back with a convincing team win. Martha Reynolds won by 50 metres and Georgia Bell was the best of the under 15’s in fourth place. Emma Davies won a close battle with Hannah Pollak as the pair finished ninth and tenth.

Kerry Baily had her best run of the season to finish fifth in the under 13 girls race, but with several runners missing the team had to settle for third. Mari Johnson and Katie Eastmond both had excellent runs in 16^th and 17^th. They were followed by Grainne Gahan and Genevieve Creane who came in together in 20^th and 21^st.

The senior men had another strong turn out finished fifth. Unusually it was Rob Wilson who made the pace but Andy Kotsyubka caught him at the end to finish two seconds ahead as they were 28^th and 29^th. Hussain Jama was 200 metres back in 39^th.

Bill Gristwood was the best of the club’s veterans in 58^th place. Andy Dodd continued his return to form in 70^th. He finished twenty seconds clear if John Blanchard and Rob Brown who were 80^th and 81^st.

They were followed by Richard Tomlinson (107^th), Mark Delahunty (125^th) and Chris McIver (132^nd). Rob Howells showed his best form in over five years to finish close behind in 133^rd , with old rival Steve Plested completing the team in 143^rd.

The under 15 and under 17 boys managed to finish a close third despite being a bit thin on the ground. Luke Nicholas was first home in fourth place. Sam Ashcroft was next in 13^th, he was followed by Chris Hepworth in 19^th. Close behind him Anthony Shaw turned the table on Mark Cameron to take the last scoring place.

The under 13 boys won their race comfortably and moved closer to the league leaders St Mary’s Richmond. Anthony Haynes narrowly held off Dalton McGuigan yet again as the pair finished third and fourth. Duncan Pinder was fifth and Fellan McGuigan sixth.

Middlesex Cross Country Champs – Trent Park – 5^th January 2008

A tough Trent Park course was the setting for this year’s Middlesex Cross Country Championships. Unusually for us there were no individual champions this year but there were team titles for the under 13 and under 15 boys.

The afternoon started with a team win in the under 13 boys race. Dalton McGuigan led them home in fourth place with Anthony Haynes and Duncan Pinder close behind in sixth and eighth. The team finished on the same points as local rivals St. Mary’s Richmond, but thanks to the next two team members Fellan McGuigan and Sam Shindler-Glass in 13^th and 14^th, the Ealing team took gold.

Last year’s under 13 champion Richard Charles had to settle for silver this year in the under 15 race. Behind him Karnvir Hayer, Mark Cameron and Christopher Charles finished in quick succession in sixth, seventh and eighth.

Jamie Taylor-Caldwell finished strongly to lead home the under 17 men’s team. He overhauled Patrick Hannah and the fast starting Luke Nicholas to finish ninth. Patrick, Luke and Sam Ashcroft filled the next three places as the team finished third.

Ben McCallum was the club’s only representative in the under 20 men’s race. He was lying last after a frenetic opening half mile but worked his way through the field to finish sixth.

Hussain Jama went with the early pace in the senior men’s race. He was in the top six early on but faded on the tough hills. Andy Kotsubka made steady progress throughout the race and caught Hussain on the last lap going on to finish 16^th, four places ahead of Hussain.

Andy Dodd showed he is returning to his best with a solid run. He was only caught by Rob Brown late in the race, the pair finished 38^th and 42^nd. The last two to score were John Blanchard and Mark Delahunty in 46^th and 48^th, as the team narrowly missed getting bronze medals.

Veterans Steve Plested, Rob Howells and Alan Keeler were 67^th, 79^th and 118^th.

Best of the girls’ teams were the under 15s. Unfortunately for Georgia Bell travelling back from skiing overnight took the edge off her performance and she had to settle for silver. With Emma Davies in eighth and Nicola Shelley in 29^th the team won bronze.

With an excellent turn out of nine runners the under 13 girls finished fourth. Shannon Powell, Kerry Baily and Evie King were the scoring runners in 9^th, 13^th and 17^th. Genevieve Crean, Mari Johnson and Ellis Redmond were 21^st, 24^th and 32^nd.

The under 17 and under 20 women were thin on the ground. Helena French and Elizabeth Matthews were 14^th and 15^th in a very strong under 17 race. Rianne Charles and Katrina French, returning after a long lay-off, were fourth and fifth in the under 20 race.

The senior women also had a depleted team. Fiona Kennedy returned from injury to finish 11^th working her way through the field after a steady start. Close behind her was Patricia Thomas who’s 14^th place was her highest ever Middlesex finish. Cyrena Cyrus was 40^th in her first ever cross country championship race.

Slightly further afield last year’s under 15 champion Martha Reynolds was taking part in the prestigious UK:Athletics Challenge series in Belfast. She finished seventh in a strong under 17 women’s race.