We finished our National Young Athletes League season with second place in a strong Division One match at Perivale on Sunday.
The under 17 men dominated the track events. Matthew Clampin completed the hurdles double once again, winning both 100 and 400 metres hurdles. He has now won both hurdles races in all five league matches. Dwayne Simms achieved a similar double in the sprints, winning both 100 and 200 metres in all five matches. His 100 metres victory in 11.0 seconds into a strong headwind was particularly impressive. Gbenga Adelana won both of the B sprints comfortably and went on to be second in the triple jump.
Ed Samuel made an impressive club debut in the 400 metres, setting a fast pace and just holding to win by inches. Myles Vale completed the double by adding the B race to his earlier victory in the B 800 metres. Jamie Taylor-Caldwell set a fast pace to win the 800 metres but in the 1500 metres he sat in behind a slow pace and kicked on the last lap to win. Charlie Booth was second B string. Basheer Zaheer won his first ever steeplechase.
In the field, Dempsey McGuigan was third in a very strong hammer competition.. Tarric Lewis won the B triple jump with a personal best of 10.98 and was third in the long jump with Jovan Watty winning the B competition.
Emma Davies and Martha Reynolds led the way for the under 17 women with two wins apiece. Emma won a desperately close 300 metres with a personal best of 41.8, earlier she had won the 200 metres. Martha’s scored easy victories in the 800 and 1500 metres.
Nicola Shelley and Elisabeth Matthews provided strong support. Nicola with a new best of 44.9 in the 300 metres and finishing second behind Martha in the 800. Elisabeth was second in the 1500. Shamara Adams, Lucy Chesson and Laura Cameron scored useful points across a range of other events.
Aaron Saunders led all the way to win the under 15 boys 100 metres with Michael Ojo winning the B race. Latif Yusuf also led all the way to win the 200 metres and went on to win a close 80 metres hurdles in a fast time of 12.4 with Luke Jones second in the B race. Andre Wizzard held on for second place in the B 200 metres in spite of injuring himself in the home straight. Mali Lewis improved his personal best by over a second in winning an exciting 400 metres race in 52.8. He led for most of the race, was headed in the home straight but fought back to grab victory on the line. Enam Akpalu Mark won the B race.
Ben Waterman and Anthony Haynes were second in their 800 metres races. In the 1500 metres Chris Charles won a close 1500 metres in a personal best of 4:29.8 with Dalton McGuigan second B.
In the field Caaran Moses-Holmes won the long jump with 5.77 with Joshua Moses Obah fourth in the B. Mali Lewis and Enam Akpalu Mark finished second in the high jump competitions.
Makeda Lewis won the 100 metres, hurdles and javelin for the under 15 girls. Most exciting was the close finish in the 100. Nadia Mills added victories in the 200 metres and B 100. Elle Valentine and Lauren Stuart covered the field events with support from Louise Nolan who also was fourth in the 800 metres.
Fellan McGuigan and Duncan Pinder completed a double in the under 13 boys 800 metres. Tommy Fogarty Cameron won the 200 metres and was second in the 1500 metres with Bradley Pinder winning the B 1500. David Green was third in the 100 metres.
The under 13 girls made a clean sweep of the flat events. Grace Ogwell won the 75 and 150 metres, Evie King the 800 and Shannon Powell the 1200. Evie’s time of 2:38.3 was a personal best. Charlotte Gould was third in the shot and her sister Ashley won the B event. Kia Lee and Lisa Khan were second in the B sprints.
The club faced tough opposition in the fourth Southern Mens League fixture of 2008. The team were severely weakened due to the clash with the English Schools Championships in Gateshead. The patched-up squad finished second to hosts Bracknell and had to fight hard to stay ahead of East Grinstead and Herne Hill Harriers.
Martin Densley cleared 4.70 metres to win the pole vault and finished second in the high jump with a height of 1.70 metres. He also picked up vital points in the javelin and shot. Hussain Jama had a busy afternoon, winning the 800 metres in 1.57.7 and finishing second in the 400 metres. He later took part in the 3000 metres steeplechase, clocking 10:32 despite falling over in the water jump on the second lap. Phil York added a win in the B-string event. Captain Bob Densley competed in the pole vault, hammer, discus and javelin.
Richard Tomlinson and Mark Delahunty teamed up at late notice in the 5000 metres, finishing in 17:05.3 and 17:56.7 respectively. The race was run in very warm conditions. The match was a good opportunity for our up and coming young middle-distance runners to race against senior opposition. Jamie Taylor-Caldwell and Bashir Zaheer enjoyed solid runs in the 800 metres, while Luke Nicholas and Sam Ashcroft combined well in the 1500 metres.
Two of our newer members continue to adjust well to Southern League competition. Simon Eggington paired up with the experienced Samson Baah in the long and triple jumps, while ex-rugby professional Parham Mostaeddi approached his best marks in the 100 metres and shot.
This season has seen the return to action of former team captain Rob Deane, who was technically accomplished in the hammer and discus. Lawrence Gittens looked strong in the 100 metres and 200 metres sprints. Matthew Clampin made up for the disappointment of missing out on the English Schools by finishing a close second in the 400 metres hurdles A-string and then later producing a sizzling performance in the 200 metres. He also added a win in the B-string high jump.
The team are still in contention for promotion as they look ahead to the final match at Twickenham on 2nd August.
The club had sixteen athletes representing their counties in the English Schools Championships in the Gateshead International Stadium on Friday and Saturday. The twelve athletes in the Middlesex team made up 20% of the county team, a very large group for one club. They returned with a fine tally of five medals.
The one gold medal was in the all black colours of London Schools. Georgia Bell led the under 15 800 metres from the gun and steadily built up the pace, extending her lead on the second lap. She pulled well clear in the home straight to take the gold medal in 2 min 09.28 seconds a new club record and the third fastest time ever by a girl of her age.
The club’s sprinters scored well for Middlesex, Makeda Lewis had to come from behind in the under 15 200 metres and took the silver medal in the last few strides in a time of 25.65. Dewayne Simms improved with every round of the under 17 100 metres, finishing second in both heat and semi final and producing his usual strong finish in the final to take the bronze medal in a personal best of 10.90. Another sprint medallist was Claudenia Williams in the under 20 100 metres taking the bronze in 12.16.
In the field, Latif Yusuf returned from injury to take the bronze medal in the under 15 triple jump with 12.90 metres, very close to his best. In the under 17 hammer, Amy Clemens’ personal best of 42.03 metres in the first round eventually gained her the bronze medal.
For the under 20’s Gabrielle Coveney won her 400 metres hurdles heat comfortably and, in the final, a very strong finish took her into fourth place, only a few centimetres behind the bronze medallist. Matt Payne Davis was fifth in the hammer final. In the girl’s 3000 metres Mel Newbery was tenth for Buckinghamshire Schools. Alex Ojo was third in his 100 metres heat with 11.11, only 3 hundredths away from qualifying.
Another athlete who was only one place away from the final was Martha Reynolds in the under 17 girls’ 1500 metres.
The team featured a large group of under 15 boys from the club. Very close to a medal was Caaran Moses Holmes in the under 15 long jump, his jump of 6.05 in fourth place only 2cm away from third. Richard Charles won his heat of the 1500 metres and set a strong pace in the final but was caught on the last lap and finished fifth in 4:14.48. Also fifth was Karnvir Hayer with a strong finish after being trapped on the inside at a vital moment in a fast 800 metres race. Michael Ojo was seventh in the 100 metres final and Mali Lewis ran a personal best of 54.36 to finish fourth in his under 15 400 metres heat.