Athletes from the club put up another good set of performances in a championship event at the South of England Under 15 and Under 17 Championships at the Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford at the weekend.
Richard Charles was always in the front three in the under 15 boys 1500 metres as the lead changed several times. He eased to the front at the start of the final lap and kicked clear with 200 metres to go to take the gold medal in a personal best of 4:13.35. Makeda Lewis took silver medals in both of the sprints running 12.24 in the 100 metres and 25.70 in the 200 metres. Nadia Mills was fifth in both finals. Another silver medallist was Latif Yusuf in the triple jump. His first round jump of 12.88 metres led for most of the competition but he was just pipped in the final round in spite of improving to 12.89 which keeps him in second place in the national rankings.
The club had three finalists in the under 15 boys 100 metres, Michael Ojo taking the bronze medal in a personal best of 11.71 with Aaron Saunders finishing very strongly to take fifth place in a personal best of 11.83 and Latif Yusuf in seventh. Mali Lewis went off fast in the 400 metres and held on well in the final straight to take the bronze medal in 54.27. Andre Wizzard just missed a medal finishing fourth in the shot with 10.30, having earlier run a personal best of 25.02 in his 200 metres heat.
In the 800 metres, Kanvir Hayer crossed the line in third place in a fast time but, unfortunately, was disqualified for breaking from his lane too soon on the first lap. Chris Charles ran a personal best of 2:12.92 in his 800 metres heat.
In the under 17 age group, Amy Clemens took the bronze medal in the hammer with 39.04 metres. Dewayne Simms improved his personal best in every round of the 100 metres, finishing fourth in the final in 10.9. Martha Reynolds won her heat in the 1500 metres and finished sixth in the final despite running a personal best of 4:37.16.Another finalist was Dempsey McGuigan, eighth in the hammer with 43.44 metres. Kema Egbunike ran a personal best of 12.27 in his 100 metres heat.
The National Young Athletes’ league team got their season off to a good start with a creditable third place in a strong Division One match in Eltham on Sunday.
Under 17 Matthew Clampin completed a hurdles double. He won the 400 metres hurdles in a personal best of 59.3, finishing well clear after a fast first 200 metres. He led from the gun in the 100 metres hurdles, showing the benefit of improved hurdling technique to achieve a personal best of 14.6. In the flat sprints, Dewayne Simms scored a sprint double, finishing strongly to win the 200 metres and recovering from a slow start to take the 100 metres. In the B sprints, Kema Ekbunike was second in the 200 metres and third in the 100. In the middle distance events, Jack Todd was another to complete a double. Over 800 metres he was always near the front and won comfortably, whilst in the 1500 metres he came from well off the pace to take the lead in the home straight. Basheer Zaheer had a comfortable win in the B 800 metres. In the field, Dempsey McGuigan showed that the move up to the heavier under 17 hammer will be no problem with an easy win. McKenzie Zangata made a very promising club debut in the jumps, finishing second in the triple and high and third in the long, while Tarric Lewis was second in the B long and triple.
The under 15 middle distance runners were in excellent form. In the 800 metres, Karnvir Hayer pulled clear in the home straight to win with Mark Cameron third in the B race. Twins Richard and Chris Charles followed this with an easy double in the 1500 metres. In the 400 metres, Mali Lewis ran a very fast first 200 metres and was able to coast home to win. Latif Yusuf put up an excellent all round performance in his league debut, winning the 80 metres hurdles and long jump and finishing second in a fast 100 metres race, while Aaron Saunders led from the gun to win the B 100 metres. Andre Wizzard won the shot with Joshua Moses Obah second in the B event. In the hammer, Dalton McGuigan was third with Anthony Haynes second in the B competition.
In the under 13s, the Pinder brothers had a very good day. Duncan won the 1500 metres and was second in the 200 metres and B long jump, while Bradley was second in the B 1500 metres and third in the high jump and 75m hurdles. Fellan McGuigan was second in the 800 metres and third in the long jump and shot, while Bobby Baily won the B 800 metres and B high jump and was second in the B hurdles.
Under 17 Martha Reynolds had comfortable victories in both the 800 and 1500 metres. Helena French secured a win in the B string of the 1500 metres. Amy Clemens finished first in the high jump and third in the shot. Riannah Nicholas was third in both the 80 metres hurdles and 100 metres. Nicola Shelley proved her all-round skills by earning herself second place in the discus and 800 metres B string and third in the 300 metres. Sprinter Shamara Adams was third in the 100 and 200 metres. Newcomers Lisa O’Keefe and Lucy Chesson ran to victory in both strings of the 3000 metres. In the javelin Lucy was third and Lisa second B string. Laura Cameron threw the shot to finish third B string.
Meanwhile the under 15 girls also produced some great results Georgia Bell ran a fantastic 800 metres set a new club record of 2:15.8. Sprinters Nadia Mills and Makeda Lewis ran to victory in both strings of the 100 metres, Nadia also produced an excellent second place in a fast 200 metres. The younger end of this group, Ellis Redmond, Lauren Stuart and Elle Valentine also produced some fine results.
The U13’s star of the day was 11 year old Grace Ogwell who sprinted to victory in the 150 metres and came second in a fast 75 metres. Kia Lee finished second in the B 150 metres. Kerry Baily came away with two second places in both the high and long jump and was third in the 70 metres hurdles. Charlotte Gould produced a personal best to finish second in the shot with twin sister Ashley first in the B string, Ashley also finished third in 75 metres sprint and Charlotte was third in the B long jump. Evie King led all the way to set a personal best in the 800 metres.
The men’s team had a great start to the season on Saturday, with a win by
30 points in their first league match. A strong turn out by the young sprinters,
jumpers and middle-distance runners was well supported by a few old stagers.
The club had 13 wins on the track with some outstanding performances by 16 year
old Dwayne Simms who won the 200 metres in 22.6 and the B string 100 metres in
11.3. Not to out done 17 year old Alex Ojo won the 100 metres and the B 200
metres. One of the clubs disability athletes Daniel Hooker competed in the 100
metres smashing his personal best in a time of 13.7. He also ran the 200 metres
in 28.8 seconds.
In the field, debutants Mike Cadore and Parham Mostaeddi finished second A and B
strings in the shot. Matthew Payne-Davis won the hammer with a fine 43.13.
However best performance of the day was Martin Densley clearing 4.80 metres in
the pole-vault, he also won the high-jump and coming second in the javelin and B
long-jump. He was supported by another new member Andy Morris who won the B
pole-vault and came second in the high-jump. Dan Bramble won the long-jump with
a leap of 6.70 metres and the triple-jump in 13.04 metres.
The senior team have a long break to their next match at Battersea on the 7th of
June, but are still looking for new members particularly in the throws and
hurdles. Training times Tuesday and Thursdays 7-9pm at Perivale track.