Ealing Southall & Middlesex athletes were out in force at the South of England Road Relays at Aldershot. Highlight of the day was a set of bronze medals for the under 15 boys’ team, with Karnvir Hayer recording the fastest leg of the day.
It was not all plain sailing though. National under 15 3000 metres champion Richard Charles withdrew from the race following knee trouble during the warm up. Karnvir Hayer took his place on the first leg and finished 25 metres clear of the field. Christopher Charles slipped back to second and Connor Hearn held that position on the third leg. However Archie Allen was caught on the last hill, leaving the team in third place. The B team of Ben Waterman, Dalton McGuigan, Anthony Haynes and Alex Jemeljanov finished a creditable 28th.
The under 13 boys made a strong start. Sam Schindler-Glass was 13th on the first leg. Duncan Pinder ran the team’s fastest leg to pull them up to fourth. Bobby Baily and Fellan McGuigan couldn’t maintain the pace though and the team had to settle for 17th in the end.
Best of the women’s teams was the senior A team. Fiona Kennedy finished 26th on a very competitive first leg. Mel Newbery set a club best of 13:58 for the course as she flew through to 14th place. Alison Hopkins gained two places and Ashlee McGuigan held onto 12th place on the last leg. The team set a new fastest time for the club, in their best finishing position to date.
The veteran women’s team were in fourth place after quick legs from Patricia Thomas and Lynn Wilson. Gill Morgan moved up into the bronze medal position on the third leg, but the advantage was too slim for Carol Jones to defend and the team ended up fourth.
Daniela Raffel was the fastest of the under 17 girls but that was only good enough for 21st on the first leg. Emma Davies moved up to 15th but Nicola Shelley dropped back to 19th. The B team was led off with a fast leg from Polly Kemp-King. Helena French and Elizabeth Matthews completed the team that finished 29th.
Georgia Bell finished second on the opening leg of the Under 15 girl’s race. Ellis Redmond and Genevieve Crean brought the team home in 31st.
The Under 13 girls’ team was led off by Evie King. She finished 50th, Rosie Bell matched her time to bring the team up to 47th. Kerry Baily gained another eight places to finish 39th.
In the previous day’s relays, John Blanchard ran a blistering first leg for the men’s over 50 team. He was only fourth early on in the race but pulled away steadily to finish over 150 metres clear. Doug Buckeridge held off the opposition for the first of his two laps but in the end slipped back to fourth. John Falvey slipped back another three places. Steve Plested closed the gap on the last leg but couldn’t gain any places.
With no senior men available, the men’s team consisted entirely of under 20 and over 40 runners. Rob Brown led the team out with a solid 66th place. After that, the team of Ben McCallum, Luke Nicholas, Sam Ashcroft, Richard Tomlinson and Chris Hepworth made steady progress to finish 54th. Luke Nicholas was the team’s fastest runner and the only one to run faster than John Blanchard.
The senior athletes prepared for the autumn relay championships with the cross-country relays at St Albans. Best of the teams was women who finished second.
Mel Newbery made a strong start to the women’s race at St Albans taking the lead after half a mile and staying there until close to the end. Her time of 17:24 was the second fastest of the day. Second leg runner Ashlee McGuigan quickly regained the lead but went off course as she followed the traditional cross-country route. By the time she got back on the course she was over 50 metres behind the leader.
After her customary steady start Fiona Kennedy stormed through in the last mile of her leg to regain the lead. However the margin was too small and newcomer Vicky Essex was caught by the last Barnet runner.
Luke Nicholas made an aggressive start to the men’s race running at the back of the lead pack. He lost ground in the latter stages coming home in 13th place. Andy Kotsyubka moved up a couple of places with the team’s fastest leg of the day. Rob Wilson gained another three to move the team into eighth.
Sam Ashcroft was the best of the club’s under 20 men and consolidated the team’s position. Bill Gristwood held onto eighth but the fast finishing London Heathside team caught Chris Hepworth on the last leg.
In the Middlesex Young Athletes relays at Hayes the club won four of the six races. The success had started in the under 11 races. Bradley Pinder and Millie Bradbury won both the individual races over 1500 metres.
Shannon Powell, Rosie Bell and Evie King had a comfortable win in the under 13 girls relay. However it was B team runner Kerry Baily who returned from injury to run the fastest leg of the day. The boys’ team of Duncan Pinder, Sam Shindler-Glass and Fellan McGuigan scored a narrower win over Harrow.
Georgia Bell was easily the quickest of the under 15 girls but the team were only third. The boys’ team won easily. Connor Hearn led the field home in the first leg, Christopher Charles extended the lead, and Karnvir Hayer recorded the fastest leg to complete the victory.
The under 17 women’s race started with a mishap as Helena French limped home in fourth. Emma Davies then ran the fastest leg of the race to take the lead which Polly Kemp-King consolidated.
Several Ealing Southall & Middlesex members finished their season in the Woking Young Athletes Open Championship on Sunday.
The under 15 athletes were particularly successful. Aaron Saunders led from the start in the 100 metres to win comfortably in 11.46, more than two tenths of a second inside his personal best. Mali Lewis finished very strongly in the boys 400 metres, finding himself locked in a very close battle throughout the last 100 metres and holding on to win by a metre in a fast time of 53.94. His sister Makeda showed great versatility, winning the javelin with a personal best of 37.58 metres , taking the silver medal in a very fast 100 metres race in 12.31 and taking bronze in the long jump. Latif Yusuf ran a relaxed bend and finished strongly to take the silver medal in the boys 200 metres. He was closing in rapidly on the leader in the last few strides but the finishing line came too quickly.
In the under 17 men’s events, Ed Samuel (400 metres) and Michael Obiri Darko (100 metres) both reached their finals and finished sixth whilst Tarric Lewis ran a personal best of 25.07 in his 200 metres heat.