ESM Win Middlesex County Junior Road Relay Titles
Report by Dominic Stubbins
On a grey and increasingly rainy day that felt more suited to the cross country season than the end of summer, the ESM juniors gathered in Hayes for the annual Middlesex Road Relay Championships. A fantastic day’s racing saw some great individual and team performances, culminating in ESM becoming Middlesex Road Relay champions in the U13 and U15 Boys races and taking the U15 Girls silver and U13 Girls bronze medals.
With teams of 3 runners each completing 2 laps of the 1.5km Hillingdon cycle track, the afternoon began with the U13s race. Sidney Rochester started off our boys’ team with his trademark fast start and soon built a strong lead, handing over to Euan Mortimer who was able to maintain the position before Ben Muralidhar extended the gap over local rivals Ealing Eagles to win by over 30 seconds. With only 2 runners available for the 2nd team, Max Lacey and Oscar Hepner both ran very strongly, finishing well up in the individual rankings.
The U13 Girls team was led off by Maya Richardson, who ran the team’s fastest leg to hand over in a group battling for 3rd, 4th and 5th places. Hanna Morawska was able to pull away from Barnet behind, leaving Marin Hayward to stretch the gap, bringing the team home for a great 3rd place.
With a large cohort of U15s giving the coaches some selection and strategy headaches, ESM had multiple teams entered in this age group. The boys were led out by Marcus Muers, battling a strong Heathside runner the entire way, and with the two fastest times of the race they handed over neck and neck, more than a minute ahead of the chasing pack. On the next leg, Owen Stubbins was able to stay within striking distance of London Heathside, setting up an exciting finish as Jack Hayward ran down their 3rd runner to claim the title by 20 seconds. The 2nd team got off to a strong start with Clem Poulson in the pack fighting for 3rd place. A battling run from Arlo Schiffner on the second leg kept the team in touch, and Josh Phillips, with the team’s fastest leg, overhauled Barnet to bring them home in 4th place.
Emilie Walsh led out the girls’ team with their fastest leg, pulling away from Barnet to hand over in 2nd place just behind TVH. On the second leg, Isabella Matsunaga-Michalakis was able to hold Barnet at bay before passing on to Eve Johnson, who increased the gap, bringing the team home for a fantastic silver medal. Megan Price led out the second team with a quick run, bringing them through in the main pack. On the second leg, Christina Ivanova was able to consolidate their position, and with the team’s fastest leg, Cleo Kumar managed to split the 2 Hillingdon teams to finish 5th. As the sole runner in our third girls’ team, Edie Kumar ran a great race, out-sprinting two Hillingdon teams for a strong individual finish.
In tough conditions, the U17 Men’s team bore the brunt of the weather, and with the race combined with the U20s and senior races, intermediate places were hard to judge. However, good runs from the team of Huw Baker, Tom Price and Solomon Flemons saw them ending up in 5th place, capping off a successful day for the ESM Juniors.
