We hosted the first of this season’s North West London League fixtures at Berkeley Fields on Saturday. It was mild and the going underfoot was still firm, but heavy rain greeted the first races.. Fortunately, it eased off later and there were even glimpses of sunshine.
One of the highlights was Lucy O’Brien’s win in the U15 girls’ race, in which she looked strong and controlled throughout. With help from Anisa Ibrahim and Estelle Belgrave, the team finished second.
The U17 girls placed third despite having only two runners. Laura Stewart was third, with Roisin Lynch eighth.
The five U11 girls were led home by Nicole Bartlett, who handled her first cross country race well, looking comfortable as she slowly worked her way up the field. Ashana McClunie was next home, looking stronger and maintaining a steady pace. It was Hafsa Hussein’s first competitive outing of any kind, and she showed a good fighting spirit. C. O’Sullivan and K. Allenby have been training with the Perivale Panthers and took the opportunity to take part in a local fixture.
There were also a couple of Panthers among the five U11 boys. George Simpson was the first one home for ESM on his first outing for us, placing eighth in a good-sized field of 46. Jeremiah Harford-Charles also ran well, as did Alec Edgar (pictured), who has only been training with the club for two weeks. The team finished around the middle of the ranking.
There were seven representing ESM in the U13 boys’ race, and the team again finished in the middle of the ranking. With 55 runners, this was the biggest field of the day, and Mahiis Hersi led them home in 15th. He finished well, though younger brother Najiib was close on his heels, as six boys crossed the line within the space of two seconds. Dylan Rice got the better of Finn Coombe, who had only just arrived in time for the race.
The U15 boys placed fourth out of 15. Arun Manget was 15th in the field of 46, with team-mates Matteo Lamagna, Chancey Edwards and Mikey Kouwiloyan also across the line within 45 seconds.
George Kerry was our lone representative in the U17 men’s race. He was in the leading group throughout and still looked well placed as it whittled down to four, but lost ground at the end.
The next cross country meeting is the opening Met league fixture at Claybury on Saturday 15th October, with the first race at 12:45. Full details here.
ESM results summary
U17M (4700m): 4 George Kerry 15:08
U15B (4000m): 15 Arun Manget 14:34; 20 Matteo Lamagna 15:00; 26 Chauncey Edwards 15:12; 30 Mikey Kouwiloyan 15:19
U13B (2200m): 15 Mahiis Hersi 11:21; 19 Najiib Hersi 11:23; 30 Dylan Rice 12:08; 32 Finn Combe 12:13; 42 Thomas Edgar 13:01; 47 Mohamed Ibrahim 13:25; 52 Khayre Samatar 14:20
U11B (1600m): 8 George Simpson 7:30; 15 Jeremiah Harford-Charles 7:49; 19 Alec Edgar 8:08; 33 J. O’Sullivan 9:00; 40 L. Trenaman 9:31
U17W (3000m): 3 Laura Stewart 15:07; 8 Roisin Lynch 16:52
U15G (2200m): 1 Lucy O’Brien 11:30; 9 Anisa Ibrahim 12:15; 14 Estelle Belgrave 12:46
U11G (1200m): 3 Nicole Bartlett 6:03; 14 Ashana McClunie 6:53; 30 Hafsa Hussain 7:49; 36 C. O’Sullivan 10:16; 37 K. Allenby 10:19 Full results here.