As it so often seems to be, the weather was kind for the opening Met League fixture at Claybury, and the conditions underfoot were firm. A squad of 40 from ESM tested themselves on this popular course with that killer hill hidden in the woods…
One of the highlights was the emphatic win by new U15 member Mohamed Ali, who made light work of the undulating terrain, winning by around 150 metres. He was backed up well by Arun Manget, Chauncey Edwards and Matteo Lamagna, who together brought the team home in eighth.
Among the other young athletes, U17 Angel Grimes-McTavish (#133) ran competitively to finish fifth, backed up by Lucy O’Brien and Anisa Ibrahim in 24th and 25th. U15 Anna Ilchenko, in only her second race for the club, ran strongly, moving up the field to finish 31st. The U15/U17 team finished a creditable fifth.
U13 Lucy Henson also had a strong run to finish 11th in her race. The U13 boys packed well and came in tenth.
In the senior men’s race, Jamie Taylor-Caldwell produced an impressive top-ten place, judging his efforts well as he pulled through the field. With Moe Hashi continuing his good form in 26th, both men achieved their best ever League placings, despite the record field of 500+. Such is the quality of this League that our men’s team placed only eighth in Division 1, despite great back-up from other team members.
The women struggled for numbers, but managed to field a complete team, including a full veteran team. U20 Nicola Ravenhill (#111) made an impressive start in her first season in the senior women’s field. She started strongly and only lost a little ground in the later stages, finishing 25th. The women’s team finished fifth in Division 2, which is an encouraging sign if we can improve the turn-out. The veteran women remain in Division 1, where they finished ninth.
The featured photo shows Moe Hashi (#190) and Mark Kencroft (#220) receiving their trophies for the club’s cross country championship last season; Moe was senior winner and Mark winner of the V40 category.
More photos are available on our Facebook page.
ESM results summary
U13 Boys (3k): 30 Maximilian Steel 12:12; 35 Taaj Ojha 12:20; 47 Mohamed Ibrahim 12:46; 56 Marco Lamagna 13:27; 67 Husein Zaaiter 14:06
U13 Girls (3k): 11 Lucy Henson 12:53;
U15/U17 Boys (4k): 1 Mohamed Ali (U15) 13:09; 37 Arun Manget (U15) 15:58; 43 Chauncey Edwards 16:19; 71 Matteo Lamagna (U15) 17:57
U15/U17 Girls (4k): 5 Angel Grimes-McTavish 16:55; 23 Lucy O’Brien 17:54; 24 Anisa Ibrahim 17:55; 31 Anna Ilchenko (U15) 18:34; 50 Fiona Coutts (U15) 19:49
U20/Senior Men (8k): 10 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 25:45; 26 Mohamed Hashi 26:49; 50 Mukhtar Farah (U20) 27:47; 59 Sam Ashcroft 28:05; 83 Christopher Hepworth 28:47; 136 Santosh Rai 30:34; 147 Peter Flewitt (V40) 30:52; 153 Mark Kencroft (V50) 30:57; 186 Luke Nicholas 31:45; 193 Angelo John (V45) 32:05; 206 Elliot Jones 32:28; 233 Tom Yates 32:54; 287 James Steel (V45) 34:19; 288 Martin Shelley 34:19; 290 Akira Anzai-Jackson 34:30; 362 Ian Leslie (V60) 36:36; 409 Philip York (V55) 38:16; 411 Steve Plested (V65) 38:19
U20/Senior Women (6k): 25 Nicola Ravenhill (U20) 24:30; 71 Shona Cowper 27:20; 89 Fiona Kennedy (V55) 28:16; 124 Lynn Wilson (V60) 30:40; 129 Patricia Thomas (V50) 30:58; 140 Louise Prince (V45) 31:35; 180 Kristina Wilton (V45) 35:16
Full results to follow on powerof10