The Middlesex indoor track & field championships went ahead as planned at the weekend. We had 17 athletes competing – mainly in the sprints – and 17 medals were gained. (Which is not to say that everyone got one, as some won more than one!)
Saturday
Gus Carter kicked things off well in the morning, by winning the Middlesex title in the U17 men’s 60m hurdles.
U17s Golder Wiafe and Chimera Matthews then took second and third in the 200m behind Mia Smith of Hillingdon, while Bessie Aban-Owusu claimed gold in the corresponding U20 race.
Then it was the turn of the U15 boys. Theo Jarrett and Zaki Mohammedi finished second and third in their 200m final, having both won their heats. Zaki improved in the final to run a PB.
New U17 member Cathal Sheehan also tackled the 200m. He got through to the final where he too managed a PB.
Kai English, Bilal Uba and indoor novice Harjeet Gill represented us in the U20 races. Kai and Bilal progressed to the final, which Kai won, and both improved their times still further. Kai set an outright PB while Bilal’s was an indoor PB.
M55 veteran Phil York completed the ESM track events by finishing third the senior men’s 800m. Clubmate Ben Waterman still holds the championship best performance at this event (1:53.69 in 2013).
In the field, Helen Leadbetter finished second in the senior women’s pole vault, while Emily Nicholson-Stanwix took silver with a PB in the U20 triple jump.
Sunday
The field eventers made an early start on the Sunday. Helen and Emily were joined by Isha Habib in the combined long jump event, resulting in gold for Isha and silver for Helen in the senior women’s event and silver for Emily in the U20.
U20 Bessie and U17 Golder returned to action in the 60m sprints. Both finished third in their finals, having won their heats. Golder equalled her PB set just before Christmas.
In the 60m sprint, novice Cathal kicked things off for the club in the U17 races, finishing fifth in heat two. Kai English, Shay James and Bilal Uba competed in the U20 heats. Kai and Shay both ran a PB in their heat, but didn’t manage to improve on those times in the final. V40 Chris Burbidge rounded off the 60m proceedings with sixth place in the second heat of the senior men’s races.
Our activities on the track were concluded with the 1500m races. Phil York probably surprised himself by winning the senior men’s title. (Sadly he was the only entrant for Middlesex!) Finn Combe, a very recent recruit for Hillingdon AC, took his ESM vest for a final outing in the U17 men’s race. He took silver with a no-doubt very pleasing PB for the distance, ducking under 4:30 for the first time (indoors or out).
Congratulations and thanks also to Pat Cornell, Stan Harry, Dave Johnson and the other coaches who have guided these athletes.
ESM results summary:
Saturday:
SM: 800m: 3 Philip York 2:39.50
U20M: 200m: 1 Kai English 22.47, 4 Bilal Uba 22.89, (h1 4 Harjeet Gill 24.96, h2 1 Kai English 22.73, 2 Bilal Uba 23.17)
U17M: 60mH: 1 Gus Carter 9.24; 200m: 5 Cathal Sheehan 24.32, (h1 3 Cathal Sheehan 24.43)
U15B 200m: 2 Theo Jarrett 25.29, 3 Zaki Mohammedi 25.34, (h2 1 Theo Jarrett 25.18, h3 1 Zaki Mohammedi 25.46)
SW: PV: 2 Helen Leadbetter 2.60
U20W: 200m: 1 Bessie Aban-Owusu 26.66; TJ: 2 Emily Nicholson-Stanwix 9.70
U17W 200m: 2 Golder Wiafe 26.19, 3 Chimera Matthews 27.21
Sunday:
SM: 60m: h2 6 Chris Burbidge 8.17; 1500m: 1 Philip York 5:20.79
U20M: 60m: 6 Kai English 7.27, 7 Shay James 7.29, (h1 4 Kai English 7.20, h2 3 Shay James 7.22, 5 Bilal Uba 7.27)
U17M: 60m: h2 5 Cathal Sheehan 7.65; 1500m: 2 Finn Combe 4:29.26
SW: LJ: 1 Isha Habib 4.94, 2 Helen Leadbetter 4.56
U20W: 60m: 3 Bessie Aban-Owusu 8.04, (h2 1 Bessie Aban-Owusu 8.10); LJ: 2 Emily Nicholson-Stanwix 4.45
U17W: 60m: 3 Golder Wiafe 7.85, (h1 1 Golder Wiafe 7.86)
Full results on power of 10