We scooped 17 medals at the Middlesex Indoor Athletics Championships at the weekend. The event took place over two days at Lee Valley, and attracted a record field, with numbers 11% up on last year.
For the senior men, Mo Hashi took silver in the 1500m and bronze in the 800m. It seemed as though everyone in the stadium was cheering for him in the 1500m – but then it turned out all three medallists were called Mohamed! In the 60m sprint, Michael Obiri-Darko finished fourth in the 60m, clocking his best time in three years. In the U20s, Nick Landeau won gold over 800m.
The U17 men managed three medals. Mukhtar Farah managed to clinch the County title in the 1500m, despite having competed the previous day at the Schools cross country championships. Behind him, Charlie Sillett won silver in his first outing over that distance. It was an interesting race, as the runners remained bunched in the early stages, before Mukhtar broke away. Charlie held back but moved forward in the closing stages to slot in behind Mukhtar. The 1500m medal was some consolation for Charlie’s fourth place in the 800m, where he was disappointed not to finish in the top three. Meanwhile, Joel Wynter had a busy weekend, taking bronze in the triple jump, finishing fourth in the long jump and progressing to the semi-final in the 60M.
In the U15 category, the medal haul rose to five. Reade Owen took a gold in the long jump and silver in the 200m, achieving personal best performances in both events. George Kerry won the 1500m in a personal best time, and took bronze in the 800m. Lucas Sheehan’s personal best in the long jump was rewarded with a bronze medal, and it was only a technical infringement which deprived him of a second medal in the 800m.
In the senior women’s competition, Emma Gayler finished as County long jump champion.
The club gained four medals in the U17 category. Eldika Edwards won the 200m in a personal best, and took bronze in the 60m, clocking up another personal best in qualifying for the final. Erica Wallace had run in the Schools cross country championships the previous day, yet grabbed a gold medal in the 1500m, in her first indoor attempt at this distance. Despite the additional challenges of the 200m indoor track, the time was close to her outdoor personal best. Besirat Tesfu took bronze in the long jump.
12 year old Cameron Thomas was our only representative in the U15 category, but she was rewarded with a bronze medal after a well-judged 800m race.
Summary of best performances
Senior Men 60M: Michael Obiri-Darko 7.05; Lawrence Gittens 7.4; 200M: Kema Egbunike 23.57; 800m: Mohamed Hashi 2:02.56; 1500M: Mohamed Hashi 4:15.25; U20M 800M: Nicholas Landeau 2:00.27; U17M 60M: Joel Wynter 7.69; 800M: Charles Sillett 2:06.67; 1500M: Mukhtar Farah 4:31.73; Charles Sillett 4:35.41; LJ: Joel Wynter 5.57; TJ: Joel Wynter 11.71; U15B 200M: Reade Owen 25.02; Lucas Sheehan 27.33; 800M: George Kerry 2:22.88; 1500M: George Kerry 4:44.82; LJ: Reade Owen 5.16; Lucas Sheehan 4.28