The final race of the North London League was held at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday 2nd March, with Team Manager Tim Hannah remarking that our turnout of 21 was relatively good, considering that some of our athletes had big competitions both the previous week and in the two weeks to follow.
Bridie Lebdiri reports on the younger races and the U15 girls:
Annick (back row, second from left) with her U11s
Our U11s, under the guidance of Annick, continue to improve and the numbers wanting to do the endurance events are growing. We had a strong turnout of six boys, with another top 10 placing for Kian, in his second outing over the cross country. Georgina Shields made her cross debut for the girls and finished smiling.
U11 Ashley shows good form, while Catherine puts in a good effort on behalf of our U13 girls
U13s Catherine Gallagher and Alec Edgar flew the flag in this age group. Catherine is proving to be a very loyal club member and is improving with every race.
Lucy & Alec work off each other in the combined U15G/U13B race
Alec Edgar admitted being tired beforehand but finished in a creditable 17th, sticking close to U15 Lucy Henson in the combined U13B/U15G race.
As with Alec, Lucy went into the U15 girls’ race feeling a bit heavy legged and finished eighth on the day. Lauren Beale, just back from half term activities, also ran very well and is a very loyal club athlete.
Lucy receiving her award for finishing third in the League
We had a long but worthwhile wait for the U15 girls overall position in the League. Lucy finished in third, a just reward for completing all five races.
Hats off to those athletes who turned up, either from football the night before or on that morning. They had tired legs but gave it their all.
Graham French picks up the story on the U15 boys and U17 men/women:
Some of our most regular athletes were missing but we nonetheless fielded more than a full team in the U15 boys’ race, where competition is very strong. Vitaly Bender, having had an excellent National the week before, was first home for ESM in 14th place; Thomas Edgar was second scorer in 24th; Jonah Mezey, in the younger year of this age group, was not far behind in 28th. Hussein Zaaiter built on his solid National performance to record his best run of the season, completing the scoring team in 36th, showing that regular training and competing really pays off. Mohammed Ibrahim was not far behind in 37th place. The team’s final standing in the league was sixth – though another two points would have seen them ranked fourth!
U17 Lauren Beale in action
There was a good turn out for our under 17 women too. Amira Nuseibeh led the team in with a strong run to finish ninth, with Anisa Ibrahim close behind in 10th. Fiona Coutts completed the scoring team in 12th, putting behind her the disappointment of an unlucky turn of events in the National. Katie Hay completed the Ealing contingent in 15th, observing that she was pleased that the focus would now turn to track events! The team finished third on the day and fifth in the league – though again they were only one point behind fourth-placed Highgate.
With some of the athletes in the U17 men’s age group preparing for other races, it was left to Kirk Lebdiri to be the only athlete for ESM. This is another very tough age group and Kirk put in a solid run and a strong finish to come in 13th.
A big thank you to Brian Fowler and team who do such a great job in running this league.
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ESM results summary:
U17M (4.7K): 13 Kirk Lebdiri 20:28
U15B (4K): 14 Vitaly Bender 14:46, 24 Thomas Edgar 15:32, 28 Jonah Mezey 15:57, 36 Hussein Zaaiter 17:28, 37 Mohamed Ibrahim 17:51
U13B (3K): 17 Alec Edgar 10:57
U11B (2K): 6 Kian Jordan 7:54, 21 Kevin Prempeh 8:23, 28 Stanley Watts 8:46, 37 Ashley Thompson 9:41, 38 Evan Thompson 9:59, 40 Oscar Harrison 10:09
U17W (4K): 9 Amira Nuseibeh 18:36, 10 Anisa Ibrahim 18:46, 12 Fiona Coutts 19:42, 15 Katie Hay 21:34
U15G (3K): 8 Lucy Henson 10:55, 26 Lauren Beale 12:31
U13G (2K): 47 Catherine Gallagher 9:17
U11G (2K): 36 Georgina Shields 6:12
Full results on power of 10