Good agility demonstrated by V65 Bill Lonsdale in the long jump
We took full advantage of a home match, with victory in our first foray into Division Three of the Southern Athletics League, writes Fiona Kennedy. With forty-seven ESM athletes turning out, we had a nearly-full team sheet, (special thanks are due to Phil York for helping to rally the troops), and a good cluster of non-scoring but experience-gaining performances.
Throwers Siobhan Drummond & Team Manager Tracey Gould
Both the men and the women’s team achieved 14 wins. However, the men tasted victory almost exclusively on the track, while the women had a better mix, with maximum points in nine track events and five field events.
Top-scoring athlete overall was Helen Leadbetter, who won the pole vault but also long-jumped, triple-jumped, high-jumped, and shot putted. Sioban Drummond scored nearly as many points: she competed in all four throws events as well as the high jump. Top-scoring man was pole vaulter Martin Densley, who won his specialist event but also showed versatility in long jump, triple jump and discus.
Martin Densley flying high in the pole vault
Juan Botillo & Gurchuran Singh
Gurcharan Singh made his debut for ESM, scoring well in three throwing events, including second places in the B-string shot and discus. Also making his debut was club field events coach Juan Antonio Botillo Perez. Juan finished second in the A-string shot and hammer events – it is many years since an ESM athlete managed to put the shot in excess of ten metres.
It is often extremely difficult to fill in all the slots in the team sheet, and special thanks must go to Chris Hepworth and Angelo John, who bravely took on the challenge of the 110m hurdles. They both scored valuable points, although Chris took a tumble early on and needed first aid treatment immediately after the race. He returned to the track later in the afternoon and took victory in the 2000m steeplechase event. This was no real surprise: Chris is, after all, a National champion, having recently won the 11th UK wife-carrying contest over a 380m obstacle course in Dorking, Surrey.
Double PB in the sprints for 15 year old Maya Faulkner
Among the PBs were the non-scoring 100m races by Miles Bernadine and Bilal Uba, Arun Manget’s 800m, the 5000m races from Moe Hashi and Mark Kencroft, Olamide Belewu and Miriam Abdelgader’s 100m, both Maya Faulkner’s sprints, Cameron Thomas’s 400m, Jessica Leane’s 1500m, and Emily Nicholson-Stanwix’s long jump.
Nicola Ravenhill tackled her first 2000m steeplechase and qualified comfortably for the National U20s.
PBs and season’s bests are often what matter most to athletes. However, another measure of success is of course getting your name into the results section of Athletics Weekly – it means your performance met their standard, even if a long way from your best! The qualifying names on that score – sometimes on an age-graded basis – are: Jamie Taylor-Caldwell & Moe Hashi (5000m), Rob Brown & Pete Flewitt (2000mSC), Juan Botillo (HJ & SP), Martin Densley (PV), Bill Lonsdale (LJ & TJ), Nicola Ravenhill (2000mSC), Helen Leadbetter (LJ), Siobhan Drummond (DT).
A PB for Moe Hashi in the 5000m; no PB but a mention in AW for Jamie T-C!
Leanne helps Cath (right) at the cake sale
It was a very enjoyable afternoon, all-in-all, with a few extra spectators tempted down by the pleasant weather and the cakes on offer as part of Cath Gunnewicht’s fund-raising for Breast Cancer Haven.
Many thanks to ESM member Bruce Li for the album of photos which you can find here.
The club are also hosting the second fixture, which takes place on Sunday 20th May. Team managers Tracey Gould and Phil York hope to keep the momentum going with another strong team performance.
Match scores:
1 Ealing Southall & Middlesex 344; 2 Biggleswade AC 279; 3 Basildon 271.5; 4 Highgate Harriers & Mornington Chasers 191.5; 5 Barnet & District 131
ESM results summary:
Men: 100m: A: 1= Tom Sanders (U20) 11.6; B: 2 Kamau Muhammad (U20) 11.7; NS: Bilal Uba (U17) 11.8; Miles Bernadine (U17) 12.1; 200m: A: 3 Tom Sanders (U20) 23.35; B: 1 Kamau Muhammad (U20) 23.54; NS: Bilal Uba (U17) 23.90; Miles Bernadine (U17) 24.85; 400m: A: 3 Rowan Board 52.7; B: 2 Reef Hook (U20) 53.2; 800m: A: 1 Ben Waterman 1:55.19; B: 1 Mohamed Ali (U17) 2:05.74; NS: Arun Manget (U17) 2:19.86; 1500m: A: 2 Moe Hashi 4:13.30; B: 2 George Kerry (U20) 4:23.93; NS: Chauncey Edwards (U17) 4:45.75; Nick Steel 4:54.12; 5000m: A: 1 Jamie Taylor-Caldwell 15:15.81; B: 1 Moe Hashi 15:41.09; NS: 1 Archie Allen-Jones 17:35.98; Mark Kencroft (M50) 18:10.41; Akira Anzai-Jackson 20:07.88; 110mH: A: 3 Angelo John (M45) 23.3; B: 2 Chris Hepworth 31.2; 400mH: A: 2 Philip York (M50) 2:03.2; 2000mSC: A: 1 Chris Hepworth 6:52.2; B: 1 Rob Brown (M50) 7:38.9; NS: Pete Flewitt (M45) 7:12.6; HJ: A: 4 Kai English (U17) 1.60; B: 3 Juan Antonio Botillo Perez (M50) 1.50; PV: A: 1 Martin Densley 4.10; B: 3 Bob Densley (M60) 1.40; LJ: A: 3 Martin Densley 5.27; B: 3 William Lonsdale (M60) 4.28; TJ: A: 3 Martin Densley 10.35; B: 3 William Lonsdale (M60) 9.01; SP: A: 2 Juan Antonio Botillo Perez (M50) 10.28; B: 2 Gurcharan Singh 9.80; DT: A: 2 Martin Densley 24.03; B: 2 Gurcharan Singh 23.05; HT: A: 2 Juan Antonio Botillo Perez (M50) 20.97; B: 2 William Lonsdale (M60) 17.06; JT: A: 4 Angelo John (M45) 33.55; B: 4 Gurcharan Singh 29.01; 4x100m: 2 Miles Bernadine, Tom Sanders, Kamau Mohammad, Rowan Board 44.9; 4x400m: 2 Rowan Board, Mohamed Ali, George Kerry, Moe Hashi
Women: 100m: A: 2= Olamide Belewu (U17) 13.2; B: 1 Maya Faulkner (U17) 13.2; NS: Miriam Abdelgader (U17) 13.9; 200m: A: 2 Olamide Belewu (U17) 27.8; B: 1 Maya Faulkner (U17) 27.53; 400m: A: 2 Cameron Thomas (U17) 63.3; B: 2 Lucy O’Brien (U17) 69.5; 800m: A: 3 Lucy O’Brien (U17) 2:30.4; B: 2 Charlotte Cooney-Quinn (U17) 2:42.8; 1500m: A: 1 Jessica Leane (U20) 4:50.4; B: 2 Leanne Smith 5:43.0; 3000m: A: 3 Angel Grimes-McTavish (U20) 11:34.2; B: 1 Sarah Gerrie 11:54.6; 100mH: A: 2 Laura Stewart (U20) 19.1; 400mH: A: 1 Feia Starkey (U17) 71.35; B: 1 Laura Stewart (U20) 75.8; 2000mSC: A: 1 Nicola Ravenhill (U20) 7:33.67; HJ: A: 3 Helen Leadbetter 1.30; B: 4 Siobhan Drummond 1.00; PV: A: 1 Helen Leadbetter 2.40; LJ: A: 2 Isha Habib (U20) 4.77; B: 2 Helen Leadbetter 4.62; NS: Emily Nicholson-Stanwix (U17) 4.85; TJ: A: 3 Helen Leadbetter 9.26; NS: Emily Nicholson-Stanwix (U17) 9.30; SP: A: 4 Siobhan Drummond 7.78; B: 3 Helen Leadbetter 6.56; DT: A: 1 Siobhan Drummond 36.83; HT: A: 2 Siobhan Drummond 23.37; B: 1 Tracey Gould (W40) 20.88; JT: A: 3 Yoanna Aleksandrova (U17) 23.25; B: 3 Siobhan Drummond 18.93; 4x100m: 1 Maya Faulkner, Petya Nanova, Laura Stewart, Olamide Belewu 53.38; 4x400m: 1 Nicola Ravenhill, Cameron Thomas, Jessica Leane, Laura Stewart 4:36.0
Full results on power of 10