It went right to the wire for ESM at our final Southern Athletics League meeting on Saturday. We took advantage of a home fixture to put out a full team, thereby winning the match and escaping almost certain relegation. It was a windy day, which favoured the sprints and horizontal jumps but created taxing conditions for other events. Finishing positions mattered much more than performances on this occasion, though, and we won a third of the events.
There was some good points-scoring from the men over the longer distances especially. Mukhtar Farah and Sam Ashcroft won the A and B 5000m respectively. Mo Hashi came second in the 1500m A race, while Oliver Way won the B. Szymon Swigon won both the sprint and the one lap hurdles. Samson Baah took the 110m B, making a welcome return to competition with a creditable performance after a four-year absence. In the 400m hurdles, Paul Gibson won the B race with a season’s best. In the field, reliable points-scorer Joel Wynter won the triple jump but suffered a rare defeat in the long jump; however, it took the Man of the Match to beat him. The men concluded their efforts with second place in both the relays, Phoenix Lyon pulling them up from third with a storming final leg of the 4x100m.
The women clocked up slightly fewer wins, and half of these came from the throws team. Sioban Drummond (pictured left) improved her season’s best by over two metres when winning the discus, a performance which left her runner-up in the Woman of the Match award. Debbie McCaw won the B string discus as well as her own specialist event, the hammer. Team manager Tracey Gould took the hammer B string. Helen Leadbetter and Grazina Narviliene won both strings of the pole vault, while Helen also won the B string long jump with a season’s best. Besirat Tesfu won the A string of the long jump; having cleared 5 metres for the first time this year, she got close again with her best of 4.96m. She also notched up a season’s best in the triple jump. On the track, Laura Stewart took victory in the 400m hurdles, while Roisin Lynch ran a PB in the 400m flat. Sarah Gerrie did likewise in the 3000m, while Carol Jones ran a season’s best in the 1500m.
Ealing, Southall & Middlesex 203.5, Plymouth 177.5, Bracknell 154, Portsmouth 148
ESM Results summary
Men
100m: A: 2 Reuben Fleary 11.24; 200m: A: 3 Reuben Fleary 22.84; B: 1 Phoenix Lyon (U17) 23.04; 400m: A: 3 Rowan Board (U20) 52.67; B: 2 Mo Hashi 55.37; 800m: A: 2 George Kerry (U17) 2:09.76; B: 2 Zac Wingate-Denys (U20) 2:11.27; 1500m: A: 2 Mo Hashi 4:24.34; B: 1 Oliver Way (U20) 4:30.49; 5000m: A: 1 Mukhtar Farah (U20) 16:42.01; B: 1 Sam Ashcroft 17:17.13; 110mH: A: 1 Szymon Swigon 17.00; B: 1 Samson Baah 19.94; 400mH: A: 1 Szymon Swigon 61.90; B: 1 Paul Gibson 71.90; HJ: A: 2 Maateo Vao (U17) 1.70; B: 2 Matthew Clampin 1.40; PV: A: 1 Paul Gibson 2.50; B: 1 Bob Densley (M60) 1.12; LJ: A: 2 Joel Wynter (U20) 6.50; B: 1 Matthew Clampin 5.11; TJ: A: 1 Joel Wynter (U20) 12.05; B: 3 Samson Baah 10.27; SP: A: 4 Raf Morawski 6.98; B: 4 Karolis Narvilas (U20) 6.53; DT: A: 4 Phil York (M50) 16.64; B: 4 Kamau Muhammad (U20) 15.63; HT: A: 2 Raf Morawski 49.77; B: 2 Karolis Narvilas (U20) 26.20; JT: A: 3 Angelo John M40 32.09; B: 1 Jack Kirk (U20) 30.49; 4x100m: 2 (Kamau Muhammad, Szymon Swigon, Joel Wynter, Phoenix Lyon) 46:38; 4x400m: 2 (Szymon Swigon, Mo Hashi, Mukhtar Farah, Zac Wingate-Denys) 3:47.62
Women:
100m: A: 4 Amber Henry (U17) 13.11; B: 4 Shim Amin (U17) 14.67; 200m: A: 4 Amber Henry (U17) 27.59; B: 4 Shim Amin (U17) 32.17; 400m: A: 4 Cameron Thomas (U17) 65.70; B: 3 Roisin Lynch (U17) 69.21; 800m: A: 4 Cameron Thomas (U17) 2:35.90; B: 3 Pat Thomas (W50) 2:49.92; NS: Helena French 2:47.83; 1500m: A: 4 Leanne Smith 5:57.45; B: 3 Carol Jones (W55) 6:03.19; 3000m: A: 2 Sarah Gerrie 11:32.28; B: 2 Leanne Smith 12:16.99; 100mH: A: 3 Roisin Lynch (U17) 19.37; B: 3 Shim Amin 26.21; 400mH: A: 1 Laura Stewart (U17) 69.07; B: 3 Niamh McGuigan (U20) 87.68; HJ: A: 4 Helen Leadbetter 1.30; B: 3 Shim Amin (U20) 1.00; PV: A: 1 Helen Leadbetter 2.50; B: 1 Grazina Narviliene (W45) 1.80; LJ: A: 1 Besirat Tesfu (U20) 4.96; B: 1 Helen Leadbetter 4.67; TJ: A: 2 Besirat Tesfu (U20) 10.33; B: 2 Roisin Lynch (U20) 9.53; SP: A: 2 Debbie McCaw 9.65; B: 3 Tracey Gould (W40) 7.08; DT: A: 1 Siobhan Drummond 35.97; B: 1 Debbie McCaw 32.12; HT: A: 1 Debbie McCaw 45.85; B: 1 Tracey Gould (W40) 34.95; JT: A: 3 Debbie McCaw 23.85; B: 1 Siobhan Drummond 22.92; 4x100m: 3 (Roisin Lynch, Shim Amin, Besirat Tesfu, Amber Henry) 55.90
Full results on Power of 10