There was a much better turnout of U13s and U15s in our second Youth Development League match of the season last Saturday at Bedford. The squad was still a little stretched, and many had a busy afternoon competing in multiple disciplines, but there were plenty of personal best performances and promising first-time appearances.
There were ten U15 Boys, including debutant Kai Thomas who came third in the 100m and also helped the sprint relay team to third. Joshua Jones consolidated his sprinting experience in the 100m, 200m and relay events. It was good to see Arun Manget make his first competitive appearance in ESM colours, placing third in the 800m, as well as running the 200m and anchoring the 4x300m. Sudeys Hersi tackled the 300m for the first time, and was back on the track a short while later for the 1500m. Kirk Lebdiri placed second in the high jump B string, and third in the discus B, before rounding off his efforts with a 300m. Matteo Lamagna had his first taste of track racing with the 800m and both relays. Ilyes Iman warmed up with the javelin before setting a PB in the 1500m. There was good point scoring in the hurdles, where Louis Clow was third in the A and Kai English enjoyed a win in his first attempt at the event. Kai also set PBs in the discus and high jump before leading out the sprint relay. Milo Choudhry competed in the long jump and 4x300m.
Daniel O’Brien made his track and field debut for the U13 Boys, and had a busy afternoon, competing in four disciplines. His best result came in his first event, where he ran a competitive 75m hurdles to place second. He then tackled the 200m and the long jump before leading off the 4x100m. Marco Lamagna, another track and field novice, backed him up in the 200m before heading over to the javelin with Najiib Hersi. Kyriese Willis-Thomas also placed second in his 75m hurdles race and was close to his best 100m time, ending his campaign by anchoring the relay to third place in a hard-fought race. Olaitan Belewu was also a debutant and he announced himself with a bang, winning the 100m B race with a time that would have seen him well up the field in the A race. He also competed in the long jump and relay. Marcus West, brothers Najiib and Mahiis Hersi and new member Khayre Samatar tackled the middle distances. Marcus set a PB in the 800m, while Najiib ran the 800m B race. Mahiis consolidated his experience in the metric mile, while it was a first attempt for Khayre. Mahiis and Khayre had earlier also paired up for the shot put.
For the U15 girls, Maya Faulkner was close to her best in the 100m and improved both her 200m time and her long jump best. In both the 100m and 200m Olamide Belewu was quicker than at the first match, whilst making her league debut in the shot put. Lucy O’Brien tackled the 300m, 800m and shot put, as well as both relays. Estelle Belgrave placed third in the 300m B race, improved her time over the 75m hurdles, and led off both relays. New member Petya Nanova backed Lucy up in the 800m, whilst also competing in the high jump and 4x300m. Fiona Coutts turned her hand to the throws, with an improved javelin performance, and also ran the 1500m and the 4x300m.
Of the five U13 girls, new members Evie McGhee and Ame Udehi were making their competitive debut. Ame showed promise in the 75m, while Evie, Israa Iman and Huda Hussein also tackled the distance for the first time. Sadie Lawrence undertook the 150m and 800m, improved her long jump best, while Huda Hussein bettered her shot put.
A huge thank you to those parents who helped out on the day: Linda O’Brien, Hersi Samatar and Decka Iman among others. Our appreciation as ever to Team Captains and coaches Bridie Lebdiri and Denise English, and well done to all the athletes for their enthusiasm and team spirit.
The next match is on June 19th in Wycombe.
Match scores
1 Bedford & County 770.5; 2 Chiltern Harriers 531.5; 3 Vale of Aylesbury 521.5; 4 Wycombe Phoenix Harriers 478.5; 5 St. Marys Richmond 456; 6 Winchester & District 415; 7 Thames Valley Harriers 346.5; 8 Ealing Southall & Middlesex 309.5
ESM results summary
U15 Boys
100m: A: 3 Kai Thomas 12.14; B: 3 Joshua Jones 12.59; 200m: A: 7 Joshua Jones 25.90; B: 6 Arun Manget 31.79; 300m: A: 7 Sudeys Hersi 47.00; B: 7 Kirk Lebdiri 52.02; 800m: A: 3 Arun Manget 2:42.32; B: 4 Matteo Lamagna 2:47.33; 1500m: A: 6 Ilyes Iman 5:01.04; B: 5 Sudeys Hersi 5:37.03; 80mH: A: 3 Louis Clow 12.90; B: 1 Kai English 14.4; HJ: A: 4 Kai English 1.45; B: 2 Kirk Lebdiri 1.30; LJ: A: 5 Milo Choudhry 4.58; DT: A: 4 Kai English 27.59; B: 3 Kirk Lebdiri 14.61; JT: A: 6 Ilyes Iman 9.42; 4x100m: 3 (Kai English, Matteo Lamagna, Kai Thomas, Joshua Jones) 50.98; 4x300m: 5 (Milo Choudhry, Ilyes Iman, Matteo Lamagna, Arun Manget) 3:19.45
U13 Boys
100m: A: 7 Kyriese Willis-Thomas 14.83; B: 1 Olaitan Belewu 13.72; 200m: A: 6 Daniel O’Brien 33.05; B: 6 Marco Lamagna 33.82; 800m: A: 5 Marcus West 2:32.86; B: 3 Najiib Hersi 2:41.61; 1500m: A: 8 Mahiis Hersi 5:22.15; B: 7 Khayre Samatar 6:09.84; 75mH: A: 2 Kyriese Willis-Thomas 16.28; B: 2 Daniel O’Brien 15.85; LJ: A: 7 Daniel O’Brien 3.50; B: 7 Olaitan Belewu 3.13; SP: A: 7 Mahiis Hersi 5.28; B: 7 Khayre Samatar 3.86; JT: A: 5 Najiib Hersi 13.26; B: 6 Marco Lamagna 1.91; 4x100m: 3 (Daniel O’Brien, Marcus West, Olaitan Belewu, Kyriese Willis-Thomas) 56.84
U15 Girls
100m: A: 8 Maya Faulkner 14.24; B: 2 Olamide Belewu 13.66; 200m: A: 7 Maya Faulkner 29.76; B: 5 Olamide Belewu 29.17; 300m: A: 5 Lucy O’Brien 46.65; B: 3 Estelle Belgrave 48.21; 800m: A: 4 Lucy O’Brien 2:27.87; B: 8 Petya Nanova 3:08.47; 1500m: A: 6 Fiona Coutts 6:05.48; 75mH: A: 6 Estelle Belgrave 13.48; HJ: A: 7 Petya Nanova 1.15; LJ: A: 6 Maya Faulkner 4.06; SP: A: 7 Lucy O’Brien 6.06; B: 5 Olamide Belewu 5.45; HT: A: 6 Fiona Coutts 10.71; JT: A: 7 Fiona Coutts 13.80; 4x100m: 5 (Estelle Belgrave, Lucy O’Brien, Olamide Belewu, Maya Faulkner) 56.59; 4x300m: 7 (Estelle Belgrave, Petya Nanova, Fiona Coutts, Lucy O’Brien) 3:26.7
U13 Girls
75m: A: 8 Evie McGhee 13.52; B: 8 Israa Iman 14.44; NS: Ame Uduehi 11.7; Huda Hussein 17.1; 150m: A: 7 Ame Uduehi 24.02; B: 7 Sadie Lawrence 27.03; 800m: A: 8 Sadie Lawrence 3:17.4; LJ: A: 8 Sadie Lawrence 2.78; B: 8 Huda Hussein 1.26; SP: A: 8 Israa Iman 3.43; B: 7 Huda Hussein 3.30; 4x100m: 8 (Ame Uduehi, Sadie Lawrence, Israa Iman, Evie McGhee) 73.4