Our U20/U17 squad continued their fine start to the Youth Development League at Perivale on Sunday, winning 22 events and finishing third. It was mild and dry but an early headwind robbed some of the sprinters of good times. However, the club’s athletes achieved 14 personal bests, mainly in the field events.
The U20 men dominated the track races. Will Lord and Desmond Ofasi won both A and B races respectively in the 100m and 200m, Will gaining a PB in the 200m. Tom Sanders set a 100m PB in the non-scoring race before enjoying a convincing win in his first 400m, while Rowan Board won the B string 400m. Reece Farren took the opportunity to clock his first sub-60 400m. Charlie Sillett took full points in the 800m and led off the winning relay team. In the 1500m, Mukhtar Farah, (shown below anchoring the 4×400), tracked the leader for three laps before accelerating past with 200m to go. Raunak Mainali won the B string in his first 1500m, also delivering an impressive finishing sprint. The track squad finished their afternoon with a dominant performance in the 4x400m. In the field, jumper Joel Wynter continued to make light work of the opposition, winning the long and triple jumps with a PB in the former, whilst also notching up a win in the high jump. Eliot Stewart matched his PBs in both the high jump and triple jump. Hammer thrower Karolis Narvilas continued his impressive progress with a good series, his winning throw some 3m further than his previous best. He also bettered his shot put record, whilst Kamau Muhammad scored maximum points in the B strings.
U17 javelin-thrower Luke Miller managed another huge improvement, adding a further 3m to his best to win with 54.08. He remains in the top ten on the national rankings for 2016. Also in the field, Maateo Vao achieved a PB in the hammer, and was close to his best in winning the 800m B race. The photo below shows the combined U20/U17 800m race, where a PB effort saw John Fielding go past Charlie Sillett. Luke Adar achieved a PB in the 1500m and produced his best long jump to date, albeit wind-assisted. Lucas Sheehan competed well in his first 400m, while Mattia Cilurzo won the sprint hurdles into a significant headwind.
The women managed only two wins but U17 Nicola Ravenhill, pictured below, ducked well under the 5-minute barrier for the first time in her front-running 1500m, while Laura Davies won the B string 100m. Roisin Lynch (pictured top) achieved a PB in the triple jump, and ran a good second leg in the 4x300m, as did Nicola. Thrower Zoya Styles made a significant improvement to her hammer throw, finishing second to one of the country’s top throwers. Zoya also added another centimetre to her shot put. Besirat Tesfu made a welcome return to competition, scoring useful points in both the horizontal jumps. Kamile Bykovaite misjudged her triple jump run-ups but finished second in the long jump B.
Guildford & Godalming were once again clear winners of the match, while both Vale of Aylesbury and Chichester upped their game this time, but ESM maintained the good points scoring from the first match.
Thanks to all club members and other volunteers who helped make this match a success: officials, team managers, coaches, Carole in the tea bar, Paul Stewart for taking the photos, other parents who lent a hand, and of course the athletes themselves. The next match is in Bournemouth on Sunday 26th June.
Match results
1 Guildford & Godalming 603; 2 Vale of Aylesbury 538; 3 ESM 428; 4 Chichester 345; 5 Bournemouth & NFJ 309; 6 Havant & Isle of Wight 142; 7 Team Hounslow 0
ESM Results summary
U17 Men
400m: A: 2 Lucas Sheehan 54.71; 800m: A: 3 John Fielding 2:05.41; B: 1 Maateo Vao 2.15.19; 1500m: A: 3 Luke Adar 4:55.07; 100mH: A: 1 Mattia Cilurzo 16.51; LJ: A: 2 Luke Adar 3.73; HJ: A: 3 Maateo Vao 1.70; JT: A: 1 Luke Miller 54.08
U20 Men
100m: A: 1 Will Lord 11.43; B: 1 Desmond Ofasi 11.66; NS: Tom Sanders 11.68; Kamau Muhammad 12.00; ; Ash Conteh 12.28; Vaughan Rhule 13.58; 200m:A: 1 Will Lord 22.79; B: 1 Desmond Ofasi 24.10; NS: Tom Sanders 23.64; Rowan Board 24.76; Ash Conteh 25.49; 400m: A: 1 Tom Sanders 54.54; B: 1 Rowan Board 53.22; NS: Reece Farren 58.01; 800m: 1 Charlie Sillett 2:06.04; 1500m: A: 1 Mukhtar Farah 4:16.00; B: 1 Raunak Mainali 4:42.75; HJ: A: 1=Joel Wynter 1.50; B: 1 Eliot Stewart 1.50; LJ: A: 1 Joel Wynter 6.51; TJ: A: 1 Joel Wynter 12.49; B: 1 Eliot Stewart 9.77; SP: A: 2 Karolis Narvilas 8.13; B: 1 Kamau Muhammad 7.15; HT: A: 1 Karolis Narvilas 36.72; B: 1 Kamau Muhammad 16.85; JT: A: 2 Karolis Narvilas 23.13; 4x400m: 1 (Charlie Sillett, John Fielding (U17), Reece Farren, Mukhtar Farah) 3:47.15
U17 Women
100m: A: 2 Lottie Horton 13.43; B: 1 Laura Davies 13.75; 200m: A: 4 Lottie Horton 27.75; B: 2 Amber Henry 28.47; 300m: A: 4 Cameron Thomas 46.12; 800m: A: 3 Nicola Ravenhill 2:28.60; 1500m: A: 1 Nicola Ravenhill 4:58.04; B: 3 Roisin Lynch 5:58.67; 80mH: A: 3 Laura Stewart 14.62; 300mH: A: 3 Laura Stewart 50.50; TJ: A: 2 Roisin Lynch 9.43; SP: A: 3 Zoya Styles 8.82; HT: A: 2 Zoya Styles 39.48; JT: A: 5 Zoya Styles 15.25; 4x100m: 3 (Laura Davies, Amber Henry, Cameron Thomas, Lottie Horton) 52.18; 4x300m: 3 (Cameron Thomas, Roisin Lynch, Nicola Ravenhill, Laura Stewart) 3:07.81
U20 Women
LJ: A: 2 Besirat Tesfu 4.95; 2 Kamile Bykovaite 4.26; TJ: A: 3 Besirat Tesfu 9.92
Full results here