A reduced team of fifteen ESM U20 and U17 athletes travelled to Oxford on Sunday April 29th for their first Youth Development League match of the summer, writes Tim Hannah. Unfortunately, the weather limited opportunities for personal best performances, with strong winds and temperatures only just above freezing. It felt more like mid-winter than spring-time, but at least the sleet had finished before the match started.
The meeting started positively with the U17 women’s 300m hurdles race, won comfortably by Feia Starkey in a time of 48.5, earning her an AAA grade 4 performance.
The men’s 1500m races involved Arun Manget who stepped up an age group to place second in the U20 race and Matteo Lamagna, also second in the U17s.
Arun Manget (library photo by Bruce Li)
Our sprinters turned up in force. Maya Faulkner placed third in the A string of the U20 women’s 100m, while Laura Stewart won the B string. Both clocked the same time of 13.8. Olamide Belewu finished fourth in the U17 100m, and Davina Williams and Kehanna Noel ran as non scorers. For the men, Kamau Muhammad came fourth in the U20 100m in 12.0, with Miles Bernadine third.
Miles Bernadine, Bilal Uba & Kamau Muhammad (library photo by Bruce Li)
Over 200m, U20s Kamau Muhammad and new member Bilal Uba were both second in the A and B string races respectively, while Trevan Robinson – another new member – was second in the U17 race. Olamide Belewu was third in the U17 women’s race and Maya Faulkner third for the U20s.
Maya Faulkner (library photo by Bruce Li)
Racing over 800m was difficult, with strong headwinds on the back straight. Matteo Lamagna came second in the U17 men’s race, and Charlie Cooney-Quinn also second in the U17 women’s race.
We did have a good number of relay teams with our athletes combined with those from St Mary’s Richmond, our partner club. In the 4x100m, our U20 women were fourth, and the U17 women third. The U20 men’s team finished second and the U17 men were third.
In the 4x400m, the U17 men were second in a two-club race and the U20 women were the only competitors.
Out in the very cold field, another superb throw from Luke Miller won the U20 javelin throw with a distance of 50.90m, an AAA Grade 3 throw. Kamau Muhammad placed second in the U20 men’s hammer. Bilal Uba came fourth in the U20 men’s long jump, Miles Bernadine was third in the U17 competition. Trevan Robinson won the U17 high jump with a leap of 1.65m.
Sjanneke Rumley won the U20 women’s shot with 7.11, and came second in both the discus and hammer. U17 Emily Nicholson Stanwix and U20 Petya Nanova both finished fourth in their respective long jump competitions.
After a long day out in the cold, our composite Ealing St Mary’s team finished fourth out of the five clubs, behind winners Hillingdon, second-placed Vale of Aylesbury and just behind Oxford.
Thanks to athletes, team managers, coaches and all who turned out in such unfriendly weather conditions. Our next two matches (Sun 27 May and Sun 1 May) are both in West London, so we hope to get many more athletes out for these events – and hopefully much better weather!
Match scores:
Hillingdon 666; Vale of Aylesbury 456; Oxford 347; ESM 340; Thames Valley Harriers 227
ESM results summary:
U20 men: 100m: A: 4 Kamau Muhammad 12.0; B: 3 Kashane Gayle 11.7; 200m: A: 5 Kamau Muhammad 24.2; B: 4 Bilal Uba 24.8; 400m: 5 Alfie Crews 58.1; 800m: 3 AN Other 2:11.0; 1500m: 2 Arun Manget (U17) 5:01.2; 400mH: 2 Alfie Crews 69.0; 4x100m: 2 ESM 46.3; LJ: 4 Bilal Uba 5.35; HT: 2 Kamau Muhammad 21.91; JT: 1 Luke Miller 50.90
U17 men: 100m: A: 5 Jack Marston 12.1; B: 3 Miles Bernardine 11.8; 200m: A: 5 Oliver Campbell 24.2; B: 1 Miles Bernardine 24.9; 800m: A: 1 Aidan Aherne 2:08.6; B: 2 Matteo Lamagna 2:39.9; 1500m: A: 2 Declan Connolly 4:51.9; B: 2 Matteo Lamagna 5:25.4; 4x100m: 4 ESM 49.8; 4x400m: 2 ESM 4:06.8; LJ: A: 4 Jack Marston 5.06; B: 3 Miles Bernardine 4.49; DT: A: 1 Matthew Collingridge 38.80; B: 1 Alexander Talver 29.15; HJ: 1 Trevan Robinson 1.65; JT: 4 Aryan Varma 13.35; SP: A: 1 Matthew Collingridge 13.38; B: 1 Alexander Talver 8.77
U20 women: 100m: A: 3 Maya Faulkner (U17) 13.8; B: 1 Laura Stewart 13.8; 200m: A: 5 Maya Faulkner (U17) 28.6; B: 1 Laura Stewart 28.3; 100mH: 1 Laura Stewart 19.1; 4x100m: 4 ESM 57.2; 4x400m: 1 ESM 5:00.5; LJ: 4 Petya Nanova (U17) 4.10; SP: 1 Sjanneke Rumley 7.11; DT: 2 Sjanneke Rumley 14.72; HT: 2 Sjanneke Rumley 23.60
U17 women: 100m: A: 4 Olamide Belewu 13.9; B: 3 Katy Shirtcliffe 13.7; NS: Davina Williams 14.5; Kehanna Noel 17.5; 200m: 3 Olamide Belewu 28.3; 300m: 3 Emily Bashford 47.1; 800m: 2 Charlotte Cooney-Quinn 2:50.7; 300mH: 1 Feia Starkey 48.5; 4x100m: 3 ESM 54.1; LJ: A: 4 Emily Nicholson-Stanwix 4.72; B: 1 Emily Bashford 4.55
Full results on power of 10