Monaco Diamond League
Commonwealth bronze medallist Daryll Neita recorded another quality time of 10.91s for sixth place in the women's 100m.
BMC Gold Standard/Watford Open Graded Meeting
Sabrina Sinha finished fourth in the BMC women's 800m with a time of 2:07.62. Iris Williams (U15) clocked a personal best of 10:36.71 in the open 3000m.
South of England U13/15/17 Championships, Chelmsford
Cambridge Harriers athletes came home from the SEAA U13/U15/U17 Championships with one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.
Hannah Bridge secured gold in the U17 women's shot with a distance of 14.53m. Her brother Michael won silver in the U15 boys shot with 12.17m and there was a bronze for Keziah Olaleye with a personal best 46.16s in the 300m hurdles.
Across the two day championships a number of personal bests were achieved by club athletes. Zafirah Alebiosu (U17W) clocked 12.68s in the heats of the 100m and then improved to 12.50s in the final. Faith Assah (U17W) recorded 60.04s in the 400m. Gabriella Noyce (U15G) leapt to 4.57m in the long jump and Celia Yeatman (U13G) improved her 800m to 2:39.8s. (Results (thepowerof10.info))
Southern Athletics League, Gillingham
Wow! What a tense finish to the end of the Southern Athletics League. We won the last fixture of the season by a single point from Dartford Harriers (337 to 336) and have secured our promotion to Division 2! The last time we were in Division 2 was over seven years ago, so this is a HUGE achievement for the team and definitely something to be proud of.
We went into this final match with a 44 point lead over Dartford. Promotion to Division 2 was ours to lose…
Performing away at Gillingham had not gone as well as we would have liked in the second match. We relinquished a significant points advantage that we had built up over Dartford in match one, which meant by the time we went into match three we only had a four point lead. In that third match (again at Sutcliffe Park) we re-established our lead to 44 points. Clearly the final match was going to be a challenge.
Mixed Relay Teams
Women (Team Manager - Sophie Fenner)
In the 100m, Doyin and Derin Aderinto both comfortably won their races. Amirat Mohammed-Hassan equalled her personal best, with Mary Schouvaloff, Grace Kelly and Allyson Verissimo all coming away with seasons bests. Grace and Mary both ran their first 200m of the season. Grace finished in 5th place and Mary finished in 2nd with a time of 28.61s. In the 400m, we had two debutants to the event - Amelia Lawrence and Sinead Norris. They both had confident runs and finished 2nd in their respective strings. In the 100m hurdles, Amirat came 1st with a time of 16.98s.
Our distance ladies controlled the track once again. Megan Marchant came 2nd in the 800m in 2.23 and Scarlett Bennett gained a PB in a time of 2.38. Megan won the 1500m by nearly one minute and Sinead ran away with a PB. A big shout out needs to go out to Julie Backley and Rose Baker who volunteered to run the 5000m in the blistering heat. Julie came 1st and Rose 3rd in the B string with a season's best.
Sophie Fenner and Natalie Mann covered all the throwing events. Sophie won the hammer with 35.09m, with Natalie winning the B string. They both finished 2nd for their string in the shot put. In the javelin, Natalie came away with a season's best, with Sophie finishing 4th in the B string. In the final throwing event of the day, Sophie came 3rd in the A string discus and Natalie came 2nd in the B string.
In this match, the jumps were about collecting a few extra points. Due to athletes being away, we had Allyson, Grace, Amirat and Sophie step up for the job. Amirat came 3rd in the A string high jump with a solid performance of 1.38. Allyson and Grace both achieved seasons bests in the long jump. In the triple jump, Allyson and Sophie both came 3rd in the A and B string respectively.
Although no water jump, due to a hosepipe ban in Kent, Amelia won the 1500m steeplechase. This is the first year that Amelia has competed in the steeplechase, and she has shown the rest of the clubs how it’s done. Unfortunately, this was the first time we were unable to declare a 4x100m team. On the upside, this is the first SAL where we got out 2 mixed 4x400m teams. Megan, Amirat, Julie and Amelia made up the ladies' side and the teams came away with two 2nd place finishes.
On a personal note, I would like to say a huge thank you to every athlete who has represented Cambridge Harriers this season in the Southern Athletics League. We pulled together as a team this year, which has secured our promotion to Division 2. I want to continue the same work ethic and team work into next season, where the competition will be bigger and better. It has been a joy watching you all progress over the season and I cannot wait to get started next season.
Men (Team Manager - Richard Lewis)
Team selection in the build-up had been blighted by injuries, vacations, alternative athletics matches on the same day and a range of other personal commitments that meant our full squad was not available. And ‘squad’ is the keyword here. They say in international sport that you never win a major competition with just a team, you win it with a squad….and the same is true with national competition, and regional competition. It was a terrific to see how individuals in both the men and women’s squads stepped up on the day itself, competing in track and field events for which they were not expecting and, in some cases, weren’t even very experienced at!
To win a match by one point is an indication of so many small battles taking place throughout the afternoon. Looking down the team results there are many, many occasions where we either beat Dartford as they came second, or we came second but kept them firmly in our sights.
A squad, is a squad, is a squad and I’d rather not draw attention to specific individuals.
But one or two need to be mentioned. In the men’s team, Craig Lacy, in match upon match, individually provided us with 24 points, winning all of the throws. Shaquille Fernandez-Folkes runs his legs to a standstill in a variety of sprints, relays, triple, and long jump. He’s always prepared to fill in a gap created by others. Fuad Busoir, apart from competing in his own events, has shown terrific leadership for the team and been hugely supportive of new athletes stepping into a new challenge.
I could actually go through everyone who has been part of the squad this season and point out the individual contributions they have made. Those who try events they’ve never done before, just to get some points, those who were shattered, but still offered to step into a gap. A range of compromises and commitments for the good of the team and which most people can never be aware of.
So, we won! The photo of the mixed A & B 4x4 relay teams sums it up. This team came together from a range of athletes who were never down to run this in the first place. It is fitting that the final track event summed up the collective effort that the men and women’s teams have made this season. It is fitting too that, after the tent had been taken down and most people had left the arena, Craig Lacy and Andrew Kruszewski, representing all the field athletes, were still at the discus circle delivering us 11 points.
Well done to everyone, what an achievement!
Richard Lewis & Sophie Fenner
Newham & Essex Beagles Outdoor Series, Stratford
Having helped the club gain promotion in the Southern Athletics League the previous day Doyin Aderinto ran two life time bests for the 100m. In round one she crossed the line in 11.88s. In round two she clocked 11.77s for her fourth sub-12 second performance this season.
Immanuel Jegede (U17M) had his first outing for the club running 26.94s in the 200m and 58.61s for the 400m. Kola Olojede (U15B) came away with a 100m PB of 11.94s.
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