National Junior League, Match 3

WGwEL's National Junior League team placed 6th in the third fixture of the season at Basildon on Sunday scoring 354.5 points, just 3.5 points behind Basildon Beagles in 5th. However, Woodford now lie 7th overall with 8 league points, ahead of Norwich on 5 but behind Basildon on 9 and The Saxons on 10. With one fixture remaining a strong turn out in the final fixture is essential to ensure survival in the Premier Division.With a team some way from full strength, Woodford's performance was characterised by many of the athletes taking on more than one event, but also by some key gaps in certain events. There were individual victories for Youcef Zatat, Healson Ihume and Paul Scanlan.

Youcef Zatat's victory came in the shot where his distance of 13.82m to win the "A" string was a personal best. Youcef also placed 4th in the discus with 40.36m and 2nd in the "B" Javelin with 41.00m. Paul Scanlan's victory came in the "B" 200m where he recorded 22.20 secs (-0.6), having earlier placed a close 2nd over 400m with 49.03 secs. Healson Ihume's win came in the long jump, with a significant improvement in his personal best to 7.04m. In the sprints, Omololu Abiodun was 5th over 100m with 11.10 secs (0.0), and then a good 2nd over 200m in 21.87 secs (-0.9). Dan Yaxley found his 2m00.11 secs in the 800m only good enough for 7th, but he also picked up valuable additional points in the 1500m where he placed 5th with 4m18.31secs, and in the "B" 400m, 7th with 56.98m. James Stockings also gained valuable middle distance points with 5th in the 3000m with 9m09.26 secs. Sam Benge placed 7th in the "B" 3000m with 10m27.26 secs and 6th in the "B" 1500m with 2m07.04 secs. The other men's throwing events brought further good points. Harry Clarke was 2nd in the hammer, just a metre behind his p.b. with 55.70m; Kurt Martyr was 3rd in the discus with 30.04m, and 4th in the javelin with 46.13m; and Hugh Williams placed a good 2nd in the "B" shot with 11.39m. In the other jumps, Peter Karibo placed 2nd in the triple jump with 14.06m and was 2nd = in the "B" high jump with 1.70m, whilst Joseph Dewar won the "B" long jump with 6.43m and Healson Ihume gained additional points with 5th in the high jump with 1.75m, with brother Christian Ihume 3rd in the "B" triple jump with 11.81m. The men's 4x100m relay team of Colin Wint, Joseph Dewar, Paul Scanlan and Omololu Abiodun were 2nd with 43.12 secs, and the 4x400m team of Tyler Brown, Omololu Abidun, Liam Blaikie and Paul Scanlan placed 4th with 3m29.24 secs. Despite the many mentioned good performances sadly the men were unable to field any competitors in any of the 110mH, 400mH, s/ch and pole vault events,and only one in the 1500m and hammer.

The women, whilst having fewer high scoring events, did however cover most of their events, with only 3 "B" string gaps. Multi-eventer Holly Pattie-Bellili was denied a personal best by the wind in the 100mH where her 14.92 secs (+2.6) placed 3rd. Holly also gained useful points in the long jump, placing 3rd with 5.06m, 6th in the triple jump with 9.84m and in the high jump with 1.45m for 8th. Sister Hannah was 6th in the "B" triple jump with 9.23m and 7th in the "B" high jump with 1.40m. In the pole vault Olivia Seaman placed 6th with 1.85m and also 8th in the javelin with 18.20m. The other jumping event, the "B" long jump saw Chelsea Ives place 6th with 4.11m and Chelsea also gained valuable points by covering the "B" hammer and javelin events. Victoria Onyeka placed 4th in the discus with 28.38m and also picked up points in the hammer, 8th with 15.00m, and in the shot where she was 6th with 7.86m. Ebony Bobb-Semple was 7th in the "B" discus with 13.18m and also 7th in the "B" shot with 5.56m. On the track, Nya Petinaud covered both sprints and against older competitors but nevertheless recorded 14.06 secs (-0.7) and 29.86 secs for 8th in each. Kumi Fawole was 7th in the "B" 100m with 13.68 secs (0.0). Suna Yokes competed over both 400m and 400mH, placing 5th in the "A" flat event with 63.71 secs, and also 5th in the "B" Hurdles event with 81.50 secs. In the "B" 400m, Georgina Ferrari was 4th with 64.15 secs, whilst in the "A" 400mH Amy Doyle was 5th with 71.13 secs, and in the "B" 100mH was 4th with 17.81 secs. Over 800m, Lucy Hayes was 7th with 2m31.15 secs, and Lauren Freeman was also 7th in the "B" with 2m55.29 secs. In the 1500m, Lauren McGregor was 6th with 4m57.32 secs, and Lucy Hayes gained further valuable points in the "B" race with 5m33.33 secs for 3rd. In the 1500m s/ch Kate Stockings was 4th with 5m41.77 secs, with Lauren Freeman, again in action, also 4th in the "B"with 6m39.79 secs, whilst the 3000m saw Becky Hewitt place 4th with 11m08.96 secs. The 4x100m relay team of Holly and Hannah Pattie-Bellili, Ebony Bobb-Semple and Chelsea Ives were 8th in 53.54 secs, and the 4x400m team of Suna Yokes, Becky Hewitt, Lauren McGregor and Kate Stockings were 6th with 4m30.96 secs.