Met League race 2: Young Athletes
It was always going to be tough to live up to last year’s Met League performance at Stevenage where we scored individual wins in each of the four young athlete races. This year we only managed two but both Isabella Hoy (U13G) and Jessica Burgess (U17W) claimed impressive victories; Isabella’s was anticipated after her Claybury win but it was Jessica who just stole the headlines with a revelatory performance which should give her confidence for the season ahead.
The result in the U17/U15W race could not have been called whilst the runners were in the open and in sight of the start area; it was not until they were about to disappear into the wood at the far end of the course that Jessica Burgess made her move and gradually put time into the rest of the field – so much so that by the time she emerged from the wood near the finish she had nearly 50 metres on Herts’ Ellie Baker and could come striding home a convincing winner, 9 seconds up on 2nd place and nearly 40” on 3rd. Jess was well supported by Rosie Poole who had another excellent performance for 4th place with Alicia McArdell just 5 seconds behind in 7th. The team closed with Jodi Ratcliff in 17th and were backed up by Stephanie Smith in 32nd.
Isabella Hoy’s win in the U13G race looked on the cards right from the start as she took an immediate lead; two meters by the first corner, ten by the time she completed the loop round the team camps and she continued to extend it as the race traced its way around the perimeter of the park and away in to the woodland at the south end. Her lead was substantial as she exited the woodland and one and a quarter minutes after she crossed the finish line, TVH’s India Weir followed her home in second place. Aiofe Guyatt was mildly (but unjustifiably) unhappy with her 7th place and Olivia Hounsome chipped in with a handy 12th; unfortunately, Mia Hirons was unable to finish after feeling unwell late on whilst in the woods and was forced to stop. Having no contingency runners in the field meant that our girls dropped a place in the league table as a strong Thames Valley Harriers turnout with 4 runners in the first 11 took the win on the day and also leapfrogged us to the top of the table. We will need to be at full strength if we are to retain the shield.
In the U17/U15M race, Perry Rowan was again eclipsed by the Shaftsbury Dee brothers duo who will be very hard to dislodge in their current form. Perry however showed that his consistency is coming and ran well on the smooth, even terrain which looked well suited to his style and finished with an identical 12 second gap behind Jamie Dee as at Claybury. Canaan Solomon again showed his potential against the older athletes with 5th place whilst George Hoy 17th looked a little happier than at Claybury. Harry Cavell closed the team in 51st with Taylor Reece in 55th and Michael Jordan making his debut in 60th – but it is hard giving three years away to the older runners at the head of the race.
The kudos for the being the first U13B Woodie home is keenly contested; this time James Wakefield just prevailed with his 7th place trumping Alfie Poole’s 8th by just 6 seconds. Alfie’s eagerness in the early stages was apparent and this possibly played into James’ hands as the latter’s more cautious approach allowed him conserve his energies for the final push for the line. Kyle Lundie (18th) put in another solid run and was followed home by Keelan Wilson (32nd) and Chris Hogg (35th). As a consequence our U13B team moved up from 3rd to 2nd in the league table. Our U17 men and women’s team also profited from their performances with the men moving up from 5th to 3rd and the women from 4th to 2nd.