EYAL: Young Athletes 3rd
Woodford's Young Athletes travelled to Braintree for their second Easter Young Athletes League match where the weather was sunny with a cool breeze down the home straight against the runners.
Woodford came away with a very good result of 3rd place, despite the throwing events of hammer and discus being cancelled due to the cage been damaged last week by high winds. Our score of 527 was our best since joining the league, and hopefully this will increase once the League decide how to award points for the cancelled throw events, where Woodford had had strong athletes lined up.
The Under 13 boys came 2nd, with Sidnie Ward saying he was “disappointed” after running 2 mins 16.7 for 800m, placing him 1st in the UK. Later Sidnie placed 2nd in the 200m in a PB of 27.1, which also puts him in top 15 in the UK. The performance of the day, however, was by our new member Abdul Icare, who scorched through his 200m in 26.2, which puts him 3rd in the UK. Amazing for his first race for us! Lomar Dewar won the shot with 8.20 metres. George McPherson also excelled in the 1500m, taking 23 seconds off his PB, running 5mins 35secs for 6th overall.
The Under 15 Boys placed 4th, with Joe Geller running a fine race for 2nd overall in his 800m, in 2mins 17.1secs, a new PB by 4 seconds - and Joe is bottom year for this age group. Joey O’Neill also scored a good overall win in the High Jump, with 1.68 metres.
The Under 17 Men placed 3rd, with Shayne Dewar scoring two great wins, in the 100m with 11.3 and the 200m with 22.6. In the B string 100m Brandon Schibchurn, a bottom year Under 17, ran a PB of 11.8. Adam Mountford scored an emphatic victory in the 400 B string, in 52.8secs, a big PB. I must also hugely praise Thomas Finch for fitting in 3 events along with officiating!
In the Under 13 Girls we were 5th, with Louise Acorns scoring a fine victory in the High Jump, with 1.35 metres. Notable too, perhaps our youngest competitor on the day, Hollie McArdell, who is not 11 until August, took another 7 seconds off her 1500 PB with 5 mins 37.6 for 5th overall.
In the Under 15 Girls we were 4th. Outstanding here was Kyesha Robinson, who is yet to be beaten outdoors this year, winning the 100m in 13.0 and the 200m in 26.1. Also running extremely well was Ademilola Olugbode, winning the B strings in the 100m with 13.3 and the 200m with 26.5. The middle distance girls all set big PBs, with Louise Gilbert taking 11 secs off her PB over 1500m, running 5mins 09.1secs for 3rd overall. Behind her was Siena Taylor, running 5mins 23.0secs for 6th overall, with Olivia Corbett, a non-scorer, running 5mins 27secs, some 10 seconds than quicker before. In the 800m Lacey Fuhr, recovering from injury, removed 7 secs from her PB by running 2mins 39secs for 5th overall, with Hannah Page running 2mins 42.2secs for 7th overall.
The Under 17 Women came 3rd with a lot of gutsy performances, with most of the girls studying for exams. Phoebe Fuhr, reliable as ever, did 3 events plus some officiating.
I must also thank the officials, all who were not provided with lunches - these people deserve a huge amount of praise as without them these meetings would not go ahead.
Team Managers Wendy Fuhr, Paul Cheal and Helen Finch must also be thanked for their hard work throughout the day. I must also thank Gladys Bird for being there after taking her British League team to a fine 6th place at Sheffield the day before.
All in all a good day for the Woodies, and now we await the final outcome of the League's decision regarding the allocation of points for the cancelled throwing events. Finally, I must thank the parents for transporting athletes to the stadium.
John Stow