Shaky start in SAL
Woodford ended the first SAL fixture of the year at the back of a tightly contested match despite some very strong performances. The match was staged at Lee Valley after a late relocation and with a new 6 team format. As results came in the teams were clearly splitting into two groups of three. Revisions have changed the placings multiple times since the end of the match, with Cambridge Harriers now winners from Victoria Park Tower Hamlets AC who were a single point ahead of Dacorum. Hosts London Heathside were not as strong as they usually are at their Finsbury Park home but finished 4th just ahead of Bexley with Woodford 1 point behind.
Despite some injuries and withdrawals later in the day the men’s team scored strongly, including 8 A string wins. Performance of the match for the men went to George Vaughan for his 14.57 PB in the 110m hurdles (+1.2). Short sprints were generally aided by the wind, albeit often just over the legal limit 2m/s limit. Moyin Odeniran took the 100m in 10.93 (+2.7) despite a late stumble, but was unable to contest subsequent events. Matthew Adum-Yeboah was more fortunate with the wind, with 10.85(+2.0) in the B 100m and an impressive 21.80PB (+1.5) to win the 200m. At 3000m Angus Holford corrected a lap miscount before pulling away from the field in 9:12.14. Among other young athletes able to compete in the SAL for the first time Josiah Mohammed won the B 400m in his first race at the distance, Max Kosheck equalled his PB in the 800m and Aidan O’Driscoll improved his pole vault best to 2.10. The men’s field saw good performances in the throws, but the most surprising result was in the jumps. New U20 member Wilfred Williams was disappointed to only clear his opening height in the high jump, albeit this enabled U17 Chiji Nwankwo to take joint-first in the B, but then shocked himself to win a brand new event for him in the triple jump. He improved in each of the first five rounds to win in 13.31, while team manager Alan James almost as surprisingly beat all the other B strings despite jumping much less distance than the WGEL women. Another M45, Gideon Stander, significantly improved his javelin best since returning to the event after two decades to 52.93 for another unexpected victory and came second in his first ever hammer competition (40.92) enabling M55 Fergus Harford to take the B string. Christopher Linque won the discus in 40.93, with Hugh Williams to taking the B (35.10). Despite also earning officials points so doing fewer events than in some matches, Hugh was once again the team’s highest points scorer including a win in the shot put in 12.42, his furthest since 2019.
WGEL had a weaker women’s team than normal, with gaps exacerbated by illness and injury, including a twisted ankle during the 400m hurdles by Rhianna Buaku who was thus unavailable for subsequent events. The only wins came from Kirsty Bateman Foley in the javelin in a 41.82 PB and Simbiyat Sikiru in the hammer in 51.47 while Simbi also threw a PB in the shot, 8.96. Lakhesia Adams Poku was one of several denied PBs by the wind as she was second in the 200m in 25.29 (+2.1) after finishing 3rd in the 100 12.33(+2.8). U17 Isabelle Kyson was more fortunate in the B with 26.22(+1.9), after her 12.64 in the non-scoring 100m was over the allowable limit (+3.1). Another competing in the SAL at her first opportunity was Anaand Tratt who improved her best at 1500m to 5:14.76. There was frustration in the triple jump, with Kharina Partridge registering just one valid jump for second just ahead of U17 Yenime Tindiey, who improved to 10.67 in just her second time at the event but was 1cm behind the B string win. The most improbable SAL debutante, given she has been competing countless times for the club in at least 9 different competitions since well before the league started, was Kitan Eleyae. While Kitty is a former age-group international sprinter, her B 100m was her first individual race since 2016 though her role in anchoring the 4x100 was more familiar as the team including Isabelle Kyson, Tiya Canning Lawrence and Lakhesia Adams Poku finished 3rd in a competitive 50.00. The only other relay team Woodford could field was a men’s 4x400m. The quartet of Videsh Weerakkody, Pete Caton, Chiji Nwankwo and Nathan Yao overcame some tricky changeovers to finish 2nd in 3:45.39 with Nathan’s split the fastest (53.6) in his first attempt at the distance. While the final position may change following results verification, either fifth or sixth means the team needs a stronger result in the next match, at Mile End on June 18th, to avoid a relegation scrap in the second half of the season.