Chingford League 4th Fixture: Hackney Marshes
WGEL U11s where back toeing-the-line this weekend in the Chingford league at Hackney Marshes. This was the fourth race of this winter league. The league season consists of six races in total with over 20 clubs competing from North & East London. An overall team and individual competition takes place (based on the athlete’s best five results) over the series.
The junior race regularly attracts 50-60 young athletes and is 2k in distance. Venues include Trent Park, Hogg Hill and the Olympic Velopark. Going into this race, WGEL U11s boys and girls stood in a strong position despite missing Trent Park (Met League clash )in both team and individual competitions. This was after good performances at Hogg Hill and Velopark. Could this continue?
Pic: Joe Everitt
Results - U11s Boys and Girls
Boys WGEL A team: Oliver Brown (1st) Thomas Kirkland (2nd) & Daniel Arnold (3rd)
Boys WGEL Squad: Yuvan Kumar (7th), Zac Everitt (8th) & Ethan Day (12th)
Girls WGEL A team: Autumn Le Chevalier (1stt), Eliza Bridges (2nd) & Faye Owers (3rd)
Girls WGEL Squad: Jasmine Hall (4th), Amber Higgs-Smith (6th) & Chloe Jennings (7th)
WGEL Girls A Team (U9s): Marissa Higgs-Smith (1stt) & Sophia Parker (2nd)
Race Report
The junior race incorporates U9s, U11s & U13s (boys and girls) together. Results then split out for boys, girls, and age groups. The 2k course saw all the athletes run twice around Hackney Marshes' famous football pitches with a small wooded section along the canal. This was very muddy, and despite being flat, the course was far from fast with standing pools of water dotted along the route.
In the U11s boys first home for WGEL and winner on the day was Oliver Brown (1st). This was a fine victory. Once again, Oliver was side-by-side throughout the race with teammate Thomas Kirkland. Exactly, as it had been the previous week at Ally Pally (Met League). On that occasion, Thomas ended one place ahead of Oliver after a great sprint finish. This time Oliver kicked home first, finishing two seconds ahead of Thomas (2nd) who was next home with another fantastic run. Right behind Oliver and Thomas was Daniel Arnold (3rd). Daniel is a fantastic, gritty runnerand he powered home to complete a terrific one, two three for the WGELU11 boys and maximum points for the team. Wow!
Yuvan Kumar (7th) was next home in his first cross-country race of the season. On this evidence, there is a lot more to come! Yuvan was just ahead of Zac Everitt (8th) and Ethan Day (12th) who, like their teammates, showed great determination and resilience, finishing well ahead of many older U13 athletes and completed a fantastic effort from the whole squad.
In the U11s girls, our WGEL team once again shone extremely bright! First home and winner of the U11s race was Autumn Le-Chevalier. This was fantastic reward for Autumn, who worked hard over the two-lap course for a well-deserved victory. Autum, loves racing with her WGEL teammates and despite being wary about racing with “boys and U13s!” performed beautifully, following closely behind our own U11 boy Daniel Arnold for most of the race.
Eliza Bridges (2nd) finished very strongly for second place. Eliza is in a great vein of form and is flourishing in the cross-country races this winter. Faye Owers (3rd) was next home. Faye remained brilliantly focused throughout the race, making her way through the pack and finishing with style, gliding over the standing pools of water. Jasmine Hall (4th) ran the grittiest race of the day. Despite a sore foot, Jasmine ran tremendously, even held off three U13s athletes into the finishing funnel. Such was her desire to keep her position. Jasmine capped a wonderful first, second, third and fourth place finishes for WGEL U11 girls.
Amber Higgs-Smith (6th) and Chloe Jennings (7th) completed the U11s girl squad. Amber is starting to see her fitness return and is closing the gap on athletes ahead. Chloe deserves huge praise on her first cross-country race. She never gave up in tough conditions. Well done.
U9’s - Marissa Higgs-Smith (1st) was the winner of the U9s race on the day. Marissa is a bundle of fun and has been a regular at training this season. That consistency has taken her to the front of her age group peers and she added this victory to her win at Hogg Hill. Marissa’s close friend and teammate Sophia Parker (2nd)was close behind taking second on the day, adding to her third and first placed finishes in previous races. These two are superstars and the next generation of team WGEL!
With our boys and girls well positioned after this fixture, there could be team and individual medals up for grabs at the final two races. These are at Victoria Park (1st Feb) and Wansted (March 7th). Up the WGEL!