PBS GALORE AND MORE FOR WGEL AC ATHLETES

Sunday 2nd May, 2021. At a sunshine and, at times, overcast Havering AC track in Hornchurch, the WGEL athletes were out in force, still raring to go and wanting to put their well-earned weeks and months of training to good use. Fifteen athletes in total competed in various disciplines throughout the day, which includes a a debutant on the track in the U/20 women's 1500m.

Thomas Kirkland, an U13 boy, was very impressive in the long jump with a distance of 4m 82cm (PB) which positions him 1st in the UK at present and although he stumbled in the 100m he still recorded a respectable 14.18sec. Azzurra Cioni, U13, girl also competed in the long jump and gained a PB with a leap of 4m 01cm, and there was certainly more to come from this up and coming year 6 girl. Natasha Wynn, also U13, did the high jump and cleared 1m 30cm, which was just shy of her PB, but ran very well in the 200m, coming home in a time of 28.77sec. Although this wasn't her best time it was with a legal wind, as opposed to her time last week of 28.25sec with (2.4w). Caitlin Hancock, the other U13 girl to compete, ran the 100m & 200m double. In the 200m the time was 28.93sec and again, like Natasha, this was with a legal wind, as opposed to her 28.74sec (3.2w) last week. She then followed this up with 100m in 14.06sec. Both Natasha & Caitlin's 200m adventure has propelled them into the top 5 in the UK U13 ranking.

Isabelle Kyson, in the U15 girls, continues to impress with her hurdles and, moving up to the 75m distance, showed that her training is going well with a time of 11.83sec (PB) which ranks her 3rd in the UK at the moment. Isabelle then went on to do the 300m and improved on last Sunday's outing at this distance with a PB of 43.24sec. Maia Fisher also competed in the 75m hurdles and was just behind Isabelle finishing in a PB time of 11.98sec, which would rank her 4th in the UK for U15 girls. Rebecca Wright seems to be enjoying her shot putt at the moment with yet another PB and a distance of 10m 12cm. And, not to be outdone by her peers, she also competed in another power event in the form of the 100m with a very slick and smooth run of 13.32sec, which again was a PB. Oscar Farthing Barbero and Gregor Samson, both U15 boys, ran the 800m, with a PB for Oscar in 2m 16.75sec and Gregor finishing with a time of 2m 36.52sec, just outside his PB.

For the U17 women Kezia Beeton ran the 300m and, although not feeling 100%, she still ran a good time of 43.99sec. The U17 boys were represented by a trio of athletes. Danny Raymond, running in only his 2nd 400m, improved on last Sunday's time by recodring a PB of 51.85sec, while brothers Max & Ben Richards ran 800m and 200m. Max, although going slightly too fast on the first lap, was excellent in how he was able to keep up the performance and this was rewarded with a 4sec PB, coming home in a time of 2m 01.62sec, whilst Ben, still very inexperienced in track running, in fact only his 2nd ever outdoor track race, ran 25.20sec in the 200m and this was with a legal wind, compared to last week's 25.11sec (3.1w).

Mary John & debutant Lily Yates, both U20 women, were also very good in their own right. Lily Yates, running in her 1st ever track race ran well and paced it well, more in the tank for the future for sure, the time was 5min 05.95sec. Whereas Mary John was very impressive in her 400m race, which was her first, but obviously her training has been going well, clocking an outstanding time of 54.05sec, which currently ranks her 1st in the UK rankings for her age.

As you can see, some simply marvellous performances from many of the athletes today. Their training has paid dividends and the fruits of their labour are clear to see. Roll on the rest of the T&F season, as I am sure there is definitely much more to come from them. GO TEAM WOODFORD.