Essex T&F Championships 2021
Juniors claim medals aplenty at Essex Championships in Chelmsford
WGEL Juniors took part in the rearranged dates for Day 2 & 3 of the Essex Championships at Chelmsford Athletic Centre.
Alex Hancock took silver in the U15 Boys Javelin
Day 2 (Saturday) saw a continued improvement in the 100m U/13 boys with Alex Foster storming to victory to equal his PB and the club record that he set himself with 12.18sec. This was after coming 1st in his heat with 12.36sec. Caitlin Hancock, still recovering from a injury hit year, was first in her u/13 girls 100m heat in 14.23sec and ran a creditable 14.22sec in the final for 4th place, just outside the medals. Thomas Kirkland, u/13 boys, was 3rd in his heat of the 100m with 13.84sec and qualified for the final, but did not take part in the final due to it clashing with the long jump, for which he jumped 4m 52cm and 2nd place. Rebecca Wright, in the u/15 girls, finished 2nd in her 100m heat with a time of 13.44sec and then came 5th in the final in 13.44sec.
Medwin Odamtteh, in the U/20 men's 100m, was in impressive form with a 1st place in his heat (11.18sec) and then capped this off in the final with a PB of 10.98sec, dipping under that magical 11 second barrier and taking 2nd place. In the women's equivalent 100m, Gwendoline Datey finished 2nd in her heat with 12.31sec, and then came home with medal glory and a silver medal for 2nd place in 12.37sec. Kyra Boyce ran the 400m u/20 women's final and did not just satisfy with a 1st place in 57.28sec but also got a PB. A slightly shorter distance of 300m saw u/17 woman Zahara Malcolm claim 3rd place in the final with a PB of 41.95sec.
Natasha Wynn: U13 Girls 800m champion
Going on to the middle distance athletes, U/13 girls Natasha Wynn was also in fine form with a well deserved GOLD medal and a PB of 2m 22.74sec, which was just 25 hundredths outside the present u/13 club record, while Jasmine Hall, in the same event, finished 6th with 2m 40.07sec. Daniel Arnold ran the boys 800m and recorded a good time of 2m 39.74sec for 5th place and a PB. A trio of U/15 boys ran the 1500m, with Gregor Samson coming home 5th in his heat with 5m 12.08sec, while Nate Harding and Oscar Farthing Barbero both qualifyied for the final with their times of 4m 41.68sec and 4m 38.57sec respectively. In the final both boys finished agonisingly outside the medal positions with Oscar claiming a PB of 4m 30.49sec and Nate 4m 41.31sec. Reuben Fabian finished the middle distance events on day 2 with an 8th place finish in the u/17 men's 1500m in a time of 4m 47.92sec. To finish the track for Saturday the 75m sprint hurdles saw both Rebecca Wright & Maia Fisher in outstanding form in both the heats and final. Rebecca ran 11.95sec and Maia 12.20sec in the heats, whilst in the final Maia claimed silver with 11.80sec and Rebecca Wright went one better with 11.78sec to claim GOLD. In the field events we had Tristan Dolan in the u/13 boys hammer claiming GOLD with a PB distance of 17m 30cm and Kai Wright threw 34m 94cm to also claim GOLD in the u/20 mens hammer.
U15 Boys 800m: Oscar Farthing Barbero (silver) & Nate Harding (bronze)
On Day 3 (Sunday) the trend for medals and PBs continued at pace. Alex Foster, not satisfied with his 100m victory the previous day, then went on a very impressive and astonishing run to claim GOLD in the 200m with a new CLUB RECORD and CHAMPIONSHIP BEST PERFORMANCE time of 24.59sec. In the u/17 women's 200m Kirsten Pacey ran 30.47sec and took 8th, whilst Gwendoline Datey did a double in the sprints taking a silver in the u/20 women's 200m in 25.59sec. In the middle distance events the u/15 boys of Oscar Farthing Barbero & Nate Harding were there again after their antics in the 800m the day before. This time, after both qualifying for the final in 2m 09.83sec PB and 2m 14.06sec respectively, they wanted to amend for just missing out in the 1500m. The final was very competitive but Oscar ran very well to lower his PB again for a SILVER in 2m 09.55sec and Nate was delighted to come just one place behind in BRONZE medal position with 2m 10.79sec and a PB. U/13 girl Natasha Wynn ran the 1500m and finished 4th with 5m 10.33sec. Like the u/15 boys, Reuben Fabian did the middle distance double over the two days and was feeling much better with himself finishing with a PB of 2m 09.98sec. The last track athlete was Matilda Frith, who decided to take part in the gruelling 3000m and kept a nice pace throughout with a sprint to finish in the home straight. Matilda finished 6th in 12m 37.09sec.
U15 Boys Javelin: Alex Hancock
In the field events on Sunday, Kharina Partidge took bronze in the u/17 women's triple jump with 9m 70cm, and Caitlin Hancock jumped an impressive distance of 4m 01cm for bronze in the u/13 girls long jump. Her brother Alex Hancock extended his PB in the u/15 boys Javelin and was pleased with a SILVER medal with a distance of 35m 37cm. Rebecca Wright again excelled in another of her disciplines, the u/15 girls shot putt, and not only recorded a SILVER medal but got a PB and extended her own CLUB RECORD that much further. Lastly Gbemi Majekodunmi claimed SILVER in the u/17 women's hammer witha PB of 40m 24cm, and Simbiyat Sikiru threw just shy of her PB distance in the u/20 women's hammer with a GOLD medal and 50m 39cm.
In one way or another all of these athletes continue to thrive and improve week in week out, and the future certainly seems to be very bright indeed.