2021-22 Met League 4: U11/U13
The fourth Met League fixture took place at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday 15th January. The previous fixture at Uxbridge had been challenging with a large number of WGEL athletes missing due to fixture clashes and transport issues. The squad again faced a fixture clash (Essex Schools) but help was at hand with the club (thanks committee!) hiring a team coach to ease transport issues! This was a great gesture. It put the squad on the front foot and with the athletes, parents, kit bags and club tent on-board it was off to Scrubs with a beep of the horn!
The Course
The junior races were run on the vast, grass sports pitches at the Scrubs. Terrain was flat and muddy. The start and finish were adjacent to one another. Athletes ran various single loop courses around the pitches, with a small wooded section toward the finish. U13 athletes ran 3km. U11 athletes ran 2km.
Going into the fixture, the juniors were looking to close the gap on clubs ahead who had benefited from WGEL problems at Uxbridge and had opened up leads in the table. The chase was on!
U13 Boys: Woodford A team 1st & B team 8th
WGEL had 8 boys in a total field of 44 athletes. 16 clubs competed.
The field set off at a fast pace. Tom Mythen (SMR), overall Met leader, was again at the front with Daniel Jelfs (SMR), Prince-Victorus John (SHB) and Euan Phillips (SHB). As at Uxbridge, after 2km John found himself stranded between the leaders and chasing pack.The chasing pack included WGEL athletes Harry Stockill, Daniel Arnold and Oliver Brown. These boys had worked hard together behind the leaders and, with WGEL debutant Teddy Newson (recently arrived from Basildon AC) just behind, WGEL had 4 boys around the top 10 and were reeling in the leaders!
Coming into finish, Jelfs (SMR) produced a decent kick to takea narrow victory over Mythen (SMR). Euan Philips (SHB) was third. The WGEL boys were now chasing John (SHB) in 4th place hard. John (SHB) managed to hold his place with a strong finish, but the next finishing positions were dominated by WGEL. Harry Stockill (5th), Oliver Brown (6th), Daniel Arnold (7th) and Teddy Newson (12th) came flying home behind the leaders.
Harry is closing on the top three and will have eyes on the podium in last fixture. Oliver (6th) had his best race of the season and is in a good vein of form. Daniel and Teddy are lower year U13 and can be very proud of their runs! These boys closed WGEL A team in 12 places. They won the team race. Incredibly, their victory was so large that they also overturned Shaftesbury Barnet's (SHB) 35 point lead after Uxbridge to re-claim overall top spot in the league!
Opening the B team was debutant Faris Akhtar (17th). Faris is coached by Laura Millward at Ashton. He has only run at school and this was a fine debut. Stephen Ng (24th) was next home. He sensibly eased off training to recover from a niggle in recent weeks and it was good to see him finish safely. Charlie Howes (34th), another debutant, was right behind Stephen. Charlie shows great promise with a lovely relaxed running style. Jude Purser (43rd) closed the B team in an excellent 8th place, moving up to 9th (from 11th) in the overall table.
U13 Girls: Woodford A team 1st & B team 8th
WGEL had 7 girls in a total field of 33 athletes. 14 clubs competed.
WGEL athlete Natasha Wynn took out the early running, ahead of Posie Shaw (SHB) and Jorja March (Barnet). Natasha, missing at Uxbridge, led from Shaw (SHB) who had beaten March (Barnet)in the previous race to lead the individual medals.These three have dominated the podium to date and was the case again at Scrubs.
Natasha led to half way, but having taken out the early running her stop-start training of recent weeks took their toll. The mud was sapping and Shaw and March came past Natasha with 1km to go. Natasha showed great determination. Responding to the move she kept them in sight to finish 2 seconds behind March (Barnet). Shaw (SHB) won and looked strong at the finish. Natasha said after the race she “lacked focus” but was pleased to finish and remains in contention for individual medals.
Eliza Bridges (7th) was next home with an outstanding run. Eliza looked confident and got into a good position at the start, just behind the leaders. She held this throughout the race and finished well, holding off Van Zyl (Hill) in the final 200m. Van Zyl was 30 seconds ahead of Eliza at Uxbridge. Eliza’s performance can be put down to a combination of sensible training and school races. Just ten seconds behind Eliza was WGEL athlete Jasmine Hall (10th). Jasmine showed great strength holding off Lindley (Highgate) and Cobbold (Highgate) in a sprint finish to claim another top ten finish.
Autumn Le Chevalier Jones (15th) was next home. Autumn has trained sparingly in recent weeks due to an ankle injury sustained at the Essex CC. To add to the drama, Autumn ran most of this race with one shoe, losing it in the mud! Given the circumstances it was a great run and pleasing to see her smiling after the race. Autumn will make sure her laces are tight in the next race!
Autumn closed the WGEL A team in 15 places.They took victory on the day and reclaimed top spot from London Heathside in the overall league table.
Faye Owers (17th) opened the WGEL B team, just 15 seconds behind Autumn. Faye ran well in the mud and has been incredibly consistent throughout the winter. As a lower age U13, Faye still has loads of progress to come and will have eyes on the podium next season!
Tess Noblet (19th) was next home for WGEL. Tess’s training stopped over New Year for an operation. She is now thankfully on the mend. Tess’s coach gave her one objective - to “finish safely”. Objective complete. Tess will kick on from here. Daisy Sherrin (29th) was next home. Daisy is lower age group U13 and has really progressed this winter. Sadly, due to rolling her ankle, Lila Vladher (WGEL) was unable to finish the race.This left the B team incomplete but, because of the great runs by 3 of the team, they still finished 8th on the dayand retained 8th place in the overall table
U11 Girls: Woodford A team 1st & B team 2nd
WGEL had 10 girls in a total field of 33 athletes. 13 clubs competed.
Isabella Marriott (Trent Park), the overall individual Met leader, was the pre-race favourite, with Sofia Bennett (Ealing) and Elsie Fitzgerald (Hill) also in contention following previous podium positions.
These three were again at the front at the Scrubs, chased by the WGEL girls! Leading the chase was Eva Prince (4th). Eva took a well-earned break over Christmas and looked fresh and, despite lacking race sharpness, flew over the mud to finish fourth behind Fitzgerald (Hill) in third and Bennett (Ealing) in second. Eva was 15 seconds behind winner Marriott (Trent Park). She will be eying the podium in the next race at Trent Park!
The finish funnel was now a sea of green and white. Sofia Sneath (5th) was next home, just one second behind team-mate Eva. This was Sofia’s best run in a WGEL vest. Sofia has worked hard in recent weeks. Benefiting from “warm weather training” with family in Spain over Christmas. Her run on the day was a reflection of that excellent training!
Sophia Parker (6th) continued her fine form this winter, finishing 2 seconds behind Sofia. This was another great run in the mud from Sophia. Closing the A team was debutant Emily Mathias (9th). Emily trains with the WASP teams. Clashes with other sports have limited her race opportunities, but she is a great all-round athlete and she closed the WGEL A team with a fine debut run. The girls won the team race and, in so doing, extended their lead to 227 points in the league!
Zoe Wright (11th) was very unlucky not to make the A team with another outstanding run. Zoe is currently 3rd in the individual Met standings. Her consistency has been tremendous this season with the finale at Trent Park to come! Three WASP graduates then romped home behind Zoe.
Gracie Fayinka (14th) had a fine run, off limited training over Christmas and finished with her customary huge smile. Tille Stears (20th) was next home followed by Isla Barron (21st) who ran brilliantly and is improving fast. They closed the B team in 21 places. This was a tremendous result. It gave a 1st and 2nd for WGEL on the day in the team event! The B team are third overall, just 14 points behind Herts Phoenix in second.
The squad was completed by Laial Ferdinand (32nd), Shantay Charles (33rd). These girls are new to cross country and will be looking to close in on the runners ahead as they continue their training!
U11 Boys: Woodford A team 3rd / B team 9th
WGEL had 7 athletes from a field of 43 in total. 16 clubs competed.
The race got off to a flyer with WGEL Toby Taylor, fresh from his disappoinment at Uxbridge, leading the way! Toby did drop off the pace after 800m to finish 16th but it was a gutsy attempt to break the dominance of Marcus Muers (ESM), Ben Kasper (SBH) and Robin Greenwood (Trent Park), who once again filled the top three places.
Behind the leaders WGEL athletes Eric Frith (10th) and Oskar Prince (11th) were running well. Eric and Oskar were involved in an almighty tussle with a pack of ten athletes! The boys gave it everything and got right to the front of this group with only Hounsell (Hill) getting away over the last 200m.
Just 9 seconds separated places 10-17 and in amongst this were WGEL’s Toby Taylor (16th) and Giorgio Francescotti (17th). This was Giorgio's debut.What a run! Giorgio is a keen footballer and trains at Ashton once a week with the team. He should be proud of his run and he closed the WGEL A team in 16 places. The team finished third on the day and are 4th overall. They have been unlucky this year having regularly finished 4 boys first, but without a top 3 runner it has been hard to topple the teams ahead who regularly have runners in the top 5.
Opening the B team was Tayo Adetona (22nd). Tayo is a WASP graduate and running really well in his first season. He has real potential. Next home was Albie Manuel (30th). Albie was disappointed with his run but this is also his first season and he is doing well. Elijah Waterfield (38th) was next home for WGEL and has been training well. Adding a regular Junior Park run to his weekends which is helping his progress. Elijah closed the B team which was incomplete but the points Tayo, Albie and Elijah scored were enough for 8th place and to retain 12th overall in the table.
The final Met League (Race 5) is at Trent Park on Saturday 19th February. It’s all to play for!