U17/U20 Men’s YDL Match 2

Despite Woodford finishing 5th on the day it was a solid showing by the U17/20s Men’s team, finishing 3rd in the males section, just 11pts off winning the men's section.

Thanks to U17 long jumpers Luca Kaye and Omari Paul-Jones we got off to a flying start. Luca secured second place in the A string with an impressive PB jump of 6.10m whist Omari secured the B string win in his first competitive Woodford match after recovering from a long term injury with a leap of 5.52m.

In the Field there was similar success. Noah Wooding took the victory in the U20 Shot with a distance of 10.42m. He had a busy day, taking 2nd in the Discus with 25.29m as well as 1st place in the B string Hammer with a distance of 33.77m. This was a tightly fought contest between 3 Woodford hammer throwers, and he was not far behind the A string winner and our very own Luke Finch. Luke managed a distance of 34.13m to take the win. However Kai Wright, who acted as a non-scorer in this event, deserves a mention as after a lengthy period without training he came back to throw 36.13m. In the U17 throws Alex Hancock was in fine form, hitting PBs in all 3 of his events: 18.88m in the Discus for 4th spot, 18.84m in the Hammer for 2nd place, and surpassing 40m with a throw of 40.65  to take 2nd place and a AAA grade 3 standard throw in the Javelin (an expensive day for his dad, I am told!). When asked, Alex said he had “an alright” day. Well done Alex!

Our U17 High Jumpers took top spot in both the A and the B string events. Marcel Winter achieved a height of 1.75m to take the overall win, and Omari Paul-Jones followed up his fine Long Jump display with another good performance of 1.55m.

Rounding off the field events and completing a strong U17 performance in the field events was Tyrees Agha on his debut Triple Jump performance, with 8.35m to take 3rd place.

Not to be outdone by that success in the field, the track athletes stepped up to do their part too. The team was boosted by the late addition of Merveilles Massembo who took 3rd in the 100m A string with an 11.43 into a head wind. In fact the headwind would affect all our sprinters' times today. It does beg the question of just how quick our B string 100m runner Moyin Odeniran can go, after running an 11.08 into the headwind to take 1st place. Merveilles and Moyin doubled up in the 200m and combined to great effect again. This time Moyin in the A string winning once more with another impressive time of 22.40. Merveilles took 3rd in the B string running 23.43 into the strongest headwind of the day, -3.9. The U17 double act of Marcel Winter and Ethan Franklin (both bottom age U17s) was equally impressive. Marcel took 2nd in the A string 100m with 11.52 and 4th in the A string 200m with 23.6. Ethan took 4th in the B string 100m with 12.28 and 3rd in his 200m with 24.14. Non scoring in the 100m were Omari Paul-Jones (12.43 ) and Tyrees Agha (12.97 ).

Our 400m runners scored big points too. In the U20s Max Richards and Alfie Ward were in action off unsettled training. Alfie stepped in at the last minute to replace Reuben Fabian (who ‘owes him one’ for being bailed out). Both ran superbly well. Max took 3rd in the A string with 53.49 whilst Alfie (still an U17 and running up an age group) took the B string win with 54.84. There was similar good running in the U17s and, keeping it in the family, Ben Richards took another 3rd in the A string with 53.15 and Godwinner Nkebani took 2nd in the B string with a PB of 56.14.

Max Richards was in action again in the U20s 800m with Reuben Fabian (another U17 running up an age group). They took 1st and 2nd in the race, showing good racing know-how. Max’s A string win was in a time of 2:03:37 and hot on his heels was Reuben in a time of 2:03:68. The U17 event saw Oscar Farthing-Barbero and Nate Harding in action looking to emulate the U20s success. The race was fast and the field was stretched early into the second lap with each finding themselves somewhat isolated. Ocsar secured 4th in the A string with a 2:09.36 and Nate earned 3rd in the B string with 2:16.08. Both are bottom age U17s and will surely dominate this event next season.

The mens 1500m was a combined race with U20s and U17s all in the same race. Joel Doye, Senior Mens 12-stage Southern Road Relay superstar team member, was in action and found himself doing all the work to secure a solo win in a time of 4:13.12. This meant the race behind him was stretched and a good battle between our U17 runner Nathan Wright and Chris Chriardson took place with Chris coming out on top on this occasion, coming home in a time of 4:38.58 (3rd A string) which was a well overdue PB for the 2:09 800m man. Nathan, not far behind, took 2nd in the B string with 4:42.6 and can be pleased with a solid run in the middle of a hard training block.

Our only 3000m runner on the day was super triathlete Jacob Hardy. Looking for a big PB, he set off positively but soon found the going tough in a race light on competitors which meant he found himself solo running. Jacob showed great resolve and fortitude taking 3rd place in 9:59.4.

We rounded off the day with the relays. The U20s team was dripping with class as Medwin Odamtten led the team off, handing over to Nabil Tezkartt on the second. A shaky looking changeover didn't stop the team as Merveilles Massembo took up the 3rd leg to let Moyin Odeniran bring home the victory for the Green and Whites in 44.59. Good luck to these athletes in the BAL next week and a massive thank you for stepping up to field the relay team and score important team points.

The U17s 4x100m, consisting of all bottom age athletes, were similarly impressive and will no doubt follow in the steps of their older training partners. Leg 1 saw Ethan Franklin get a great start to put the team in early contention. Changeovers were well executed across the board and Luca Kaye was streaking down the far straight before passing on to Omari Paul-Jones who ran a great bend. The race began to get tight as the stage unwound, but a smooth changeover between Omari and 4th leg runner Marcel Winter was enough for Marcel to bring home the 3rd place with a time of 45.83.

Sadly there was no U20s 4x400m relay team for us but the U17 boys stepped up and delivered the final bit of drama and excitement for the day. Godwinner Nkebani started the team off on what was a highly competitive 1st leg. A fantastic job was done keeping the team in contention and giving them a fighting chance. Nate Harding took up the fight on the second leg and ran impressively, running down those in front and bringing Woodford into the fight for 2nd or 3rd. Oscar Farthing-Barbero was on the 3rd leg and had an equally impressive run, stretching our advantage on those behind and putting us into 2nd place before handing over to anchorman Alfie Ward. With 1st pace out of reach Alfie made sure we were second and stayed well ahead of Havering. 2nd place with a time of 3:50.27.

There was a great team spirit throughout the day with athletes covering events and stepping into some unfamiliar events too. With us only being 11 pts from taking the top spot in the mens section if we can fill a few more of our gaps the top spot is well within our reach.