Chingford League (Race 1) -Successful Start in Dagenham

Over 50 WGEL Juniors (U11-U15) opened their cross-country accounts last weekend (Sat 1^st Oct) in the first Chingford League fixture of 2022-23. WGEL had a record season last year. Winning U11 & U13 Boys and Girls League titles and gaining 11 medals for top 3 finishes in U11-U15 individual competitions.

Race conditions at Eastbrookend County Park (Dagenham) were good. This was a new course run on undulating stony paths and grass fields around the park. Standard race distance in this league is 2km for U11-13 and 5km for U15s. However, the new course threw up some variations on measurements and a marshalling mishap meant the U11-U13 race was 2.3km and U15 was 6.2km. Despite this the athletes all ran the same distance in their respective races and the timed results were declared accurate over the amended courses.

On the start line WGEL had a good mix of experienced juniors (despite London mini-marathon clash) and first timers raring to go after training with WASPS (U11) squads over the summer!

Results: http://chingfordleague.co.uk/this-years-results/

Race Report - U15 Boys & Girls

WGEL Athletes Darcey Mackenzie, Aidan O’Driscoll and Joseph Arnold competed in the U15 race. All three deserve praise for managing the extended distance run due to a marshalling error. Aidan, in fact coped very well. With training going well he looked comfortable for second place, 30s behind winner Gabriel Buckley (Loughton AC) over the 6.2km course. Joseph Arnold (4^th) also coped well. Joseph runs mostly off football training and despite being relieved to get to the finish should be pleased with his run.

The same goes for Darcey Mackenzie in U15 Girls race. Darcey (3^rd) ran well behind Lizzie Knapman and Emily Nichols (Loughton AC) and can consider this a big step forward for her endurance running, knowing these distances are in the bag!

Race Report - U13 Boys & Girls

WGEL had 6 boys in a field of 17 athletes. WGEL's experienced trio of Daniel Arnold (1^st), Teddy Newson (2^nd) and Stephen Ng (3^rd) led after a quick start and never looked back to claim all 3 podium places. The boys packed superbly, with one second between them. Daniel was first in 10mins 32s with Teddy and Stephen both timed at 10mins 33s.

Toby Taylor (5^th) was next home. Toby is a talented all-round track and field junior. He loves to race and finished just behind Toby Long (Eaton Manor) in 11mins 09s. Two Loughton AC athletes were next, pursued by WGEL Okkie Lee (8^th) and Lucas Freedman (9^th). It was good to see Okkie amongst the leaders and Lucas in his first race since joining in August. 

U13 Girls

WGEL had 10 girls in a field of 18 athletes. Last year’s individual winner Pia Trauttmansdorff (Orion) was out to retain her title and started well, finishing first in 11mins 45s. She was 20 seconds ahead of WGEL's Sophia Parker (2^nd) and Marissa Higgs-Smith (3^rd) who both had fine runs to win podium positions and as lower age group athletes are learning fast!

Isla Baron (5^th) was next home, heading a terrific group of WGEL athletes with Tayleigh Cross (6^th), Sofia Sneath (7^th), Emily Stockill (8^th), Eve Burgess Chaffe (9^th) and Tyleah Edwards (11^th) packing out the top ten! Shantay Charles (16^th) and Lailah Ferdinand (17^th) had a great sprint finish to complete the WGEL team.

Race Report U11 Boys& Girls

WGEL had 19 boys in a field of 31 athletes. WGEL’s Oskar Prince (1^st) got his season off to a flyer taking victory in 11mins 19s. Training partner Eric Frith (2^nd) was next with Henry Richards (3^rd) holding off Khalif Ali (Ilford AC) with a strong finish to make it a clean sweep of the podium for WGEL!

The next four home were all new to club racing and did exceptionally well! Jack Arnold (6^th) led them with Woody Qureshi (7^th), Jax Connor (8^th) and Josh Housden (9^th) close behind. Two Orion runners separated this pack from a sea of green and white vests that then flooded the finish line!

Felix Brown (12^th), Jack Tonge (14^th), Patrick Langan (16^th), Idris Bernard (17^th), Aarav Patel (18^th), Harry McNally (19^th) and Blake Edwards (20^th) packed out the top 20. Right behind were Leo Azebiah (22^nd), Kyelan Brian (23^rd), Noah Parker (24^th), Luke John (25^th) and Matthew Kunda (27^th).

U11 Girls

WGEL had 16 girls from a field of 25 athletes. WGEL's Eva Prince completed a good day for the Prince family. Eva’s brother Oskar won the U11 boy’s race and Eva repeated the feat in the U11 girl’s race! Eva ran 11mins 47s. Team-mates Grace Cherry (2^nd) and Rosie Barron (3^rd) did tremendously well to pack out the podium for WGEL. This was Rosie’s debut run and another debutant, Bonnie Harte (4^th), also had a great run heading a small group of Bridey Kelly (5^th) and Rosie Anderson (7^th).

Behind them, again a sea of green and white poured through the finish. Oliva Jonker (8^th), Sophia Khan (10^th), Alessia Wright (11^th), Lydia Sneath (12^th), Romi Jonker (13^th), Christina Sneath (14^th), Maia Lalani (15^th), Aofie Pearce (16^th), Keira Patel (17^th) and Alice Mackenzie (18^th) packed out the top 20!

Summary

The coaching team at WGEL would like to thank all the athletes and parents/guardians for support and encouragement. Many of the athletes raced for the first time since graduating out of WASPS and despite some nerves flew around the course to finish with a mix of gurning faces and huge smiles!

Our more experienced racers performed excellently and provide great role models for the younger runners. The season is off to a great start and the positivity amongst these juniors is phenomenal!

Next Chingford league race – Wednesday 12^th October at VeloPark Stratford (7:30pm) start.