Met League: Junior Round Up and Look Ahead to Final Fixture

In recent months WGEL juniors have continued their pursuit of both team and individual medals in the 2022-23 Met League with races at Uxbridge before Christmas and more recently at Welwyn Garden City. Below we round up the most recent race results and reports and look ahead to the final fixture on Saturday 11^th February at Trent Park – its set to be a stormer!

Met League Race 3 – Uxbridge (Sat 3^rd Dec 2022)

Results

Howard Williams Junior Trophy

Summary

WGEL junior squad bounced back from a tricky second fixture at Scrubs (Nov) with some outstanding performances across all age groups at a wet and windy race in Uxbridge. 

Race Reports

Junior Women (U15&U17) - The most pleasing result of the day at Uxbridge was the fine form of WGEL junior women. Emily Caton (4^th) led them home with Kezia Beeton (7^th), Tess Noblet (22^nd), Matilda Frith (37^th), Eliza Bridges (39^th), Juliet Taylor (43^rd) and Isabella Worwood (46^th) all running superbly to secure first place for the first time in many years for the A-team who are second overall behind London Heathside. WGEL B-team were twelfth and are twelfth overall.

Junior Men (U15 & U17) – Jimmy Geller (2^nd) showed his class, finishing first amongst Met League teams and second behind guest runner Johnston. This run was all the more impressive given hislimited training due to abductor issues. Team mate Nathan Wright (4^th) was equally impressive with Luka Norden (24^th), Godwinner Nkebani (42^nd) completingWGEL A-team. Harry Stockill (43^rd), Aidan O’Driscoll (50^th) and Oliver Brown (55^th) followed close behind to score highly for the B-team.

WGEL A-team finished third and are second overall behind Shaftsbury Barnet. WGEL B-team were tenth and remain twelfth overall. 

U13 Boys – Daniel Arnold (5^th) led WGEL home and kept pressure on the leaders in the individual competition. Callum Clydesdale (21^st), Lucas Freedman (26^th) and Tayo Adetona (33^rd) completed WGEL A-team. Toby Taylor (35^th), Zac Freedman (42^nd) and Okkie Lee (43^rd) combined well to score highly for the WGEL B-team.

WGEL A-team finished third and remain second overall behind Shaftsbury Barnet.

U13 Girls – WGEL’s Jasmine Hall (3^rd) took a place on the podium with a fantastic run, finishing neck and neck with second place Ponkratieva (SMR) and just 8 seconds down on winner and overall leader March (Barnet). Zoe Wright (15^th) made a welcome return, running with her team mates Sophia Parker (18^th) and Marissa Higgs-Smith (26^th) and Sofia Sneath (36^th).

WGEL A-team finished thirdand retained first place overall ahead of London Heathside.

U11 Boys–WGEL’s Oskar Prince (5^th) and Eric Frith (10^th) continued to pile the pressure on the podium holders ahead. The boys were first home for WGEL and superbly backed by team-mates Woody Qureshi (39^th), Idris Bernard (45^th) and Jack Tonge (46^th).

WGEL A-team finished thirdand remain third overall behind Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets and Shaftsbury Barnet.

U11 Girls – Eva Prince (2^nd) and Gracie Fayinka (4^th) were first home for WGEL in a fantastic battle at the sharp end. Eva is second and Gracie third in the individual competition. Race winner Violet Muraidhar (ESM) leads. Lydia Sneath (17^th) and Maia Lalani (23^rd) had their highest finishes of the season and made the A-team for the first time! Bonnie Harte (24^th) and Simi Adetona (25^th) packed beautifully and opened WGEL B-Team with fine runs.

WGEL A-Team were first on the day and retain top position overall ahead of Shaftsbury Barnet.

Met League Race 4 – Welwyn (Sat 16^thJan 2023)

U11-U13 Summary & Race Reports

After a great performance in Uxbridge the squad gathered at a very soggy Welwyn Garden City for race 4 hosted by Herts Phoenix. Could the juniors continue the upward momentum after Uxbridge?

Results

Individual Standings (after 4 races)

WGEL junior men and women (U15-U17) races have been covered in a previous report.

Welwyn - Course

U11s ran a grassy, undulating loop of 1.4km. U13s ran the loop twice. Conditions underfoot were soft and muddy. There was no wind, but there was heavy rain at times. 

U11 Boys – Oskar Prince (5^th) was first home for WGEL A-team. Continuing his fine form, he ran with real conviction on a short course which required a brave and fast start. With overall leader Cinesi (VP&TH) missing, Oskar closed the gap in the individual competition to 7 points with one fixture left. WGEL’s Eric Frith (7^th) was just behind Oskar.

These two are great competitors and inspire their team mates, many of whom are lower age group. One of those lower age group athletes is Jack Arnold (34^th) who had the bravest run of the day. Spiked early on, he continued with blood pouring from his toe to finish. On a less dramatic day he would have been higher up the field. Completing WGEL A-team was Blake Edwards (36^th). Blake ran well but only just made the start after getting stuck in traffic. Jack Tonge (41^st) was just behind Blake and as a lower year athlete has been a core part of the WGEL team at every fixture. WGEL A-team finished 3^rd and remain 3^rd overall behind VPH&TH and SHB. 

U11 Girls – WGEL’s Eva Prince continued her sparking form to finish third and just 5 seconds behind the winner and overall leader Muraidhar (ESM). The gap is closing and sets things up well for an exciting final fixture. Gracie Fayinka (7^th) was next home for WGEL and also in great form, moving up to third in the overall individual competition. Lydia Sneath (23^rd) and Bonnie Harte (24^th) packed wonderfully to close the A-team. Right behind, Simi Adetona (27^th), Maia Lalani (32^nd) and Alice Mackenzie (39^th) also packed well for the B-team.  

WGEL A-team finished second and remain top ahead of Shaftsbury Barnet. WGEL B-team finished twelfth and are tenth overall.

U13 Boys – Daniel Arnold (9^th) was first back for WGEL. Daniel said he found the going tough, but his form has been impeccable this season and he once again led the A-Team home. Behind Daniel the squad packed very well with Stephen Ng (12^th), Rahul Solanki (14^th) and a very welcome return for Teddy Newson (20^th) completing WGEL A-team. Following in hot pursuit were team mates Toby Taylor (29^th), Tayo Adetona (31^st), Callum Clydesdale (34^th) and Charlie Howes (37^th). These boys completed the B-team with Lucas Freedman (40^th), Zac Freedman (47^th) completing the squad.

The A-team finished second behind Hillingdon but in doing so jumped ahead of an out-of-sorts Shaftsbury Barnet and lead them in the table by 3 points!

U13 Girls –WGEL’s Jasmine Hall repeated her second place at Scrubs with another second after a terrific run in the rain! Teammates Sophia Parker (14^th), Isla Fulling (20^th) Marissa Higgs-Smith (27^th) and Sofia Sneath (34^th) packed well as a squad with a fine set of runs. Sophia and Marissa are both lower year and will be back next year with eyes on the podium.

The girls secured second for WGEL A-team and tied at the top of the overall table with 155 points with Trent Park.

Summary – Final Fixture Trent Park (Sat 11^th Feb 2023)

WGEL juniors lead the Howard Williams Trophy and are in contention on several fronts:

-          U11 individual competition- Oskar and Eva Prince second, with Gracie Fayinka in third

-          U11 league table – U11 boys set for third. U11 Girls lead by 11 points from SHB

-          U13 individual competition - Sophia Parker 7^th has outside chance of top 3. In the Boys, Daniel Arnold is first, ahead of Jack Hayward (ESM) and Freddie Hollings Yates (Herts P)

-          U13 League table - Boys are 3 points ahead of SHB and the girls are neck and neck with Trent Park - it could not be a more exciting final fixture!