It's Raining Medals Hallelujah at Essex
On a very warm weekend of Saturday & Sunday 11th & 12th May the Essex Track & Field Championships arrived back at its home of Chelmsford Athletic Club, and the WGEL Juniors most certainly didn't disappoint with an array of medals and PB's throughout the age groups and disciplines.
Day 1
In the Under 13 boys Aarav Patel was 1st in heat 2 of 2 in a PB time of: 14.82sec, in the final he ran yet another PB time of: 14.55sec but just missed out on a medal by finishing 4th. Nathaniel Sandy was 1st in heat 1 of 3 in the 100m to qualify with: 13.03sec and a PB, while Blake Edwards was 5th in heat 3 of 3 with: 13.75sec and a PB. Nathaniel went on to compete in the final where he finished in GOLD medal position with a PB again this time: 12.94sec. Blake Edwards did the Long Jump and leaped to a very impressive distance of: 4m 81cm and a PB GOLD medal performance. In the 800m Ashton Jokhiya ran a PB time of: 2m 37.70sec and William Smith also PB with a time of: 2m 36.49sec. Eden Dunnage ran the 70m Hurdles for the Under 13 girls like Kehanique Lowe. Eden was 2nd in heat 1: 12.67sec (W 2.1) and Kehanique was 7th in heat 1: 16.43sec (W 2.1). In the final Eden was able to run a legal PB time of: 12.42sec and claim a BRONZE medal. Eden also competed in the 100m along with Dorcas Oringa. Dorcas qualified for the final with a PB time of: 13.92sec 3rd in heat 1 or 3, while Eden was 6th in heat 3 of 3: 15.10sec and a PB. Dorcas in the final finished just outside the medals but still claimed a PB with: 13.85sec. Kehanique also did the 800m along with Aoife Pearce, Maia Lalani and Lucy Nixon. Kehanique finished in a time of: 2m 54.47sec, Aoife: 2m 57.76sec, Maia: 2m 59.41sec and a PB and Lucy: 3m 01.34sec and also a PB. Eden completed a trio of events when she took part in the Shot Put and again unlucky to finish just outside the medals with a 4th place finish distance of: 7m 09cm.
The Under 15 boys had talent a plenty with Sammy Geist kicking off in the 100m with a PB time of: 12.21sec to finish 3rd in heat 2 of 4 to qualify for the semi-finals. Tyler Reynolds in the same heat finished 5th with a PB of: 12.56sec to also qualify, Alex Osagie was 2nd in heat 3 of 4 with a qualifying time of: 11.83sec and a PB, Lawrence Foster was 1st in heat 4 of 4 in a PB time of: 11.80sec to qualify for the semi-finals, Jacob Kaye 3rd in same heat with: 12.80 a SB also qualify, Joshua Kumar 4th: 12.81sec a PB also qualify and Josiah Franklin was 6th in a PB of: 14.59sec. In the semi-finals Sammy was 6th in SF1 with: 12.48sec, Alex Osagie was 1st in the same heat in a PB of: 11.85sec, Joshua Kumar and Jacob Kaye were 7th & 8th in the same SF with times of: 12.92sec PB and 13.01sec. In the 2nd SF Lawrence was 2nd in a time of: 11.91sec and Tyler Reynolds was 7th in: 12.66sec. The final was a very competitive one and showed the talent in this age group. Lawrence ran very well and claimed SILVER in a PB time of: 11.58sec and Alex Osagie was 5th with: 11.67sec and also a PB. Sammy Geist fresh from his 100m's competed in the Triple Jump and won BRONZE with a leap of: 10m 53cm. Tyler Reynolds also tackled another discipline and this was the Long Jump. He produced a fantastic leap of: 5m 34cm and a PB to claim GOLD. In the Hammer event William Stander finished with a SILVER medal and a distance of: 47m 39cm, whilst Kian Traynor who is fairly new to this event coming away with a PB distance of: 19m 60cm and a BRONZE medal. Daniel Niewczasinski-Kirkland seems to be taking the step up to under 15 hurdles with ease finishing the 80m hurdles in GOLD medal position with a PB time of: 11.95sec.
The long sprint of 300m saw Callum Clydesdale and Rahul Solanki run extremely well to finish in SILVER and BRONZE medal positions and claiming PB's as well. Callum: 38.01sec and Rahul: 39.07sec. Callum and a two other under 15 boys tackled the dizzy heights of the pole vault with success. Callum was 3rd and BRONZE with: 2m 50cm SB, Okkie Lee was 4th with a PB height of: 2m 00cm, but Stephen Ng went a step further than Callum claiming SILVER in an equal PB height of: 2m 60cm.
Evanna Eze was in fine form in the under 15 girls 100m. Evanna was 1st in heat 2 of 4 with a PB time of: 12.74sec, Habiba Tajani in the same race was 2nd in: 13.03sec and also a PB, Savanna Gayle was 4th: 13.91sec SB and Kyra May was 7th in a time of: 15.02sec and a PB, all of them qualified for the next round. Shalom Prince having a very good season ran in heat 3 and was 1st with: 12.89sec and a PB, Shantay Charles was 4th in: 14.08sec PB, Emily Stockill was 5th: 14.52sec SB, and in heat 4 the final heat Joy Larinde was 1st with: 13.22sec and a PB, with Faith Franklin 5th in a PB time of: 14.46sec. The semi-finals was like the boys very competitive and in SF1 Evanna Eze was in fine form again coming home 1st in a PB time of: 12.58sec, Joy Larinde was 3rd: 13.19sec PB and Habiba Tajani 4th in: 13.26sec PB and Shantay Charles was 8th in: 14.22sec PB all qualified for the final apart from Shantay. In the 2nd semi-final Shalaom Prince was 2nd in this with a PB time of: 12.70sec. In the final the girls claimed two medals, Evanna Eze won GOLD in a PB of: 12.58sec, Shalom Prince claimed BRONZE with: 12.81sec, Habiba Taijani just missed out on a podium position with 4th place: 13.08sec and Joy was 5th with a PB: 13.17sec. In other field events Tyleah Edwards was 9th in the Shot Put with a distance of: 7m 15cm which was a PB and Phoebe Whelan was 5th in the High Jump with a clearance of: 1m 40cm. In the 75m Hurdles Isabella Moulton was 1st in heat 1 of 2 with: 11.87sec and PB and in the final she claimed BRONZE with yet another PB time of: 11.81sec. Isabella then went on to tackle the 300m flat sprint and was 4th in heat 1 of 2 with: 44.86sec and PB, Tyleah Edwards was 5th in the same heat with: 44.94sec and yet another PB with Sylvie Whalley was 6th in a time of: 47.62sec and a PB. Sophia Parker and Isla Fulling ran the 1500m which was a straight final. Isla was 7th in a PB time of: 5m 07.10sec and Sophia was 12th in a PB time of: 5m 20.88sec.
In the under 17 Men Lucas Emeagi came home in fine style in the 400m with GOLD in: 50.24sec SB. Aidan O'Driscoll claimed BRONZE medal in the Pole Vault with: 2m 30cm SB.
Rashaun Mullings Smith was a GOLD winner in the High Jump with a very impressive clearance of: 1m 95cm. In the 1500m the staright final saw Harry Stockill claiming 4th in: 4m 14.39sec and a PB, Oscar Eaton was 5th: 4m 16.16sec and a PB, Aidan O'Driscoll was 7th: 4m 29.00sec PB and Josh Stephenson was 9th: 4m 40.71sec and also a PB. Chiril Mardari was 5th in heat 2 of 3 of the 100m with a PB of: 12.37sec and Kofi Amoateng was 5th in heat 3 with a PB of: 11.81sec.
Caitlin Hancock in the under 17 women was 1st in heat 2 of 2 of the 100m with: 12.45sec and a PB, Mame-Nhyira Coleman was 5th in the same race: 13.15sec both qualifying for the final whilst Noa Chodokufa was 7th in a PB time of: 13.36sec. In the final Caitlin came home victorious with GOLD in: 12.36sec and a PB whilst Mame-Nhyira Coleman was 7th in: 13.26sec. Ishana Malcolm was 6th in the staright 80m Hurdles final with a PB time: 13.93sec. Caitlin fresh from her sprint victory in the 100m was also very happy to claim GOLD in the Long Jump with a distance of: 5m 64cm and a PB. In the 300m Natasha Wynn looked very comfortable in heat 2 of 2 with a 1st place time of: 41.42sec and Noa Chodokufa was 2nd in the 1st heat with a PB of: 41.32sec. In the final Noa was 4th equal, whilst Natasha claimed SILVER with a time of: 39.26sec and a PB.
In the Under 20's Kharina Partidge won SILVER in the Triple Jump with: 11m 17cm, Tiya Canning Lawrence was 4th in the final of the 100m in: 13.25sec a SB, whilst Tito Adeleye in the same race was 6th with: 13.66sec also a SB. Emily Caton ran the 800m in a time of: 2m 20.41sec and a PB and won SILVER. In the 100m Ethan Franklin was 1st in heat 1 of 2 with a PB time of: 10.92sec and Omari Paul Jones was 6th in the same race with: 12.06sec, sadly he didn't progress to the final, Marcel Winter also took part but was unfortunate to be disqualified. In the final Ethan ran exceptionally well to claim SILVER medal in a PB time of: 10.91sec. Lastly Nathan Wright found the heat not to his liking in the 3000m and finished 8th in a time of: 9m 14.19sec.
Day 2
On day 2 the performances and medals kept on coming. The under 13 girls 200m saw Dorcas Oringa run in heat 1 of 2 and qualified for the final in 3rd place with: 28.00sec, she then went on to the final to win BRONZE with a time of: 28.01sec. In the 1500m Lottie Oates was 7th in: 5m 48.02sec and a PB, Sophia Stephenson was 9th with: 6m 24.26sec PB and Adelyn Willmott was 10th in: 7m 12.89sec PB. The boys equivalent see Eric Frith just miss out of the medals with a good PB time of: 5m 01.45sec.
The Under 15 girls came back this time for the 200m with Evanna Eze 1st in heat 1 of 3 in: 25.76sec and a PB, Faye Owers out of her comfort zone, usually doing the 800m was delighted to finish in the same race in 6th with a PB of: 29.71sec. Shalom Prince in heat 2 was 1st in: 26.30sec a PB, Shantay Charles was 4th: 29.37sec and a PB, and Kyra May was 7th in: 31.28sec a PB as well. Habiba Tijani in heat 3 was 2nd in the race with: 26.97sec a PB, Joy Larinde: 27.45sec and 3rd with a PB and Faith Franklin was 7th: 29.01sec and another PB. In the final Evanna won GOLD with a PB of: 25.55sec, Shalom Prince was 4th with yet again another PB of: 26.11sec and Habiba Tijani was 8th in a PB time of: 27.67sec. In the 800m Isla Fulling was 4th in the event with a PB of: 2m 27.51sec, Sophia Parker was 6th in: 2m 40.77sec and Alice Padian was 7th in PB time of: 2m 41.48sec. The boys 200m see Lawrence Foster finish 1st in heat 1 of 3 with: 23.54sec, Alex Osagie was 1st in heat 2: 23.72sec PB with Callum Clydesale 1st in heat 3 with: 24.06sec SB. Sammy Geist was 3rd in the same heat as Callum with: 24.48sec PB, Tyler Reynolds: 25.03sec PB and 4th, while Josiah Franklin was 5th with PB of: 28.71sec. Lawrence ran superbly to finish 1st in the final of the 200m and take GOLD with: 23.25sec and a PB, Alex Osagie won BRONZE with: 23.61sec and a PB with Callum coming home 6th in a time of: 23.91sec a SB. Lucas Freedman continues to impress in the middle distance event of 800m and claimed GOLD with: 2m 06.83sec and a PB while his brother Zac was 12th in a PB of: 2m 36.97sec. Toby Taylor just missed a medal in the High Jump with a height of: 1m 50cm.
William Muffett, Oscar Eaton, Harry Stockill and Aidan O'Driscoll ran the heats of the 800m in the Under 17 men's race. Oscar was 2nd in heat 1 with 2m.05.33sec, while William Muffett was 1st in heat 2 in: 2m 09.95, Harry Stockill: 2m 10.10sec and 2nd with Aidan O'Driscoll 4th in: 2m 10.31sec, sadly Aidan just missed out in the final. In the final William ran a very impressive PB time of: 2m 01.36sec to win SILVER, Oscar Eaton won BRONZE with a PB time of: 2m01.87sec and Harry Stockill was 7th in a time of: 2m 05.85sec. Joseph Arnold who is growing stronger in his new event of 400m Hurdles ran a good race in the straight final to finish with a SILVER medal in a PB time of: 1m 01.69sec. Chiril Mardari in the 200m straight final was 8th in a time of: 25.88sec and a PB. In the under 17 women Ishana Malcolm was 5th in heat 1 of 2 of the 200m's: 28.43sec and a PB and Mame Nhyira Coleman was 5th in heat 2 with: 27.23sec a SB. Isabelle Kyson and Daisy Anderson ran the 300m Hurdles again a straight final. Isabelle finished in a SB time of: 46.63sec and SILVER, while Daisy ran a PB time: 49.75sec. Natasha Wynn won GOLD in the 800m with: 2m 18.50sec and a SB wih Juliet Taylor was 7th in a SB time of: 2m 47.33sec. Ella Traynor battled hard in the heat to compete in the 3000m and finished 5th with a PB time of: 12m 11.48sec, and Emily Caton won SILVER in the under 20 women's 1500m final with a PB time of: 4m 55.01sec. Lastly in the under 20 men's 200m's straight final Marcel Winter won BRONZE with a PB of: 22.35sec and Ethan Franklin went one better with a SILVER medal time of: 21.89sec which was also a PB.