YDL Upper on up and up

The Woodford YDL upper age group team won their second fixture of the season, at Eltham on Sunday 25 May, to extend the lead at the top of the division 1B table from match hosts Cambridge Harriers. The two teams quickly separated themselves from the other clubs but WGEL were just behind until the joint pole vault where over 40 unanswered points were sufficient to create what proved to be a decisive margin, with the provisional win by 32 points. By the end of the day there were well over 200 points back to the remainder of the teams, with Croydon edging out Crawley for third ahead of Medway & Maidstone with Basildon already adrift and staring at relegation.

Woodford team managers Sarah Falola (men) and Paul Hancock (women) went into the match knowing they had an almost entirely full teamsheet almost unheard of outside the premier division, but that the home club, trying to bounce back from relegation from that league last year had almost no gaps either apart in their case from pole vault. First up the 400 hurdles were a Cambridge Harriers strength, as highlighted by a league record 53.74 in the U17 men, but a PB from U20 Henry Akaluka (63.26) led multiple runners-up places for WGEL. U17 Alica Padian in her first ever attempt at the U20W 400m hurdles B race was the only Woodford athlete able to take a point off the hosts in the long hurdles, though Evanna Eze was leading into the home straight prior to a fall in the 300m and still finished well clear of the other clubs.

After double U17 wins in the men’s hammer by William Stander (44.95) and Harry Stockill, Woodford took double A string wins in the 3000 from Harry Stockill (competing as an U20 in the event) just ahead of U17 colleague George Watkins while Oliver Clifton took the U20 B as part of an eclectic day which continued with an important clearance in the pole vault straight afterwards. The gap at the top closed through the 100m series which was headlined by a win in the U20M A race by Matthew Gittens, who had to wait a long time to be confirmed as first by the narrowest margin in a 10.79PB (-0.5w). Others recording personal bests included Amira Adeshokan in winning the U20W B in 12.27, Waiz Yasser (11.25), Samuel Kolawole (11.63) and Oskar Kyson (11.75).

At 400m U17s Natasha Wynn (57.36) and Noa Chodokufa (58.20) stepped up to win their respective U20W 400m races decisively with Evie Mosanya taking the U17W 300m. The men were not as strong in the long sprints though Thomas Niewczasinski-Kirkland improved his best to 50.51 for second in the U17M. Just as Cambridge Harriers began to increase the pressure through the sprint hurdles, in which only two of the WGEL athletes had competed at their events previously, the pole vault results came in to turn the tide while all the novice hurdlers came through unscathed. With none of the hosts in the vault and wins for Stephen Ng (3.50) backed up by Rahul Solanki (2.90) in the U17M, U20W Giselle Moulton (2.75) and U17W Amber Higgs-Smith (2.30) WGEL were confirmed as clear new leaders. Shortly afterwards there was a full haul of points in the women’s long jump from Rebecca Wright (U20), Remi Salako and Ismae Abomeli, taking the lead out to almost 50 points which the team battled to hold on to for the remainder of the afternoon.

Woodford’s only win at 200m came in the U20W B race, another PB from Amira Adeshokan (25.65), while at 800m there was an U17M clean sweep by Oscar Eaton (1:59.23PB) and Lucas Freedman but elsewhere it was about holding on to the gains already made. Athletes such as Anaand Tratt and Matilda Frith, who between them covered all the U20W distance events (and 100m hurdles), ensured no points would be easily given away. Aidan O’Driscoll ran a significant PB of 6:28.55 in the 2000 steeplechase for second and was backed up by Oliver Clifton maximising his allowed 5 events. Maximum points in the U17M 1500m steeplechase from George Watkins (4:45.79) and Daniel Arnold (4:59.86) meant that overall success was imminent as long as the relay quartets had no incidents. The U17W 4x100 narrowly lost out to Croydon despite a competitive time of 48.89, before the U20W was anchored through to the win by Amira Adeshokan in 49.55. Victory was assured following a double win in the U17M javelin by William Stander (43.88) and Lucian Anka-Pope (31.96). While the host’s team manager had already offered congratulatory handshakes prior to the long relays, in the 4x300m Cambridge Harriers showed they were still fighting as their three time English schools champion came through to snatch the win at the end despite a new club best of 2:51.22 by the WGEL quartet of Noa Chodokufa, Anabella Drake, Shalom Prince and Evie Monsanya.

With just one match remaining of the YDL upper age group season, at Medway on Sunday 6 July, WGEL are well placed to win the division and with it promotion to the Southern Premier (subject to any potential league restructuring that may follow the 2026 age group changes). A 2 league point and 100+ match point cushion ahead of Cambridge Harriers may prove important given that weekend’s fixture clash with the NAL (despite both leagues having previously committed to avoiding such an overlap) which will stretch Woodford’s resources to the limit.