Fabulous U15 Boys Bronze for Ed Olsen at the Southern Cross Country Champs

Herne Hill Harriers’ teenager Ed Olsen claimed a superb bronze medal at the South of England cross-country championships on Saturday. Olsen finished third in the U15 boy’s race and was just eight seconds behind the winner, Nene Valley Harriers’ Alex Hampson.

The 14-year-old led Harriers’ U15 team to fifth place, with support from Tom Singhgolden (62nd), Billy Black (67th), Paul Burgess (81st), Callum Barker (125th), Mohammed Ethari (134th) and Max Ferrari (148th). In the U17 boy’s race, Lascelles Hussey finished 32nd, with Merhawi Yemane 52nd.
Harriers U15 girl’s team went one better than their Herne Hill age category counterparts, finishing fourth. Alice Setyabule led the club home, finishing 30th, ahead of Francesca Reid-Lloyd (49th), Daisy Setyabule (56th) and Skye O’Shaughnessy(68th).Meanwhile, Harriers’ U13 girl’s team was seventh overall, with Saskia Millard leading the charge. Millard finished ninth after a bold attempt to win a medal.

In the senior events, Harriers failed to close complete teams for the first time in many years. Karen Ellison (29th) was the sole Herne Hill representative in the women’s race, while veteran Ben Paviour (47th), Mike Cummings (54th), John Kettle (65th) and Basil Wallace (145th) flew the red and black flag for the men. Cummings’ performance came two days after he raced at the Armagh International 5k road race in Northern Ireland, where he clocked a season’s best 15:04 and finished 41st in a top-class field.

The pick of the weekend road performers was Tim Elsey, who was third at the Valentine’s 10k at Chessington in 33:30, while Mohammed Ismail was second at the Dulwich parkrun, clocking 16:39.

There were also several fine performances by the club’s sprinters at the Surrey Championships, notably Tshon Carnegie who was first in the U20 men’s 60m and Byron Robinson who was second in the senior men’s version. Zanson Plummer was deemed the winner of the U17 men’s 60m after he was given the same time as the runner-up, while Kishon Allen was victorious in the U15 category and Michael Miller in the U13s.

There was more success in the female races, as Denisha Marshall-Brown raced to victory over 60m in her U15 age group. Tayo Andrews won the U20 men’s high jump with a leap of 1.90m, while Breagha Campbell was also first in the U15 girl’s competition after jumping a season’s best 1.50m. Other notable performances were Christopher Sinclair (third in the U17 men’s long jump), Rosanta Yarde (second in the U20 women’s long jump), Kyanne Cornwall (third in the U17 women’s long jump) and Nathaniel Jacques (second in the U17 men’s triple jump).

Away from London, John Travers won the 3000m at the Senior Indoor Championships of Ireland, with a scintillating run of 7:58. The run was marginally outside Don Taylor’s 50-year-old club record, but is almost certain to be the fastest time ever run over 3000m by a Harriers athlete indoors.