Lewis Lloyd’s superb 2013 continued on Saturday as the 19-year-old smashed a Herne Hill Harriers’ club record that was set before he was born. In clocking 3:46.72 over 1500m at a BMC Grand Prix meeting at Sportcity, Manchester, Lloyd dipped under Wayne Tarquini’s U20 men’s club record that has stood since 1975. The late Tarquini was a former English Schools 800m champion in the era of Steve Ovett and Seb Coe’s school days. Lew, who represented Great Britain at the World Cross Country Championships in Poland in February, knocked nearly two seconds off the previous record, as well as smashing his personal best for the distance by five seconds.
Other HHH athletes in action at Sportcity – where the backdrop was the sound of a Muse concert being played at the neighbouring Etihad Stadium – were Mike Cummings who clocked a season’s best 3:59.44 over 5000m, while Katie Snowden posted a time of 2:07.45 in the 800m, only hundredths of a second outside her best of this year to date.
Meanwhile, Herne Hill’s depth of middle distance runners was demonstrated further as Dave Peters rose to fourth on the rankings for UK V40 athletes after clocking 1:59.72 at a race in New York.
Closer to home, Harriers’ senior men’s team remain leaders in the Rosenheim League, despite finishing equal third with Belgrave Harriers in the latest match at Croydon Arena last week. Zanson Plummer (100m), Caspar Elliot (400m hurdles) and Thomas Ashby (high jump and discus) were individual winners.
Not to be outdone by their senior counterparts, Harriers junior squad remain in charge of the top spot in the Youth Development League. Individual A race winners in boys’ events at Winchester on Saturday were Kishon Allen (U15 100m and 200m), Feysel Nadew (U15 300m and 800m), Abel Tesfalem (U15 1500m), Chris Annous (U15 long jump), Adel Latifi (U13 100m), Oscar Millard (U13 1500m) and Sebastian Fallowfield (U13 javelin). Harriers’ teams also scored victories in the U15 boys’ 4x100m and 4x300m relays.
Winning girls were Saskia Millard (U15 800m), Catriona McSorley (U15 75m hurdles), Ore Adamson (U13 75m and long jump), Ella Dennis (U13 150m and high jump) and Eloise O’Shaughnessy (U13 1200m). Although Herne Hill were not outright winners, an overall second place means they remain top of their league, ahead of Team Dorset and Southampton.
Away from the track, Mohammed Ismail clocked a speedy 16.16 in finishing second at the Dulwich parkrun, while Robert Edwards was also a second place finisher at the Brockwell edition, clocking 17.54.