The final instalment of the Surrey Athletics Track and Field Championships took place at Kingsmeadow on Sunday. These events were for Masters’and other age groups, and several county medals were claimed by Herne Hill Harriers athletes of all ages to add to the huge haul of more than thirty medals taken home by club members over the previous weekend.
The young athletes’ events were a success as gold and silver medals were won in the under 15 boys 3000m with Arnold Duan clocking 9:26.76 and Luca Boulton 9:32.21.
Caspian Holmes added another U17M bronze, this time at 1500m to his 800m a week earlier. He placed third in a close blanket finish with 4:03.84 a PB by five seconds. Leau Roch was eighth in 4:25.93 and Jack McLennan ninth in 4:28.27.
In the U17W 3000m Annabel Wainwright won bronze in 10:50.34, while Sofia Mendes was fifth in the U15G 3000m in 10:44.38. Zachary Morris placed fourth in the U17M 3000 with 9:22.17, James Clements- Nash sixth with 9:30.38 and Tommy Clerkin 10th with 9:50.13.
The Surrey Masters events included good wins for W50 Nikki Sturzaker on her return to racing after injury. She won the 800m with 2:38.23 and the 1500m in 5:16.84. A day earlier on Saturday Sturzaker had won the W50 gold medal at the England Wales international 5km. Sarah Allen was the winner of the W60 3000m at the Surrey Masters Championships.
Harriers placed second in their opening Southern Athletics League match with some excellent individual performances. The highlights included a win for U20 Jon Goldston in the men’s 400m in 49.7, his first time under 50 seconds.
There was a clear 200m win for U17 Ella Rennie with 25.8, while more young sprinters Princess Okama (U17) and Kelsea Martin (U20) were winners of the A and B women’s 100m races with 12.4 and 13.2 respectively. In the men’s long jump U20 athletes Maalik Adamson and Sheriff Silly scored a win double with 6.24m and 5.98m.
U17 multi events star Jasmine Nkoso scored maximum team points as she was the winner of the long jump with 5.18m, the shot with 11.29m and the javelin with 32.77m.
In the middle-distance races U17 Orla Wright and Florence Mills won the women’s A and B 800m with 2:16.1 and 2:20.8. In the women’s 3000m Bryony Proctor and Ella Newton were A and B strong winners with 10:13.2 and 11:05.2. In the men’s 1500m Andrew Warburton was a clear winner with 4:17.7 and U20 Charlie Wood was equally emphatic in claiming the B string with 4:25.5.
In road racing on Sunday at the Hackney Half Marathon Matt Cartwright ran 73:40 and Fintan Kearney 76:42.
Geoff Jerwood