Feysel Nadew receiving his bronze medal. He is third from the right.
Herne Hill Harriers’ young athletes won four medals at the English Schools championships, including a gold for sprinter Marvin Popoola.
A total of 18 Herne Hill athletes represented London at Alexander Stadium, where Michelle Obijiaku, Feysel Nadew and Saskia Millard also medalled.
After breezing through his heat, junior international Popoola dominated the SB 200m final, winning in 21.39. Nadew also showed his growing promise by claiming bronze in the IB 800m, clocking a personal best of 1:54.43, nudging him closer to the club’s U17 record for the distance.
Another two-lap specialist, Saskia Millard, won bronze in the JG 800m, posting a time of 2:12.96 in her final. Maddie Shaw was fifth in the same race in 2.16.88, which came after a significant personal best of 2:13.41 in her earlier heat.
Obijiaku won a silver medal in the IG shot with a throw of 14.49m, only 1cm short of her best. She was leading the competition until the final round when she was overtaken by the other London Schools competitor, Divine Oladipo, of Cambridge Harriers, who threw a personal best of 14.92m. Obijiaku’s result led to her selection to represent England Schools in the schools international in Dublin on July 19. Obijiaku was also part of the London IG relay team who won their heat on Friday, helping to ensure all four London relay teams reached their finals.
Other Harriers athletes representing London in Birmingham were Alex Brown (fifth in the JG 1500m having run a personal best of 4:40.41 in the heat), Tayo Andrews (sixth in the SB high jump), Anthony Flanagan (sixth in the JB 200m), Phillip Thomas (seventh in the IB triple jump) and Adeyinka Adeniran (sixth in the JB 80m hurdles).
Catriona McSorley ran a personal best of 11.68 in coming fourth in her heat of the IG 80m Hurdles, narrowly missing qualifying as a fastest loser. Ismail Abdulkarim, Adam Ssali, Jevonni McFarlane, meanwhile, helped London win bronze medals in the IB relay, but did not qualify for their finals in the 100m and – for Ssali – the 100m hurdles. Finally, wearing the colours of Middlesex, Lascelles Hussey was 12th in the SB 1500m in 4.01.58, while Surrey-qualified Natasha Alfred was seventh in the JG 100m. In total, four of London’s seven individual medals were won by Herne Hill athletes.
See video replays on Vinco Sport channel: http://www.vincosport.com/meetings/5457-esaa-2014-track–field-championship. You’ll need to register to see these.
Closer to home, Herne Hill Harriers hosted the latest round of the Southern Men’s League Division 1 Central meeting at Tooting, with the home club finishing fourth out of seven teams. Individual winners in A races included Jamal Rhoden-Stevens in the 800m, James McMullen in the 5000m and Gavin Johnson-Assoon in the javelin. There was encouragement elsewhere, with John Tayleur notching personal bests in the 800m and 3000m steeplechase, V40 Simon Coombes impressing with third in the A-string 1500m and Jordan Maurice returning to form with victory in the 1500m B race.
Further north, the best of Harriers’ senior middle distance athletes were competing at the Trafford BMC Grand Prix meeting. Michael Dyer and Mike Cummings clocked 3:49.68 and 3:57.54 respectively in their 1500m races, while Katie Snowden was third in the A 1500m race for women, clocking 4:21.57. Lewis Lloyd ran 1:51.57 over 800m.
Competing at the Southern Counties Senior Inter County match at Mile End, Aisha Naibe-Wey won the 400m hurdles in 61.51, while Hannah Edwards was a narrow second in the 800m, as was Isaac Ogunlade in the 400m and Eva Joseph in the 200m. Penel Cummings was third in the 3000m walk, clocking 16:59.04.
Away from the track, Chris Busaileh ran a season’s best 15.18 in the midweek Standard Chartered Great City 5K, finishing second behind Phil Wicks. Simon Coombes was fifth in 15.43, John Kettle 14th in 16.08 and Rob Crellin 31st in 16.40, with the three all claiming personal bests.
p.s All the great photos were taken by Sam Shaw, Maddie’s mum