Herne Hill Harriers’ rising young multi-event star Jasmine Nkoso enhanced her growing reputation with an impressive pentathlon win at the English Schools South East Regional Combined Events Championships in Bracknell on Sunday 23rd June.
Nkoso’s PB of 3,442 points improved her own Harriers club U15 girls’ club pentathlon record, adding more than 200 points to her previous best score.
Her performance elevates her to the top of this year’s UK rankings for her age group. She is 12th on the UK U15G all-time list and is only 20 points below ninth and 10th all-time, who both had the same score.
Her five events on the day also included another Herne Hill club U15 girls record with a big PB in the shot of 13.67m. This is the second best in the country for her age group this year and is also a new Surrey County U15 girls record.
Her other performances on a truly excellent day were 11.82 in the 75m hurdles, 1.56m in the high jump, 5.36m in the long jump and 2.33.15 in the 800m. Jasmine was one of 15 young athletes from Herne Hill Harriers to be named in the London Schools team for the English Schools Championships next month in Birmingham where she will contest the junior girls shot.
Four Harriers raced at the Loughborough British Milers Club Grand Prix meeting on Saturday evening.
Phoebe Anderson has returned from her American University and at Loughborough she scored a prestigious race win in the women’s A 3,000m race.
Her winning time of 8:58.09 is a PB by more than a second and cements her position in the top three UK U23 women for the year in this event.
This was her first race since her disappointment in the NCAA Championship 5,000m final in Oregon a fortnight earlier and had restored her confidence before she is due to race at the UK Championships & Olympic Trials in Manchester on Saturday.
Sam Bramwell also raised eyebrows in the men’s 3,000m A race as he placed a strong fifth in 8:03.14, a PB by 34 seconds. PBs were also recorded in the women’s 1,500m races Sophie Tooley finished fourth in the B race (4:26.80), while in the C race Lucy Jones was second (4:25.59). Both revised their lifetime bests.
At the Be Fit Today Track Academy Open Meeting at Lee Valley on Sunday sprinter Michael Miller clocked 10.43 in the 100m, but the wind was just over the legal limit for club record or PB purposes. Another athlete who is home from US Uni competition, Myles Copeland-Naulty ran 10.63 for 100m and 21.53 for 200m.
Byron Robinson ran a season’s best 100m with 10.95. Giuseppe Minetti ran 12.33 for 100m and 25.32 for 200m, very good times for a M55 athlete.
In the women’s 100m races Kristal Ama-Awuah ran a season’s best of 11.60 and U17 Lily-Rose Brown a PB with 12.54.
At Friday evening’s Finsbury Park 5000 races Lewis Laylee was seventh in 14:58.05, ahead of Brandon Dewar who was 12th in 15:03.27.
Saturday saw Herne Hill’s second National Athletics League match of the season at the StoneX Stadium in Hendon. After finishing sixth of six teams in a tough opening fixture at the start of the month, the team was more competitive this time and although ending up fifth it was a close contest between the second and fifth teams on the day. This leaves all to play for in the next match on 7th July at Stevenage in a battle to avoid a relegation paper match at the end of the season.
Highest placed athletes in a good quality senior match included some under 17 athletes. In the sprint races Joseph Johnson Cole was first in the B string 100m in 11.00, then Ella Rennie won the A 100m in 12.23 and was second in the A 200m in 25.09, both being PB performances. Maeve Minielly was first in the B string 1500m steeplechase with 5:38.87 and Fred Hake third in the A 400m in 49.31 and second in the B triple jump with a PB 12.65m. Lucy Wright placed fourth in a high quality women’s A 400m in 59.26.
Top placed seniors were Ella Newton first in the B 1500m in 4:58.00, Liv Stillman in her first track race for five years won the A 3000m in 10.11.57, while Lily Newton in winning the A 1500m steeple in a PB of 5:11.47 led a Harriers 1-2 ahead of Minielly.
Fikayomi Owalope won the B high jump with a clearance of 1.76m in a quality event where U17 Solomon Thompson Moodley found his 1.81m placed fourth in the A string.
In the throws Cerys Aboagye was second in the A shot with 12.86m and third in the A discus with 39.36m, the latter a PB by 3cm. Zara Acton was second in the B shot with 11.52m and also second in the B discus with 37.04.
A good day at the Saracens rugby union ground was rounded off with strong relay performances. The Men’s 4 x 100m team were second in 42.32, the Women’s 4 x 100m were winners in 50.55 and the Women’s 4 x 400m came second in 4:15.96, the latter thanks to an on the line dip from Joyce Kalombo to beat the third place Shaftesbury athlete by one hundredth of a second in a very exciting finish.
Geoff Jerwood