Saturday saw the Club visit Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden stadium for round 2 of this years shortened National Athletics League competition – the weather threatened once or twice but it didn’t go the way of the Eton match! What looked like a very full strength Thames Valley Harriers team got the better of us by only 40+ points and thankfully Windsor were a massive 170 odd points behind us in third place. The final match in August at Birmingham will be the league decider and Tony Bush will be expecting all fit and able athletes to answer the call to arms!
Thanks to all the officials and supporters who did a great job yesterday. Tonys match report is below together with a few photos I managed to take – the officials were very busy on the day!
Congratulations to all team members and officials on a great performance in Nottingham yesterday. We came up short in trying to beat the champions but there were so many superb results. Harrow won exactly one-third of all events, a staggering total for a second-placed team. Thirteen men’s victories included five on the track, Alex Cooper (400: 47.40), Terry Fawden (S/Chase 9.15.59), Miguel and David (110H), and Luke Dinsmore (B 1500). Three double wins were highlights on the field: Efe and Rob (LJ), George and Zac (Shot) and Conor and Dave (javelin). Joe West (PV) and Dan Nixon (shot) were B string winners.
The women’s team had eight individual winners, Joy Eze (200), Catherine O’Connor (3000 PB on debut), Lucy Jones (2000 S/C – Club record), Susan Folorunso (B 100), Rebecca Andrei (B 400), Sarah Connolly (B 100H), Adelaide Omitowoju (TJ) and Lucy Odell (B javelin). The sprint relay team was victorious, even with Joy running with only one shoe, while the 4 x 400 squad sliced almost six seconds off the Club record in clocking 3.48.64.
Lying for most of Saturday and Sunday on my sofa sick-bed what was I to do apart from enjoy the UK championships being held in Manchester?! The BBC iPlayer coverage was great, if not a little too static at times but I was impressed with the sheer number of Harrow athletes appearing on screen and being name checked by Tim Hutchings and Hannah England 🙂
There were some superb performances and Saturday saw Isabel Wakefield run a great sprint hurdles race to take the silver medal in a PB of 13.05 just behind Cindy Sember! On Sunday Efe Uwaifo went one better as he won gold in the triple jump on his sixth jump with 16.20 – annoyingly the wind was just over the limit at 2.7m/s. Also in the triple jump was Adelaide Omitowuju who was third with a 13.10 PB!
Congrats to all those who competed at the championships and include – Emily Dibble (7th Javelin – 44.57), Jahde Williams (100/200m – DQ/21.04), Shilo Wright-Taipow (100/200m – 11.91/24.63), George Hyde (6th Shot Putt – 16.08), Zac Davies (7th Shot Putt – 15.05), Meg Baily (7th Pole Vault – 4.15), David Aryeetey (400mH – 54.32 & 110mH – 14.86), Max Schopp (400mh – 54.06), Dijana Clarke (400mH – 65.80), Connor Neal (400m – 48.07), Alex Cooper (400m – 47.79), Poppy Malik (400m – 55.01), Nia Wedderburn-Goodison (100m – 11.59), Callum Taylor (5th Javelin – 65.61), Miguel Perera (7th 110mH – 13.75), Divine Duruaku (5th High jump – 2.05), Taia Tunstall (9th Discus – 49.31).
Also on Sunday at the Asics London 10Km there was an excellent win for Jonathan Collier in a PB of 30.17!
Team manager Jeff Suffield reports – Well done to everyone that competed at the weekend – lots of PBs and top 3 places!
We came joint 4th on the day which is fantastic considering we were not able to field many U17s (due to the important YDL fixture on the Sunday).
Special mention and congratulations to Daniel Emegbor who obtained a new MYAL Record in the High Jump. Please start thinking about which events you would like to do for fixture 4 at the StoneX Stadium in Barnet on Saturday 22nd July.
Finally congratulations to those few athletes who qualified and were selected for the county team to compete at the English Schools National Championships.
A huge achievement to get there and all the best for this coming Friday/Saturday.
Match 2 of the SAL season went ahead at Bannisters in sunny and warm conditions (although with the usual Bannisters blustery winds) until late in the match when the rain came through. It was a relatively strong team which did suffer a few late withdrawals in the hours leading up to the match and also a couple of big name additions. However, the team rallied in the normal Harrow AC way and we managed to pull off another sensational victory on the day. This is now the perfect start to the season with two out of two wins.
I want to mention a few athletes who went way beyond what was asked of them as they filled in gaps and effectively enabled this great result. Kayla Saunders (800m, 400m, 4x400m), Amy Hillier (400m, 200m, 4×100 & 4×400), Julie-Ann Boachie (100m pb, Long Jump pb, High Jump & 4×100), Malik Johnson (800m, 400m & 4×400). Also thanks to Owen Heard & Saoirse Chinery-Edoo for the helpful late additions.
There were many more fine individual performances and a few SAL debutants. One last athlete to mention is Lucy Ashe who made her final appearance in a Harrow AC vest before going off to her new life in the USA – she signed off with a fabulous victory in the 5k. We all wish her every success!
A special thank you to Ravenscroft Health for their support at the match and the much appreciated physio’s we had present. Ravenscroft Health are a specialist physiotherapy and pain management clinic with five locations across London – Pinner, Harrow Weald, Battersea, Wandsworth and Richmond. They specialise in sports injuries, physiotherapy and pain management. If any Harrow athletes have any physiotherapy needs we would recommend you get in touch with them.
Lastly, a special thank you to Tim Hughes and Ian Farr for getting Bannisters ready for a successful home match.
Next match is looking like a big one against one of our main rivals, Chelmsford. We will be taking them on in their backyard on Sunday 9th July.
Results and match reports are being compiled but suffice to say, what a season opener! The 8 clubs present in the top flight division of National League competition were enjoying a great day in the summer sunshine until the weather exploded late in the afternoon. It started gently enough but there came a point just after the mens 3Km athletes finished their race before everyone dived under cover to avoid the hailstones, torrential rain, thunder and lightning! With the back straight totally flooded and the lightning continuing to threaten all, the meeting manager with the various team managers agreement, decided to halt the match to preserve life and limb! Team Manager Tony Bush’s report follows below:
“Harrow’s National Athletic League team made a stunning start to the season by winning the opening fixture by 93 points at Windsor, to top the Premiership league table. The women’s team won by 35 points, with seven A string victories. Joy Eze won the 200 metres on debut with a superb PB of 23.61. Similarly, Hilary Gode (100: 11.73) and Poppy Malik (400: 55.01) were debut winners. Adelaide Omitowoju set a new best of 12.68 to take the triple jump, while there were also victories for Suzie Monk (1500), Bryony Bovell (HJ, on debut) and Meg Bailey, tied for first when the PV was cancelled due to torrential rain. There were also five B string wins for Rebecca Andrei (400, on debut), Robyn McKee (1500, on debut), Simona Simeonova (LJ), Amelia Gray (TJ) and Lucy O’Dell (javelin PB).
The men’s team won by 30 points, with 23 podium positions from 15 completed events. Andrew Milligan (PB on debut) and Jonathan Collier (SB) dominated the 3000 metres during the worst of the storm. to claim a double win. Divine Duruaku shared victory on debut, in the uncompleted high jump. There were also B string wins for Ross Connor (S/C), Tayo Andrews (HJ), and James Lelliott (LJ).
Harrow now tops the League table from defending champions Thames Valley, who won the other Premiership fixture. These two teams clash in the next NAL fixture on Saturday 15 July, in Nottingham”.
