CAC Athletes turn a Pigs Ear in to a Silk Purse at the Southerns.

Many in the past may have considered the Crystal Palace stadium as one of the best in the UK, how times change. For a major event such as the Southern Championships the organisers found that three lanes were unfit for use resulting in extra heats being run for 300 and 400 metre events and then of course only five competitors were able to go through to the finals. Still a good couple of days for Chelmsford youngsters with a total of twelve medals gained with an equal number of personal bests achieved.

Day one`s events saw Harry Hughes take third spot in the pole vault, clearing 3.10m for a pb whilst Olivia Mullineaux went one place better being second in the discus with her pb of 30.77m and following this with the bronze medal from the shot putt with 10.66m,  Other bests came from Nicole Hawkins in the 400m in 61.13s and from Bella Kehoe from the under 13`s 800 2m 34.0s. Other notable performances came from Joseph Delaney in the under 17 men 800m to take him through to the fallowing day`s final, Fred Ferman did likewise in the 1500m.

From the shot putt Monica Malagala finished fourth in the hammer reaching 45.82m whilst on the track Lily Hartman, 46.26s. Won her heat of the 300m hurdles, Ava King was first through in her heat of the 1500m (4m 45.01s) and would be joined by Izzy Eida in the following days final. Lily Sanford was another first in her heat of the under 15’s 800m clocking 2m 22.01s bit it was to the under 17`s races over this distance which gave most promise. Heat one was won by Jorjia March (2m 19.31s), heat two saw Ezrah Harrold winning in 2m 22.23s with heat three going to Lottie Wilkin (2m 19.82s)  and being followed through by Amelie Shipton (2m 23.82s) thus all four going forward to the semi-finals on Sunday.

Day two started with Timmy Osei, who the previous day had contested the shot and discus, now setting a pb in the hammer with 23.54m. In the under 15 triple jump Abi McElroy leapt an impressive 10.37m to secure a well deserved bronze medal with Katie Lowe just behind her in 4th spot with a jump of 10.26m setting her a new PB. Lily Hartman in the 300m final placed fourth, later in the day she again just missed out on a podium finish placing fourth in the 200m with 25.10s having won her heat in 25.65m and semi-final in 25.24s. Bella Kehoe improved on the previous day’s heat of the under 13 year 800m by now recording 2m 28.56s placing sixth in the final. Now came our first medal of the day with Matilda Hewitt third in the shot putt with 14.00m - Monica Malagala was one place behind on 13.31m.  These placings were to be improved later in the programme as Matilda won the discus with a seasons best of 37.06m with Monica coming up with a pb of 36.19m for the bronze medal. For the boys under 17year 800 Joseph Delaney just missed out on a finalist spot being fourth in his heat (2m 02,30s) and then followed the semi-finals of the girls event at this distance.  Jorjia March won the first of these (2m 14.54s) with Amelie third ( 2m 15.29s). Heat two and Ezrah Harrold winning  with 2m 17.29s closely followed by Lottie Wilkin ( 2m 17.85s) all four qualifying for the final. To the under 15`s 1500 metres  and in this Ava King took second place with 4m 46.24s, Izzy Eida 4m 56.88s was sixth. Unfortunately Fred Ferman could not repeat his time of the heat with 4m 29.02s.  It was second place for Amelie Scott in the 80 metre hurdles  whose 11.52s    was only bettered as the winner set a new championship record. Chelsea Clarke (11.85s) was 5th. Zenobia Williams (u15) recorded a pb of 29.19m with the javelin - another just that one place from the podium awards. Zak Williams (u17) did make this being second - again the javelin - throwing 57.51m for a pb. Lily Sanford slightly faster than in her heat of the under15 year 800 with 2m 20.27s finished eighth in the final.  The highlight of the championship from a local view point has to come at the end of the day from that under 17 year 800 metres. Rarely can a club provide four athletes in a final of eight. Even more unlikely that three should finish on the podium for Jorjia took the gold with 2m 12.01s with Ezrah less than a second down (2m 12.91s) winning silver and then Lottie who `Rose` to the occasion being third with a new pb of 2m13.66s. Amelie down on her heat time with 2m18.24s placed sixth. Yes a most satisfactory two days for CAC and the athletes will remember this and soon forget the organiser`s problems which caused the  programme to overrun on the first day.   

Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

A Sublime Display gets our NAL Campaign underway with a Home Victory.

If any of the visiting clubs to Melbourne Park had looked at the Chelmsford`s result at Basingstoke a couple of weeks back they may have had visions of an easy ride in this opening meeting of their National League campaign. How different this turned out to be Chelmsford now topped the result with 610 points - well clear of Herts. Phoenix on 552, Havering 519, Blackheath 510, Herne Hill 389 and Belgrave 365.

First individual placings were coming throughout the day be it on the track or in the field both men and women. Scores were recorded separately for men and women with CAC heading Herts. P, By 68 points, In the women's score Herts gained an advantage of just 10 points.. No wins from the men`s short distance races although such was the standard that  James Becker (200) and Adam Fox (400) recorded personal bests. Over 800m Will Steadman placed second with veteran Paul Grange taking the second string race. Moving up the distances the 1500m, 5000m and steeplechase brought maximum points via Jacob Hurrell and Gregory Martin,  Joseph Grange (a pb of 14m 51.96s), Ben Felton, Will Nuttall and Thomas Woodward.  Little was lost over the hurdles as in the 110m event Bradley Reed finished second with Rhys Collings taking first spot in the `B` race. It was like wise in the 400m with Ed Hughes and Archie Sims .

To the throws and Oliver Graham had a busy day, starting with a first place in the hammer with Yasha Bobash ensuring full points from this event. Oliver went onto place second in both shot and discus with Yasha again backing up for good points, Samson Colombi placed second in the javelin. There was a win for Sam wright in the high jump also placing second in the long jump. There was also a second for Jack Hughes in the pole vault whilst we must give attention to Kevin Wilson foregoing his usual berths in the throwing events due to a wrist injury to fill places in the high and triple jump events.

In the women's events Kissiwaa Mensah triumphed over the 100 metres and placed second in the 200 an event which saw Lily Hartman stepping up from the under 17 age group and setting a pb of 24.96s. Chelsea Clarke U17 also stepped up and jumped a Long Jump pb of 5.33m and also had solid performance in the High Jump contributing towards the teams over score. Over 400 metres Georgia Tombs was also in fine form and with 55.66s also ran a pb. Points wise however it was the 3000 metres and steeplechase which provided  the most points. In the former Kiera Atkinson finished second but with a time of 9m 51.21s she has never run faster. Sister Kayleigh following in winning the `B` string. In the steeplechase the pairing of Lucy Nuttall and Emma Cox also notched up 20 points with their second and first placings.

It was the throws which was to bring maximum points with Helen Ingvaldsen and Charlotte Graham in the hammer and Jess Hopkins with sister Maegan in the shot putt. Jess also took second in the javelin with Zion Ateba winning the `B`.  Charlotte Graham and Maegan Hopkins also scored heavily in the discus.

Only disappointment came from the two hurdles events in which put out only one competitor and the triple jump with nobody here. We do have athletes who have already this term shown performances which could have earned very good points in this - and these would most certainly overturned that ten points advantage Herts. Phoenix had.

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

Our Juniors Were in Supreme Form for our 2nd EYAL Match.

What a difference a day makes. Whilst the seniors struggled with a shortage of athletes the team managers had the problem as to who should be declared as the scorers such was the turnout for the EYAL League fixture at Watford. Of course there is no problem when competitors are all under 17 and not yet attending Universities around the UK.

Having won the first fixture at Norwich they now took a second win scoring 827 points with two clubs who had also won their first meetings taking second and third - Shaftesbury 762 and Havering 701. Other clubs were St Albans 512, Watford 472, Bedford Lions 305 and the combined Orion and Ilford team with 286. The league table now puts us ahead with 14 league points and 1671 match points ahead of Norwich on 13  (1547) Shaftesbury 13 (1475), SS Athletics/Enfield 13 (1374), Havering 12 (1467) and in 6th spot Ipswich 11 (1246).

Let’s remember we defeated Norwich on their home ground in the opening meeting of the season. Our next fixture, at home, includes SS Athletics/Enfield and Ipswich as visitors. Obviously such an outstanding win is down to results from each of the age groups but leading the way we must give the under 17 girls pride of place. From the sprints Alicija Yalaju placed second in both the 100 and 200 metres but it paved the way for Josephine Walsh and Jasmin Lunn to take the `B`string races. On the track this trend continued first over 300m with Lily Hartman and Stephanie Smith and then 800m via Isla Kehoe and Hattie Blackburn (both running up as they are U15). The 1500m saw a victory for Jorjia March whilst the hurdles brought maximum points from Amelia Scott and Chelsea Clarke. Chelsea also combined with Alicija Yalaju for full points in the  high jump and also placed second in the long jump with Amelia Scott winning the `B`string.. Amelia was also involved in a maximum haul in the shot putt where Monica Malagala had her first in a double as she also won the discus as she was partnered with Madison Poulter. For good measure Monica also placed second in the hammer. In the javelin Lily Hartman and Amy Pugsley dropped only one point,  No surprise that such depth should bring about a success in the 4  x 100 relay.

From the under 15 girls it was full points from the 100 and 200 with Abigail McElroy taking the leading role whilst Abigail Nwakoe won the `B` 100 and Katie Lowe the 200.  Ava King finished second in the 800 - a position she also occupied in the 300 - with Isabella Eida winning the `B` string 800.  Full points came in the 1500 metres with Erin Kelly and Francesca Phillips our pairing. Shindara Adeyemo won the shot putt with Timmy Osei second in the `B`,  A placing also taken in the discus and hammer. The javelin found Zenobia Williams placing second with Maddie Moss winning the second string.  The end of the meeting brought another relay win.

In the under 13 girls only one point dropped from the discus with Una Purcell and Sofia Lawrence, the pair also taking good placings in the shot putt whilst Sofia also placed second in the javelin. There was a first place from Brooke Nowell in the high jump whilst from the track there was promise by Bella Kehoe over 800 metres.

For the under 13 year boys William Becker`s 100 metres second place in the 100 metres was the best on the track but the field events brought maximum points from the discus via Franklin and Myles Osei. Myles also took third in the javelin in which Jack Armbruster won the `B` string having been second in the long jump with Stanley Adams also getting second in the `B`, The shot putt also brought two second spots with Franklin Johnson  and Daniel Sheriff.

The under 15 boys saw a glut of first positions taken. Bevan Dove was in fine form with wins in the hammer and discus, in the later Nat Vickers won the `B` string. Bevan also took third in the shot with George Dixon first in the`B`. George was second in the hurdles with Jake Read winning the `B` Full points came via the high jump with Jake this time with Ed Delaney his partner.  On the track it was maximum points from the 1500 metres with Fred Ferman and Jack Boarer, over 800 metres Khaya Fakazi took second place.

To the under 17`s and there were first places for Jeremy Anderson, shot putt, and Zak Williams, javelin, in the field events. On the track Joe Delaney was second over 800m with Daniel Pollard in pole position for the `B` race.  Daniel was later to finish second over the 400m distance. The 1500m also gave second and first placings - Austin Kelly and Max Chivers our pairing in this event.

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft