Our Multi Talented Combined Eventers Shine at English Schools.

Whilst the middle-distance athletes made the journey to Hampshire for the Southern Road relays our young multi eventers would be on home soil representing Essex Schools in the National combined events championships. Oddly just as at Aldershot two sets of silver medals were to be won. Pride of place for Chelmsford must be that of intermediate girls age group for in this heptathlon event comprising seven events the team consisted of a trio of members which were to finish just 85 points behind winners Hampshire. Milana Thorpe led the team taking seventh individual with performances of 80m, hurdles 12.26s, high jump 1.44m, shot putt 11.01m, 200m 27.05s, log jump 4.94m, javelin 27.51m and finally the 800m in 2m 26.69s for a total of 4329 points.  Filling ninth place Lily Hartman's performances read as 12.33s, 1.44m. 10.74m,25.91s, 4.80m, 22.61s and 2m 30.13s bringing a points tally of 4229. Completing the team Chelsea Clarke efforts of 12.90s, 1.65m, 9.18m, 27.44s, 5.20m, 23.60m and 2m 52.20s scored 4044 points and in thirteenth spot.              

To the intermediate boys and in this Kent were to take the team title closely followed by Essex for whom Daniel Brown was leading performer with 4704 points for the eight events of this octathlon gained from long jump 6.17m, discus 31.22m, javelin 32.10m, 400m 52.42s, 100m hdls 14.38s high jump, 1.77m, shot putt 11.83m and 1500m 4m 53.0s.  On 4681 points Jeremy Anderson event results were 5.66m, 36.01m, 41.55m, 54.28s, 14.59s, 1.71m, 13.03m and 5m 04.32s. Oscar Clarke of no fixed club completed the trio with 4178 points. Certainly, silver medals are good but at the start of the day the team may have expected that to be gold - but things do not always turn out as expected. The high hopes were dashed when Harry Lee had to withdraw through injury after two events.

There was the glint of gold for one CAC member though. Jake Read led the junior boys’ team to this success with his fifth-place finish via his 80m hurdles 11.95s, shot 9.20m, long jump 5.76m, high jump 1.86m (best of the event) and 800m 2m 12.0s bringing a total points score of 2933. Childrea Asiegbu 2529 points and eighth spot plus Michael Kushimo of SS Athletics with 2097 points completed the team.

Highest individual placing by a Chelmsford member came from the senior boys with Sam Wright taking fourth spot with his 100m of 11.44s, long jump 7.24m, shot 11.58m, high jump 1.92m, 400m 55.69s, 110m hurdles 15.69s, discus 37.23m, pole vault 3.90m, javelin 36.63m and 1500m 5m 20.78s completing the ten events of the decathlon. Both the high and long jumps were best recorded from the event and made a significant assist in the points score of 6325. Stephen Adesina was to finish 14th with 4636 points following from his 100m 12.70s, long jump 6.35m, shot 11.65m, high jump 1.68m, 400m 62.54s, 110m hdls 18.51s, discus 30.05m, pole vault 3.50m, javelin 31.27m and 1500m 5m 40.17s. Surprise that Essex could not find a third member to complete the team seeing this was on home turf.

Report written by Roy Meadowcroft

2 Southern Silvers & National Qualification for our Men at the Road Relays.

Two sets of silver medals for Chelmsford at the South of England Road relays staged at Aldershot.

I will give first call to the under 15 girls for apart from that second placings they had two further teams placing inside the top ten finishers from the 65 that had faced the starter. The Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow club lifted the title with a time of 31m 22s but with Lily Sanford clocking 10m29s in third place, Ava King`s 10m 31s took the lead  and a final 10m32s from Erin Kelly this consistency brought the team home just nine seconds down on the leaders. Third spot went to hosts Aldershot some 30 seconds back. For the `B` team to follow such illustrious clubs home gives evidence of our own growing status. In this event our squad of Isla Kehoe put in a time of 10m 32s being fifth Isobelle Eida then put in a run of 10m 42s to place second to Ava. With clubs now putting out their star performers on the final stage Francesca Phillips hung on well for that fourth spot with a time of 11m 28s. Beatrix Cooke 11m 02s, Hattie Blackburn 11m 20s and Orla Martin 11m 23s can be well pleased with 9th.

To the under 17 women and here the winners were Aldershot and with 49m 17s a lead of just 30 seconds this coming from their final runner whose 15m 36s moved them from fourth. For CAC Ezrah Harrold's 16m 38s gave her fourth on the opening stage, Lottie Wilkin with 17m 05s came through fifth whilst on the last lap Jorja March`s with second best time of the race of 16m 02s was to gain those silver medals. With Emmie Lole 17m 45s, Amelie Shipton 16m 49s and Harriet Matthews 17m 58s the `B` team placed tenth whilst Hetty Harrison 17m 43s, Missy Tiller 18m 08s and Niamh Roberts 18m 39s finished 18^th.

It was pleasing to see a good performance from the under 13 boys to come home sixth in the large field. A great run from Mason Sanford on the first stage when his 9m 55s not only gave the team the lead but was to be best of the event. One of the youngest in the age range Dylan Law with 10m 33s held on to come through third and Arthur Cooke`s 10m 08s brought a very creditable sixth place.

Other races saw  the under 15 boys 15th with Josh Humphries 9m 57s, Fred Ferman 9m 55s and Jake Boarer 10m 08s. For the under 17 men Daniel Pollard`s 15m 14s, Max Chivers 15m41s and Austin Kelly 14m 46s was to be final position of 21st.  Alas in the under 13 girls a full team could not be put out leaving Bella Kehoe 11m 23s and Jessica Hobson 11m 53s in ninth place at that stage.

The final race of the day and our senior men were able to put out a full team of six and still three further in reserve. This was quite a young team starting with Will Nuttall recording a time of 18m 36s in 19th place. This position would change little as they eventually took 17th spot with Jacob Hurrell on 18m 26s, Finn Rattray 19m19s, Tom Rehal 19m 22s, Ethan Reilly 19m 17s and Zack Bridgeland 19m 32s.  

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft.       

Our Juniors Make EYAL & Club History in Claiming Their Third Successive League and Cup Double.

Victory at Melbourne Park for our girls and boys in the EYAL FINAL to go alongside the league title - an achievement that any of the clubs involved would be proud of but to complete the double for the third successive year is an accomplishment for I can find no records of this being achieved in the league previously. Full marks to all the youngsters involved for even those points gained outside the top two in events were vital in the final score. We must also give credit to the coaching team that have aided the performances throughout the campaign.

Final score reads as.. 1st CHELMSFORD 673 points, SSAthletis/Enfield 624, Havering 579, Shaftesbury Harriers 557, Norwich 451 and Stevenage 447. In addition, two age groups topped their groups for further awards and we will start with these.

With 122 points our under 17 girls built up a lead of 24 points, ahead of Havering on 98.  Obviously, there were many individual performances in this success including maximum points in several events. No surprise that the throws should lead the way for this has been the case throughout the season. In the shot putt Matilda Hewitt and Monica Malagala set the trend, come the discus and Matilda was now joined by Maddison Poulter who rose to the occasion with a pb of 30.04m. With only one competitor required in the hammer Monica Malagala won with an impressive 50.34m - going beyond the 50 metres for the first time. On the track Amelie Scott took her first win in the hurdles and Chelsea Clarke made this a double by taking the `B` string. This pairing came close to another double with Amelie winning the long jump with Chelsea this time placing second.  In the sprints Lily Hartman placed second in both 100 and 200 with Michelle Shadipe winning the`B` 100 and Alicija Yalaju second in the 200 having earlier come up with a pb of 1.60m in the high jump for second place whilst Amy Pugsley won the second string. In the 300m it was second place for Stephanie Smith followed by first spot for Lucy Bulman. No surprise that the 4 x 100 relay should feature another first place. Only weak spot in this age group was the middle distance for none of those members who have gained medals in championship races during the season made themselves available. Full marks to Madison Poulter for stepping into the breach in events unfamiliar to her, the 1500m and pole vault just to earn the odd points. Well done for taking these on.

The under 15 age girls gained our second age group award with 111 points, an advantage over closest rivals of 17. Again, the throws brought a glut of these points Olivia Mullineaux winning the hammer and discus whilst placing second in the shot - an event which saw Shindra Ayo-Adeyemo winning the `B` string. The discus had also provided a win in the`B` via Timmy Osei. The 100 metres brought full points through Abigail McElroy and Morinsola Adenugu with Abigail following up with second over 200m - Katie Lowe took third in this, The 800 metres was another event bringing full points via Ava King and Isla Kehoe and then at 1500m this was repeated with Erin Kelly and Francesca Philips taking the honours. Again there was victory in the relay.

No winners from the under 13`s although Breanna Dosumu took second in the 100m and high jump and completed a busy day with third in the high jump with Macie Hall taking second spot in the `B` result. There was a solid run from Bella Kehoe to finish second in the 800 and a gallant run by Abigail Knight who seemed dwarfed by her opponents and needing three strides to their two. Over the hurdles Laurel Chandler finished in third place. It was to be second place for each of the three age group, the under 13`s only 6 points adrift of the combined team of SS Athletics and Enfield who also topped the under 15`s by 21. The under 17`s went to Havering by a margin of 9.

The day started bright for the under 13`s with maximum points from the hurdles with Jacob Allam and Luca Wright. Over at the long jump Jack Armbruster took second with Toby Stothard winning the `B`. In the 100m Jacob placed third but in the `B` race it was a first for Jack. Moving to the 200m and Issac Coleman was a winner with Toby Stothard taking a second place. Issac also had a second placing - in the shot behind Franklin Johnson. The middle distance came into the picture with Dylan Law second in the `A` 1500m with Freddie Blacketer winning the `B` category. It was the middle-distance scoring best from the under 15`s for in the 800 metres the pairing of Khaya Fakazi and Jake Boarer took the honours whilst on to the 1500m Fred Ferman second and Joshua Dalton first ran them close. For the star performance at this age level, we must take the high jump with Jake Reed winning with a height of 1.85m – Edward Delaney placed second in the`B`. Jake also had a third in the hurdles in which Felix Churchill-Brown claimed a first. In the discus there were two second placings via Hector Johnson and Bevan Dove the later having started the day with a win in the hammer event, Good also to see points being claimed in the pole vault by Toby Tubbs in third place.

No surprise that the under 17`s hurdles see Harry Lee taking the leading role for he is indeed ranked number three in the UK. His win here paved the way for Marcus Fazackerley to win the `B` string. A competitor of many talents for Harry also won the discus event in which there was a second placing for Dan Brown. Dan also had a second placing in the long jump and with Jeremy Andersen in the major role in the shot putt brought about full points. The javelin also claimed two firsts with Zak Williams and Jeremy Andersen our pairing. On the track the 800m saw Thomas Carter finishing second in the `A` race with Daniel Pollard taking the `B` race. With only one competitor per club in the pole vault Ed Hughes moved up from the under 15`s to this under 17 level and gained a third place. Now for the real five-star performance of the day, not just from a Chelmsford athlete but from the meeting as a whole. It came from the high jump and as the height increased brought much attention from spectators around the area in front of the refreshment hut. All others had been eliminated as the bar was raised to 1.98m and Charlie Pyner had the stage to himself. Already number seven in the UK rankings at 1.95m he now cleared the 1.98m and moves to number five in the UK. GREAT PERFORMANCE - WELL DONE

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Report written by Roy Meadowcroft.