• Press Report 2nd June 2008
     

    Press Report
    Road
    Athletes from Ilford Athletic Club enjoyed a busy weekend of action which began in Hyde Park on Friday where superveteran Pam Jones once again lowered her own over 70's course record to 24m 18 secs in the Serpentine last Friday of the month 5k. This incredible performance topped the age gradings equating to a massive 94.30% in a field of 201 finishers .  Another top performance up at 90.50% was John Batchelor's 18m 53 seconds which placed him 27th overall and easily won him the M65 category. Not to be outdone Nicola Hopkinson completed a trio of Ilford category winners when she took the womens over 45s in 22.06. Malcolm Muir finished 7th overall in 16.31 and veteran Micky Sutton clocked 20.16. Sutton had also competed in the Veteran's AC 5 miles race the previous Tuesday at Battersea Park coming a truly excellent 6th in good class company, from 26 runners, clocking 32 minutes and 10 seconds. Gerry Pells, another of the club's superveterans completed Ilford's finishers with 27.24.
     
    On an overcast and cool Sunday morning 4 of the club's veterans made the journey east along the A127 to Gloucester Park, Basildon for the delayed Essex PB 5, a race held over a flat and traffic free course which was well marshalled and organised. The contingent took advantage of the conditions and were lead home by Neil Crisp in 30th [29:41] who was pleased with breaking the 30 minute barrier for the first time. He was ably supported by Abdi Berleen in 39th [30:55], just outside his PB. Gary Floate, making a welcome return to the racing scene, impressed in 64th [32:57]. The race was won by Adam Hickey of Southend AC in 25:12.  Ilford's only representative in the Women's race was Dianne Crisp, who although disappointed with her time of 37:27 was delighted to pick up the silverware for 1st Vet O45!! The race was won by Helen Decker in 28:15. Next years race will be the races 25th anniversary and the Race Director is hoping for a big turnout.
     
    Meanwhile over in Dagenham the race organiser introduced marathon legend Paul Evans to the crowd. Evans who boasts an impressive CV including a victory in the 1996 Chicago marathon, together with a 3rd and 5th in New York, as well as being an honorary member of Ilford AC, set the runners on their way in the Barking and Dagenham 5 mile race around the perimeter of  Central Park. On a multi-terrain course believed to be over distance both Nicola Hopkinson and Pam Jones continued their excellent form with Nicola coming through to take 3rd place overall (37.40) and Pam winning the womens 70 plus category (40.57). Rohan Alexander (33.40) and Steve Parker (34.05) both performed extremely well in the mens competition and racewalker Stephen Crane excelled when he returned to the running discipline with 34.10. Dave Sharpe however kept to racewalking and finished with 50.20. Ken Hylton returned to competition after a bit of a lay-off and completed in 45.06. In the later 3k fun run Jaydah Alexander, a member of the "Ilford Rascals" group, was 3rd girl home in the under 10s with 16.29. 
     
    Track and Field
     
    SWL Cambridge
    A small team of five talented young Ilford athletes performed well at the first match of the Southern Womens League at Cambridge last weekend.   Star of the team was Sarah Kigozi who broke the 27 second barrier for the first time in the 200m with 26.8.  Sarah was well up with the leaders coming round the bend, but was pushed hard all down the straight to attain an excellent 3rd place and new personal best.  She had earlier recorded a season’s best in the 100m with 13.0 for 4th place, narrowly missing the top two by fractions of a second.  Julianna Dougan was seeded in a separate race but managed to record an identical time of 13.0 and 2nd place.  Her time was over half a second quicker than her previous best and her strong finish indicates considerable potential for improvement.  Not to be left out, Leanna Headlam also recorded a new personal best, although in her case only by less than a tenth of a second, to 13.4.  

    Lisa has only just started training after a two year break and so showed tremendous talent to record 29.0 in the 200m on her Ilford AC debut.  With a talented quartet of sprinters, there were high hopes for a victory in the 4x100m.  Julianna started well, putting the squad right up with the leaders, while Leanna held on well on the quick 2nd leg.  Lisa handed on to Sarah with a 2 metre deficit on the leader which she worked gamely to close, but with a strong Victoria Park team coming quickly from behind, the squad was squeezed into 3rd place, but rewarded with an excellent time of 52.2.

    Also making her debut, Suleima Williams threw well in a competitive shot put with one metre separating 3rd to 9th.  Suleima’s distance of 7.22m was good enough for 8th but with some work on her technique and speed work, she will surely be challenging the top ranks in the future.  Immediately following the shot, Suleima was in action on the track in the 400m.  She ran strongly in the first 200m which she reached in 34 seconds but her lack of strength work saw her fade in the latter stages to record 78.0 as she crossed the line.  

    Lisa and Leanna also performed well in the field with Leanna jumping an excellent 4.29m in the long jump and Lisa throwing 17.69m in the discus.  Leanna improved throughout the competition as she worked hard to perfect her run up and with only one jump landing squarely on the take off board, she will surely improve in this discipline.  Lisa also was learning on the job, also making her performance all the more worthy and demonstrating potential for the future.  Sarah also threw well with 19.70m in the javelin, while Julianna threw the discus a good distance of 12.30m.

    The Southern Womens Team is still in its infancy, and with the development of the squad, the team is aiming to rise rapidly up the league in the future, starting with their next meeting in Ipswich on 28th June.
     
     
    UKYAL Southend - Report by Paul Cheal
     
     
    On Sunday a very depleted squad of  Ilford AC Juniors travelled along the A127 to Southend AC for Round 2 of the S2E Division UKYAL Meeting.
     
    In the U/15 boys Dean Ulla running in only his 2nd 800m was able to smash his previous best time by 10sec to 2m 30.6s, he also did the 100m in: 14.8s and the Long Jump: 3m 90cm. Clare Rodway on the other hand excelled herself in the U/15 Girls with three PB's: 13.0s in the 75m Hurdles, 3m 95cm in the Long Jump and 4m 92cm in the Shot.
     
    George Hadler in the U/13 Boys is riding on a crest of a wave at the moment and cant do anything wrong. He jumped a PB of 15cm's in the High Jump with a new clearance of: 1m 35cm and a PB in the 800m with: 2m 33.4 whilst also doing the 75m hurdles in: 14.1s. Thomas King did the 1500m in: 5m 28s, High Jump: 1m 15 and a PB in the Shot: 4m 35cm. Ciaran Rodway making his way to the event after a morning of football recorded: 17.1s in the 75m Hurdles, 3m 81cm in the Long Jump and a PB in the 100m with: 14.9s. Jordan Akisanya although not fully fit did the Long Jump: 4m 78cm and the 200m: 27.6s. They rounded it off with a 4x100m relay.
     
    In the U/15 Boys Youcef Zatat shows no signs of stopping whilst getting ready for the Essex schools this coming weekend. He extended his Club Record distance in the hammer with a very impressive: 35m 42cm and 37m 45cm in the Discus, whilst just missing out on the Club record in the Shot Putt by 3cm's with a putt of: 11m 85cm this will surely coming sometime this season. Kofi Jeffers ran a PB in the 200m with: 24.6s and 12.2s in the 100m.
     
    The U/17 Men had 6 athletes competing with Chris Dawe doing well with the throws. He continues to get back to some kind of form in the Discus with: 31m 79cm, Hammer: 19m 59cm and a PB in the Shot with: 9m 76cm. Rob Legon did the Hammer: 19m 49cm and suffered a setback with a ankle injury whilst doing the Discus but still did: 24m 05cm and showed real guts and determination to do the Shot with: 8m 75cm. Jacob Ansong did the 200m in a PB: 24.1s and the 100m in: 12.0s. Ayokunle Adekeye did the 100m in: 12.2s which equalled his PB and the Long Jump: 4m 97cm. Liam Leddy did the 200m in a PB: 29.8s, the Long Jump with a PB: 2m 89cm and the 1500m in a time of: 5m 09s, whilst Jack Webb: 800m with: 2m 19.2s, the High Jump: 1m 40cm and the Javelin: 6m 16cm.
     
    There was only 5 girls competing for Ilford this time around. In the U/15 Girls there was 3 of them. Mika Marston did the 200m in a time of: 29.0s and the Shot Putt: 7.00m, whilst Corina Bryce Arnold: 27.8s in the 200m, the Long Jump: 3m 42cm and the 100m in: 13.7s, whilst Clare recorded 3 PB's.
     
    The U/17 Women had Rochelle Kaur do the 200m in a new PB time of: 30.1s, the Javelin another PB: 7m 50cm and the Long Jump: 3m 28cm, whilst Laibah Malik shown through with some very good performances which shows she is growing in confidence. Laibah did: 14.6s in the 100m for a PB, this was followed by another PB in the Long Jump with: 3m 58cm and a Javelin throw over 9m's.
     
    With the limited amount of athletes Ilford AC had today they did very well indeed but with just relays to come Ilford were in 4th place. Next stop is the Essex Schools next Saturday and the 2nd round of the EYAL next Sunday so another busy weekend ahead.