Press Report 5th February 2018
JUNIORS – INDOOR ATHLETICS
Essex Indoor Championships
Lee Valley
3rd / 4th February
A fine weekend of performance from Ilford’s young athletes was started off with a fine 4th place by newcomer Jordan Akinpelu in the U20M Long Jump.
Having been with the club for just a few months he has progressed rapidly and will be a genuine medal contender by the time the Outdoor season comes.
Gemima Massamba impressed in the heats of the U20W 400m in improving her PB by nearly 2 seconds and just missing out on making the final by just 0.10 seconds, made all the more impressive when considering she has missed much training due to playing Netball, Football, and Basketball for Top 5 nationally ranked teams.
The U17M saw another newcomer, Daniel Popoola, establish himself as a force in county sprinting in making the Semi finals in both the 60m and 200m respectively, missing the final by just 0.07 seconds in setting a new PB in the latter event.
Anthony George was involved in an unfortunate road accident just two weeks ago yet somehow returned to the track to make the Semi finals in the 60m and 200m, setting huge PBs in both, and then going to do battle with one of the country’s best Triple Jumpers later on in the final day of competition.
He jumped a new PB of 13.30m to threaten the CBP of 13.38m and led until the final stages when he was overcome by his rival. He goes into the National Indoor Championships ranked 3rd in the country and looking for a medal.
Mario Dobrescu put on a strong showing the U15B 60m in winning the Silver in a swift 7.29 seconds which ranks him 3rd in the country in that event. In his preferred 200m event, he won his heat at a canter in 23.52, a new championship best performance by 0.25 and his club teammates eagerly awaited the final to see what he would run when going flat out. He won the final and smashed his PB with a sparkling time of 22.96 seconds which ranks him Number 1 in the country and gives him a strong platform from which to perform going into the National Indoor Age-group Championships.
Both Anthony and Mario will represent Ilford AC at the England Athletics Age-group Indoor Championships on 24-25th February and will be looking to further establish Ilford AC as a force to be reckoned with should they win medals in their respective events, a feat that is certainly capable of happening.
JUNIORS – CROSS COUNTRY RUNNING
South East Schools Championships – Cross Country
Newbury Showground
Saturday 3rd February
After a great run at the recent Essex Schools, Jordan Hinds was rewarded with a run for Essex in the Southern Inter Counties match which was held at Newbury on Saturday.
The match is made up of several southern area counties, and Jordan was part of a strong Essex team.
Conditions underfoot were very slippy following the heavy recent rain and Jordan found it difficult to begin with. However by the half way stage Jordan was in full flow and was moving steadily through the field to eventually finish a very impressive 49th place in a very large field.