Press Report 5th February 2019
Essex League Cross Country
Basildon
Saturday 2nd February
JUNIORS
Hick shines in last Essex league race
In the last Essex league X country for 2018/19,Ilford only had 3 younger athletes compete,due to other races and injuries.
However the 3 athletes all competed to a high standard on the day.
First up was 10 year old Aaron Hick ,competing in the U11s race.
Aaron was third in the previous race so had high hopes again to compete well.
About 60 youngsters started the race but Aaron had a very poor start and had to weave himself through the field in the first part of the race to move into the top 10
The Basildon athlete got a great start and was a long way ahead of the field ,but Aaron started to pick off one athlete at a time and caught the leaders with 200 m to go and sprinted past the field to take a great second place,not far behind the winner in the end.
Next up was out 2 U15 athletes Matthew Hick and Ryan Holeyman
Both started well with Matthew with the leaders at the start
Matthew hung onto the leaders and was able to sprint past a few athletes at the end to come in 12th position,his best performance and placing of the year.
Ryan seem to struggle in the middle part of the race but had a great finish to go past 5 or 6 athletes to come a credible 31st.
Overall in the league based on performances in all races Matthew ended up 16th and Ryan 18th
Although not competing on Saturday Bradley Deacon ended up in 10th place in the season long individual standings for the U17 Men
Well done to all 3 of our youngsters
SENIORS
ESSEX CROSS COUNTRY LEAGUE
Gloucester Park, Basildon
Saturday 2 February
The final match in this winter’s Essex Cross-Country League was held on the hilly Gloucester Park course in Basildon on a chilly afternoon. Ilford AC were in good form for this fixture producing some of their best results of the season.
The Ilford men were led home by the reliable Tom Gardner in the senior men’s 8km race in 21st with 30 mins 39 secs, while Seb Parris gave his best performance of the winter for 25th with 31 mins 11 secs. Sam Rahman was next home with an improved run for 67th in 34 mins 02 secs. Dan Holeyman came in 74th in 35 ins exactly and Phil Davies recorded 35 mins 37 secs for 79th. Diarmuid Mac Donnell closed the scorers in 85th with 36 mins 03 secs.
Tony Nixon showed again that age is not a problem as the first in the M70 group to finish in 96th with 36 mins 55 secs
Also in action for the Ilford club were: Alan Pearl (133rd 40.10) Tony Young (144th 41.32) Henry Ricketts (172nd 48.10) Ray ‘Sparra’ Everingham (180th 53.59) Jim Huddart (182nd 59.43)
In this match the club finished 6th, equalling their best position of the season.
The senior ladies raced over 7km and the Ilford team were led by Bree Nordin in 39th, and 1st in the F55 category, in 28 mins 49 secs. One place behind was Carlie Qirem with 28 mins 56 secs, while new signing Linda Day made an impressive club debut in 51st with 29 mins 56 secs. Nicola Hopkinson closed the team in 60th in 30 mins 35 secs.
Jenni Sheehan gave a creditable performance with 30 mins 37 secs for 61st and Gaye Young recorded 31 mins 20 secs for 69th.
The club had another six women in action:- Sharon Honey (85th 33.10) Pauline Tester (87th 33.26) Alison Sale (96th 34.27) Frieda Keane (101st 35.34) Pramilla Monro (111th 38.53) Launa Broadley (114th 45.17)
The team finished 6th in the match, their best result for the season.
Overall the senior men finished 6th in division of the Essex League and the women 9th , also in division one of the ladies competition
Individually Bree Nordin won the F55 category with Nicola Hopkinson 3rd in the same group and Jim Huddart was second in the Mens M70 category
Essex County & Eastern Indoor Championships
Lee Valley
2nd and 3rd February
Ilford Athletes impress at Essex Indoor Championships:
The weekend just gone (2nd/3rd February) saw several Ilford AC athletes compete in the Essex County & Eastern AA Indoor Championships.
Day 1:
Esmeralda Mengeyele got the Ilford action started with a big improvement on her PB in the U20W 60m with an impressive clocking of 8.09 seconds which saw her miss out on a spot in the final by one place.
Next up was Mario Dobrescu who had an outing over a shorter distance than usual. He progressed through the rounds very well to make the final, and a late-race surge saw him capture a well-earned Silver medal.
In the Senior Men’s 60m, Miles Levy made a return to the track after having been out of action on and off since making his Ilford debut last summer in the Southern League.
Despite ideal preparation, this powerhouse of a sprinter captured the Silver medal in a new club record of 7.02 seconds.
Day 2:
Competition started early on Day 2 with Esmeralda Mengeyele finishing a creditable 5th place in the Long Jump despite having technical issues. She claimed a Bronze at last year’s Outdoor championship and will be looking to improve upon that form going forward.
Krystle Balogun claimed an excellent Bronze medal in a fast Senior Women’s 200m final and in doing so smashed her PB by a huge 0.30 seconds (26.78). It proved a great piece of preparation for the 400m later on in the day which saw her win a Silver medal with another Indoor PB (1:00.40).
Jordan Akinpelu proved a real championship performer in setting an impressive new outright PB in the U20 Men’s Long Jump of 6.33m in coming 4th. In three consecutive Essex Champs now he has finished 4th, 5th, and 4th respectively and surely is due a medal soon!!
Distance runner Jordan Hinds won a superb Bronze medal in the U20 Women’s 800m in what was her inaugural indoor outing over her specialist distance. The performance bodes well for her as she moves towards the 2019 Outdoor campaign.
Alex Richards coming of the winter season opened his account at these indoor champs. Starting of steadily in the Senior mens 800m race, he came through to take 2nd and silver medal in 1:58:89 to event winner Stephen Strange of Basildon 1:56:89
As the afternoon began to round off, Mario Dobrescu claimed the Gold medal in a thrilling U17 Men’s 200m race against training partner Joel Pascal of Newham. Mario was a few metres down coming off the final bend but dug deep to claim the Gold medal in a new indoor PB and CBP of 22.24 seconds which shattered the previous CBP of 22.77.
Mario heads to Sheffield in a few weeks time for the England Athletics Indoor National Age Group Championships which sees him competing in the U17 Men’s 400m which he goes into with the leading time in the country.
Ending a great day’s action was Gemima Massamba. Having recently dabbled in Cross Country at the Essex Schools Championships, she returned back to the track to tackle the U20 Women’s 400m.
In the Heat she ran the first 280m of the race in the outside lane (Lane 6) which meant she ran 30m more (4 seconds) than she had to do, much to the avail of her coach Nat Senior who watched with his head in hands!
Following the race the officials told her of this, and at the behest of her coach, she sought to be more aware of where and when to make the break for the inside lane in the final. Going out aggressively she established a good lead at the bell before extending it down the backstraight and winning the Gold Medal comfortably in an outright PB (Indoors or Outdoors) of 59.34.
She has set a goal of making the English Schools Championships in her final year of eligibility and another performance in this mould at the Outdoor version of the Essex Championships she may should secure her place on the Essex team.
A strong outing for the Ilford AC Team saw them leave the meeting having claimed an excellent haul of 2 Gold, 3 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals and 1 Club Record. The Athletes will look to take this momentum into the 2019 Outdoor Season.
Falola Dream Mile
Lee Valley
Wednesday 30 January
At the Falola Dream Mile meet at the Lee Valley indoor track Ilford AC’s Sam Rahman ran his first indoor race for three years in heat 2 of the mile. Sam was always up in the leading group and finished 4th in 5 mins 04.26 secs.
Earlier in the evening Bradley Brown ran in heat 3 of the 3000m recording 14 mins 24.77secs for 11th spot
Forfar Half Marathon
Forfar, Scotland
3rd February
Brother and Sister act Malcolm and Carol Muir travelled up to Scotland for the Multi terrain Forfar Half Marathon.
The route consists of a mixture of running surfaces from Country Park paths, tarmac, farm tracks fields and bogs and is described as a race ‘not for the novice’.
The course wasn’t helped by a snow covered course.
Malcolm ran his usual strong race and finished in 1st place in a time of 1:21:46, with Carol also putting in a fine performance for a 168th place finish in 2:45:22
WALKING SECTION REPORT
BENNETT RETAINS TITLES
Ilford’s former Scottish International Stuart Bennett easily retained his Essex County and Eastern Counties Indoor Men’s 1 Mile Championship titles on Saturday afternoon at Lee Valley Arena clocking 9 minutes and 2 seconds.
Both Championships were held in conjunction.
For Bennett it was a quick return to domestic competition as just 6 days’ earlier he’d lined up with over 10,000 runners contesting the Dubai 10K road run.
Bennett chose to race walk it – his 62 minutes’ timing securing a top third finish!
Also on the Lee Valley podium was Rachael Lawless who came 2nd in both Championships in the Women’s section, beaten only by Essex Champion Melanie Peddle (Loughton AC).
Her time of 9.55 was a first under 10 minutes and reflects hard work put in by both athlete and coach – Ilford walker Mark Culshaw.
