Press Report 12th March 2024
Inter Counties Cross Country
On the anniversary of his first Ilford AC appearance Sam Horsley made his way to the midlands to represent Essex in the annual cross country competition. Sam qualified for the county by finishing in third place in the county cross championships.
On a blustery day on a tough course Sam had a strong start and held on to finish in 22nd in a very strong field. This race includes representation from the whole of British Isles so is a fantastic performance
Sam has had a really strong year showing the benefit of consistent training, a positive approach and excellent coaching from the club. We look forward to his progress as he moves up an age group in April.
CHINGFORD LEAGUE RELAYS
Wanstead Flats
Saturday 9 March
The final fixture of the winter’s Chingford League was the cross-country relays held on Wanstead Flats. This a 4 x 2 miles relay on a flat course around the Flats, popular with the clubs and well attended.
This year there were around a 100 teams from the 22 club league in action
Ilford AC entered three ladies teams along with three mens plus one incomplete men’s team. Both the ladies and mens teams were placed third in division 2 before the race and were looking to move up into one of the promotion spots to the top league
Leading off for the Ilford ladies A team was Jordan Hinds who ran a good leg to put the team in the lead in the lower tier race. This spot was maintained by the rest of the squad; Leila Lauder, Anna Crawley and Carlie Qirem as they ran to victory in 55 mins 32 secs in the Div 2 match and placed 7th overall female team.
As they scored maximum points in the race and promotion rivals Mornington Chasers failed to finish a team they moved up to to second and will compete in in division one next year.
The Ilford ladies B team of Pauline Tester, Diya Kaur, Joanne Reeves and Alison Sale placed 60th overall in 63 mins 14 secs, while the C team of Julia Galea, Launa Broadley, Frieda Keane and Dianne Crisp were 89th in 75 mins 46 secs
The Ilford mens A team was composed of runners from the clubs middle distance squad and were led home by James Thake who handed onto Aron Berhe in third spot in the second division match. This placing was maintained by the remaining members of the team; Ryder Islam and Samuel Crane to finish in 46 mins 43 mins for 7th in the overall race.
Despite a good result of third in their division race this team did not secure the points necessary to gain a promotion placing and will be among the favourites to win the lower tier next season
The Ilford B team of Ronan Edwards, Josh Adler, Neil Crisp and Joel Denning finished 13th with 49 mins 24 secs and the C team of Tarik Qirem, Luke Thake, Steve Chissell and Steve Crane recorded 58 mins 08 specs for 39th in the event.
The club also fielded an incomplete D team of Jim Tilbrook, Rob Sargent and Andy Catton.
Many of the clubs development team had stepped up a level to compete for the Senior teams on the day, but the club did put out an U11/13 team for the 4 x 2k race earlier in the day.
Daniel Guiba, Khalif Ali, Elias Furreedan and Barney Perkins ran a cumulative time of 35:53 to finish in an excellent 4th spot.
Following the races, awards were given out based on the season’s performances and the biggest cheer of the day was for Ilfords Barney Perkins who was the No 1 U13 boy for the season.
