Baddow 10 miles

 Ilford Athletic Club had a massive turnout of no less than 15 runners in Sundays Great Baddow 10 mile road race, narrowly missing out on the Men's team award by 1 point to Colchester Harriers. A streamline Terry Knightley celebrated an excellent return to something near his old form and led the club home in a very good time of 60 mins 53 seconds for 9th place. Just behind Iain Macdonald ran a was having his own private battle with veteran Neil Crisp returning times of 61.20 and 61.22 for 11th and 13th places respectively. Macdonald also recorded a personal best for the distance. The race was won by Springfield's Paul Molyneux in 53.58 nearly a minute and a half up on Billericay's Crispian Bloomfield.

Bree Nordin was the club's top woman running 72.33 for 18th place. Dianne Crisp followed her home in 74.55 for 22nd and Nicola Hopkinson closed in 78.45 for 45th.

There were many other good times by Ilford athletes as follows:- Abdi Berleen 67.47, Steve Parker 70.10, Ian Burdin 70.18, Peter Spelman 79.23, Vanessa Burns 79.55 (PB), Pam Jones 83.19, Sally Gillam 86.32, Carol Muir 96.10 (PB), Robin Davis 104.44.

In the accompanying fun run Lydia Hall performed well for 5th place.  

 

Stuart Leaps Long in Lewes - Southern Mens League

Simeon Stuart and Healson Ihuoma produced lifetime bests in a tight
competition for Ilford Athletic Club as they finished 4th at their second
meeting of the Southern Mens League at Lewes.

Reigning county champion long jumper Stuart made the best of his recent
form, adding 10 centimetres to his lifetime best for a giant leap of 6.69m.
Ilford gained maximum points in the event as Ihuoma leapt to 6.31m in the B
string.  Ihuoma had a busy start to the day as he dashed over to the pole
vault and made a remarkable debut of 2.80m and showed much potential to
improve this performance given some refinement of his technique.  Dewa
Collier also showed great potential in this difficult event, narrowly
missing 2.40m on his debut.

Also scoring maximum points were Ilford's triple jumpers with Elijah Collins
smashing his personal best by a foot with 12.80m, despite suffering from a
sore foot sustained at the County Championships last week. Ilford's premier
hop skip and jumper Nathaniel Senior was unhappy with his performance but
still scored a comfortable victory with a jump of 13.04m.

Ilford's strong sprints squad had mixed fortunes against a strong Thames
Valley Harriers Team.  Ilford's top sprinter Aaron Balogun ran strongly into
a headwind for 22.6s but was unable to overhaul rival Andre Williams who was
always a few steps ahead.  Jordan Kirby had no such trouble as he dominated
the 'B' string event after a shaky start for a dominant run of 23.1s.
Madigan narrowly missed out on 2nd in the 100m with a good performance of
11.8s but there was disaster in the first race as the starter failed to
notice a false start, leaving the angry Ilford 'A' string runner Marvin
Tuffour in his blocks.

Tuffour recovered well in the 400m with a battling 3rd place in 53.1s,
despite having trained for the shorter sprints, while Ihuoma was again in
action with 55.8.

Brighton and Ilford's Malcolm Muir and David Dickinson ran neck and neck in
a thrilling 5000m with honours being even at the end of the race.  After
vying for places in the early stages, Brighton's Kevin Mason started to make
the pace in the last two kilometres.  Dickinson covered the break but ran
out of steam towards the end, outsprinting the 'B' string Brighton runner
for 16.05.2.  Muir looked tired throughout but dug deeply to work his way up
to the leader by the last 1000m and took the lead with 500m to go.  However,
Mason had saved energy and powered past Muir with a lap to go and despite
tiring in the last 100m, Muir had to be content with 2nd in 16.03.1.

Muir and Dickinson were back in action an hour later to run a tactical 1500m
to finish in 4.21.3 and 4.30.8 respectively.  Muir's day was not finished as
he completed a brave treble in the steeplechase for 2nd in 10.55.6, with a
delighted Matt Maple not far behind in 11.12.1 for a 'B' string 2nd.

The blustery conditions affected times in the half mile but both Peter
Clinch and Iain Macdonald battled strongly for 2.06.2 and 2.13.1
respectively.

Burrow was the pick of the throwers with a season's best of 37.79m in the
discus and 11.99m in the shot, while Clarke narrowly surpassed the 40 metre
mark in a tough competition for 4th in the hammer.  Ihuoma's debut in the
javelin was as promising as his pole vault with 35.28m.

Ilford trailed Thames Valley Harriers by only half a point, with the relays
to go.  The Ilford squad of Collins, Kirby, Stuart and Madigan ran a near
perfect display in the short relay but were missing the fire power of the
Thames Valley squad to finish second in 44.2.  There was a similar story in
the longer relay as the Ilford team of Kirby (53.3), Ihuoma (54.4), Balogun
(50.3) and Madigan (52.0) produced an excellent performance of 3.30.0 but
were unable to match their rivals.

The results meant that Ilford finished a narrow 4th for the second match in
a row and will look to have more luck in three weeks time in Kingston.

Other results: Elijah Collins - 400mH 66.0, HJ 1.65m; Matt Maple - 400mH
74.5, 110mH 26.1, DT 13.20m; Marvin Tuffour - 200m 23.4 (N/S); Nat Senior -
LJ 6.01m (N/S); Dewa Collier - PV 1.10m; Wes Clarke - HT 40.11m; Craig
Burrow - HT 35.43m, JT 35.73m; Peter Clinch - SP 7.02m

 

 

ILFORD JUNIORS BATTLE COME RAIN OR SHINE - Report by Paul Cheal

Sunday saw Ilford AC travel to a very wet and windy Chelmsford for round 2 of the UKYAL Division 1 match.

 

The U/13 Girls saw Ellie Atkinson make her debut for Ilford. She did the 70m Hurdles in: 19.5sec and the 150 metres: 26.4sec. Trinity St Lewis: 12.4s for the 75metres, 3m 44 for Long Jump and 23.5sec for the 150 metres. Sian Connolly performed well in the Shot Putt with a fine distance of: 7m 06cm, the Long Jump: 3m 12cm and the 75metres. Tamara Chambers looked good in the U/15 Girls sprints finishing with times of: 27.8sec and 13.5sec for the 200m and 100m respectively, whilst Laura Swords did the 800m in: 2m 55.5sec, the Long Jump with a leap of: 3m 01cm and the Javelin: 7m 78cm. In the U/17 Women Georgia Laudat competed for the first time this season where she did the 100m in a time of: 14.4sec and Discus: 12m 51. Victoria Onyeka gained a PB in the Discus with: 21m 98cm, Hammer with a throw of around 18metres and the Shot Putt.

 

Shanjay Sivakumaran made his debut in the U/13 Boys with some sound track running in the 800m with: 2m 54.8sec, the 100m: 17.3sec and the 200m: 32.0sec. George Hadler worked well as well in the U/15 Boys with a time of: 12.9sec in the 80m Hurdles, 200m: 26.0sec and a fine performance in the 400m with: 57.2sec. Thomas King did the Long Jump: 3m 72cm, 1500metres: 5m 37s and the Javelin: 16m 79cm. Ciaran Rodway did the 800metres, the Discus with a throw of: 10m 03cm and the 400metres: 71.3sec and completing the quartet was Jordan Akisanya: 4m 73cm in the Long Jump, 28.4sec for the 200metres and 13.4sec for the 100metres, they rounded this off with a 4x100m relay team (Ciaran, Thomas, Jordan & George) with a time of approx: 55.2sec.

The sole U/17 Men competitor was Kofi Gibbon Jeffers who ran the 100m Hurdles in a time of: 15.9sec, the 100metres: 12.4sec and the 200metres in: 25.4sec.

 

 

Essex Track and Field Champs - Days 2 and 3 Chelmsford
 

ILFORD BAG MEDALS AT CHAMPS - Report by Paul Cheal
 

 

Day 2 of the Essex Championships was again at Chelmsford and Ilford athletes were there to compete for medals. In the U/15 Boys George Hadler continues to go from strength to strength. In the 80m hurdles heat he ran a cagey 12.82sec for 4th and qualify for the final but there was even better to come in the final. This was simply a stunning performance by George and even though his start was not good and going over the 1st hurdle he was 7th he powered his way to 3rd in yes another PB and CLUB RECORD of: 12.27sec and BRONZE.

 

Kofi Gibbon Jeffers ran the 100m hurdles and 100 metres in the U/17 Men and looked good in the process. Kofi twice recorded a PB in the 100m hurdles. The heat he finished 3rd in: 15.76sec and the final 5th: 15.37sec, whilst in the 100metres: 11.86sec and although he qualified for the final did not take part due to feeling tired from previous hurdles event. Jordan Kirby followed on from his 200m on Day 1 to run 11.56sec in the heat and then claim 3rd in the final BRONZE with: 11.39sec.

 

In the Junior Men Antoine Green ran in the 110m hurdles which was a straight final and came 4th with: 16.29sec. Healson Ihuoma competed in the 100metres and qualified from his heat in: 11.8sec and then in a tough final finished 8th. Senior Men had Elijah Collins compete in the High Jump and even though plagued with a foot problem finished 3rd with: 1m 70cm BRONZE, Craig Burrow did the Javelin with: 41m 26cm and the Shot Putt and Malcolm Muir ran the 5000 metres in: 16m 01 06sec to finish 5th.

 

The U/15 Girls competition had Tamara Chambers and Ashley Joseph compete in the 100 metres. Tamara ran in heat 3 or 4 with: 13.64sec, then in the semi final: 13.67 and 2nd which qualified her for the final. In that she ran a much improved race and was unlucky to finish just outside the medals in 4th with: 13.5sec. Ashley ran the 2nd of 4th heat with:14.46sec to qualify as one of the fastest losers and ran the semi in a much faster time of: 14.31sec but did not progress.

 

Laibah Malik and Melodie Ihouma ran the 100metres U/17 Women with Laibah running: 14.6sec in the heat. Melodie ran: 13.6sec in the heat and qualified for the final where she recorded a time slightly slower in: 13.82sec for 7th. Last but by no means least was Rachel Giwa Junior Women who ran in a straight final of the 100 metres and was in complete control of the race to come home in glory with GOLD and: 12.26sec.

 

Essex County Champs - Day 3 - Chelmsford

 

There were more medals for Ilford athletes on Day 3 of the Essex County
Championships.  Rachel Giwa was dominant in the under 20 Women's 200m,
winning by almost half a second in 24.85s.  Simeon Stuart and Healson Ihuoma
represented a strong brace of Ilford athletes in the under 20 men's long
jump.  Stuart is starting to find form and comfortably won the event in a
season's best performance of 6.51m while Ihuoma was a little below form but
still bagged a bronze with 6.10m.

George Hadler is also a year below the maximum age in the under 15 boys but
was far from overwhelmed in the 400m, adding a fine bronze in 57.10s to his
earlier bronze in the hurdles the previous day.  His superlative winning
time in his heat of 55.65s was a new season's best and would have won a
silver.

Jamie Smith has only recently returned to athletics but has quickly found
her form, collecting a silver medal in the under 20 women's hammer with
32.63m.  Nadia Gervaise has continued from last year's success of Tamara
Chambers in the under 13 girls 75m, although her time of 10.48s was narrowly
squeezed out of the medals into 4th place, despite an almost identical time
to the former champion.  Tamara Chambers herself has improved considerably
over the last year and was highly competitive in the 200m in the under 15
girls despite being a year below most of her competitors.  Her time of 28.30
achieved a fine fifth place in the final, marginally slower than her time in
the semi final of 28.05.

Melodie Ihuoma's long jump of 4.28m was enough for 8th place in a highly
competitive under 17 girls, while Ashley Joseph (3.96m in the under 15
girls) and Trinity St Lewis (2.87m in the under 13 girls) also competed well
for 11th and 16th respectively.  Trinity also putt the shot 4.59m for 10th
place.

The senior men were represented by Craig Burrow in the discus and Malcolm
Muir and David Dickinson in the 1500m.  The 1500m was possibly the race of
the day, with Ross Clarke leading a highly talented field of runners in his
wake.  Dickinson led Muir early on in the race but Muir's strength came
through in the last lap to record 4.17.43 for 13th, ahead of Dickinson in
4.22.20 in 14th.  Burrow was only a fraction away for a medal with a fine
36.76m in the discus for 4th place.