Essex Cross Country Champs
Writtle College
September 28, 2019

Ilford U17 boys went in to Saturday’s match with a title to defend, and defend it they did with a brilliant run from all 3 boys to bring back the Essex U17 trophy and Gold medals for the 3 boys.

First off in the 3k Cross country boys race was Bradley Deacon who led by example with a fantastic 11m 07 seconds. Jak Wright put in a very solid middle leg in a time of 10m 55 secs before Aaron Samuels went off on a blistering 10m 02 secs lap to seal the honours for Ilford AC with a lead of 18 seconds over second placed Woodford Green

Ilford also had a B team in the U17  race, which included two Under 15 runners,  Farris Patel ran the first leg and bought the team in 6th place with a time of 11.17. Matthew Hick ran the second leg, he had a solid run and came back in 10th place with a time of 12.16. Ryan Holeyman ran the 3rd leg and was somewhat isolated to begin with, but worked to gain a place and a time of 12.26

An under 13 team was fielded for the first time in many a year,  Joseph Grange ran the first leg and had a great run to come home in 2nd place in a time of 11.57. For the next two runners Aaron Hick and James Thake it was their first ever race. Aaron ran a really strong leg and came home 5th in a time of 13.05 and James was equally impressive in bringing the team home in 6th with a time of 13.28

England Athletics U15 / U17 Championships
Bedford
Sat 31st Aug – Sun 2nd September

The UK U15/U17 championships were the climax of the season at Bedford at the weekend. Ilford had two athletes taking part. Mario Dobrescu was running the 400m and Aaron Samuel the 1500m.  The best of the weekend weather was on Saturday when the heats took place.  

Mario was first up in the U17 men’s 400m, there were three heats with only the top two-guaranteed qualification to the final. Mario eased through to the final winning his heat in 50.2. Aaron’s heat of the U17 1500m was later in the day and there were thirty plus athletes across two heats going for 12 places in the final. Despite getting boxed early on, Aaron was in perfect position at the bell and eased through in second place in a seasons best of 4.05.6 

Unfortunately, the weather conditions had worsened on day two, with a very strong wind blowing down the back straight, this did not deter Mario in the 400m final, who made a positive start and by the two hundred metre mark was ahead of the field. Over the next 100m Mario continued to push and had opened up a lead of 3 metres, using all of his strength in the last 100m, he extended his lead and crossed the line in an impressive 48.71, his second fastest ever time. Mario still has another year in this age category.  Nat Senior, coach of Mario had the distinction of coaching the winner of the U17 men’s 100, 200, and 400m, (the 100m and 200m being won by Joel Pascall- Menzie who trains win Nat’s squad at Ilford, but competes for Newham & Essex Beagles) 

Thirty minutes later, Aaron lined up with 10 other athletes for the 1500m final, the early pace was set by Jacob Reynolds of Cardiff, with his brother possibly the favourite tucked in behind. Aaron was nicely positioned as the first lap was completed in 64 seconds. The pace slowed a bit on the second lap, and Aaron was involved in a few pushes as the pack closed in. The field was beginning to split as the bell was reached in 2.59, and Aaron was still in a great position, he made a move with 300m to go and was clear of the field. However up the home straight Ben Reynolds of Cardiff and Daniel Payne of Middlesbrough came past, but Aaron held onto a great third place. His time of 3.57.87 was the first time he had broken 4 minutes and was an Ilford U17 club record.  

Ilford AC are extremely proud of these 2 talented youngsters for performing to such a high standard and putting Ilford AC back on the Athletics map. Their achievements are probably the best performances  any Ilford AC athlete has done for many years

As the warm weather slowly begins to appear, several Ilford athletes dusted off their winter clothing and took to the track at recent open meeting.

Woodford 30th March 2019

Esmeralda Mengele and Efe Austin started their summer campaign with an outing over 100m. Esmeralda showed that her winter training had gone really well with a PB of 12.70, this was the first time she had ducked under 13 seconds. Efe was close behind in a time of 13.50, before also competing in the 200 in a time of 30.03.  Daniel Wheeler also competed in the 100m and had a solid run in a time of 11.65 for 5th place.

Ryan Holeyman had a great run in the 1500m not only winning the race, but knocking over 11 seconds off of his best with a time of 4.53.24

In the field Jordan Akinpelu made an impressive start to the season with a jump of 6.26 which was an outdoor PB

Denise Evi-Parker competed in the Triple Jump and leapt to an impressive 10.20, it is hoped that she joins the club shortly and will gain valuable point in the forthcoming season

Lee Valley 6th April 2019

Farris Patel was Ilford’s sole representative at the Lee Valley open meeting and after a good winter he was eager to start his track season. Farris managed to get in himself in the fastest race of the day and managed to go with the fast past, he reached the ball in 57/58 seconds and pushed on down the back straight. He crossed the line in second place in a pb of 1.57.59, which is just 2/10ths outside the Ilford under U17 record and is currently the fastest outdoor time in the country for U17’s.

Hornchurch 7th April 2019

Jordan Akinpelu was back in action again this time in the 100m where he came 4th in his heat in a time of 12.07, also in action at Hornchurch were Javene Alexander who also game 4th in her 200 heat in a pb time of 30.18. Ryan Holeyman was also back on the track in another 1500m and was slightly disappointed with his time of 5.07.16

Next Saturday the 13th Ilford have their first Southern League fixture of the season at Watford