Press Report 22nd July 2025

Ilford managed to come an impressive 3rd in the Southern League, their best performance in the league this year. Ilford now sit 10th in the table, which makes it highly likely we will be safe from relegation.

The sprinters were impressive as usual. In the 100m Jaydan Roberts-Edwards ran in the A string, and came 3rd in 11.01. In the 200 A string he did even better, coming 1st in 22.65. Leron Adjei won the B 100m in a brilliant time of 11.34, and came 3rd in the B 200 in a solid time of 23.22. In the women’s A string Victoria Ananwa performed admirably for 5th in 13.38, and Marissa Osas-Bavis came a strong 4th in the B 100 in 13.62. In the 200 Victoria again finished 5th in the A string in 28.32, while Stacey Kwarteng-Amaniampong came 4th in 28.69.

In the 400 and 800 Jordan Hinds doubled up as usual, and as usual performed brilliantly, finishing 2nd in the 400 A string in 62.63, and 1st in the 800 A string in 2:23.47. Diya Kaur stepped up to finish 6th in the B 400 in 85.59. Anna Crawley was 2nd in the 800 B string, and her time of 2:36.98 is another show of her good form this season. On the men’s side Damien Kwarteng-Amaniampong ran a brilliant 51.74 in the A string 400 for 4th, while Dylan Harrod finished 3rd in 54.98 in the B string. Dylan did one better in the A string 800, coming 2nd in a time of 2:00.70. James Thake came a strong 1st in the B 800m, running 2:01.20.

In the longer distances Ronan Edwards finished a comfortable 1st in the 1500 A string, in a time of 4:12.21. James Thake finished an impressive 2nd in 4:19.62 in the B 1500. In the women’s 1500 Jordan Hinds was 3rd in the A string in a time of 4:58.32, while Anna Crawley was 1st in a brilliant 5:18.72 in the B string. Anna was again on hand to assist the team in the 3000m, coming 4th in the A string in another strong time of 11:15.82, while Pauline Tester came 4th in the B string in 14:46.11. For the men, over a distance of 5000m, Samuel Crane finished in 5th in the A string in a time of 17:05.87. Joshua Adler came 4th in the B string in a time of 17:31.74.

In the hurdling events, Daniel Wheeler helpfully stepped up in the fearsome 110 hurdles, finishing 5th in the A string in 21.62. Over the 400H distance, Rhys Edwards ran his fastest time of the year of 65.28 for 4th in the A string, while Daniel Wheeler was 2nd in another quick time of 66.75 in the B string. In the longer 3000 steeplechase, Rhys’s masterful technique proved useful for 3rd in the A string in a time of 11:15.61. In the B string Joshua Adler finished 2nd in 11:42.51 in the B string. On the female side of the steeplechase history was made, and records tumbled. With Anna Crawley and Pauline Tester stepping up to gain valuable points for the team, they already became the first female duo in years to take on the fearsome barriers in the 2000m steeplechase. But Anna went one better, breaking the record for the 2000 steeplechase by running 10:08.83 for 3rd in the A string. Pauline Tester also ran superbly for 2nd in the B string in 11:43.74. Both efforts were greatly appreciated.

In the jumps more strong Ilford performances were seen. In the high jump Daniel Wheeler came 4th in the A string with a 1.70m jump, and Troy Harris was also 4th in the B string with a jump of 1.50m. On the women’s side Victoria Ananwa came 5th with 1.25m in the A string, and Osawhese Suma was also 5th with 1.20 in the B string. The long jump saw Stacey Kwarteng-Amaniampong jumped 4.36m for 5th in the A string, and Chisom Chijioke was also 5th with 3.68m in the B string. On the men’s side Brian Domfe-Bonsu was 5th in the A string with 5.28m, while Jaskirat Singh was 3rd in the B string with 5.27m. In the triple jump Brian and Jaskirat were again on hand, with Brian finishing 4th with 11.49m in the A string, and Jaskirat 5th with 9.82m in the B string. Chisom Chijioke was another athlete who doubled in the jumps, coming 6th with 7.79m in the A string triple jump, while Bineta Keita finished 6th as well in the B string triple jump with a jump if 7.29m.

In the throws Ilford had plenty to cheer. In the A and B shot putt, Daniel Wheeler and Craig Burrow finished 3rd, with throws of 10.07m and 9.12m respectively. The discus saw Craig finish 5th in the A string with a throw of 30.04m, while Daniel was 5th in the B string with 21.03m. The hammer saw Wesley Clarke, a mainstay of the Ilford team, finish 1st with a throw of 35.26m in the A string, while Craig matched Wesley’s position, also finishing 1st with 26.46m in the B string. In the javelin Daniel Wheeler finished 4th in the A string with a throw of 32.51m, while Troy Harris finished 3rd in the B string with 31.49m. On the women’s side Omotola Sadare was 4th in the A string discus, with a throw of 26.80m, and Anna Crawley stepped up to finish 6th with 10.55m in the B string. In the hammer Omotola finished 5th with 23.17 in the A string, and Yemisis Furlong-Osoba was 3rd with 18.29m in the B string. In the javelin Yemisi was again on hand, finishing 5th with a throw of 18.33 in the A string, and Omotola was also on hand again, and finished 5th in the B string with a throw of 12.72m. In the shot putt  Yemisi finished a strong 3rd, with a throw of 9.55m in the A string, while Nora Nzurike was 6th with a throw of 5.95m in the B string.

The relays saw a longstanding u17 record spectacularly broken by the 4×100 mens team. Their time of 44.40 saw them finish 4th. The 4×100 women’s team did well too, with a time of 53.43 for 4th. The women’s 4x400m team also finished 4th in 5:12.07, while the men’s team were 3rd in a pacy 3:39.74.

Finally many thanks are due to the officials and coaches in attendance on the day. Colin Fox, Susan Edwards, Gary Floate, Wayne Hick, Ernie Forsyth, Neil Crisp, Dianne Crisp and Steve Crane ensured that the team gained the maximum 30 official points which helped with the team’s final placing.