Ivan Ross wins British Masters decathlon bronze
This week’s report includes the SEAA Southern championships (including U18 Louis Charlwood’s promising 3rd place in the 3000 in 9:09 and U20 Dylan Mills’s 4th place in 4:17 in the 1500) a preliminary report on the southern veterans meeting in Stevenage (where our men took first place), Ivan Ross’s bronze medal and V50 club record at the British Masters, a fuller report plus plenty of pictures on the last SAL meeting at Finsbury Park and a tasty 15.36 for Sam Macaulay at the hilly Finsbury Parkrun.
Veterans League, Stevenage, Monday June 8
It seems that Heathside’s men took first place (out of nine) and our women came fifth.
Team manager Adrian Essex, sent this preliminary report with a fuller report and results next week:
Maybe a day or two before we get the official statistics but the result was perfectly evident. The whole thing was a complete joy. The Met Office predictions of rain were pessimistic. There's a photo of Adrian Day running against the background of sunshine for proof.
We had a women's team of five, a number which I hope we can keep up and improve on. Thank you very much, Sarah, Holly, Rebecca, Dulce and Tanya.
Andrew Salton provided qualified official support. Thank you very much for that. And Steve Booth sorted out the non-scoring numbers for me.
The relay team left very little on the track and covered a wide range of ages for an excellent second place.
I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.
SEAA Southern T&F Championships, Bedford, June 6-7
Five of our athletes competed in the SEAA Southern championships in Bedford at the weekend. Simon Baker sent the following results:
400m (U20M)
H1 6th Sam Brown (U20M) 50.83s
1500m (U20M)
Final 4th Dylan Mills (U18M) 4:17.40
3000m (U18M)
Final 3rd Louis Charlwood (U18M) 9:09.70🥉
110mH (U20W)
Final 7th Asia Emanuel (U20W) 17.02s
3000mSC (SM)
Final 6th Wayne Morley 10:24.99 PB
British Masters, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, June 6-7
Ivan Ross won a bronze medal at the British masters M50 Decathlon in Ormskirk, setting a V50 pole vault club record. The old V50 club record (set by Ivan) was 2,45m.
Southern Athletics League (SAL) Division 1, Finsbury Park, May 16
Richard Macaulay sent a fuller report on the last SAL meeting at Finsbury Park on May 16:
What a day at Finsbury Park! I just wanted to drop a note to say a massive thank you to everyone who turned out for London Heathside at the first round of the Southern Athletics League on Friday. Both the men's and women's teams put in fantastic performances across the board, and the combined result speaks for itself: 2nd place overall with 270 points, behind Thames Valley Harriers (386) and ahead of Brighton & Hove (245), Blackheath & Bromley (231), Medway & Maidstone (214.5) and Epsom & Ewell (174.5). A really strong start to the season in Division 1.
Men's standout performances
A few individual efforts really deserve a mention:
Andy Barnes ran a superb 5000m to take the A string win in 15:43, controlling the race and bringing home maximum points.
Montana Dennis was dominant in the 110m hurdles, taking the A string in 15.11.
Bill Steel had an outstanding day in the throws, winning both the A Shot (14.95m) and A Discus (45.15m), and setting two club records in the process.
Stephen Booth added another top performance in the B Discus (29.53m), giving us a clean sweep of wins in that event.
Sam Brown put together a really strong 400m to finish 2nd in the A string (50.37).
Wayne Morley doubled up impressively, taking 2nd in the A 3000m steeplechase (10:20) and 2nd in the B 400m hurdles (70.22), contributing big points.
Thomas Wassermann deserves special recognition, not just for the number of events, but how he managed them. He started the high jump just after noon, stepped away mid-competition to run the 400m hurdles at 12:15, came back to the high jump, and was also covering the hammer at 12:30. That kind of effort, flexibility and willingness to step in wherever needed is exactly what makes the difference in this league.
Mark Lawrence covered three events (long jump, triple jump and B shot), picking up a valuable 2nd place in the B Shot (8.84m).
Ivan Ross delivered two excellent 2nd places in the B 110m hurdles and B javelin (28.38m).
Heroic last-minute step-ins
A big thank you as well to the guys who stepped in at short notice to make sure we covered every event:
Ivan Ross for taking on the B 110m hurdles, not exactly his usual event, and still bringing in 5 points, alongside his javelin performance.
Tom Aldred for stepping up to the B steeplechase after already running the B 1500m (3rd in 4:22).
Taha Abdullah for filling in on high jump, as well as competing in the B 400m and B long jump.
These contributions made a huge difference. Without them, filling the card and securing 2nd place would have been much tougher. This is exactly what the SAL is about, everyone chipping in where needed.
Women's standout performances
The women's team delivered a brilliant all-round performance, with strong results right across track and field. Some highlights:
Eliza Bond took the only individual event win for the women, running a well-paced B 1500m to come home first in 5:02.
Lily Woolcock was agonisingly close to a win in the A 1500m, finishing just under two seconds behind the leader in 4:55.27. She also stepped in for the B high jump. Great competitor.
Asia Emanuel had an excellent sprint/hurdles double, taking 2nd in the A 100m hurdles (15.75) and 3rd in the A 100m (with a PB of 12.47). She was a key part of the relay squad too.
Lila Blustin was outstanding, picking up two 2nd places in the A 2000m steeplechase (8:12) and B 800m (2:31). Remarkable running, especially as an U18.
Molly Harrison was one of the women's teams highest point scorers, covering four events across track and field: 2nd in the B steeplechase (8:36), 3rd in the B shot (7.72), 4th in the A javelin (23.49) and 5th in the B discus. That kind of willingness to fill events wherever needed is what keeps the scorecard ticking over. Not to mention, the three PBs Molly got in the 2000SC Shot and Javelin! What a day for Molly.
Noelle O'Regan anchored the A string throws, placing 3rd in both shot (8.80) and discus (28.51), and 4th in the hammer (19.15). Three events, three solid points hauls. Not to mention, bettering her own club record in the discus!
Hester Hill covered three very different disciplines, finishing 3rd in the A 400m (64.50), 3rd in the A high jump (1.40) and 3rd in the B pole vault (1.70). Proper all-rounder and points hauler!
Kiara Corkin ran well for 3rd in the A 800m (2:33) as an U18, and Magdeline Paitoo picked up a strong 3rd in the B 400m hurdles.
Ely Angel DaSilva contributed across two events with 3rd in the A 400m hurdles and 4th in the A pole vault. Ely only picked up the pole vault two weeks before the match and jumped a staggering 1.80m! PBs in both the 400H and PV!
Genevieve Weston stepped in for both the B hammer and B javelin, making sure we had coverage in the field as well as officiating all day.
Francesca Stocco and Ciera Kennedy both ran well in the 3000m (4th in A and B respectively - a PB for Francesca and Ciera was just 1s off her 2022 PB), and Samiyah Wilson, Lara Davies, Sian Adeyemi, Sarah Hair and Amelie Randall all contributed valuable points across the programme.
The relay teams also did well, with a 3rd in the 4x100m (52.15) and 4th in the 4x400m (4:35).
Next match: Sunday 21 June at Mile End
Round 2 will see us up against Victoria Park & Tower Hamlets, City of Norwich, Thames Valley Harriers, Woking, and Newbury. Let's build on this and keep the momentum going. I'll follow up shortly on availability and entries.
Thanks again everyone, really proud of the team effort.
Parkruns
Heathsiders took six first places in Parkruns at the weekend. Eighty-eight of our runners competed in 33 Parkruns. There were first places for Sam Macaulay (a tasty 15:36) and Chloe Wilkenson (20:38) in Finsbury Park, Rebecca Bunting in Guernsey (19:23 – which put her second overall), Andrew Robertson in Oak Hill (17:28), Brendan Barclay at Lordship (17:30) and Alfie Wrigley at Crane Park (18:07). Full Heathside Parkrun results can be found here .
Report by Gavin Evans with thanks to Simon Baker, Adrian Essex, Ivan Ross and Paul Egan for the Vets pics and Lenny Martin for the SAL pics.