On the brink of history
In an outstanding weekend for HW the Senior Men’s team tightened their grip on the Start Fitness Surrey Cross Country League Division One title on Mitcham Common – the title has never been won by the Club (although Hercules AC were champions in 1965, before the amalgamation with Wimbledon AC in 1967). Meanwhile at Lee Valley two of the Club’s young guns picked up medals at the Southern Indoor Championships.
After the disappointment of failing to retain their Surrey cross country team title at Croydon the previous weekend, the Senior Men showed their mettle by bouncing back in style, winning their match to go into the final showdown in Lloyd Park with a 216 point lead over reigning champions Kent AC.
From the outset, the HW contingent took a firm hold on the team contest and, at the end of the first of three mainly flat parkland laps, filled five of the top 14 places. Leading the challenge were Andrew Penney and Andy Greenleaf who next time round were in fifth and eight place. Penney, who benefitted from missing the previous weekend’s Surrey County Championships, dug in to race through on the final lap and finish a superb third in 27:01 behind Jamie Parkinson of Thames Hare & Hounds (26:33) and Max Nicholls of Kent AC (26:55).
Greenleaf (27:15) finished a strong seventh with Fred Slemeck (14th in 27:45), Richard McDowell (15th in 27:48), Tom Jervis (16th in 27:49), Finn Johnson (18th in 27:54), Jonny Cornish (20th in 28:08), Rhys Boorman (22nd in 28:19), Belal Ahmed (23rd in 28:21) and U20 Zac Purnell (33rd in 28:38) completing the scoring A team. Purnell, who was the top U20 finisher, is also aiming to be selected for Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties Championship in March.
Having won the B team battle in the first two races, HW were this time edged into second by Kent AC. Dimos Evangelidis (28:50) and Will Russell (28:52) were first and second, followed by Kieran White (29:27), David Lewin (29:32), Elliot Palmer (29:59), Justin Reid (30:10), U20 Henry Silverstein (30:36), David Grima (31:09), Rob Tuer (31:10) and James Miller (31:58).
Eleven HW runners took part in the Young Athletes race over 4km with Hector Revill the leading finisher taking 18th place in the U17 category in 14:22 (46th overall).
Senior Men Match result: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 171; 2 Thames Hare and Hounds 246; 3 Kent AC 246; 4 Guildford & Godalming 465; 5 Belgrave 508; 6 Herne Hill 511; 7 South London Harriers 515; 8 Ranelagh 594; 9 Striders of Croydon 83.
Standings after 3 matches: 1 Hercules Wimbledon 502; 2 Kent AC 718; 3 Thames Hare & Hounds 964; 4 Guildford & Godalming & Godalming 1288; 5 Herne Hill 1268; 6 Belgrave 1499; 7 South London HarriersL 1555; 8 Ranelagh 1777; 9 Striders of Croydon 491.
Youngsters excel at the Southern Championships
In the Southern Indoor Championships at Lee Valley on Sunday 12-year-old Mabel-Rose Scales (coached by Trevor Whittle) won the gold medal in the U13 Girls high jump to add to the gold she won in the Southern Outdoor Championships last summer, and she did so in style in a personal best of 1.52 metres, 2cm higher than her previous best, first set at Crawley last August and equalled at the London U13/U15 and U15 Games, also at Lee Valley, on 6 January.
15 year-old Jaleel Roper took the silver medal in the U17 200m in 22.65. Improving round by round he reached the final by winning his heat in 23.15 and semi-final in 22.96. Sadly in his favoured 60m on Saturday (he holds the U15 Championship Best Performance of 7.12), he was disqualified for a false start in his heat.
In the U15 Boys Championships, 13-year olds Efe Peters and Emmanuel Adetu, competing for the first time at club level, made outstanding debuts. Efe progressed through the rounds of the 200m, clocking 26.05 to finish 3rd in his heat, 25.67 in his semi final, where he was 3rd again, and 25.55 in the final, where he finished 5th. In the 60m both he and Emmanuel finished 3rd in their heats to progress to the same semi-final (in 7.67 and 7.62 respectively), where Efe finished 5th in 7.57 and Emmanuel 6th in 7.73.
Results
Sat 12 January: Start Fitness Surrey XC League, Division One, Young Athletes Results
Sat 12 January: Start Fitness Surrey XC League, Division One, Senior Men Results
Sat12/Sun 13th January: Southern Indoor U13/U15/U17 Championships, Lee Valley:
U13 Results
U15 Boys Results
U15 Girls Results
U17 Men Results
Parkrun
David Lewin headed home a 626-strong field to win Saturday’s Wimbledon Common 5km parkrun in 17:09 to post his fourth win since his debut appearance in October 2016. He was the best of 12 HW runners. Peter Collins was top M45 in 18:14 with Richard Evans top M55 in 19:49. Alex Binley, competing in the event for the first time since the end of September, was second in the women’s race in 20:28. Rob Tuer was sixth out of 473 runners in Dulwich Park in 17:00, Millie Doyle fifth in the women’s race in Richmond Park in 22:04 and Georgie Clarke fourth in the women’s race at Parke, Devon, in 23:48.