Six of the Best

Thanks to Sergio Schuchinsky for the photograph above.

While the HW Cross Country squads were racing in the cold and mud, around twenty of the Club's youngsters were competing in the more temperate climate of Lee Valley in the South of England U13-U17 Indoor Championships over the weekend of January 15/16, and collecting half a dozen medals between them.

Sprint and high jump specialists Elliott Turbin (in his first season as an U15) and Conor Kelly (first year U17), won two medals apiece. Elliott took the gold in the high jump with 1.65m, and bronze in the 200m in 25.47; while Conor won the silver medal in the 200m in 22.95, and bronze in the high jump, with 1.75m. Khalid Ali was sixth in the U17M 200m final in 23.71.

The young sprinters were joined by a strong contingent of athletes from the middle distance group run by coaches Andrew Davies and Bjorn Jansen. 'Everyone performed well, indicating a good outdoor season is in store for them all', says Bjorn, whose daughter Neva was also competing in the shot.

'Thomas Whorton won the U13 Boys 800m in a new Championship record of 2.21.24, taking 7 seconds off the previous record.

'In the U13 Girls 800m Isabella Harrison took the bronze medal in 2.34.07. She ran a strong race and was just outside her outdoor PB. Enoki Calvert-Ansari finished 6th in the final in 2.43.96 in another strong performance, especially as she has another year in this age group; and Neva qualified for the U15 Girls shot final, where she finished 5th with a PB of 8.61' continues Bjorn.

'We had two in the U15 girls 300m: 'Charlotte Gurney stepped down from 800m to that distance and narrowly missed out on the final, clocking 47.08 and finishing 7th overall. In her first track meet Vivienne Jonczyk finished 10th overall in 48.23, and Ariana Shala finished 9th overall in the U17W 400m in 68.39 – another strong performance in her first 400m indoor competition'.

Results (still partial) Power of 10