Essex & Eastern Championships

Race report from Head Coach Steve, who attended the full 2 days supporting athletes.

This is wonderful success for the individuals and, of course, we will all celebrate their success – more later.

However, this represents only a small part of the story for the club. The bigger picture is that twenty-four athletes got out and competed: by some margin, our best turnout for many years.

Of those twenty-four eleven made semi-finals and eight made finals, when you include athletes that made the ‘top eight’ cut in the field events. I think at some future time we may need to look more closely at times and distances – I don’t think Roster picks up everything from the Power of 10 – but so many performances were listed as PBs. I think some may need to be downgraded to SBs, but nevertheless, results show that the athletes have worked hard over the winter and are looking good for the summer. The results also provide proof, if needed, that coaches are working hard for the athletes as well. As a coach and as Chair, I was so proud of every single one of the athletes and am so grateful for the fantastic and dedicated coaches that made this weekend possible.

I must also mention Robyn, whose organisation meant that we had banners and flags and were so visible. This may not seem much but as a result everyone knew where we were and congregated there. I think this helped to build the team spirit and excitement for athletes as they passed a noisy bunch rooting for them! It certainly helped to welcome debutants into the Harlow family and make them feel at ease.
I will try to stick to chronological order but here are the highlights:

DAY ONE:
Sammy Brown and Tommy Newnham both made the U17 60m semi-final. Tommy ran 7.38s and posted a new PB in doing so. Sammy went on to the final and earned bronze in a new PB of 7.09s.
Kiera Marie ran herself into the U20 60m final and recorded a season’s best 8.53s and was seventh in that final.
Isabella Springer made the Top Eight cut and threw 6.32m to take fifth overall in a very competitive U13 Shot Putt.
Lucy Cartman, on debut, made the semi-finals of a strong U15 field in her 60m event. 8.38 was her best time on the day.
Well done Saoirse Casey-Bond, Sharon Segun-Fatumo, and Kitty Tyson. All three U15 girls made the semi-final of the 60m Hurdles, no other club managed more than two!

Lucas Sawetz, as a first year U13, made the final of the 60m Hurdles. 11.11s was good enough to get him to the bronze medal for the Eastern Region.

DAY TWO:
Sammy and Tommy were again a double act in the U17 200m this time. Both made the semi-finals and Sammy, with a time of 22.29 was second overall.
Lucy was also back for 200m and ran a time that showed she can mix it with the best in the region. Sadly, she was DQ’d for a lane infringement.
Amelia Cooper and Faryl Wright, U15 and U17 respectively, made the Top Eight cut for their age groups triple jump. Faryl’s 8.62m was good enough for Essex Bronze. And Amelia’s performance secured her Essex Silver and Regional Bronze. Her best jump, 8.92, was a huge new PB.
Isla Fulling qualified for the U15 girl’s 800m final and then had the longest of waits as it was the final event of the entire competition! She set a PB in the process and then dropped it further as she ended the competition in fourth place, in a time of 2.24.96 mins.
Manny Richards ran a season’s best 4.34.17 mins to take Essex Gold and Regional Silver in the U17 1500m Final

Many congratulations to not only those named above but to all of those who competed. It was so good to see new faces out and we all hope you enjoyed your events and will get out regularly in the summer months.

Competitors in alphabetical order: Holly Austin,  Sammy Brown,  Lucy Cartman,  Cian Casey-Bond,  Saoirse Casey-Bond,  Amelia Cooper,  Louise Duffy,  Marion Elesheku,  Amelia Higgs,  Zoe Kaku,  Kiera Marie,  Isla McHugh,  Tommy Newnham,  Emmanuella Segun-Fatumo,  Sharon Segun-Fatumo,  Manny Richards,  Lucas Sawetz,  George Simpson,  Isabella Springer,  Reggie Stanley-Kinsella,  Jacob Turvey,  Kitty Tyson,  Tia Weekes, &  Faryl Wright.