Croydon Harrier Mathew Hall crossed the county border to successfully tackle the 10 demanding decathlon events at Crawley last weekend, and he won the Surrey U20 title with 4422 points.

Although short of training, the former Wallington County Boys student kept plugging away with purpose. And he finished with a flourish in the last challenge challenge, the 1500m, which he led until the final furlong following an opening lap of 65sec.

It proved to be his top scoring event, with a tally of 662 points. Not surprisingly, as a runner who has acquired other skills, Mathew topped 500 points both the 100m and 400m.

His high jump of 1.63m at 488 points was his highest-scoring technical event with a creditable pole vault of 3.30m next.

Croydon Harriers boys’ squad travelled to the Alexander Stadium Birmingham on Saturday and produced a brilliant team performance to finish runners-up behind home club Birchfield Harriers, writes Mike Fleet.

They finished ahead of six other clubs, with City of Stoke AC a close third. Southern rivals Windsor Slough Eton and Hounslow AC a distant fourth, ahead of Leeds City AC, Northern Irish champions North Down AC, Wirral AC, and the Scottish Champions Kilbarchan AC.

In a thrilling match with Croydon in front early on, the lead was constantly changing and the result only became clear after the penultimate event.

Had Croydon managed the equivalent of one more fourth place, plus, a fifth, they would have won.

Trinity School student 12-year-old Jermaine Alexander (a triple individual winner, was nominated athlete of the match for his 100m win in 11.97sec).

This and his 24.87sec were meeting-best performances and personal bests. His huge winning margins were 0.55sec and 1.24sec. He also won the long jump, 26cm clear at 4.92m. And he anchored the clubs’ U13 4x100m relay squad, which took a splendid 53.18sec victory – 2.4sec clear of the next team.

Ashley Andrews, Kariym Irving and Erasmus Akoto completed the squad. Impressively, Croydon boys set three meeting-best performances, won nine individual A-string events, scored six event maximums, won three of the five relays on offer, and set some 22 personal bests.

The third meeting best performance was set by U15 long jumper Ashley Harris, who advanced to a winning 6.38m.

Team-mate Tawanda Mukusha was just one frustrating centimetre short of 6m in winning the B string.

Ever-consistent U15-speedster Danny Doyley shone too, producing a dominant legal sprint double. He headed his 100m in 11.36sec, 0.53sec clear. And he more than doubled that margin for his 200m victory to equal his own club record in 22.9sec.

The U15 captain also contributed to both of the club’s victorious relays. They won the 4x100m in 47.66sec, 0.99sec ahead of Birchfield and were over a second clear of Wirral in the 4x400m.

Jamal Dyce was another outstanding double winner who ran in both relays. He kicked to good effect in a tight 400m to win in 52.72sec and held on strongly for 800m victory in 2min 6.17sec.

His successful sprint-relay stint was followed admirably by a very sharp sub-52.0sec anchor leg in the long relay.

Laurence Dight rounded off his first season for the Harriers by winning both 200m and 400m B-strings, with times of 23.83 sec (PB) and 55.14sec to give Croydon two more event doubles.

He also ran in both winning relay teams. Eight-metre hurdlers Liam Bradshaw, winning on the dip in 12.40sec, and Heaven-Lee Roach, 13.50sec, made that event a Croydon preserve too.

The club’s biggest success story was once again Luke Adekoya, who made the first three in three events. He took second place in both the hammer (35.83m) and in the discus (30.32m). And he picked up six more valuable points in the shot in third with a good 12.05m put.

U17 middle-distance prospect Martyn Rooney, returned to competition with a vengeance after a long spell sidelined through injury.

He displayed no doubt when he led the 800m from gun to tape to win well clear in 1min 59.19sec.

Later a sharp lap in 50.99sec earned him second in 50.99sec. And after filling in in the B discus, he rounded off a good day’s work with the club’s fastest 4x400m leg in 51.2sec.

Team captain Robbie Powell backed up well in the 800m with a fighting 2min 4.58sec for second and personal best in the B-string race.

He then led by example taking fifth-place points in the 1500m, before snatching a gutsy third in 1500m steeplechase in 5min 9.16sec.

Once again the quality performances of pole-vaulters Joe Ive 3.90m, and Tom Crawford 3.70m (PB) made it the club’s top U17 field event. Gabriel Sakieri topped the throwers with his 11.80m shot put for a worthy second.

Croydon’s success was achieved thanks to the great team spirit of all concerned. Many, having completed their specialist events, covered effectively elsewhere to deprive rival clubs of precious points.

Theirs was a terrific effort, which scored the club a best-ever 415.5 points out of the 2844 being chased by the eight competing clubs. Croydon topped five of the 10 categories up for grabs.

Croydon Harriers battled to a gallant third place out of eight in the Rosenheim League final. They were beaten by local rivals Kingston and Poly AC (80 points), and Herne Hill Harriers (76 points) to Croydon’s 66 points.

The evening started well with Luke Elsworthy finishing second in the pole vault with a leap of 3.00m. Manny Nsudoh-Hall then threw a tremendous 38.61m in the discus to finish third with a personal best distance.

Martin Rowe 800m and Nick Torry 1500m both ran excellent races to finish second, the latter again in a personal best time of 4min 11.1sec. Jon McCallum also finished second in a quick 3000m 8min 42.1sec.

The team was let down by the sprinters, who all failed to turn up on the night.

Jake and Luke Elsworthy competed at very short notice to help cover the events.

Manny then competed in the long jump with a 6.53m. This proved to be the only win of the night in a season’s best.

He was also named man of the match for Croydon by Andy Del Nevo, the team manager.

A small but determined team of Croydon Harrier junior men battled desperately with Ashford and Dartford to hold onto their 10 points in the final match of the National Junior Athletics League..

Late withdrawals and holidays meant that, despite every athlete competing in the maximum allowable events, the team had many gaps.

This allowed Ashford to win the match by 80 points and with it a place in the national final.

Team captain Matt Hall had a number of fine performances, recording Croydon’s sole win of the day in the polevault where he reached a seasons best of 3.30m.

He had earlier placed second in the 400m hurdles and discus with 62.6sec and 25.56m respectively as well as a third in the high jump (1.60m).

He was backed well by the Elsworthy brothers Luke and Mark who gained nearly one third of the team points between them.

Luke won the B-string 400m hurdles (69.7sec) and Pole Vault (2.75m) and was rewarded with a personal best of 18.9sec in a highly competitive 110m hurdles where he fought for second place.

He also covered well in the field events with fourth place in hammer and javelin (33m).

Mark finished second in a high-quality 3000m in 10min 49.7sec and was second B string in the hammer and 110m hurdles (22.4 sec).

Up-and-coming U17-sprinter Darren Wollen was narrowly pipped for second place in a high-quality 100m race.

The race was convincingly won by Ashford’s international star Noel Leavey in 11.1sec.

Noel went on to take the 200m double in 21.9sec. Darren placed fourth in the 200m with a good time of 24.2sec.

He was backed up in the 200m by U17 long jumper Matt Williams, who bravely finished third in the B string (24.1sec) having earlier injured his arm in the jump.

Despite the injury, he managed to hold onto third place with 5.53m and then went on to place fourth in the triple jump with 10.80m..

Croydon Harriers long run as Ebbisham League title holders came to an end at Kingsmeadow on Sunday.

Facing the already twice victorious Kingston and Polytechnic AC, Croydon had a mountain to climb, but rose to the occasion by finishing second, with their best points tally of the series.

But with Kingston and Poly winners on the day, the title changed hands.

The Harriers youngsters amassed sufficient individual points to overhaul Walton AC, and take the runners-up spot by a priceless ½ a match point margin.

Team captain Laurence Dight ran a splendid 24.0sec winning 200m, and cruised home comfortably 5sec clear in the 4x200m relay to clock for the Croydon club. Jamal Dyce was equally impressive in the U15 400m, which he took at a canter in 55.4 sec.

Luke Adekoya was even more successful in the field, heading his two throwing disciplines with two good wins.

The Warlingham School student took the shot with 12.59m, 2.5m plus clear of the opposition. He was in a class of his own in the discus with a 28.47m effort.

The clubs U13s were in evidence to, with several newcomers picking up valuable points.

Kariym Irving shone with a fine technical display in the 80m hurdles, which he won by a flight in 14.0 sec and 3rd in the long jump at 3.96m.

Junior Championships Croydon Harriers U17 pole vaulters, Joe Ive and Tom Crawford acquitted themselves well in the AAA Junior Championship at the Don Valley Stadium at the weekend.

Joe went one better than his fine English Schools championship fourth to take an excellent bronze at 4.00m only missing second on count back.

Tom did well to overcome his gremlins to finish 5th with a 3.50m clearance (more Sheffield results next week).

Veterans Croydon Harriers’ gentle giant, Eric Baker, made an impressive farewell to the British field event stage, which he has graced for nearly 50 years.

The 22-stone thrower soon to be moving southern Spain, bowed out in his final competition, with two M60 wins for Surrey in their Inter-County match at Kingsmeadow last Saturday.

Eric, holder of the National M60 shot record of 14.20m set this summer in Derby, wielding 5k implements, won both the shot and the hammer with relative ease.

He headed the hammer with a heave of 47.55m, and dominated the shot with 13.31m. Eric leaves these shores as holder of eleven of the Harriers veteran throws records.

Six other Harriers shone in Surrey gold. Distance enthusiast Ian Statter put up a really good fight in the 3k walk, shadowing county colleague Carl Lawton in second place clocking 15:40.1, his best for 5 years, to place 1st in the M40 category.

Ian Wright M40 and Robin Dickson M60 both scored good 800m seconds in 2:03.3 and 2:43.0 respectively, with the latter taking second in the 1500m in 5:18.1.

Colin Oxlade M40, took two well-earned middle distance 3rds,and M40 Ray Marriott placed 3rd in the 3k, in 10.01.2.

Sprinter Graham Pope, M50 scored triple success, with a 13.0sec win in the 100m, a 26.7sec 200m third and another 3rd in the 400m in 60.3sec. M50 Yarn Ballard registered 4.59m in the long jump and 33.0sec in the 200m for two runner-up spots.

W35 Stella Fladgate shone with a B 2nd in the triple jump at 7.52m and she also scored a B 3rd in the long jump with a 3.26m leap. County debutante Linda Harrison advanced her W50 triple jump best to 6.09m for 3rd place.

A Harriers women team braved the intense heat at Woking to come third in the penultimate match of the Southern Women’s Track and Field League.

The Senior and Junior sprinters were in excellent form, Michelle Watson and Nicole Creary coming first and second respectively in both the 100m and 200m races, earning maximum points for the team.

The Junior sprinters also took first and second places in the 100m. Jorden Berkley in 13.6, and Keileigh Ferguson in 13.8 seconds, again gaining maximum points.

In the 200m Sabine Bowling took second place in the A stream in 29.3, and Rayanne Archer won the B stream in 30.1 seconds.

The Junior sprinters also ran an impressive relay race to win in 55.4 seconds, nearly four seconds ahead of the field. Keileigh Ferguson also won the 75m. hurdles with an excellent time of 13.2.

Keleisha Smith came first in the Shot Putt with a throw of 8.85 m.; second in the Javelin; and third in the Hammer. Natasha Matthews came second in both the Shot Putt and the Discus. She threw a personal best 19.18 m. in the discus, just two centimetres behind the winner

Ranked second in the world for his age, Croydon Harriers’ 18-year-old long jumper Bernard Yeboah was out of luck at the World Youth Championships at the Stade Sebastien Charlety last week.

Still recovering from injury, Bernard gave it his best shot against a top-class field, but was unable to produce the 7m necessary to progress to the final stages.

Disappointing though it was, the trip must have provided invaluable experience for the Trinity School student from New Addington.

Representing Great Britain U23 team for the first time, Cameron Johnston, Croydon Harriers’ pole vaulter, finished a creditable third and made a personal best against France at Ashford.

Cameron, student from Shirley currently studying at Surrey University, set a new personal best of 4.90m in a short but sweet series of vaults.

He opened at 4.50m clearing first time, and followed with first timers over 4.70m and 4.90m before narrowly missing the elusive 5m milestone"twice.

The former Trinity student now has high hopes of breaking the barrier when he vaults for Wales at Derby.

By taking two second places in the final fixture of the seven club Thameside League at Battersea on Saturday, Croydon Harriers U13 and U15 boys finished runners-up for the season.

The boys succumbed to Herne Hill Harriers by 10 points at U13 level, and by a single point at U15 level.

Croydon boys made the most of the walks, with stylish young David Statter, 12, winning over 1,200m in 8min 44.6sec.

He was well backed up by Josh Alexander first B walker, while Mark Goatcher and Claudius Ricketts successfully tackled the 1,600m event.

The Harriers’ top track performer was U15 Jamal Dyce who dominated the 400m with a fine 53.2sec effort beating team captain Lawrence Dight, who clocked a promising 54.3sec.

Alex Brown ran a strong second in the 1,500m to clock 5min 9.7sec, and Paul Ogun did well for third in the 80m hurdles placing third in 14.0sec.

The tables were turned in the 200m with Dight taking a strong second in 23.8sec, with Dyce not far back third in 24.2sec.

Field-event-specialist Luke Adekoya scored a 12.41m win in the shot and improved his javelin to 27m-plus.

The Harriers U15 girls excelled to finish third-equal, with only five athletes to call on.

Jorden Berkeley snatched a close second in the 100m in 13.3sec. Sabine Bowling came second in the B race in 13.5sec.

And the rest of the team covered their events well to climb up the Thameside table.

The Croydon Harriers’ boys’ young athletes team will compete in the UK Young Athletes League National Auxiliary Cup final to be held at Birmingham on Saturday August 30 for the 19th time.

In the last math this year Croydon faced two of the top three sides in the division and gave a good account pushing Huntigdonshire and Brighton all the way. Croydon dominated in the field gaining 9 first places out of 16. In the pole vault despite not having their correct poles due to a car breakdown Luke Elsworthy (B String 2.90m) and Greg Conlon (A String 3.90m) secured first places. The Anomelechi brothers dominated the Triple Jump Enyoma taking the A String in 13.91 and Ugochi the B in 12.91. A welcome return to competition saw Paul Prater win the Javelin in 50.71 with Manny Nsudoh adding the B in 46.92. In the Discuss Manny won the A String in 33.68m with Tony Richards taking the B in 32.62, Tony having earlier won the B String Shot with 10.51m.

Croydon Harriers’ in-form long jumper, 18-year-old Philip Greenland competed successfully for the Great Britain Team in Tampere, Finland in the European Junior Championships last weekend.

He finished fifth with a leap of 7.49m, a centimetre below his best ever and significantly ahead of the other British long jumpers.

He turned the tables on Chris Kirk of Wakefield, who pipped him for the English Schools gold recently. Thornton Heath-resident Philip has just left Trinity School, and will be commencing his university studies at Birmingham in the Autumn.

Training partner and fellow Trinity pupil Bernard Yeboah travels to Paris on Thursday prior to the European U20 Championships.

National Junior League Croydon Harriers junior men and women’s penultimate Medway Division match took place at Sutcliffe Park, Eltham last Sunday, with the young men finishing second and a small women’s contingent finishing fourth of seven.

The Croydon’s top performance came from captain Enyioma Anomelechi whose winning triple jump effort of 14.16m earned him the award. He also picked up points elsewhere, including discus second with 28.52m. Harriers notched up three other A-string wins.

Busy Luke Elsworthy won the 110m hurdles in 19.1sec and scored in four other event. U17 Tom Crawford won the vault at 3.20m and U17 Robbie Powell powered away in the 1500m for a clear win in 4min 27.9sec.

He also took second in the steeplechase in 8min 9.9sec U17. Emlyn Akoto and Martin Nelson produced two good second places in the 100m and 400m, and relays. Amy Dowsett shone for the girls with two good seconds in the sprints. She was timed at 12.7sec in her 100m and ran the 200m in 26.2sec.

She was well supported by Nicole Creary second in both the B sprints.

Croydon Harriers boys and girls travelled to Abingdon knowing that they had to produce their best result of the season to survive at the top level and for the boys to reach their 20th national cup final in succession. Croydon Harriers boys are awaiting the confirmation of their 20th consecutive National Cup final place following their brilliant win in their Last Southern Premier League match at Abingdon.

The joint boys and girls team is hanging on to hopes of retaining their top league status when the points recount is published.

The team’s event maximum tally of 11 joint A and B-string wins reflected the quality of the Croydon Harriers B-string athletes like Lawrence Dight.

He shone in the sprints alongside English Schools U15 100m bronze medallist Danny Doyley. Only 0.1sec separated them in the 200m, with times of 23.8sec and 23.9sec.

U17 Tariq Aslam made a notable debut, with a B1500m victory in 4min 43.7sec behind third-placed Robbie Powell, 4min 36.4sec. The captain also won the 800m in a PB of 2min 5.6sec.

Aslam repeated the performance in the 1500m steeplechase with a winning B string run in 5min 44sec, third-placed Ashley George clocked 5min 42sec.

U15s Liam Bradshaw and Jamal Dyce both produced high-quality runs. Bradshaw came a full second clear in his 80m hurdles in 12.0sec and won the B 100m in 12.4sec as well as a fast leg in the 47.0sec Croydon 4x100m.

Dyce destroyed the 400m field in 55sec, and won the 800m at a canter, in 2min 12.3sec. Double success in the field was topped by U17 pole vaulters Joe Ive and Tom Crawford 3.70m and 3.10m.

Their younger brethren Kevin Bradley 2.20m and Jake Williams, 2.10m shone too, placing first A and second B.

U17 Rosemary Garnett cleared 1.45m in the high jump for second place, Sophie Shaw scored a good U13 1200m second in 5min 2sec and Laura Hamilton did well with a 2nd in the U 15 75m hurdles.

Individually U15 Luke Adekoya shone, sharing a shot double with Shane Pearson with distances of 12.41m and 10.39m.

Adekoya won the B-string discus at 24.95m with the A win going to Jason Courtman who won at 26.69m.

Finally he took second in the hammer with a PB of 40.81m, well supported by Whitgiftian, Kiri Antoniades, with a B win at 30.73m.

A small but select group of Croydon Harriers Athletes made the long trip to Kings Lynn for the Southern Men's League. Croydon again dominated the Pole Vault with Greg Conlon and Warren White only entering the competition after all other athletes had finished. Warren won the B String competition with a new personal best height of 4:20m with Greg taking the A with 4:40m. Both then went on to gather valuable points in other events, Greg winning the B-110m Hurdles and gaining 2^nd in the B String 200m just loosing first in the last few strides.

Croydon Harriers women hosted third and toughest of their Southern League matches at Croydon Arena on Saturday.

Although finishing third, and certainly unable to match the strength of winners Woking, they performed well and produced another improved team performance.

Their sprinters scored two points and rounded off the afternoon with a win in the U15 relay.

Senior sprinter Ada Nwosu calmly overcame a problem at the start to win her 100m impressively at a second attempt.

She crossed the line ahead of the field in 12.7sec, with Nicole Creary just 0.5sec adrift.

In the U15s Jorden Berkeley (13.5sec) and Sabine Dowling (13.9sec) sprinted home first A and first B runners. They both featured in the successful 4x100m.

Sixteen-year-old Kate Gillett helped keep the Harriers field flag flying with two useful seconds in the throws. She took 28.93m in the hammer and 26.69m in the discus. Cara Smith supported well with a 33.89m javelin throw for second, and 9.82m for third in the triple jump.

Natasha Matthews won the discus with 16.55m. Amy Mulley, though not feeling 100 per cent, showed club spirit in the shot with 9.82m

Croydon Harriers boys fought back brilliantly in their fourth and toughest yet Southern Premier Division match of the National Young Athletes League, at the Croydon Sports Arena on Sunday.

They took a super second place in the four-cornered contest, splitting formidable rivals and national champions Enfield and Haringey, and newly amalgamated Blackheath and Bromley. Bournemouth took fourth.

And they kept their hopes of a 20th national cup final place alive.

U15 captain Danny Doyley continued the club’s recent spate of record breaking with an astonishing display of relaxed power sprinting in the 200m which he won handsomely in 22.9sec. Lawrence Dight, took third overall in 23.9sec, winning the B string.

These two also scored maximum points in the 100m, with Doyley again in a class of his own 0.4sec clear in 11.5sec with Dight taking the B string honours in 12.3sec.

They finally featured in their victorious 4x100m relay squad with Liam Bradshaw and Tawanda Mukusha, clocking 48.8sec.

Dight was joined by Celestino Eningo, Alex brown and Jemel Dyce for a memorable 4x400m win in 3min45.5sec, 3.2sec ahead of the Enfield and Haringey team.

Dyce impressed with a 52.8sec stint, his winning 53.8sec run in the individual 400m and an almost solo 800m victory in 2min07.8sec.

First year U17 Emlyn Akoto took both the 100m and 200m. He had daylight behind him in the 100m when he won in 11.3sec, but had to dip fiercely for his 200m scalp.

For the U13s, powerful Jermaine Alexander won his 100m a full second ahead in 12.2sec and was similarly dominant in the 200m in 25.6sec.

For good measure, he won the long jump by 30cm with a best of 4.85m. Ashley Andrews (13.2sec and 26.8sec) made the U13 sprints a Croydon preserve and young Kariym Irving – hot from her triple independent schools success – took a long-jump B victory with 4.35m.

Martyn Rooney achieved another U17 400m/800m double with great poise and assurance. Rapidly approaching the form he needs to excel in next month’s English schools championships. He won in 50.9sec – 1sec clear. In the 800m he won by over two seconds in 1min58.9sec.

Captain Robbie Power controlled the 1,500m from the front to win smoothly in 4min20sec and took second in the 1,500m steeple-chase.

Nick Canty got the verdict in the keenly contested 100m hurdles, in 15.2 sec, 0.1sec faster than colleague Jordan Roye.

The roles were reversed in the 400m hurdles, with Roye second in the A race, and Canty clocking 64.0sec for his B win.

Fearless 16-year-old Joe Ive attained new heights in the pole vault, which he won with a new PB of 4.10m. Tom Crawford also excelled to clear 3.50m for a PB equalling B string victory.

Vie looks well on target for next month’s national schools championships

Score Card

A fixture clash with the National U20 and U23 Champs meant Croydon's team had some potential gaps. The team rallied round to finish third. Star performer was Manny Nsodoh who was everywhere, he won the Javelin with 46.81m, gained second places in the Discus 33.00m, 110m Hurdles (B String) 21.3s, Triple Jump 12.61m, Long Jump 6.35m, placed third in the High Jump 1.55, 4^th in the 100m 12.0s and anchored the 4 x 100m team to 3^rd.

Producing a near perfect blend of talent and team spirit, the Harriers U20 men came within a whisker o f winning their Medway Division One match at Edith on Sunday.

They lost by only one point having conceded the lead to Ashford on lost officials points.

Martyn Rooney was again in highly effective form, producing his first sub-50sec 400m victory after a fascinating tussle over the first 200, before smoothly easing away for a 49.4sec.

This all but won in the Male Athlete of the Mach award, which went to a 52m-plus javelin thrower by the smallest of percentage. Rooney also ran in the B 100m and placed second.

Iain Cocks returned to the track with a vengeance after concentrating on exams at Whitgift, and won his 800m convincingly from the front in 1min 59.8sec. Robbie Powell took the B race in a personal best of 2min 7.8sec.

Mathew Hall showed fine team spirit by picking up crucial points in five events. He wisely settled for first in the B 300m to conserve energy, while Ashley George ran very well for second in the A race. Duncan Johnston also produced a valuable pentathlon.

Pole vaulter Joe Ive was at the peak of his form to win at 3.90m – a personal best only narrowly missing out at 4m Tom Crawford won the B vault at 3.05m.

Zac Boulden scored well with a win in the long jump at 5.70m and a third in the high jump with a good 1.70m clearance.

The club’s small group of U20 women also did well, despite being short of track athletes. And one of those became indisposed on arrival. In the circumstances, Nicole Creary shone with times of 13.2sec and 27.3sec in the sprints The field event athletes more than made up for the deficit with Rosemary Garnett winning both the long (5.15m) and triple (9.55m) and did a personal best of 1.50m in the high jump for third.

Kate Gillett’s hammer personal best of 33.48m for second won her the Athlete of the Match Award.

Croydon Harriers veteran men and women produced some superb performances in the Surrey County Athletics Championships at Kings-meadow Stadium, Kingston on Saturday.

Ian Wright set a new Championship best performance, winning the M40 800m in 2min3.30sec and beating the Croydon Harriers’ record by John Garber in 1983.

Yarn Ballard, Croydon’s multi-talented 50-year-old, took second in the 400m hurdles with 71sec. And in the high jump he set a Surrey championship best performance (CBP) with 1.43m.

He also won the long jump with 4.77m. Graham Pope was the star of the M55 winning the 100m in a swift 12.97sec and defeating his close friend and rival Terry Bissett of Epsom and Ewell. He then went on to record 59.44sec to take the Surrey 400m championship.

In the M60s, two Croydon Harriers got in amongst the records. Eric Baker won the shot put with 13.54m (in a new championship best). He repeated the same scenario throwing the hammer out to 47.76m for another Surrey CBP.

Croydon had a strong representation in the women’s events. Chris Brooks won the W45 100m in a Croydon-record-breaking performance of 14.76sec. Chris also claimed a Surrey CBP when she won the 200m in 30.79sec.

M50 David Hayward ran his normal flat-out 800m race to win in a fast 2min26.4sec

M40 1^st 800m Ian Wright 2.03.3 (CBP)

M50 2^nd 400mH Yarn Ballard 71.0

M50 1^st Shot Put Tony Richards 12.25

M50 1^st Discus Tony Richards 41.14

M55 800m 1^st K Lee 2.27.29

M60 1^st 1500m Robin Dickson 5.16.47

M60 1^st Shot Put Eric Barker 13.54

M60 1^st Hammer Eric Barker 47.43 (CBP)

W45 1^st 100m C Brookes 14.76

W45 2^nd 200m C Brookes 30.79

Croydon Harriers excel in Surrey AA team

Croydon Harriers young athletes were well represented in the Surrey AA team which travelled to Lewes last weekend, and several athletes excelled.

Sixteen-year-old Surrey schools champion Martyn Rooney was well placed early on in his 800m. He passed the bell comfortably in 59sec, and struck strongly for the front with just over 200m to go, and went on to win handsomely in 1min 58.5sec.

Another Harriers ‘two-lapper’ to shine, was Warlingham schoolboy Jemel Dyce, who set about his task of gaining an English schools entry standard, by running the race of his life.

He stayed with a good early pace, which saw him through the bell in 61sec. He cleverly surged from 200m and achieved his target with a splendid 2min 6.9sec win.

U15 shot-putter Amy Mulley, a Croydon High student in only her first county representative match, set about her task calmly to win at 10.16m. And she encouragingly had another effort over 10m, despite not having much time to warm up.

Her best put was only 1cm short of her winning distance in the county schools championships, and she took a well-earned third place.

Other successful Croydon athletes were 100m runners U17 Emlyn Akoto and U15 Danny Doyley. They both showed timely sharp form and had the legs to win.

Under-17 400m hurdler Jordan Roye also ran well for second in his race but frustratingly missed the qualifying mark again.

On Sunday, Harriers’ track and field veteran men competed at the Southern Counties Veterans AC Championships at Battersea Park.

Croydon Harriers records were set in three events with Ian Wright’s second spot in the M40 800m, timed at 2min01.6sec.

Yarn Ballard’s 18.4sec for the 100m hurdles shaved his previous 18.7sec record. He also soared over the high jump bar to claim another record with 1.45m.

Enyioma Anomelechi (S) excelled in the senior triple jump with a near championship best to win with 14.46m, a national standard. Iain Cocks won the Senior 800m in 2min 1.71sec and Mark Elsworthy (N) took the 2km steeplechase in 7min 9.3sec. Intermediate 800m runner Martyn Rooney won impressively in 1min 58.98sec.

 Southern Women’s League 7^th June Erith

Ten athletes representing the whole age range of Croydon Harriers Women put up a magnificent performance in their Southern Women’s League match at Erith Stadium last Saturday.

In the junior section Natasha Matthews scored a second place in the discus with a throw of 15.66m, a good third in the A-string shot and took third in the relay.

Jorden Berekey and Rayanne Archer gained valuable points in the 100m and 200m sprints. Rayanne and Sabine Bowling came second in the A and B strings in the long jump. Sabine Bowling, came second in both the shot and the javelin.

In the senior team Ada Nwosu made a timely return after a few seasons’ break. She won the 100m, in 12.7sec, closely followed by regular team member Michelle Watson. Amy Dowsett ran the 200m 26.8sec, and took fourth in the discus.

Cara Smith swept all before her to win both the javelin (33.68m) and the high jump. She also teamed up with Amy for second in the A long jump – doing likewise in the B event.

Kate Gillett was her usual amazing self in the hammer, easily taking first place with 29.2m.

Kelesha Smith was second in the A shot and B javelin and was so overcome by her success that she forgot to run in the 400m. But she made up for it in the relay, helping the team to a well-deserved victory.

M60 1^st Shot Eric Barker (60) 14.21m British Record

M60 2^nd Hammer Eric Barker (60) 47.46m

M50 4th Discus Anthony Richards (53) 37.95m

M50 Shot 4th Anthony Richards (53) 12.25m

M55 100m 2nd Graham Pope (57)12.72

M55 400m 4th Graham Pope (57)59.02

M40 5^th 800m I Wright (40) 2.05.45 (2.04.5 in heat)

Score Card

In a closely fought meeting Croydon finished third in their third Southern league Meeting of the season. Ugochi Anomolechi was again dominant in the sprints winning the 100, 200 and anchoring the 4 x 100m squad as well as winning the triple jump. Backing up Ugochi in the Triple Jump was Manny Nsodoh who won the B string, he also claimed the A string discuss but was kept busy in the high jump, javelin and leg in the 4 x 100m.

South of England U20 Athletics Championship 24-25^TH May WATFORD

Three of Croydon Harriers promising young athletes featured among the medals in the South of England U20 Athletics Championship at Watford last weekend.

Consistent 14-year-old long jumper Ashley Harris spearheaded their success strike U15 gold with an excellent 6.08m effort. He was outstandingly supported in the medal stakes by club ambitious colleague Tawanda Mukusha, who took the bronze.

Aspiring U17 pole vaulter Joe Ive, a shade below his recent peak form, did well contending with tricky winds and still cleared a creditable 3.40m for another bronze.

Jordan Roye, a first-year U17, tackled his first champi-onship 400m hurdles. He qualified as runner-up in his heat, with a very good 60.5sec, clocking behind the ultimate bronze medallist.

Unfazed by the occasion, he improved his PB to 58.7sec for a first-class fourth in the final.

A second Croydon fourth went to unlucky U20 triple jumper Enyoimas Anomelechi who injured himself during the competition and had to be content with his first effort of 13.97m as his recorded best.

In the 1,500m final, U17 team captain and middle distance enthusiast Robbie Powell ran 4min 15.92sec in his heat to proceed as the last of the fastest losers and although 11th of 12 in the final, was rewarded with a new PB of 4min 13.51sec.

U20 sprinter Amy Dowsett competed in both the 100m and the 200m with 12.75seconds and 25.76sec.

First year U15 sprinter Emlyn Akoto also failed to progress with his PB-equalling 11.3sec to 100m.

Enyioma Anomelechi and Emlyn Akoto have both been selected to UKA Talent Academy.

Thameside League Battersea 24^TH May

The Harriers U13 and U15 boys and girls opened their Thameside league accounts at Battersea on Saturday, producing some encouraging efforts.

The U15 boys put in a solid second place of seven with the U13s fourth.

The U15 girls were third of six and their sole U13 girl placed fifth.

Talented thrower Luke Adekoya, captain for the day, topped the boys' bill with two clear wins, both of which were PBs.

He beat 12min for the first time, by 26cm in the shot and took the discuss comfortably with his 31.31m best. He also picked up important points in the javelin.

Fast developing hurdler Heaven-Lee Roach won his 80m event in 13.9sec.

Jack Shuard was an impressive double-winner for the U13s. He first won the 800m by over 10sec in 2min 48.2sec and later romped away with the 300m in 48.2sec.

Kariym Irving won his 75m hurdles in 13.9sec and sprinted for second places in the 100m and 200m.

Erasmus Akoto scored a comfortable shot win with his 8.16m effort.

Croydon Harriers Veterans track and field team opened their 2003 campaign with an excellent second-team placing at Sutton Arena only 8.75 points behind the ever-strong Epsom and Ewell Harriers squad.

Leading points scorer on the night was the versatile Ian Statter, firstly clearing 1.30m for third in the M40 high jump, 20 minutes later winning the 3,000m walk with his best time for some years in an outstanding 10:21min. Twenty minutes after that he took second in the long jump with 4.53m. Ian totalled 21, just ahead of Croydon's other multi-event athlete, Ricky Toomey (20.75).

Two more high-scoring performances came by way of Alan Springett (M40) and Dave Hayward (M50).

Team result: Epsom and Ewell 154.5, Croydon Harriers 146, Dorking and Mole Valley AC 105, Crawley AC 98, Striders of Croydon 86.5, Kingston AC and Polytechnic Harriers 75, Sutton and District AC 43 and Redhill and Surrey Beagles AC 23

W35 6 M Chute 80.9, 7 N Fleet 84.6

W50 2A Smith 94.6

Cameron Johnston and Azaria Francis, were crowned senior champions in the county track and field championships at Kingsmeadow last weekend, Croydon Harriers looked to their younger athletes for further success, and were richly rewarded by 10 more gold medallists.

Welsh international pole-vaulter Johnston soared skywards 4.70m, for a comfortable first. U20 Great Britain international triple jumper Francis cleared 11.76m for a well deserved gold.

Pride of place among the emerging talent went to U17 middle-distance runner Martyn Rooney, who strode majestically away to win the Under 17 800m final in 1:58.96.

SENIOR MEN
Pole Vault (a) 1 Cameron Johnston Croy 4.70; 2 Greg Conlon Croy 4.30

100 metres (b) Heat 2 : 4 Ugochi Anomelechi Croy 11.27

Final 8 Ugochi Anomelechi Croy 11.1

400 metres (a) 1 Liam Campbell Croy 54.02

2000 metres Steeplechase (a) 1 Mark Elsworthy Croy 7:08.6

Pole Vault (a) 2 Luke Elsworthy Croy 3.20

Long Jump (a) 1 Phillip Greenland Croy 7.07 2 Bernard Yeboah Croy 6.93

Triple Jump (b) 1 Enyioma Anomelechi Croy 14.00

100 metres (b) Heat 1 ws -1.4 :2 Emlyn Akoto-Dwemoh Croy
Heat 2 1 6 Darren Wollen Croy 11.96 7 Ashley George Croy 13.14
Final 1 2 Emlyn Akoto-Dwemoh Croy 11.43

200 metres (a) Heat 2: 3 Darren Wollen, Final ws 7 Darren Wollen Croy 24.37

800 metres Heat 2: 1 Martyn Rooney Croy 2:06.31 ,

Final 1 Martyn Rooney Croy 1:58.96

1500 metres (b) 1 Robbie Powell Croy 4:14.97

3000 metres (b) 6 Ashley George Croy 10:24.76

400 metres Hurdles (b) 1 Jordan Roye Croy 61.29

Triple Jump (b) 3 Daniel Lee Croy 11.92

Pole Vault (a) 1 Joe Ive Croy 3.80

100 metres (a) Heat 1 ws 0.0 5 Heaven-Lee Roach Croy,

Heat 2 ws +0.7 1 Danny Doyley Croy 11.65 , Final 1 Danny Doyley Croy 11.69

200 metres (b) Heat 2 5 Heaven-Lee Roach Croy 28.13

400 metres (a) 2 Jamal Dyce Croy 55.5

800 metres (b) Heat 1 6 Claudius Ricketts Croy 2:27.42

Heat 2 1 Jamal Dyce Croy 2:14.2

Final 1 : 3 Jamal Dyce Croy 2:11.9

1500 metres (a) 12 Claudius Ricketts Croy 5:07.7

80 metres Hurdles (a) 5 Heaven-Lee Roach Croy 14.31

Shot (a) 2 Gregory Lowe Croy 10.42

Long Jump (b) 1 Tawanda Mukusha Croy 5.64, 10 Heaven-Lee Roach Croy 4.13

Discus (b) 2 Gregory Lowe Croy 26.92

100 metres (b) Heat 1 3 Kariym Irving Croy 14.0,

Heat 2 , 7 Zak Balogun Croy 15.3

Final 1 , 8 Kariym Irving Croy 14.47

200 metres (a) Heat 2: 3 Kariym Irving Croy 30.0 ,

Final 1: 7 Kariym Irving Croy 30.39

80 metres Hurdles Heat 1 1 Kariym Irving Croy 14.82

Final ws -0.8: 2 Kariym Irving Croy 14.48

Long Jump (a) 5 Kariym Irving Croy 4.20

Shot (a) 1 Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh Croy 8.76

100 metres (a)

Heat 1 ws +1.1 : 4 Azaria Francis Croy 12.68 5 Michelle Watson Croy 13.01

Heat 2 ws +1.3 4 Adanma Nwasu Croy 12.50

Final 1 : 7 Adanma Nwasu Croy 12.6

200 metres (b) 8 Michelle Watson Croy 27.4

Triple Jump (b) 1 Azaria Francis Croy 11.76

100 metres (b) 3 Nicole Creary Croy 13.16

200 metres (a) 3 Amy Dowsett Croy 25.67 , 7 Nicole Creary Croy 28.11

300 metres (a) , 7 Victoria Evans Croy 45.71

Shot (b) 2 Kate Gillett Croy 9.24

Hammer (b) 1 Kate Gillett Croy 28.15

100 metres (b)
Heat 1 ws +1.2 5 Jordan Berkeley Croy 13.75,

Heat 2 4 Rayanne Archer Croy 13.9

Final 1, 8 Rayanne Archer Croy 14.05

200 metres (a) Heat 1 6 Rayanne Archer Croy 29.47

a = Saturday 10th , b= Sunday 11th

If the Croydon Harriers' young team can match the enthusiasm and effort displayed in their opening Ebbisham League track and field match at Norbiton on Saturday, another successful season awaits them.