Surrey Road Relays @ Wimbledon, September 13th

Distance: 6x3 miles

Team: Senior Men

David Brown	17:39
Keith Brown	19:27
Andy Del Nevo §	18:32
Matthew Kiernan	18:34
David Brown	18:20
Keith Brown	20:18

1:52:50, 19^th (21 teams)

Shanghai fourth for Danvers

Newly returned Croydon Harrier Natasha Danvers concluded her Olympic medal winning season last Friday, with a respectable fourth of eight in the Shanghai Grand Prix 400m hurdles.

Danvers’ 55.33sec clocked behind Sheena Tosta (USA), the Olympic silver medallist, and other Beijing finalists, Tiffany Ross-Williams (USA) and Anastasiya Rabchenyuk (Ukraine)

Croydon boys’ encouraging effort.

A large group of Croydon Harriers boys successfully made the transition from track to country in the John Bolt Memorial Relays at Sparrows Den on Saturday, their form suggesting that they will do well in the cooling months ahead,

With their strengths spread across two teams, high corporate places could not be expected, and the club A team finished mid field.

Jordan Maurice shone with a 10:55 leg in which he ran virtually solo and still produced a strong acceleration on the run in. Surrey pentathlon silver medallist Jacob Paul clocked 11:05 and Elliott Veheary, a year younger made a promising comeback to club competition with his feisty run in 11:11.

Joshua Haasz and Jacob Paul were the quickest of the club U13s.

Blackheath & Bromley XC Relays @ Sparrow’s Den, September 20th

Croydon Harriers boys made an encouraging start to their Autumn fixtures at Sparrows Den on Saturday in the Blackheath relays.

Jordan Maurice looked especially sharp on his U15 anchor leg completed in 10:55, with multi events medallist Jacob Paul closing in strongly for an 11:01 clocking and Elliott Veheary make a welcome and successful return to the club scene with his 11:11 effort.

Jacob Cross and Joshua Haasz ran well for the U13s.

Distance: 6x 4km

Team: Senior Men

Andy Del Nevo 15:53

Colin Oxlade 16:14

Norman Hemming 18:15

Eric Campbell 22:52

Andy Del Nevo 16:18

Colin Oxlade 16:51

1:29:32, 19^th (22 teams)

Distance: 4x4km

Team: Senior Women

Gill Lightfoot 22:11

Miriam De Souza 20:30

Gill Lightfoot 22:21

Miriam De Souza 21:03

1:26:05 10^th (10 teams)

IAAF/VTB Bank World Athletics Final will be held in Stuttgart, Germany, from September 13-14, 2008

Such has Beijing Olympic finalist Martyn Rooney’s 400m progress been this year, that the 21 year old Croydon Harriers 400m man declared himself disappointed after his 5^th place in 45.82sec in the IAAF World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart on Saturday.

His lane eight effort should be evaluated in the context of what was probably the highest quality 400m field seen in action all season.

In first and second places were Americans, Olympic Gold medallist LaShawn Merritt 44.4 59, and world number one Jeremy Wariner 2nd, with Christopher Brown (Bahamas) 4^th placed Olympian in 3^rd ,and Olympic 400m gold medal hurdler Angelo Taylor 4^th with fellow Olympic finalist Johan Wissman Sweden trailing the field in 8^th.

Harriers Homecoming for Olympic Medallist Natasha Danvers

Honoured on Monday at a Civic Reception by the Mayor of Lewisham in whose Borough she now lives, former Croydon Harrier Tasha Danvers the Olympic 400m Hurdles Bronze medallist confirmed her return to the Albert Road Arena based club.

An added bonus for this exciting development for the Harriers is the return too of her mother Dorette who in her school days was a fine young high jumper. Her experience and enthusiasm will be a great asset for the club’s thriving O35 section.

Tasha who described her return to the harriers as a Homecoming she had been contemplating for some time delighted several young Cordoning who attended the reception with her encouragement and is looking forward to meet others soon.

Later this week she flies to the Far East again to compete in the Shanghai Grand Prix and will be joining up with Croydon’s other Olympians Donna Fraser and Martyn Rooney on October 19^th to preside over the formal start with the Deputy Mayor

SURREY COMBINED EVENTS CHAMPIONSHIPS, BROADBRIDGE HEATH, HORSHAM, 13/14 SEPTEMBER 2008

Blessed by long overdue sunshine all the Croydon Harriers in action at the Broadbridge Heath track last weekend with an amazing age range of 69 they epitomised the wide attraction of athletics. They all achieved PBs, and between them they set a Championship best performance, four club records and won three gold medals, a silver and a bronze.

None could have been more enthusiastic than sprightly 80 year old Ken Crooke who hardly surprisingly took his gold medal unchallenged, and that despite taking a tumble in the 1500m

The impressive Irving brother, sister duo of U17 Kariym and U13 Sherin Irvin took young men’s and girls titles, with M50 Ian Statter striking gold too, while U15 Jacob Paul won silver and U13 Joshua Haasz took a bronze.

Kariym Irving, the club’s best discus thrower was pleased with his 6.27m long jump, and amassed 4509 points for his CPB and a Harriers record. His sisters win with 2352 points, another club record. put her atop the UK rankings, while Joshua Haasz caught the eight with his front run 800m in 2:25.96 significantly contributing to his 1404 points, which rank him 7^th nationally.

Jacob Paul’s 2505 points tally, the third Croydon record puts him

Runathon Cross Country Challenge

Trinity School, co organisers with Croydon Harriers came third in this interesting 5 team handicap in Lloyd Park on Saturday.

Junior Lucas of John Fisher was the overall winner, with Trinity juniors Alex Briggs and William Holmes in 6^th and 8^th places, their first runners home

Trinity’s Mark Plackett had an outstanding run, heading the Intermediates home in 12^th spot, while team captain Nathan Stone was the 8^th to finish, placing 44^th in the field of 84.

Oxted won the team title with John Fisher second.

Rafi Rising Discus Star

Croydon Harriers continually improving discus thrower Faraz Rafi’s 39.47m effort at Woking recently took him to 13^th in the UK rankings, and makes him the youngest athlete in the top 20

Olympic medallist Tasha returns to Harriers.

Croydon Harriers were thrilled last week, when Olympic 400m hurdles bronze medallist Tasha Danvers confirmed her decision to return to the Croydon club after a ten year absence.

There was a bonus with the news too for when the Albert Road, South Norwood Harrier’s senior coach Mike Fleet had a phone call from Tasha’s mother Dorrett McKoy, confirming that she too would be returning to the club, for which some years even earlier she had been a promising young high jumper.

Alisha Ellis, Emma Barlow, Matthew Kiernan and Terry Lapins, four young Harriers who are very much seen as key to the club’s future and Fleet attended celebrations at Lewisham as guests of the Mayor Sir Steve Bullock, and were thrilled to meet their Beijing medal winning colleague for the first time.

Tasha told them that her decision to rejoin the club, which had been in her mind for some time, felt like “a happy home coming”

Tasha will be attending the Lexus Croydon Charity 10k together with fellow Harrier’s Olympians Donna Fraser and Martyn Rooney on Sunday 19^th October.

Entries are coming well with over 200 already signed up. Yong athletes from 9-14 are also signing up for the accompanying 3k Fun Run. Visit the Croydon Harriers website and the 10k link for further details.

Beijing Olympics 8^th-23^rd August 2008

In the 400m semis Martyn Rooney produced a personal best of 44.60 secs to qualify for the final of the 400m but couldn’t reproduce that form in the final he finished in sixth place clocking 45.12 seconds for his run

A rejuvenated Martyn Rooney rose to the occasion magnificently, bouncing back with a vengeance in the Beijing Olympic 4x400m Final on the last night of athletics.

Only two days after his energy-sapping individual final and the day after the 4x400m heats, the young Croydon Harrier showed his true mettle after receiving the baton in 7th place. A smooth change was followed by a fiercely attacking 200m rewarded by two rival scalps including that of Jamaica in a move which took him up to 5th place. From then on in, he was closing fast on the medal places missing out narrowly at the line from 3rd placed Russians who were delighted at setting a national record. USA were well clear with a new Olympic record of 2:55.39 in the safe hands of Olympic individual 400m silver man Wariner and with the Bahamas in second place. Rooney's 43.73 split time was the 5th fastest overall on the day and the 4th fastest ever by a British athlete.

The GB team of Steele, Tobin, Bingham and Rooney clocked a superb season's best of 2:58.81 and as Rooney said, with a young squad, there are exciting times ahead. Although this time they had striven valiantly for a medal, they did beat 4 previously higher ranked teams in the Final.

With the Olympic torch heading for London, Martyn Rooney and other up-and-coming Croydon athletes can look forward optimistically to the Games in 2012.

Rosenheim League Final Tooting August 13th 2008 Results

As Martyn Rooney impresses in Beijing his club colleagues at Croydon Harriers finished a creditable fifth position at a high quality Rosenheim League Final on Wednesday.

The 2006 winners acquitted themselves well with the opposition noticeably stepping up from the qualifying rounds in pursuit of the silverware.

The pick of the Harriers performances went to Richmond Baah who took the honours in the javelin by just one centimetre with his 50.77m throw.

Oweka Wanogho ran himself into third in the 200m (22.7s) after a solid bend, and then joined up with his 4x200m colleagues to also finish third in the last event of the evening.

MATCH RESULT
1 KINGSTON AC & POLYTECHNIC H(Holders)	67
2 BELGRAVE H	66
3 HERNE HILL H	63
4 WALTON AC	54
5 CROYDON H	53
6 HERCULES WIMBLEDON AC	50
7 ST MARYS RICHMOND AC	38
8 SERPENTINE RC

200m Match
3 Oweka Owangho	CRO	22.7
400m Match
5 Darren Wollen	CRO	52.3
800m Match
4 Martin Rowe(M35)	CRO	2.04.2
800 NS
2 James Buchanan	CRO	2.09.7
9 Dave Warren(V50)	CRO	2.48.3
1500m Match and NS
6 Martin Rowe(M35)	CRO	4.29.8
3000m Match & NS 1
8 James Buchanan	CRO	9.23.8
3000 NS 2
4 Colin Oxlade(V45)	CRO	10.21.5
11 Matthew Kiernan	CRO	10.49.0
14 Terry Lapins	CRO	11.28.3
20 Dave Warren(V50)	CRO	12.52.5
23 Eric Campbell(V40)	CRO	15.15.3
110m Hurdles Match & NS
7 Terry Lapins	CRO	21.8
4 x 200m Relay Match
3 CRO	CRO	1.32.6
High Jump Match
4 Kariym Irving	CRO	1.6
Mervyn Glover SMR NoHt
Triple Jump Match
6 Lee McLaughlin	CRO	12.1
Shot Match
5 Kariym Irving	CRO	11.02
Javelin Match
1 Richmond Baah	CRO	50.77

Southern Mens League Division 2 @ Norman Park, 2^nd August

Croydon Harriers’ senior men have an anxious wait on their hands to discover if they’ve done enough to maintain their Southern league 2^nd division status.

After finishing third in a high quality five-club fixture at Norman Park on Saturday, the final standings show Croydon top of the six-strong relegation zone.

But with the creation of a new national league, meaning many clubs will be taken of the competition potentially the Harriers may have just done enough.

On the day, Croydon’s athletes did everything in their power to stay up in an attempt to ensure their fate wasn’t placed in the hands of external factors.

Triple jumpers Trever Okoroafor (14.74m) and Chuxx Onyia (14.39m) made a welcome return to the fray, after a season blighted with injuries, finishing ahead of the opposition by over a metre.

The Harriers enjoyed similar success in the long jump with Paul Ogun (6.91m) and Kariym Irving (6.19m) also taking the double victory.

Ogun then joined his sprint relay team colleagues of Lee McLaughlin, Oweka Wanogho and debutante James Kastye to storm to victory in the 4x100m.

Croydon’s fate now lies with the Southern league, who are expected to announce their decision in the next week.

Results

Event	A String	B String
100m	James Kastye 2^nd 11.4s	Lee McLaughlin 1^st 11.1s
200m	Oweka Wanogho 2^nd 22.7s	Darren Wollen 1^st 23.0s
400m	Darren Wollen 3^rd 51.4s	Martin Rowe 3^rd 54.7s
800m	Martin Rowe 2^nd 1.59.2	Ian Wright 3^rd 2:09.6
1500m	Dave Symons 4^th 4:39.6	Martin Rowe 3^rd 4:54.8
5000m	Dave Symons 4^th 16:06	James Buchanan 2^nd 16:13.2
3k Chase	James Buchanan 4^th	Terry Lapins 4^th
110m H	Terry Lapins 3^rd 22.5s	Ian Statter 4^th 23.6s
400m H	Terry Lapins 5^th 71.2s	Ian Statter 5^th 79.7s
Triple Jump	Trevor Okoroafor 1^st 14.74m	Chuxx Onyia 1^st 14.39m
Long Jump	Paul Ogun 1^st 6.91m	Kariym Irving 1^st 6.19m
High Jump	Ned Quiney 2^nd 1.75m	Kariym Irving 2^nd 1.60m
Shot Putt	Richard Irving 2^nd 11.09m	Mike Carlisle 2^nd 9.98m
Hammer	Chris King 4^th 29.75m	Mike Carlisle 2^nd 29.62m
Pole Vault	Mike Carlisle 1.80m 5^th
Javelin	Tony Richards 4^th 35.58m	Peter 4^th 30.75m
4x100m	Oweka, Lee, Paul, James 1^st
4x400m	Martin Rowe (56.3s) Lee McLaughlin (54.4s) Oweka Wanogho (50.9s) Darren Wollen (51.5s) 3^rd 3:32.9

Monaco Grand Prix Results, 29th July

400 1^st Martyn Rooney, Britain, 44.72 – new club record

Croydon Duo Beijing Bound,

Croydon Harriers have just experienced one of the finest ever weeks for local athletics with Donna Fraser’s selection for Beijing announced for a third amazing Olympics Games, and the already selected Martyn Rooney storming to sensational victory and his first sub 45sec 400m in front of an ecstatic “home crowd” at the Crystal Palace Grand Prix.

Donna, the “Grand Old Lady” of British athletics had proved at the recent UK Championships and Olympic Trials that at 35 that she could still mix it with her younger rivals. She took third in the 400m and 5^th in the 200m in Birmingham two weeks ago. Her charm, experience and talent will be great assets to the British team.

The rapidly progressing Rooney, UK Champion and Olympic Trial winner, showed that he meant business right from the start on Saturday at the Crystal Palace National Stadium, his first few strides clearly making inroads into those of his rivals.

Down the back straight his storming performance unravelled, with the understandably “partisan” crowd including a large contingent of Croydon Harrier club mates, urging him on. Try as they might round the second turn, his toiling rivals could not find a response, and he entered the home straight with a good lead, which he extended with every pace to the finish.

Once the significance of his achievement had registered, his biggest ever win and a 44.83sec clocking, the 21 year old Loughborough student from Thornton Heath set off on his well earned lap of honour.

En route he acknowledged the applause of the appreciative audience, and in particular a large group of family members led by proud parents Liam and Marie and his thrilled club friends, whom he thanked in the public interview which followed. Asked about further progress he modestly suggested “If I take things steadily, improvements will come”

The run, which saw key British rivals and international Olympic opponents in his wake, elevates Rooney to tenth in the UK All Time rankings, moving him up two places to 10^th ahead of 400m legends Chris Akabusi and David Jenkins.

.

Closer to home Rooney’s 44.83sec clocking easily eclipsed his own Croydon Harriers record of 45.19sec., set in Switzerland earlier this season.

Next week, Rooney may make one more appearance in Europe at the Herculis meeting in Monaco before the two Croydon Olympians travel to the UK holding camp in Macao for their final pre Beijing preparations.

Photos of Martyn's Club Record

Mike Fleet , July 27th

National Junior League @ Tonbridge School, 27^th July

Croydon Harriers junior team ended their National Junior league season on a respectable note on Sunday, with a 5^th place finish at Tonbridge.

The team bagged seven A-string victories during the afternoon, to ensure that Croydon placed sixth in the overall standings out of the eight competing clubs.

U17 Ned Quiney leapt to a new lifetime best in the Pole Vault of 4.25m, a performance that sees him rise to fourth in the national rankings.

Also in the field events, Kariym Irving continued his impressive form in the Discus taking victory with a 37.99m throw, while Paul Ogun (6.85m) bowed out of the junior ranks in style finishing on top in the long jump.

On the track, the Harriers dominated the sprints and Odette Campbell particularly impressed with a 200m win in 26.3s, adding to her earlier high jump triumph (1.45m).

Men (U20s & U17s)

Event	A String	B String
100m	Lee McLaughlin 1^st 11.1s	Vincent Auguiste 4^th 11.8s
200m	Oweka Wanogho 1^st 22.6s	Ehi Oboite 1^st 22.9s
110m H	Kariym Irving 3^rd 16.8s	Tunde Amuso 3^rd 18.3s
High Jump	Ned Quiney 4^th 1.80m	Nathaniel Smith 1^st 1.75m
Shot Putt	Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh 2^nd 13.87m	Kariym Irving 2^nd 11.41m
Javelin	Tunde Amuso 8^th 17.61m	Lee McLaughlin 3 fouls…
Hammer	Erasmus Ntim-Dewmoh 2^nd 28.26m	Nathaniel Smith 3^rd 14.82m
Pole Vault	Ned Quiney 1^st 4.25m
Discus	Kariym Irving 1^st 37.99m	Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh 2^nd 25.77m
Triple Jump	Paul Ogun 2^nd 13.43m	Nana Owusu 1^st 13.29m
Long Jump	Paul Ogun 1^st 6.85m	Tunde Amuso 2^nd 5.81m
4x100m	DNF

Women (U20s & U17s)

Event	A String	B String
100m	Stephanie Braithwaite 5^th 12.9s	Odette Campbell 1^st 12.9s
200m	Odette Campbell 1^st	Stephanie Braithwaite 1^st
Long Jump	Lauren Marshall 5^th 3.78m	Stephanie Braithwaite 4^th 3.40m
High Jump	Odette Campbell 1^st 1.45m
Triple Jump	Odette Campbell 2^nd 9.84m	Lauren Marshall 3^rd 8.67m

Southern Womens League @ Horsham, 26^th July

Croydon’s senior women’s team just missed out on promotion to division one of the Southern league on Saturday, despite a third place finish at Horsham.

In what’s undoubtedly been a stand out season for the women, the best in many years, it would be hard to bet against the Harriers achieving promotion in 2009.

Rosenheim League ,Tooting, 23^rd July

By Matthew Kiernan

Croydon Harriers’ senior men and women booked their place in the Rosenheim league final, with a solid 4th in their final qualifying match at Tooting on Wednesday. The result meant that Croydon finished 3rd overall in the division, comfortably within the top five cut off who qualified for the final.

On the night, Richmond Baah bagged his second victory of the league in the Javelin with a 49.57m effort.

Oweka Wanogho placed 2nd in a high quality 200m with a 22.6s clocking, while Samantha Dyson enjoyed double success in the women’s javelin (22.65m) and shot putt (8.52m).

The Harriers will now turn their attention to the August 13th final, and look to regain the title they won in 2006.

Men

Event	Athlete	Performance
100m	Darren Wollen	3^rd 11.8s
200m	Oweka Wanogho	2^nd 22.6s
400m	Darren Wollen	4^th 52.6s
800m	Ian Wright	4^th 2:11.2
1500m	Martin Rowe	3^rd 4:20.1
3000m	Matthew Kiernan	15^th 10:56.0 (PB)
3000m NS	Dave Warren	27^th 12:52.0
2000m Steeplechase	Andy Del Nevo	4^th 7:12.1
2000m Steeplechase	Terry Lapins	6^th 7:43.5 (SB)
2000m Steeplechase	Colin Oxlade	7^th 8:19.9
High Jump	Andy Del Nevo	4^th 1.25m
Long Jump	Terry Lapins	4^th 5.07m (SB)
Shot Putt	Richmond Baah	5^th 8.21m (PB)
Javelin	Richmond Baah	1^st 49.57m
4x200m	Terry, Martin, Darren, Oweka	4^th 1:37.1

Fixture Result: 4^th (53pts) trailing winners Hercules Wimbledon (67pts)

Final League Result: 3^rd (27pts) trailing winners Herne Hill Harriers (33.5pts)

Women

Event	Athlete	Performance
Javelin	Samantha Dyson	1^st 22.65m
Shot Putt	Samantha Dyson	1^st 8.52m

Fixture Result: 4^th (7pts) trailing winners Serpentine (30pts)

Final League Result: 3^rd (27pts) trailing winners Serpentine (42pts)

Young Athletes Premier League, 20^th July, Eton

Croydon Harriers young athletes’ team rounded off their Southern Premier league campaign with a solid third place at Eton on Sunday.

Competing against the top two clubs in the division, leaders Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow AC and Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC, Croydon found themselves in a race for third position.

But it was a goal they easily achieved, finishing over 100 points ahead of the already relegated Hastings AC.

On the day, the Harriers produced some fine performances and it was team captain Kariym Irving who particularly impressed, taking home the athlete of the match award for his 43.94m effort in the Discus.

As has been customary this year, Croydon were most fruitful in the sprints, with five event maximums.

Cameron Smith grabbed two grade one wins in the U15 100m (11.6s) and 200m (24.0s), while Twinelle Hopeson blew away the opposition with a double victory in the U17 200m (25.1s) and 300m (39.9s)

U13 girls Leona Brako (10.0s) and Jessica Obou (10.4s) ensured maximum points in the 75m, with the latter teaming up with Sherin Irving in the shot putt to gain another maximum.

In the U15 1500m, Jordan Maurice romped home in 4:17.2, over ten seconds faster than his nearest opposition.

Jacob Paul also took victory in the U15 800m in 2:10.5 and Elliot Safo bagged a grade one victory in the long jump with a leap of 5.98m.

Meanwhile Ned Quiney took the spoils in the U17 Pole Vault (4.20m) and High Jump (1.80m) and U15 Faraz Rafi enjoyed similar success in the Discus (34.21m) and Shot Putt (9.11m).

Croydon finished the day on a bright note with the U17 boys and U13 girls 4x100m relay teams taking impressive victories, to ensure the club finished the season 9^th out of the 16 teams in the division.

Other victories:

All A string

U17M Triple Jump Nana Owusu 12.90m

U13M 200m Taiwu Kangu 27.8s

U13G 100m Cleo Patrice-Barbour 12.8s

Elmbridge 10k @ Walton, 20th July

Position	Time	Athlete	Age Category
98^th	39:26	Andy Del Nevo	M40
117^th	40:12	David Brown	Senior
124^th	40:22	Colin Oxlade	M40
133^rd	40:52	Keith Brown	M50
170^th	42:32	Matthew Kiernan	Senior
173^rd	42:37	Don Faircloth	M50

UK Gold earns Rooney Beijing Olympic Ticket, Alexander Stadium Birmingham, 13th July

Martyn Rooney Croydon’s 400m Olympic prospect ran a confident, storming UK title winning race at the Alexander Stadium Birmingham on Sunday to confirm his eagerly awaited selection for the Beijing Games. The achievement made him the first male Croydon Harrier UK track champion and the clubs first male Olympian.

Comfortable qualification via heat, first in 48.34sec and semi-final easing up second in 46.16sec, saw him well drawn in lane four and without the challenge of nearest rival Andrew Steele, who had sustained a torn hamstring in his semi final.

Sharply away, the hugely talented 21 year old never looked at risk, and having stamped his authority over the field by 200m, he had established a convincing lead on entering the home straight. When clocked at 45.32sec, his winning margin had extended to .90sec ahead of runner-up Robert Tobin with newcomer from Bingham a Briton from the USA, third in 46.28sec.

Top ranked UK 400m man Rooney is currently second European and 14ht in the world lists.

Rooney’s parents Liam and Marie, and brothers and sister left contented, having travelled up from Thornton Heath to see Martyn get the gold and ensure selection.

A contented Rooney declared himself well pleased with his weekends work, and with the Paris and Crystal Palace Grand Prix to sharpen up against world class athletes was looking ahead with eager anticipation.

Olympian Donna Fraser, now amazingly a Veteran 35 athlete, certainly made a good shot at gaining Beijing selection, but sadly her fighting third in the 400m in 53.11sec, a season’s best, was not quite good enough. She later finished a very respectable 5^th in the 200m in 23.65sec.

Up and coming Croydon sprinter James Dasaolu, reached the 100m semi-finals with a second in his heat in 10.43sec (w+1.9) behind the controversial Chambers, before bowing out 4^th in his semi-final in 10.48sec.

Mike Fleet

ESAA Championships Gateshead

Croydon Schools athletes competing for Surrey at the English Schools Championships in the Gateshead International Stadium, contributed significantly, helping their county to improve to fourth among the forty-six teams contesting the aggregate title.

Trinity hammer thrower Andrew Jordan in a class of his own was top local performer, deservedly taking the intermediate title with an outstanding throw of 65.28m, some 7m clear of his closest challenger.

Young middle distance Jordan Maurice tackled the three rounds of the Junior 800m with great maturity, winning comfortably in round one before settling for a sensible second in his semi-final. He ran a tactically near perfect final and took a fine fighting second in 2:01.28 (s/f 2:01.24)

Powerful Whitgift intermediate discus thrower Lawrence Okoye managed to get his act together with his final effort which soared smoothly to 48.26m, and lifted him from eighth to second at a stroke.

Intermediate St Joseph’s shot putter Michael Wheeler, not fully recovered from injury, did well to take thirdwith a 17.26m put

A more predictable silver came Croydon way courtesy the deceptively dynamic Selhurst student Tunde Amosu who cleared 14.78m ahead of fifth placed fellow Croydon Harrier Nana Owusu, an Etonian competing for Berkshire, who cleared a PB of14.02m

Archbishop Tenison sprinter Twinelle Hopeson was a close-up fourth in the intermediate girls 200m in 24.97sec (+2.6w). She also anchored the sole Surrey team to make finals. They finished a disappointing sixth.

Elliott Safo, Trinity earned a good junior long jump fifth, missing the magic 6m by a centimetre.

Fast improving junior sprinter Cleo-Patrice Barbour fought well in the heats to make the 100m final in which she held off the equal timed Essex rival in 12.51sec for a very encouraging 5^th.

Iintermediate pole-vaulter Ned Quiney, although slightly below par, managed to clear 4.10m to finish 6^th and fellow Whitgiftian 100m hurdler Matthew Walcott also finished 6^th, clocking 13.60sec (+2w) . Quiney’s effort earned him selection to represent South East England in the UK School Games next month.

Trinity senior vaulter Ryszard Buk, although carrying an injury, overcame it and the accompanying wet and windy weather on day one, clearing 4.30m for =6^th.

Odette Campbell did well to reach the senior girls 400m in 57.25sec, but couldn’t produce a repeat in the final, finishing 8^th.

Ebbisham League

Croydon hosted match two of the Ebbisham League at the Arena on Sunday and took a creditable second among the five Division 1 clubs

The star performance came from first year U15 Peter Chambers, whose runaway 800m victory in 2:09.6 took him for 136^th in the UK rankings to 93^rd, an amazing leap for one so young. He also won his 400m in 58.9sec

The Harriers U15 triple jumpers, Year 1 Ethan Shakespeare Richards 10.20m and Year 2 Javari Cameron 10.83m scored an event maximum.

Joshua Haasz showed up well for the U13s with a determined 5:00.0 1500m victory, plus a big high jump win at 1.44m

Saturday 28^th , Sunday 29^th, Monday 30^th June

The six squads enjoyed varying degrees of success, with the Women’s Team the most successful on Sunday finishing a very good third in their twelve club Southern League Division 2 contest at the Croydon Arena.

The club boys made a good start in their opening Ebbisham league match at Sutton on Sunday, placing a clear third of five in Division One.

The Harriers women continued their progress under team manager Anna Campbell, who led by example, sacrificing her best event to cover others less popular. The ambitious team, now without versatile thrower Gemma Hammond who has gone to Canada, produced several top quality individual performances while providing effective event cover too.

Frustratingly just 18 points behind winners Tonbridge, Croydon could nonetheless be pleased by topping 500 points for the first time and finishing 113 ahead of East Grinstead in fourth.

Top hurdler Kayleigh Ferguson made a convincing return after a long lay off to win the 100m hurdles by almost a second in 15.9sec. Odette Campbell was the club’s only other senior winner taking the high jump 1.50m, also running second in the 200., but with two U15s and an U13 coming to the rescue with more firsts and the senior and U15 4x100m relay teams rounding the afternoon of nicely with wins, Croydon certainly enjoyed a fair measure of success.

This good team result certainly keeps the promotion door open with one more exciting match in store.

Table top situation:-

Team	Match Points	League Points
St. Mary’s Richmond AC	1706.5	35
CROYDON HARRIERS	1419.5	31
Tonbridge AC	1377.5	29
Haywards Heath Harriers	1295.5	29
East Grinstead AC	1177.5	26

Seven other clubs follow

The club men travelled to Thurrock for their Southern League match and their fourth place of five teams was a relief after the two last places which followed their first match win.

The Harriers U 20s benefited from a healthier turn out for their Medway Division National League Match at Dartford on Sunday when they finished an improved 4^th of 6.

In their opening Ebbisham League match, the Croydon boys, without any U17s in the newly introduced events, still managed a very respectable.

With both U15 English Schools selections team captain Jordan Maurce and exciting young discus talent Faraz Rafi, top class performances were promised and we were not disappointed. Croydon athletes achieved a promising third place of six and registered eight A string winners.

Maurice made a valiant attempt at improving his 1500m best which currently sees him in the UK top 20, but blustery wind and limited opposition conspired against and he finished a valiant victor almost half a minute ahead in 4:23.5. Training partner a year younger was totally dominant too in his 800m in which he set a PB of 2:11.9. This took the 13 year old Trinity boy to 128^th in the UK Rankings. He also showed a tidy turn of speed in the 400m winning the Y1 event in 60.8sec.

Cameron Smith took full advantage of the helpful wind in the high quality Y2 100m which he won in 11.5sec. and Ethan Shakespeare-Richards took second in the Y1 race in 12.7sec and was runner-up too in the Y1 200m in 27.4sec

Versatile Jacob Paul scored an interesting double with his Y1 1500m first in 4:55.8 and a triple jump win at 11.31m. Javari Cameron helped the Harriers to maximum triple jump points with his 11.17m effort for B victory.

Faraz Rafi shone once again in the Y1 discus in which he improved to 36.03m.

The Harriers U13s contributed very well too. Long jumpers Joshua Haasz 4.21m and Michael Tishibola 3.72m, registered a valuable event double, and Haasz ran a strong second in the 800m in 2:29.1

The U13 4x200m relay squad concluded the match to perfection with a clear win in 2:10.7.

Both club veteran sections, men and women were successful on Monday evening at the Croydon Arena when they took close second places in their fourth SC Veterans League fixture to improve their current second place challenge against Epsom and Ewell in the six club competition.

The Croydon men are equal on 30 league points and only trail by 19 match points, 580 to 599.

Martin Rowe produced another dominant “gun to tape” 800m in 2:00.7 and Colin Oxlade ran a canny 3K steeplechase to win in 11:38.6

22nd-23rd June 2008

Rooney enjoys European cup success

21 year old Martyn Rooney already ranked European number one over 400m this season, came of age athletically too last Saturday, when he registered his first international 400m track championship victory with an emphatic individual win in the spar European cup in Annecy. On Sunday he followed up with a sensational anchor leg in the 4x400, which brought Britain from fifth to second.

The exciting young Croydon harrier looking comfortable throughout his race surged through effectively in the final stages to move ahead and take the victory in 45.33sec. runner-up Claudio Luccienello of Italy clocked 45.57sec while top French hope Leslie john could only finish fourth in 45.78sec.

A confident post race Rooney express is enjoyment of the experience and satisfaction with targeted victory. “I know that I can run faster” he said.

With overall victory certain for the British men’s team, Rooney set off purposefully on his anchor leg in 5^th place in the 4x400m and his fantastic 44.2sec run brought the team home second. The Croydon man was fast closing on the leading Frenchman whose team clocked 3:02.33 ahead of the British who were timed at 3:02.66.

England u20/u23 championships

Croydon harrier’s top sprinter James Dassaolu, 6th ranked nationally took the under 23 100m title in very blustery conditions at Bedford.

Fastest from the heats in 10.42sec, the Croydon man headed a tight leading trio by .01sec in the final to win the gold medal in 10.40sec.

unlucky long jumper Paul Ogun was frustrated by a centimetre in the long jump, in which his best leap of 7.09cm was bettered by a centimetre by the bronze medallist..

young triple jump prospect Tunde ammos went up an age group and did well to take u23 silver with distance of 14.88m

Croydon young athletes on song again at the arena

the Croydon harriers gave top-three club Tonbridge ac a hard run for their money in the UK Athletics Southern Premier League match at the Albert road arena on Sunday, and beat local rivals Herne Hill Harriers, plus Bedford and county into the bargain.

boosted by the return of several athletes after exams and the welcome arrival of some promising new recruits, the south Norwood based team was almost up to standard in their tough league.

the determined Croydon youngsters, always chasing their Kent rivals, closed dramatically to within 26 points, a mere 2% of those on offer, with a flurry of relay successes which came just too late..

many outstanding individual performances featured in a first class team effort.

most notable among them were u17 Temi Ladega’s 15.21m winning shot put of 15.21m, a new club record, which made his winning performance for surrey the previous day look like a warm-up effort. other grade 1 results came from talented of u13 girls Leona Brako and Sherin Irving

the powerfully graceful Brako ran won a windy 75m in10.37sec, a legal 150m in 19.90sec and also headed the high jump at 1.41m with a basic technique which suggests amazing prospects here.

Irving won the 70m hurdles 11.32sec. she also won the shot and was second in the long jump.

u17 400m hurdlers Nicholas Spence and Jamie valerian opened the club account on the track with wins in 61.36sec and 65.67sec, while team captain Kariym Irving and David Mitchell did likewise in the discus with distances of 40.91m and 29.19m. Mitchell won the a javelin at 40.18m, supported by Meshach smith 29.19m ably standing in for the injured Chris Samuel

Faraz Rafi, a first year u15, had a good day with seconds in the discus (33.05m) and high jump (1.55m) having finished 4^th for surrey the day before.

peter chambers was another 13 year old undeterred, by either competing for surrey the day before, or by tackling older boys again the next day. he ran a really good 1500m to finish second in 4:33.25

u17 steeplechaser Scott fanner, also a first year in his age group, did the two day stint to good effect too. near his best in his speciality on Saturday in 4:59.9, followed up with a useful 800m in 2:12.71 and another ‘chase for the harriers premier league team,2^nd in 5:06.80

Ned Quiney overcame nasty wind conditions to win the pole vault at 3.80m and paired up successfully with Harry Rogers for high jump double. their respective clearances were 1.75 and 1.70m. Quiney had won for surrey the day before at 4.10m, but then in far more vaulter-friendly conditions.

josh Atille headed both U15 sprints with windy times of 11.84sec and 23.98 sec with Cameron smith making the 100m a Croydon preserve and looked magnificent anchoring the u15 4x100m team to a clear win in 46.4sec.

Jordan Maurice produced his now customary destruction of the 800m opposition with a front run 2:05.28 and later anchored the 4x400m squad to a thrilling victory

long jumpers Elliott Safo and Javari Cameron scored a Croydon maximum with distances of 5.41m and. 5.12m

sharp young sprinter Ayomide Segun was in a class of his own in the u13 100m and 200m with 13.50sec and 28.53sec clockings,

the Croydon girls produced a much better balanced contribution, and an u17 hammer maximum from Lauren marshal 18.13mand Nicole Gilliam 16.21m was heartening. Nazarene Montgomery 27.60m won the discus ably supported by Gilliam who took b second her 14.41m throw.

Cleo-Patrice Barbour shone for theu15s with a clear 12.77sec 100m win and a close 200m second and 26.84m and Maura Maugham dominated the javelin with her 22.30m best.

Once again the Croydon relay runners produced a golden finish, winning six of the nine relays up for grabs.

event	agegroup	string	position	performance	windspeed	event	firstname	surname
100	U17M	A	2	11.59	+3.4	100	Dami	Segun
100	U17M	B	1	11.51	2.6	100	Andre	Gibbs
200	U17M	A	2	23.42	0	200	Nathan	Yarde
200	U17M	B	1	23.62	0	200	Dami	Segun
400	U17M	A	4	53.46		400	Nicholas	Spence
400	U17M	B	1	54.04		400	Elliott	Welch
800	U17M	A	3	02:12.7		800	Scott	Fanner
800	U17M	B	3	02:18.8		800	Jamie	Thoroughgood
1500	U17M	A	4	04:40.1		1500	Ali	Yahe
1500	U17M	B	2	05:05.0		1500	Alfie	Keable
3000	U17M	A	3	12:19.4		3000	Jamie	Thoroughgood
100mH	U17M	A	2	14.51	+1.6	100mH	Anthony	Cummings
100mH	U17M	B	2	15.46	+1.6	100mH	Jamie	Veldeman
400mH	U17M	A	1	61.36		400mH	Nicholas	Spence
400mH	U17M	B	1	65.67		400mH	Jamie	Veldeman
1500mSC	U17M	A	2	05:06.8		1500mSC	Alfie	Keable
1500mSC	U17M	B	2	05:47.9		1500mSC	Ali	Yahe
Shot	U17M	A	1	15.21		Shot	Temi	Ladega
Shot	U17M	B	1	12.31		Shot	Kariym	Irving
Discus	U17M	A	1	40.91		Discus	Kariym	Irving
Discus	U17M	B	2	11.76		Discus	Jite	Avwunu
Javelin	U17M	A	1	40.18		Javelin	David	Mitchell
Javelin	U17M	B	1	29.78		Javelin	Meshak	Smith
Hammer	U17M	A	1	31.40		Hammer	David	Mitchell
Hammer	U17M	B	1	30.28		Hammer	Kariym	Irving
Long J	U17M	A	2	5.90	5.90	Long J	Nana	Owusu
Long J	U17M	B	2	5.41		Long J	Jite	Avwunu
Triple J	U17M	A	1	13.18	13.18	Triple J	Nana	Owusu
Triple J	U17M	B	2	11.76		Triple J	Jite	Avwunu
High J	U17M	A	1	1.75		High J	Ned	Quiney
High J	U17M	B	1	1.70		High J	Harry	Rogers
Pole V	U17M	A	1	3.80		Pole V	Ned	Quiney
100	U15B	A	1	11.8		100	Josh	Atille
100	U15B	B	1	11.8		100	Elliot	Safo
200	U15B	A	1	24.0		200	Josh	Atille
200	U15B	B	2	25.2		200	Jordan	Bartlett
400	U15B	A	3	55.8		400	Jordan	Maurice
400	U15B	B	1	58.6		400	Jacob	Paul
800	U15B	A	1	02:05.3		800	Jordan	Maurice
800	U15B	B	2	02:19.3		800	Kieran	O'Duffy
1500	U15B	A	2	04:33.3		1500	Peter	Chambers
1500	U15B	B	3	04:55.9		1500	Philip	Wise
80mH	U15B	A	3	12.5		80mH	Joe	Yarde
80mH	U15B	B	1	12.7		80mH	Javari	Cameron
Shot	U15B	A	3	11.74		Shot	Jamal	Blackman
Shot	U15B	B	3	9.64		Shot	Faraz	Rafi
Discus	U15B	A	2	33.05		Discus	Faraz	Rafi
Discus	U15B	B	2	22.27		Discus	Daniel	Fisher
Javelin	U15B	A	2	38.79		Javelin	Aaron	Bowers
Hammer	U15B	A	3	24.28		Hammer	Daniel	Fisher
Hammer	U15B	B	2	20.49		Hammer	Aaron	Bowers
Long J	U15B	A	1	5.41		Long J	Elliot	Safo
Long J	U15B	B	1	5.12		Long J	Javari	Cameron
High J	U15B	A	2	1.55		High J	Faraz	Rafi
High J	U15B	B	1	1.45		High J	Javari	Cameron
100	U13B	A	1	13.5		100	Ayomide	Segun
100	U13B	B	4	14.9		100	Michael	Tshibola
200	U13B	A	1	28.5		200	Ayomide	Segun
200	U13B	B	3	30.9		200	Jamal	Scott
800	U13B	A	3	02:39.8		800	Jacob	Cross
800	U13B	B	4	02:51.7		800	David	Burn
1500	U13B	A	3	05:02.8		1500	Nick	Ryan
1500	U13B	B	2	05:20.8		1500	Kartik	Iver
75mH	U13B	A	1	14.1		75mH	Marvin	Burke
75mH	U13B	B	2	16.0		75mH	Connor	Maloney
Shot	U13B	A	1	6.87		Shot	Kyall	Marshall
Shot	U13B	B	2	5.35		Shot	Marvin	Burke
Long J	U13B	A	4	3.78		Long J	Kyall	Marshall
Long J	U13B	B	3	3.47		Long J	Connor	Maloney
High J	U13B	A	4	1.20		High J	Marvin	Burke
High J	U13B	B	3=	1.15		High J	Connor	Maloney
100	U17W	A	2	12.9		100	Stephanie	Braithwaite
100	U17W	B	4	14.0		100	Orika	Riley
200	U17W	A	2	27.6		200	Stephanie	Braithwaite
300	U17W	A	3	43.8		300	Emma	Barlow
1500	U17W	A	4	05:53.6		1500	Emma	Barlow
3000	U17W	A	4	13:52.9		3000	Sophie	Shaw
80mH	U17W	A	3	16.1		80mH	Charlotte	Campbell
80mH	U17W	B	3	16.1		80mH	Lauren	Marshall
Shot	U17W	A	4	6.31		Shot	Charlotte	Campbell
Shot	U17W	B	3	6.29		Shot	Nazarene	Montgomery
Discus	U17W	A	1	27.60		Discus	Nazarene	Montgomery
Discus	U17W	B	2	14.71		Discus	Nicole	Gillam
Javelin	U17W	A	4	15.47		Javelin	Nazarene	Montgomery
Javelin	U17W	B	4	10.61		Javelin	Nicole	Gillam
Hammer	U17W	A	1	18.13		Hammer	Lauren	Marshall
Hammer	U17W	B	1	16.21		Hammer	Nicole	Gillam
Long J	U17W	A	4	4.27		Long J	Orika	Riley
Long J	U17W	B	3	3.77		Long J	Charlotte	Campbell
Triple J	U17W	A	2	8.71		Triple J	Lauren	Marshall
Triple J	U17W	B	2	8.53		Triple J	Stephanie	Braithwaite
100	U15G	A	1	12.8		100	Cleo	Patrice Barbour
100	U15G	B	2	13.8		100	Grace	Alenane
200	U15G	A	2	26.8		200	Cleo	Patrice Barbour
200	U15G	B	2	27.0		200	Hadassah	Holder
800	U15G	A	4	02:37.6		800	Tisha	Scott
800	U15G	B	4	02:42.7		800	Naomi	Wyllie
1500	U15G	A	2	05:31.6		1500	Joanne	Burn
1500	U15G	B	3	06:08.0		1500	Elizabeth	Liske
75mH	U15G	A	4	13.9		75mH	Sachcadena	Walker
75mH	U15G	B	4	26.3		75mH	Julia	Bescaran
Shot	U15G	A	3	8.25		Shot	Charlotte	Dowding
Shot	U15G	B	2	7.59		Shot	Lesha	Hinds
Discus	U15G	A	2	17.74		Discus	Leah	Anderson
Discus	U15G	B	2	16.13		Discus	Stephanie	Montaque
Javelin	U15G	A	1	22.30		Javelin	Maura	Maughan
Javelin	U15G	B	4	7.15		Javelin	Hannah	Marshall
Long J	U15G	A	3	4.22		Long J	Seraphina	Beh
Long J	U15G	B	2	3.91		Long J	Katie	Cameron
High J	U15G	A	2	1.43		High J	Seraphina	Beh
High J	U15G	B	2	1.25		High J	Stephanie	Montaque
75	U13G	A	1	10.4		75	Leona	Brako
75	U13G	B	2	10.9		75	Jessica	Obou
150	U13G	A	1	19.9		150	Leona	Brako
150	U13G	B	1	22.4		150	Hannah	Maclean
800	U13G	A	4	02:56.5		800	Trivina	Medley
800	U13G	B	3	03:00.0		800	Karina	Maurice
70mH	U13G	A	1	11.5		70mH	Sherin	Irving
Shot	U13G	A	1	8.19		Shot	Sherin	Irving
Shot	U13G	B	1	7.03		Shot	Jessica	Obou
Long J	U13G	A	2	4.00		Long J	Sherin	Irving
Long J	U13G	B	3	3.47		Long J	Trivina	Medley
High J	U13G	A	1	1.41		High J	Leona	Brako
High J	U13G	B	2	1.15		High J	Melissa	Mendel

Banstead 5km 14th June

... BWTT Results by Club ...
Position	Athlete	Sex	Run Time	Club Name	Age Grading %	Age Category	Personal Best
1	David Ogden	M	17:29	South London Harriers	83.70%	VM45-49	Yes
34	Norman Hemming	M	21:55	Croydon Harriers	70.11%	VM55-59	New PB

International Meeting, Ostrava 13^th June

Ostrava win for Rooney

Croydon Harrier Martyn Rooney emphasised his recent top form with anther world class winning performance in Ostrava last Thursday.

The pacey 21 year old based at the Loughborough centre of excellence returned his second fastest time 45.32sec to win ahead of the 400m field, which also featured Commonwealth Games Champion, Australian John Steffenson and former UK number one Tim Benjamin.

The Beijing Olympics 400m final beckons if this quality base can be progressively developed.

This weekend Rooney, who said he enjoyed a great atmosphere at Ostrava, is looking forward to taking on more testing opposition for Great Britain in the Spar European Cup in Annency, France.

Croydon’s other Olympic hopeful, astonishing veteran Donna Fraser was in action at Crystal Palace at the weekend, and ran well without hitting the headlines.

She took a trailing silver in the 200m with a 24.11sec clocking, and came in 4^th in the 400m in 53.69sec.

“Snapping at her heels” was young Croydon Harrier 16 year old Twinnelle Hopeson, up an age group in the U20 200m, who further emphasised her potential with a bronze medal run in 24.89sec

U20 horizontal jumper Paul Ogun struck gold in the long jump, and took a respectable 5^th in the triple jump behind 16 year old Tunde Amosu who won with a best of 14.72m.

Next w/e the Harriers young athletes host an important UK Young Athletes Southern Premier League Match which will start at 10.45am at the Croydon Arena with the Hammer

Lily B League @ Carshalton, 7h June (Girls U13s,U15s & U17s)

Event	Age Category	Athlete	Performance	Position
100m (A)	U17	Steph Braithwaite	13.5s	3^rd
200m (A)	U17	Emma Barlow	27.3s	2^nd
100m (A)	U15	Cleo Patrice-Barber	12.8s	1^st
100m (B)	U15	G Alanehe	13.7s	2^nd
200m (A)	U15	W Campbell	29.7s	4^th
200m (B)	U15	Tisha Scott	29.0s	2^nd
800m (A)	U15	N Wylline	2:33.3	2^nd
Long Jump (A)	U15	I Ndudi	3.99m	4^th
Long Jump (B)	U15	S Beh	3.81m	4^th
Shot Putt (A)	U15	N George	8.08m	3^rd
Shot Putt (B)	U15	L Anderson	6.06m	3^rd
Discus (A)	U15	S Montaque	20.38m	2^nd
Discus (B)	U15	J Sackey	16.76m	1^st
Javelin (A)	U15	M Maughan	21.85m	3^rd
Javelin (B)	U15	Tisha Scott	6.95m	3^rd
4x100m (A)	U15		53.2s	1^st
4x100m (B)	U15		56.7s	1^st
100m (A)	U13	L Brako	13.4s	1^st
100m (B)	U13	J Obou	13.9s	1^st
200m (A)	U13	S Irving	28.7s	2^nd
800m (A)	U13	T Medley	3:05.7	7^th
70m H (A)	U13	T Scott	12.1s	1^st
High Jump (A)	U13	L Brako	1.40m	1^st
Discus (A)	U13	S Irving	21.14m	1^st
Javelin (A)	U13	V Ewen	15.34m	1^st
4x100m	U13		54.3s	1^st

Match Result: 5^th (7 clubs)

Battersea Festival of Running, 5000m, 5^th June 08

Position	Athlete	Time
41^st	Jill Lightfoot	25:22

146 finishers

ROSENHEIM LEAGUE – EASTERN DIVISION – MATCH 3

Tooting Bec, June 4th

(Age groups = U17, U20, Senior & Vets)

Event	Athlete	Performance	Position
100m	Andy Del Nevo	13.8s	5^th
200m	Andy Del Nevo	34.5s	6^th
400m	Martin Rowe	63.1s	6^th
800m	Martin Rowe	1:59.5	2^nd
1500m	Andy Del Nevo	4:49.4	5^th
1500m (W)	Jill Lighfoot	7:17	11^th
3000m	Colin Oxlade	10:10.3	6^th
110m H	Terry Lapins	23.0s	1^st
High Jump	Andy Del Nevo	1.30m	3^rd
HJ (W)	Linda Harrison	1.05m	=2^nd
Triple Jump	Terry Lapins	10.10m	2^nd
Shot Putt	Chris King	8.18m	4^th
Discus	Chris King	20.31m	5^th

Mens Match Result: 4^th (43pts) trailing winners Belgrave (66pts)

League Position (3fixs): 2^nd (15pts) trailing leaders Serpentine (19pts)

Women’s Match Result: 3^rd (13.5pts) trailing winners Serpentine (30pts)

Women’s League Position: 4^th (11pts) trailing leaders Serpentine (21pts)

D-Day 10k @ Portsmouth, 4^th June 08

Position	Athlete	Time
39^th	David Brown	39:22 (PB)
100^th	Matthew Kiernan	43:36 (PB)

320 finishers

National Young Athletes League Harrow,1st June

Brave effort by Croydon Young Athletes

Croydon Harriers National Young athletes travelled to Harrow on Sunday knowing that they faced had the toughest of tasks to them when they met three of the seven clubs above them in the Southern Premier league.

To their great credit the Croydon youngsters put up a fine fight, and in real terms missed causing the major upset of the day by a mere 39 individual points, which was difference between their close-up fourth and the winners Shaftesbury.

With 1500 points being shared among the clubs this is real photo finish stuff reflecting a 4% margin between the teams!

Almost as agonising was the six points which condemned Croydon to just 1 league point despite their best performance of the season.

The clubs young stars fought tooth and nail alongside novices and newcomers to produce a team result of which they could be proud. National Grade 1 performances were just as important as last places in unfamiliar events,

All contributions ranging from the mature race control of Jordan Maurice, to the thrilling raw talent of Leona Brako to the gutsy efforts of Alfie Keble back after illness and the selfless contributions of Julia Beschoren and Kennoy Lindsay in their least favourite events marked out the young Harriers as a team with a distinct future.

U15 middle distance prospect Maurice, ranked number two nationally in the 800m, tackled the 400m and 1500m this time, and projected himself into the top echelons in both with impressive winning times of 54.1 (21^st) and 4:18.4 13^th).

The Wilson’s School student also anchored the Harriers U15 4x400m squad to a convincing victory. Jacob Paul another Wilson’s boy, stepped up confidently into the A string 800m role, and won well with a calmly controlled run in 2:10.3

Leona Brako, a majestic 12 year old, dominated the sprints, and astonished in the high jump with a dated scissors clearance of 1.50m to share top spot in the UK rankings.

The brother and sister duo of U17 Kariym and U13 Shirin Irving maintained their successful series of appearances with a variety of points notching performances’

Team captain Kariym showed his all-round ability again with a discus best of 40m plus, and a stirring penultimate leg in the days final event, the U17 4x400m, before handing to Nicholas Spence for an inspired anchor leg, which snatched a thrilling second on the line, and rounded off a very good a run of successful relays as the club, which epitomised a memorable overall effort by the young Harriers. U13 Shirin shone to win the shot and the 75m hurdles with top class performances.

With no pole vault on offer due to a dangerous landing area, South of England U17 champion Ned Quiney turned his talents to other challenges to good effect elsewhere with good points gaining contributions in both the long jump and shot

Overall the Croydon boys dominated their section, and although their girls made further progress, they placed fourth, still held back by a shortage of athletes.

Next Saturday the girl’s team travels the short journey to Sutton for the second Lily B (Brazen) League fixture, while the Croydon men will do battle further afield in the Southern League at Hillingdon encouraged by an injection of younger athletes.

Surrey Road League: Dorking 10miles, 1^st June

Athlete	Time	Position
Keith Bown	1:09.13	124^th
Don Faricloth	1:11.02	163^rd
Norman Hemming	1:17.19	274^th

666 finishers

Surrey Road Race League Position: Yet to be announced.

National Young Athletes League: Premier South Division @ Harrow, 1^st June

Full results:

http://www.dennisorme.info/r000460.pdf

31^st May International Meeting Geneva

Croydon Harriers' Martyn Rooney, Britain's top-ranked 400m runner, ran a personal best 45.19 seconds to win a top international race in Geneva last Saturday.

A significant improvement in terms of performance for the Harrier, the time also places him 10th in the UK U23s all-time list, and 14th in the overall UK all-time list.

Interestingly, the 21-year-old felt that after a protracted flight, he was not best prepared, and that his performance had not been as smooth as his recent outing at Loughborough.

Banstead Woods Time Trial 5k, 31^st May

Athlete	Time	Position
Andy Del Nevo	19:21	3^rd

129 finished

Serpentine 5k @ Hyde Park, 30^th May

Athlete	Time	Position
Mike Caudwell	29:44	192^nd

201 finished

CAU Championships @ Bedford, 26^th May

Event	Athlete	Performance	Position
Long Jump	Paul Ogun	6.56m	15^th (20)

National Junior League @ Sutcliffe Park, 25^th May (Age groups = U17&U20 both M&F)

Event	String	Athlete	Position	Performance
100m	A	Dami Segun	2^nd	11.4s
100m	B	Lee McLaughlin	1^st	11.2s
200m	A	Oweka Wanagho	1^st	22.4s
200m	B	Dami Segun	1^st	22.9s
800m	A	Ali Yahye	4^th	2.08.9
1500m	A	Ali Yahye	6^th	4.43.9
HJ	A	Harry Rogers	6^th	1.75m
LJ	A	Paul Ogun	1^st	7.00m
LJ	B	Lee McLaughlin	1^st	5.81m
TJ	A	Paul Ogun	2^nd	13.62m
TJ	B	Lee McLaughlin	2^nd	12.08m
SP	A	Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh	3^rd	14.00m
SP	B	Lee McLaughlin	3^rd	9.18m
Discus	A	Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh	5^th	24.18m
Discus	B	Brad Kearney-Hay	5^th	20.89m
Javelin	A	Brad Kearney-Hay	4^th	41.42m
Javelin	B	Ali Yahye	4^th	18.35m
Hmr	A	Erasmus Ntim-Dwemoh	5^th	19.92m
Hmr	B	Oweka Wanagho	3^rd	18.90m
4x100m		Dami Lee Oweka Paul	1^st	44.1
200m	A	Odette Campbell	2^nd	25.7
HJ	A	Odette Campbell	2^nd	1.50m
TJ	A	Odette Campbell	1^st	10.04m

South of England Track and Field under 15+17 Championships @ Ashford, 24^th – 25^th May

By Matthew Kiernan

Croydon Harriers young athletes enjoyed took home four gold medals from the prestigious South of England Championships in Bedford this month.

Twinelle Hopeson enjoyed a double triumph over the 100m and 200m, and launched herself to 13^th and 7^th in the country respectively, in the U17 rankings.

Tunde Amuso also propelled himself into the national spotlight, with his longest legal jump of 14.84m, to take the title and impressively moving up to 13^th in the senior rankings.

Jordan Maurice secured his fourth PB of the season in the 800m, slashing a further two seconds from his best, to move up to second in the national U15 rankings.

Event	Stage	Athlete	Category	Performance	Position
1500m	Heat	Scott Fanner	U17	4.31.35	11^th
Pole Vault	Final	Ned Quiney	U17	4.10m	1^st
Triple Jump	Final	Tunde Amuso	U17	14.84m	1^st
100m W	Final	Twinelle Hopeson	U17	12.27s	1^st
200m W	Final	Twinelle Hopeson	U17	24.61s	1^st
800m	Final	Jordan Maurice	U15	2:01.23	1^st
1500m	Final	Peter Chambers	U15	4:28.98	11^th
Long Jump	Final	Javari Cameron	U15	5.30m	4^th
Discus	Final	Faraz Rafi	U15	32.13m	5^th

Lily B League @ Tooting Bec, 24^th May (Girls U13s,U15s & U17s)

Event	Age Category	Athlete	Performance	Position
Shot Putt	U13	Shirin Irving	7.93m	1^st
Discus	U13	Shirin Irving	18.33m	1^st
100m (A)	U15	Telisha Francis	14.5s	4^th
100m (B)	U15	Elizabeth Berkley	14.4s	3^rd
200m (A)	U15	Iesha Hinds	28.2s	2^nd
200m (B)	U15	Tisha Scott	29.4s	3^rd
800m (A)	U15	Joanne Burn	2:46.3	3^rd
800m (B)	U15	Jatryn Liske	2:55.7	2^nd
High Jump (A)	U15	Stephanie Montage	1.25m	3^rd
High Jump (B)	U15	Katie Cameron	1.15m	2^nd
75m Hurdles	U15	Katie Cameron	16.6s	4^th
Long Jump (A)	U15	Katie Cameron	3.76m	3^rd
Long Jump (B)	U15	Joanne Burn	3.38m	3^rd
Javelin	U15	Tisha Scott	10.15 m	3^rd
Shot Putt (A)	U15	Iesha Hinds	7.40m	1^st
Shot Putt (B)	U15	Elizabeth Berkley	6.68m	2^nd
Discus	U15	Stephanie Montage	18.66m	1^st
4x100m	U15	Croydon	55.9s	3^rd

Team Position: 5^th (8 teams)

Next Match: 7^th June

Surrey Veterans Track & Field Championships @ Kingston, 24^th May

By Matthew Kiernan

Croydon’s Veterans stole the show at the Surrey Veterans Championships earlier with this month with a formidable haul of 16 gold medals, including three championship best performances.

The 2008 championships, always attracts the counties top veterans, and the Harriers also managed to gain ten silver and three bronze medals.

Croydon’s star was Martin Rowe, who enjoyed double victories in the M35 400 and 800, and set new championship records of 53.5s and 1.59.5 respectively.

The other championship record was broken by Ken Crooke (M75) in the 800m, setting a new best time of 4:26.1.

Specialist thrower Tony Richards (M55) claimed two golds in the Shot (11.61m) and Discus (30.85m), and also struck silver in the Javelin (37. 24m).

Junior coach Clarence Riley (M45) showed his talents aren’t just confined to the teaching arena and was swamped in silver no less than three occasions (100m, 400m and Long Jump) and snatched gold in the 200m (26.0s) for a well deserved win.

Meanwhile, W40 Anna Campbell walked away with three golds in the 100m (14.8s), 200m (32.0s) and the Javelin (23.94m), while W55 Linda Harrison grabbed two golds in the Long and Triple Jump.

Other Gold Medallists

Event	Athlete	Performance
Triple Jump	Kim Thornton (W45)	7.20m
Shot Putt	Alice Campbell (W45)	5.73m
Discus	Alice Campbell (W45)	12.15m

Other Silver Medallists

Event	Athlete	Performance
200m	Eric Campbell (M40)	32.5s
Shot Putt	Eric Campbell (M40)	5.91m
High Jump	Ian Statter (M50)	1.35m
Triple Jump	Ian Statter (M50)	8.99m
200m	Ken Crooke (M75)	46.2s

Bronze Medallists

Event	Athlete	Performance
400m	Eric Campbell (M40)	70.3s
5000m	Colin Oxlade (M45)	18:19.4

Other

Event	Athlete	Performance
Long Jump	Ian Statter (M50)	4.39m, 4^th

Banstead Woods Time Trial 5k, 24^th May

Athlete	Time	Position
Norman Hemming	22:18	49^th

152 finished

ROSENHEIM LEAGUE – EASTERN DIVISION – MATCH 2

Croydon Arena May 21, 2008

(Age groups = U17, U20, Senior & Vets)

Event	Athlete	Performance	Position
100m	Clarence Riley	13.0s	2^nd
200m	Oweka Wanogho	22.8s	1^st
400m	Clarence Riley	60.6s	4^th
800m	Colin Oxlade	2:26.2	5^th
1500m	Eric Campbell	6:25.1	7^th
3000m	Colin Oxlade	10:19.5	5^th
3000m	Miriam De Souza	13:33.5	4^th
400H	Andy Del Nevo	1.44.5	6^th
4x200m		1:51.6	1^st
Shot Putt	Chris King	8.43m	3^rd
Shot Putt	Alice Campbell	5.57m	-
Long Jump	Clarence Riley	4.58m	2^nd
Long Jump	Alice Campbell	2.04m	-
High Jump	Peter Roberts	1.50m	1^st
High Jump	Odette Campbell	1.35m	1^st
Discus	Peter Roberts	23.15m	3^rd
Discus	Linda Harrison	12.43m	2^nd

Men’s Match Position: 2^nd, 60 points, trailing Serpentine (62)

Women’s Match Position: 3^rd, 18 points, trailing Striders of Croydon (24) and Serpentine (25).

Overall Men’s League Position: 2^nd

Overall Women’s League Position: 4^th

Full Result

Men

Match result: 1 Serpentine 62: 2 Croydon H 56; 3 Striders of Croydon 54; 4 Herne Hill H 41; 5 Hercules Wimbledon 39; 6 South London H 28; 7 Belgrave H 20

100m: 1 Hamed Agboke (HW) 12.6; 2 Clarence Riley (Croy) 13.0; 3 Jaran Finn (Serp) 13.8; 4 Dave Lovell (SoC, M55) 14.6; 5 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 15.1

100m n/s: 1 Paul Cluyeni (HHH, U20) 11.6; 2 Kamil Tejan-Cole (Sutton & D) 11.9; 3 Roger Coyle (Serp) 14.5; 4 Dave Batten (SoC, M55) 14.9

200m: 1 Oweka Wanogho (Croy, U20) 22.8; 2 Clement Boateng (HHH, U20) 23.6; 3 Michael Peacock (Belg, M35) 25.3; 4 Jaran Finn (Serp) 27.6; 5 Dave Lovell (SoC, M55) 29.1; 6 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 32.0; 7 Tom Pollak (HW, M65) 41.2

200m n/s: 1 Roger Coyle (Serp) 29.1; 2 John Cullinane (Serp, M35) 29.2; 3 Ashok Jamdagne (Serp, M60) 36.7

400m: 1 Richard Menzies (Unatt, n/s) 51.7; 2 Hamed Agboke (HW) 52.2; 3 Elliot Osher (SoC) 55.8; 4 Mark Humphrey (Belg) 59.0; 5 Clarence Riley (Croy) 60.6; 6 Alexander Brandimarti (Serp) 63.2; 7 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 72.1; 8 Andy Lea-Gerrard (HHH, M55) 73.3

400m n/s/mx: 1 Michelle Watson (HHH, W) 59.9; 2 Nicholas Batten (SoC, U17) 60.5; 3 Vicky Goodwin (Belg, W) 67.6; 4 Natalie Osher (SoC, W) 74.2; 5 Serena Stracey (SoC, W) 77.1

800m: 1 James Trapmore (HW) 2:00.0; 2 Tom Jenkins (SLH) 2:02.6; 3 Mark Humphrey (Belg) 2:15.9; 4 Louis Clark (Serp) 2:23.1; 5 Colin Oxlade (Croy, M45) 2:26.2; 6 Steve Harrison (SoC) 2:29.7; 7 Stephen Massey (SoC, M40) 2:37.5

1500m: 1 Matt Morgan (SoC) 4:22.1; 2 Ebriola Noble (Serp) 4:41.8; 3 Robert Norville (Belg) 4:44.8; 4 Steve Newton (HW, M50) 4:45.9; 5 Sam Hardy (SLH) 4:49.8; 6 Abdul Abdi (Serp, M40) 4:59.9; 7 Michelle Jenkins (SLH, SW) 5:02.4; 8 B Hussein (HHH) 5:25.3; 9 Eric Campbell (Croy 6:25.1

3000m: 1 Kevin Quinn (HHH) 8:35.0; 2 Paul Hayman (Serp) 9:06.8; 3 Mike Cummings (HHH) 9:32.3; 4 Darren Spring (Serp) 9:50.4; 5 Colin Oxlade (Croy, M45) 10:19.5; 6 Dan Pescod (HW, M35) 10:39.8; 7 Stephen Cook (Serp, M40) 10:44.2 8 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M45) 10:53.8; 9 Abdul Abdi (Serp, M40) 11:01.6; 10 Dave Batten (SoC, M55) 11:04.2; 11 Stephen Massey (SoC) 11:20.0; 12 Dave Shaw (SoC, M45) 11:39.7; 13 Marielle Vestlund (Serp, W) 11:59.3; 14 Matt Anderson (SoC) 12:16.3; 15 Sophie Shaw (SoC, W) 13:06.7; 16 Yasmin Anderson (SoC, W) 13:09.3; 17 Miriam Desouza (Croy, W) 13:33.5; 18 Andy Lea-Gerrard (HHH, M55) 14:08.1

400mH: 1 Glen Grey (Harrow, gst) 58.4; 2 Roger Coyle (Serp) 72.1; 3 Matt Morgan (SoC) 74.6; 4 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 84.2; 5 Andy Lea-Gerrard (HHH, M55) 1:44.5

HJ: 1 Peter Roberts (Croy, M40) 1.50; 2 Dave Lovell (SoC, M55) 1.30; 3 John Cullinane (Serp, M35) 1.25

LJ: 1 Thomas Ashby (HHH, U20) 6.55; 2 Clarence Riley (Croy) 4.58; 3 Jaran Finn (Serp) 4.40; 4 Dave Lovell (SoC, M55) 4.27; 5 Tom Pollak (HW, M65) 1.97. n/s: Paul Oluyemi (HHH, U20); Alex Brandmarti (Serp) 3.90; Ashok Jamdagni (Serp, M60) 2.85

SP: 1 Anthony Soalla-Bell (HHH) 13.79; 2 Alex Brandimarti (Serp) 9.33; 3 Chris King (Croy, M50) 8.43; 4 Matt O'Hare (SoC) 7.79; 5 Tom Pollak (HW, M65) 4.90; 6 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 4.45

DT: 1 Anthony Soalla-Bell (HHH) 34.11; 2 Alex Brandimarti (Serp) 26.04; 3 Peter Roberts (Croy, M40) 23.15; 4 Matt O'Hare (SoC) 21.97; 5 Tom Pollak (HW, M65) 12.87; 6 Paul Mitchell (SLH, M40) 10.53. n/s: Kevin Burnett (SoC, M65) 14.29

4x200m: 1 Croydon H 1:51.6; 2 Striders of Croydon 1:52.1; 3 Serpentine 1:54.2; 4 Serpentine (women) 2:14.9; 5 Striders of Croydon (women) 2:17.9

Standings after two matches: 1 Serpentine 14 (122); 2 Croydon H 11 (107); 3 Herne Hill H 10 (93); 4 Striders of Croydon 9 (100); 5 Hercules Wimbledon 6 (83); 6 Belgrave H 3 (51); 7 South London H 3 (50)

Women

Match result: 1 Serpentine 25; 2 Striders of Croydon 24; 3 Croydon H 18; 4 Herne Hill H 7

800m: 1 Alex Shamloll (HHH) 2:29.9; 2 Alex Openshaw (Serp) 2:34.5;3 Monica Kirchy (Serp) 2:42.6; 4 Natalie Asher (SoC) 2:48.5; 5 Serena Stracey (SoC) 2:49.7

3000m (inc in main race): 1 Marielle Vestlund (Serp) 11:59.3; 2 Sophie Shaw (SoC) 13:06.7; 3 Yasmin Anderson (SoC) 13:09.3; 4 Miriam Desouza (Croy) 13:33.5

HJ: 1 Odette Campbell (Croy) 1.35

LJ (n/s): Alice Campbell (Croy) 2.04

SP (n/s): Alice Campbell (Croy) 5.57

DT: 1 Serena Stracey (SoC) 12.44; 2 Linda Harrison (Croy, W55) 12.43; 3 Stephanie Vaatz (Serp) 10.67. n/s: Angela Mitchell (Harrow, W40) 33.32

4x200m (inc in main race): 1 Serpentine 2:14.9; 2 Striders of Croydon 2:17.9

Standings after two matches: 1 Serpentine 14 (49); 2 Striders of Croydon 10.5 (37); 3 Herne Hill H 10 (21); 4 Croydon H 8 (23); 5 Belgrave H 4.5 (13)

Men	Belgrave	Croydon	HW	Herne H	Serpentine	S London	Striders
100m		6	7		5	3	4
200m	5	7	1	6	4	2	3
400m	5	4	7	1	3	2	6
800m	5	3	7		4	6	2
1500m	5	1	4	2	6	3	7
3000m		5	4	7	6	3	2
400mH				4	7	5	6
H Jump		7			5		6
L Jump		6	3	7	5		4
Shot		5	3	7	6	2	4
Discus		5	3	7	6	2	4
4x200m		7			5		6
Totals	20	56	39	41	62	28	54
Position	7	2	5	4	1	6	3
Match Pts	1	6	3	4	7	2	5
B/F	2 (31)	5 (51)	3 (44)	6 (52)	7 (60)	1 (22)	4 (46)
Totals	3 (51)	11 (107)	6 (83)	10 (93)	14 (122)	3 (50)	9 (100)
Lge Pos	6	2	5	3	1	7	4

UK Young Athletes Premier League Basildon Sunday 18^th May 2008

Rookie Harriers impress at Basildon by Mike Fleet.

Croydon Harriers' young athletes showed a significant improvement in their second match of the season at Basildon on Sunday.

Still short of girl athletes, Harriers finished second out of four teams, behind Enfield & Haringey, but ahead of hosts Basildon and Havering.

Team captain Kariym Irving led by example by setting a club U17 discus record (45.17). He also won the B long jump.

Ned Quiney scored a dazzling double in the high jump and pole vault, while Jordan Maurice continued his winning ways with firsts in the U15 400m and 800m with times of 56.05 and 2:05:08, plus an excellent anchor leg of 56:08 in the 4x400m which the club won.

First year U15 Faraz Rafi got a shot/discus double with distances of 9.96m and 28.66m, plus a B high jump win at 1.55m, 5cm behind team mate Elliott Safo, who was runner-up in the A string. Safo took the long jump at 5.65m.

In the U13s, sprinter Anomie Seguin and 800m runner Nick Ryan also scored good wins.

Wins were harder to come by for the girls, and it was left to two U13 athletes - Leona Brake, with three, and Sherwin Irving, with two - to show the way.

Brake was in a class of her own in the sprints and high jump, recording winning figures of 10.2 in the 75m, 19.7 in the 150m and 1.37m. Irving was dominant in the 70m hurdles and shot put, with efforts of 12.1 seconds and 7.92m.

Croydon Harriers Golden Athletes top the Surrey Bill:

Surrey Championships, Kingsmeadow - 10-11th May

Croydon athletes shone at last weekend’s Surrey County Championships at Kingsmeadow when they won 29 medals, 17 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze medals.

Two Championship Best Performances and three golden doubles made up the icing on a rich athletic cake.

The CPBs were both set by U17 athletes. Youth international sprinter Twinelle Hopeson romped away with the 300m title in 38.98sec and springy Tunde Amosu took the triple jump title with a windy 15.00m effort. Later Hopeson was just pipped in a nip and tuck 200m in 24.91sec, while Amosu won his second gold in the long jump with a first class leap of 6.63m.

Focused and ambitious U15 middle distance prospect Jordan Maurice, stamped his mark early in the 1500m and 800m finals to win convincingly both from the front. He strode home well clear in his first event to win in 4:21.26 and ran so well after a comfortable heat in the second that his winning time of 2:03.28 places him number one in the UK.

The club won two other 800m medals courtesy U20 George Thatcher winning comfortably in 1:57.7 following a well earned second in the 400m in 50.42sec, and senior Martin Rowe who took bronze in 1:59.47, a first sub 2 minute milestone for the clubs technical official, who has just qualified a its youngest veteran.

Croydon Harriers always noted for their sprinters and pole vaulters were not let down in those areas which produced six more medals winners. Ryszard Buk shone almost a brightly as the searching sun, finishing well clear in the U20 vault at 4.60m, while the aspiring Ned Quiney won the U17 event on count back at 4.00m. It was even closer for Tom Crawford who shared the senior silver at 4.40m

The clubs outstanding young sprinters continued to show that the future is bright in their section too, by winning ten medals.

Ayomide Segun stormed to a thrilling U13 golden double in the 100m and 200m with times of 13.39sec and 28.38sec, and not to be outdone Josh Atille did likewise at U15 level clocking 11.82sec and 25.53sec.

U13 Leona Braco was eye catching too when she raced clear in the U13 100m in 13.45sec, while Cleo Patrice Barbour added to the golden collection with her 12.84sec U15 victory.

Three other Croydon athletes won golds too. U20 shot putter Erasmus

Ntim-Dwemo won the shot at 13.96m, Joe Yarde took the U15 80m hurdles in13.30sec and fellow U15 Elliott Safo won the long jump at 5.88m.

Odette Campbell netted a worthy brace of senior silvers with good runs of 26.20sec in the 200m and 58.40sec in the 400m while first year u15 boy Faraz Rafi mainlined progress with a discus silver at 31.71.

The clubs’ other bronze medallists were:-

Oweka Wanogho U20 200m 22.48sec

Nathan Yarde U17 200m 23.13sec (23.08sec H)

Anthony Cummings U17 100m Hurdles 14.8sec

Damilola Segun U17 100m 11.36sec W

Peter Chambers U15 3000m 9:50.84

Surrey Athletics for full results

Next weekend the Harriers fourth placed men travel to Norwich for their second Southern League match and the boys and girls face their second tough UK Young Athletes Premier League match which will be at Basildon on Sunday. The veteran men and women will be in action at the Croydon Arena on Monday.

Trinity relay results at Achilles Relays Oxford

Junior 4x800m 1st 9:14.0

U17 4x100m 2nd 46.5sec

U17 4x200m 2nd 1:35.7

Open 4x100m 5th 51.3 (45.7sec H)

Mike Fleet

Young Harriers Fighting Start to Season

UK Young Athletes Premier League Woodford, 4th May 2008

The Croydon Harriers National Young Athletes team missed a golden opportunity to make the top in their keenly contested opening Premier League match at Ashton Playing Fields, Woodford on Sunday.

Showing great team spirit and competitiveness the enthusiastic youngsters, produced many excellent performances, but were handicapped by back by several key non availabilities and a glaring shortage of U17 girls. With just a few more athletes and three more vaulters to emulate the outstanding Ned Quiney Croydon cold have won and then fourth place would have been theirs rather that 11^th. An end of season cup final spot will now be very difficult to achieve.

High tech. was the order of the day for U17 Whitgift student Ned Quiney, who soared impressively to double success in the pole vault and high jump.

In the former he blotted out the distraction of nearby hurdles starts, and having comfortably cleared his earlier 2008 PB of 3.90m, he was successful first attempt at 4.00m and then excitingly his 3rd at 4.10m. He bowed out bravely at 4.20m, with one of his efforts suggesting that he would soon be clearing that height.

He then went on to tackle the high jump which he won with a very competitive clearance of 1.80m.

Top ranked U17 triple jump specialist, Selhurst student Tunde Amosu was in terrific form too, when he registered 14.55m to win, and followed up with another fine victory in the long jump at 5.88m.

The middle distances came up with two eye catching double victories. Two of the teams youngest athletes, Joshua Haas and Kartik Iyer romped home well clear in the U13 1500m to score maximum points and U15 captain Jordan Maurice and Omari Carr-Miller similarly dominated their 800m.

Josh Atille outkicked his rivals for a super sprint double, with 100m and 200m clockings of 11.8sec and 24.0sec while Joe Yarde headed the 80m hurdlers with with a sharp display in 13.2sec. Young Faraz Rafi gave an early indication of good things to come, with his 27.13m discus throw suggesting that a 30m effort is just around the corner

U15 Elliott Safo shone with maximum points in the long jump at 5.91m and neatly cleared 1.60m in the high jump for further success.

The U13 boys played their part well too with Ayomide Segun and Marvin Burk catching the eye with sprint and shot putt wins.

First year U15 middle distance prospect ran a canny 1500m to snatch 2^nd in the final few strides, and he received superb support from Mark Plackett who took B second clipping some ten seconds off his best.

Maurice later snatched an exciting 400m victory in 55.7sec and both boys rounded off a fine days work with Aaron Jones and Adeinka Obadara for a runaway win in the 4x400m relay.

Team captain Kariym Irving deployed his talent to good effect in the hammer, discus, high hurdles and 4x400m, his best result coming in the discus which he won with a 43.27m throw. Another high quality effort in the field came from impressive Trinity shot putter Temi Ladega who won with a fine 13.75m effort and also helped several of his admiring younger team mates to better performances.

The javelin proved to be productive with Croydon throwers taking twenty of the thirty two points on offer. U17 David Mitchell got the longest throw, a 41.39m effort which won his group. Chris Harrington took the B string at 38.51m having earlier shown admirable club spirit to snatch a precious point in his first ever 1500m.

U15 Aaron Bowers won his A javelin at over 39.06m with newcomer Sean Ruscillan shaping up well at 23m plus and picked up more points in the hammer and discus.

One of the best features of the Croydon girls’ contribution was the valuable input of three debutantes who acquitted themselves calmly and well at this top level.

The established athletes couldn’t have been asked to do more, and produced many very promising performances. Eye catching among these were the two A string A wins of U13 Sherin Irving in the 70m hurdles (12.4sec)) and shot (8.56m) plus a long jump second (4.13m), Leona Braco’s very sharp 150m second in 19.8sec and U15 Cleo Patrice Barbour’s 100m second in 13.1sec. Zainab Carr-Miller, following her brother’s example took a good A 2^nd in the U13 girls 800m.

Reading surprisingly won the match, with Norwich second, Croydon third and hosts Woodford Green a distant fourth.

Next weekend Harriers across the age ranges will be seeking success in the Surrey Championships which take place at the Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston on Saturday and Sunday.

The Harriers Southern Men’s League team will be looking to consolidate their early success in their next match at Norwich on May 17^th and their boys and girls will be renewing their National Premier League challenge at Basildon on May 18^th.

Mike Fleet

BUSA Outdoor Athletics Championships @ Bedford, 3^rd-5^th May

By Matthew Kiernan

Croydon Harriers’ university students had a chance to compete against some of the country’s best athletes at Bedford earlier this month.

Paul Ogun lead the way for the Harriers, qualifying for both the Long and Triple Jump finals, while just missing out on the final of the 100m.

Representing Nottingham, the 19 year-old finished ninth in the Triple Jump, recording a personal best performance of 13.51m.

Event	Stage	Athlete	University	Performance	Position
100m	Heat	Paul Ogun	Nottingham	11.42s	2^nd Q
100m	Semi-F	Paul Ogun	Nottingham	11.32s	3^rd
200m	Heat	Laurence Dight	St Marys	23.79s	3^rd
400m	Heat	Laurence Dight	St Marys	53.81s	4^th
5000m	Heat	Matthew Kiernan	Bournemouth	19:45.3 (PB)	16^th
LJ	Qual	Paul Ogun	Nottingham	6.83m	5^th Q
LJ	Final	Paul Ogun	Nottingham	6.32m	11^th
TJ	Final	Paul Ogun	Nottingham	13.51m (PB)	9^th

Surrey Road Race League: Sutton 10km, 4^th May

Athlete	Time	Position	Age Category Position
Keith Bown	42:39	95^th	M50 7^th
Norman Hemming	46:06	161^st	M50 13^th

Surrey Road Race League Position: 17^th (20)

National Young Athletes League: Premier South Division @ Basildon, 4^th May

Full results:

http://www.athleticsdata.com/resultsfiles/2008/13952_RESULTS%20NYAL%20040508.pdf

Southern Men’s League Sutcliffe Park 3^rd May 2008

Team Result

1^st = Croydon 120

1^st = Luton 120

3^rd Norwich 106

4^th Met Police 88

5^th Herts P 59

Event	A String	B String
400mH	4^th T Lapins 70.1	5^th C Oxlade 89.9
100m	1^st L McCloughan 11.3	2^nd D Wollen 11.7
800m	2^nd G Thatcher 1.58.8	1^st M Rowe 2.03.5
5000m	5^th C Oxlade 19.16.0	-
400m	2^nd G Thatcher 51.5	1^st O Thomas 53.8
110mH	-	-
200m	2^nd O Wanaghu 22.7	1^st D Wollen 23.1
1500m	3^rd M Rowe 4.26.7	5^th P Gilbert 5.12.4
4 x 100m	1^st Croydon 44.1	-
3000 S/ch	4^th C Oxlade 12.12.9
4 x 400m	1^st Croydon 3.33.1
Long Jump	2^nd L McCloughan 6.38m	3^rd O Wanocho 5.16m
High Jump	2^nd N Quiney 1.70m	1^st G Thatcher 1.70m
Pole Vault	1^st R Buk 4.20m	1^st T Crwford 4.20 N/S N Quinney (U17) 3.90
Triple Jump	2nd L McCloughan 12,53m	-
Hammer	2^nd M Carlisle 29.17	1^st C King 29.00
Javelin	1^st R Baah 52.22m	5^th M Evans 22.22
Shot	2nd M Carlisle 10.99m	3rd M Evans 8.27m
Discus	1st M Carlisle 29.27m	3rd M Evans 20.25m

Rosenheim League, East Division, Match 1, Battersea – May 2007

100m: 1. Y Adeyemi (HHH) 11:7: 2. M Peacock (Belgrave) 12:3; 3. D Nicholas (Serp) 13:7; 4. D Lancashire (SoC) 13:9; 5. A Davis (SLH) 13:9; 6. E Campbell (Croydon H) 15:0

100m (n/s): 1. J Green (u/a) 11:3; 2. A Noble (u/a) 11:4; 3. D Thomas (u/a) 11:7;

4. G Baton (HHH) 12:2; 5. G Gray (Harrow, M40) 12:6

100m (n/s): 1. S Dochery (HHH, u20) 11:2; 2. D Onifade (HHH, u20) 11:4; 3. C Boateng (HHH, u20) 11:4; 4. T Adereni (HHH, u20) 11:8; 5. K Burke (HHH) 11:9; 6. R Robinson (HHH, u17) 12:0

100m (n/s men & women): 1. D O’Sei (HHH, u20) 12:6; 2. M Franka (HHH, u20) 13:0; 3. L Hubner (Bel) 13:4; 4. S Knox (Serp, w35) 16:1; 5. A Jamdagni (Serp, m60) 17:3; 6. K Burnett (SoC, m65) 18:6

200m: 1. S Dochdry (HHH) 23:1; 2. M Peacock (Belgrave) 24:7; 3. JT Wong (Serp) 25:2; 4. E O’Shea (SoC) 25:4; 5. A Del Nevo (Croydon H) 27:8; A Davis (SLH) 28:6

200m (n/s): 1. J Green (u/a) 22:3; 2. D Onifade (HHH, u20) 22:8; 3. C Boateng (HHH, u20) 23;1; 4. Y Adeyemi (HHH) 23:2; 5. D Thomas (u/a ) 23:6; 6. N Brennan (Enf&Har) 25:6; 7. D Nicholas (Serp) 30:0

200m (women): 1. n/k (HHH) 25:7; 2. M Franka (HHH, u20) 27:0; 3. L Hubner (Bel) 27:4; 4. A Openshaw (Serp) 31:2; 5. N Osher (SoC) 32:6; 6. Y Anderson (SoC) 33:5. 7. K Ritchie (Serp) 33:9

400m: 1. J Trapmore (HW) 58:7; 2. JT Wong (Serp) 59:4; 3. A Del Nevo (Croydon H) 60:4; 4. P Mitchell (SLH) 62:2; 5. S Harrison (SoC) 62:8

400m (n/s): 1. G Baton (HHH) 53:6; 2. G Gray (Harrow, m40) 54:5; 3. H Torry (Serp) 59:4; 4. B Hicken (SoC) 1:08:4; 5. J Onyango (Serp) 1:09:9

400m (n/s): 1. K Burke (HHH) 54:9; 2. D Nicholas (Serp) 67:0; 3. E Campbell (SoC) 70:4; 4. K Ritchie (Serp, sw) 75:4; 5. A Jamdagni (Serp, m60) 87:5

800m: 1. J Trapmore (HW) 2:02:5; 2. M Rowe (Croydon H) 2;05:5; 3. P Hayman (Serp) 2:11:1; 4. M Humphrey (Bel) 2:13:7; E Osher (SoC) 2:16:1; P Mitchell (SLH) 2:35:0

800m (n/s & women): 1. N Torry (Serp) 2:14:7; 2. J Helmer (HW) 2:17:5; 3. A Brandimarti (Serp) 2:18:7; 4. A Shamloll (HHH, sw) 2:33:9; 5. A Openshaw (Serp, sw) 2:39:3; 6. R Clifton (Serp, sw) 2:47:3; 7. N Osher (SoC) 2:52:1; 8. K Crooke (Croydon H, m75) 4:38:4

1500m: 1. J Trapmore (HW) 4:13:9; 2. R Menzies (u/a) 4:22:4; 3. N Torry (Serp) 4:23:9; 4. J Howe (Ldn H’side) 4:25:6; 5. M Rowe (Croydon H) 4:35:1; 6. E Noble (Serp, m40) 4:42:4. 7. A Davis (SLH) 4:43:9; 8. M Humphrey (Bel) 4:44:9; 9. S Massey (SoC) 5:13:0

1500m (n/s & women): 1. M Morgan (SoC) 4:25:7; 2. G Buscke (HW) 4:30:6; 3. N Aitken (HW) 4:31:7; 4. E Smith (Bel) 4:59:6; 5. S Cook (Serp) 5:05:3; 6. M Vestlund (Serp, w35) 5:31:5; 7. M Kirlay (Serp, sw) 5:34:1; 8. R Whittaker (Serp, sw) 5:37:5;

9. S Milne (SoC, w35) 6:28:1

3000m (mixed): 1. J Trapmore (HW) 8:58:6; 2. I Yates (HHH) 9;11:3; 3. K Newton (HHH) 9:18:7; 4.D Fagan (HHH) 9:23:7; 5. D Lancashire (SoC) 9:23:9; 6. P Hayman (Serp) 9:24:7; 7. J Buchanan (SoC0 9:28:1; 8. V Maughan (HHH, m45) 9:31:7; 9. A Aitken (Highgate) 9:32:7; 10. N Warner (HW) 10:14:3; 11. A Davies (Serp) 10:26:9; 12. C Oxlade (Croydon H) 10:36:0; 13. P Mitchell (SLH) 10:36:6; 14. R Clifton (Serp, sw) 11:39:5; 15. A Garnier (TH&H, w50) 11:49:7; 16. A Dolton (SoC) 11:54:7; 17. S Knox (Serp, w35) 12:47:9; 18. C Ashby (HHH, w35) 13:26:5

2000m SC: 1. M Morgan (SoC) 6:40:9; 2. A Wray (HHH) 6:52:3; 3. J Helmer (HW) 6:56:8; 4. A Claverie (HW) 7:01:7; 5. E Noble (Serp) 7:26:5; 5. T Lapins (Croydon H) 8:06:0; 7. P Mitchell (SLH) 8:20:2

4x200m: 1. Scratch team 1:39:9; 2. Striders of Croydon 1:48:5; 3. Croydon H 1:49:4; 4. Serpentine 1:49:8; 5. Serpentine women 2:15:6; 6. Striders of Croydon women 2:29:9

Pole Vault: 1. T Ashby (HHH) 3.20; 2. A Beaumont (Serp) 2.80; 3. D Getting (HW) 2.70; 4. A Del Nevo (Croydon H) 2.50

Long Jump: 1. A Beaumont (Serp) 5.21; 2. T Lapins (Croydon H) 4.94; 3. R Robinson (HHH) 4.10; 4. D Lovell (SoC) 3.98; 5 P Mitchell (SLH) 3.57

Long Jump (n/s): 1. M Pullan (Woking) 5.47; 2. A Jamdagni (Serp, m60) 3.05

Long Jump (women): 1. S Knox (Serp) 3.21

Hammer: 1. S Thurgood (HHH) 54.31; 2. C Privett (Bel) 44.50; 3. C King (Croydon H) 24.66; 4. D Getting (HW) 20.33; 5. M O’Hare (SoC) 19.53; 6. A Brandimarti (Serp) 11.02

Hammer (n/s): B Heil (Bel, sw) 41.98; K Burnett (SoC, m65) 12.76

Discus: 1. S Thurgood (HHH) 35.05; 2. C Privett (Bel) 33.86; 3. M O’Hare (SoC) 24.09; 4. A Brandimarti (Serp) 23.51; 5. C King (Croydon H) 19.31; 6. D Getting (HW) 13.59

Discus (n/s): 1. K Burke (HHH) 36.32. 2. K Burnett (SoC) 14:58

Discus (n/s): [1.75kg] T Ashby (HHH) 41.93

Discus (women): 1. B Heil (Bel) 28.10; 2. R Clifton (Serp) 16.72; 3. A Campbell (Croydon H) 11.94; 4. K Ford (SoC) 11.64

Men	Belgrave	Croydon	Hercules W	Herne Hill	Serpentine	SLH	Striders
100m	6	2	-	7	5	3	4
200m	6	3	-	7	5	2	4
400m	-	5	7	-	6	4	3
800m	4	6	7	-	5	2	3
1500m	3	5	7	-	6	4	2
3000m	-	3	7	6	5	2	4
2000m sc	-	3	5	6	4	2	7
Pole Vault	-	4	5	7	6	-	-
Long Jump	-	6	-	5	7	3	4
Hammer	6	5	4	7	2	-	3
Discus	6	3	2	7	4	-	5
4x200m	-	6	-	-	5	-	7
Total	31	51	44	52	60	22	46
Position	6	3	5	2	1	7	4
Match points	2	5	3	6	7	1	4

Women	Belgrave	Croydon	Hercules W	Herne Hill	Serpentine	SLH	Striders
200m	6	-	-	7	5	-	4
800m	-	-	-	7	6	-	5
Long Jump	-	-	-	-	7	-	-
Discus	7	5	-	-	6	-	4
Total	13	5	-	14	24	-	13
Position	=3	5	-	2	1	-	=3
Match points	4.5	3	0	6	7	0	4.5

Southern Vets League SW London Div M1 Kingston April 28th 2008 Results

Women

Team Scores

1 Epsom & Ewell 122 8

2 Kingston & Polytechnic 116 7

3 Dorking Mole Valley 85 6

4 Croydon 54 5

5 Sutton & District 18 4

400 W35A&B/W50 6 Jane Searle(50) CRO 73.0

High Jump W50 1 Linda Harrison(55) CRO 0.95

Triple Jump W35 2 Kim Thornton(45) CRO 7.17

Triple Jump W50 3 Linda Harrison(55) CRO 5.11

Discus W35 (1k) 3 Jane Goatcher(50) CRO 17.34

Discus W50 (1k) 2 Linda Harrison(55) CRO 13.45

Discus NS Alice Campbell(?) CRO 12.21

Hammer W35 (4k) 3 Jane Goatcher(50) CRO 20.78

Hammer W50 (3k) 3 Linda Harrison(55) CRO 19.91

Men

Team Scores

1 Croydon 147 8

2 Epsom & Ewell 145 7

100 M35A 2 Clarence Riley(45) CRO 12.7

100 M35B 5 Eric Campbell(40) CRO 14.5

100 M50 5 Keith Brown(50) CRO 18.3

400 M35A 1 Martin Rowe(35) CRO 53.9

400 M35B 1 Clarence Riley(45) CRO 58.6

400 M50 4 Ian Statter(50) CRO 96.8

1500 M35A&B/M50/M60

3 Ray Marriott(50) CRO 4.32.6

6 Andy del Nevo(40) NS CRO 4.53.3

7 Colin Oxlade(45) CRO 5.00.2

18 Dave Warren(45) CRO 5.41.6

20 Keith Brown(50) NS CRO 5.52.1

23 Robin Dickson(65) CRO 6.03.8

2000 Walk M35/M50

1 Ian Statter(50) CRO 11.14.0

5 Dave Warren(45) CRO 12.36.3

10 Keith Brown(50) CRO 14.56.0

4 x 100 Relay 2 CRO 56.1

High Jump M35 1 Peter Roberts(45) CRO 1.40

High Jump M50 Ian Statter CRO No Ht

High Jump M60 2 David Powell(60) CRO 1.10

Long Jump M35 1 Clarence Riley(45) CRO 4.81

Long Jump M50 3 Ian Statter(50) CRO 4.12

Shot M35 (7.26) 2 Chris King(55) CRO 8.01

Shot M50 (6k) 1 Tony Richards(55) CRO 11.14

Hammer M35 (7.26) 1 Chris King(55) CRO 28.56

Hammer M50 (6k) 3 Tony Richards(55) CRO 18.91

National Junior League @ Erith, 27^th April (Age groups = U17&U20, both M&F)

Event	Athlete	Performance	Position
1500m A	Scott Fanner	4:35.1	7^th
High Jump A	Harry Rogers	1.70m	=4^th
Javelin A	Chris Samuel	34.44m	6^th
100m A	Lauren Marshall	14.5s	7^th
Triple Jump	Lauren Marshall	7.73m	6^th

Club Position = 8^th, with 3 fixtures remaining

Walton AC Open @ Walton, 20^th April

Event	Athlete	Time	Position
U13 800m	Karina Maurice	3:05.31	6^th (7)
U15 800m	Jordan Maurice	2:05.17	1^st (10)
“	Peter Chambers	2:16.88	4^th (10)
U15 1500m	Jordan Maurice	4:29.79	1^st (10)
“	Peter Chambers	4:42.95	6^th (10)
U17 1500m	Scott Fanner	4:36.6	5^th (6)

Bright Beijing season opener for Rooney Mount, San Antonio College, 20 April 2008

By Mike Fleet April 08

Croydon Harriers Olympic Games 400m hope Martyn Rooney successfully opened his competitive season last weekend, and gave a clear indication of his resolve in that direction when he shot to the top of the early season UK event rankings

Nearly at the end of a stint of warm weather training in California, the 21 year- old Loughborough-based Rooney put his fitness on the line to very good effect in an individual race in the Mount San Antonio College Relays at Walnut.

He ran a very well judged race in lane 3 three, produced his fastest ever opener of 45.88sec and victory in the final strides. Close behind the red hot Croydonian were two Americans, Craig Everhart 45.96sec and Lionel Larry 46.24sec, followed by Loughborough friends and rivals, Irishman David Gillick 46.39sec and Graham Hedman 46.24sec.

The ever ambitious Rooney, despite again eclipsing the “B” standard set for his event at the Beijing Olympics, expressed disappointment at failing to quickly dispose of the psychological 45.55sec “A” barrier.

With a long season ahead, Rooney has time enough to peak smoothly for the task ahead in China, and with plenty in hand to eclipse the “A” standard en route without rushing unduly.

Back in the UK Rooney could conveniently compete next in a high class meeting at Loughborough next month

The form of several younger Harriers who competed domestically at the Walton Open Meeting on Sunday suggests a good season ahead for them too.

U15s Jordan Maurice and Peter Chambers successful tackled the 800m and 1500m with the former winning keenly contested two lap tussle in 2:05.17 sec and the longer run in 4:29.79 both personal bests. Chambers, in the lower part of the age band clocked personal bests of 2:16.88 and 4:42.95. Scott Fanner, a first year U17 clipped his 1500m best to 4:36.57.

Maurice’s times sees him 4^th and 13^th in the national rankings, while young Chambers is also well placed at 52nd and 44^th.

The Croydon Harriers track and field athletics programme opens at the weekend, with the Women’s Southern League team travelling to Kingsmeadow on Saturday and their mixed National Junior league team going to Erith on Sunday.

New members of all standards are welcome. Enquirers phone 020 8647 1341.

Croydon Playing Fields Association AGM

The Croydon Playing Fields Association which gives grants and loans to deserving sports organisations and keeps a close watch over facilities in the Borough, held its AGM in the Mayors Suite at the Town hall last Thursday.

The Mayor Cllr. Derek Millard Chaired the meeting, which he astutely noted was the organisations 80^th and not 79^th ! ; a milestone to be celebrated with a Dinner at the Croham Hurst Golf Club on 29^th November.

All the Association’s Officers were re-elected, and Don Good the recently retired, long-serving treasurer, was honoured with a Vice Presidency.

The meeting concluded with an informative presentation, given by Surrey County Cricket Development Manager Sharon Eyers. She made it clear that the sport, in common with many others, was suffering from the loss of grounds and the need for many more helpers brought on by the constraints of Health and Safety and Child Protection regulations.

Croydon Harriers International news

By Mike Fleet April 08

Donna Fraser and Martyn Rooney, Croydon’s two Beijing Olympic 400m hopefuls are both well focused on the exciting athletics season ahead.

Rooney who has just celebrated his 21^st birthday while on warm weather training California plans to have a low key race there in the next couple of weeks, while Fraser marked her almost unbelievable advance to Veteran 35 celebrated with three new Harriers records in that category while similarly seeking sunshine in South Africa in February.

Donna showed encouraging early season form with the following performances. At Potschesstroom:-

100m 12.21sec, 200m 24.22 and 800m 2:15.22

Croydon Winner in Mini Marathon 13th April 2008

For the second successive year Croydon came up with a champion in the London Boroughs Mini Marathon events, run in conjunction with the Flora London Marathon last Sunday

Top young Trinity School athlete Peter Chambers won the 11-12 race in an outstanding time of 17:30, romping clear of his closest Croydon challenger Nicholas Batten 15-17 by 18 seconds.

Croydon Harrier Chambers, running in the footsteps of club colleague Elliot Veheary last year’s winner who was unable to run this time because of illness found the “Cheering crowd amazing and the drinks difficult to deal with at speed.

He received admirable support from Joshua Haasz, a year younger who finished a fine 7^th in 18:29, Fraser Novell 16^th in 18:53 and plucky Kartik Iyer who unaware of televised sympathy pluckily clambered up from a fall to finish 41^st in 19:47

Riddlesdown runner Will Mercer, 32nd headed the Croydon 13-14 runners, while Amy Mitchell, 30^th was the first girl to finish for Croydon

Croydon Harrier Jordan Maurice, running for Sutton, was their second 13-14 scorer 14^th in 17:33, with training partner Scott Fanner 5^th for Sutton in the 15-17 category in 18:01.

London Marathon 13^th April 2008

Three Croydon Harriers completed the main London Marathon headed by M50 Keith Brown who covered the 26 miles 385 yards in 3:37:27, James Bloomer closed in at 3:39.08 and Matthew Kiernan achieved his marathon ambition in 4:40:16.

Two Old Mid Whitgiftian Hockey Club men were excused the clubs’ 50^th Anniversary celebrations to successfully plod the streets of London in pursuit of sponsorship for worthy causes. Tom Bentley took 4:38:19 raising money for Barnado’s Children’s Charity, while M65 Alan Garth was pleased to finish in 5:33:18 in his quest for cash for “ Save the Children “

Rooney passes Loughborough speed test

By Mike Fleet 4/2/08

Croydon Harriers star 400m man Martyn Rooney, recently from warm weather training at the La Santa facility in Lanzarote, clearly demonstrated that he had benefited from the trip when he produced two sharp indoor sprint performances at the weekend.

At well over 1.97m tall, Rooney is clearly not cast in the specialist sprint mould of contemporary Craig Pickering, who shone for Britain in Stuttgart with a 6.58sec 60m win, but the Loughborough based Harrier was well satisfied with his two winning races on home territory in which he first equalled his previous best and then surpassed it with times of 7.24sec and 7.19sec.

With speed an essential element for all aspiring 400m runners, signs are are indeed promising for the young Croydon Olympic hopeful.

Our man from Curacao

By Mike Fleet April 08

Antony Owers who became Patron of Croydon Harriers in November in succession to the late Lord Weatherill, was introduced to the members in training action last Thursday He called into the Croydon Arena during a family visit from Curacao He was welcomed by Club President Linda Harrison and Chairman Don Webb.

Now resident in the Dutch West Indies and honorary British Consul there, Owers an Old Whitgiftian, was a committed and versatile Harrier and Club captain 1975-77.

With only a few old athletics friends there who were active in any way in his time, he was delighted to meet many current members of Mike Fleet’s middle distance group, of which he was a prominent member all those years ago.

Several ambitious youngsters were keen to tell their important visitor of their hopes and achievements, before tackling a typically tough session.

Owers was impressed, not only by the action, but also by the number of athletes involved and their obvious enthusiasm. Recalling his active days on the old the grey cinder surface, compete with undulations, he eyed the present day all-weather track with considerable envy

It says much his ability that he ran 1:54.4 on the old ash surface 30 years ago, a time which only Martyn Rooney among current athletes has bettered, and which possibly George Thatcher should achieve in the months ahead.

The Patron who still features prominently in the club records, retaining 25^th spot in the club all-time Top 20 over 3000m with a highly respectable 8:32.2 clocking, is looking forward some outstanding club performances in the summer which dare one say might put his place in the lists at risk.

Croydon Volunteer Extra-ordinary

By Mike Fleet April 08

Far from resting on his laurels since last winter, when he was voted England Athletics London Region “Young Volunteer of the Year”, Croydon Harrier Terry Lapins has continued his mission to, to smarten and refurbish various aspects of the Club Headquarters.

Having using his carpentry and decorating skills clearly to the club’s benefit, but to the possible detriment of his training Lapins 21, is now making up for lost time in preparation for the season ahead in his tripartite role as steeplechase enthusiast, track official and joint National Junior League team manager clearly in mind.

As if that is not enough he has also just acted as joint team manager for the Croydon Borough Mini-Marathon teams, and was so thrilled by the 11-12 event win of his young training group colleague, Trinity School student Peter Chambers. Anyone hearing his excited telephone call from Trafalgar Square to coach Mike Fleet shortly afterwards, might quite easily have he was reporting on a triumph of his own.

The buoyant, seemingly tireless Lapins’ , diary bursting with commitments as competitor and official for the months ahead, provides an example which many other young men and women in the sport would find rewarding to follow.

He is a credit to the sport having put more back into his club in two years than many an older athlete might do in ten.