Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: Successful start to Southern Athletic League season

BY TOM POLLAK

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club made a winning start to their Southern Athletics League programme at the David Weir Leisure Centre, Carshalton.

They held off a strong challenge from Epsom & Ewell as they scraped home by 11 points.

There was a new British women’s over-55 record in the 2,000m steeplechase of 8:18.3 seconds by Lisa Thomas in winning the B race. Teenager Lulu Weisz won the A race in 7:46.9, just two seconds slower than her best, set at Wimbledon Park in June.

The only other Hercules Wimbledon women’s A string winner was fellow teenager Darcey O’Shea in the long jump (5.03m). She was also second in the high jump with a PB of 1.55m, the same height as the winner. Kyra Stone (4.87m) won the long jump B.

Over-45 veteran Gina Galbraith won the 1,500m B race in 5:02.2, which ranks her fourth in her age group in the UK this summer. Other winners were Grace Batchelor (3000m B), Hannah Bell (100m B), Kyra Stone (long jump B) and Millie Thorpe (800m B).

Ryan Facey gained a sprint double in the 100m 200m in 10.9 and 22.5. Oliver Carrington also gained a double in the 800m and 1,500m A races in 1:58.8 and 4:07.7, respectively. Ed Mallett and Andrew Merry took the 5,000m A and B races.

All-rounder Mark Andrews gained a quartet of wins in taking the high jump, triple jump, shot and javelin B events. Other club winners were Alex Wife (shot A), Ben Taplin (javelin A), Devonte Casely-Hayford (100m B) and Hamed Agboke (400m B).

The history-making five runners from Hercules Wimbledon who competed in the British Athletics championships on a particularly blustery weekend in Manchester found it hard going as only one of them managed to survive the first round heats.

Chad Miller qualified for the following day’s semi-final round in finishing third in his 100m heat on Friday night racing into a stiff 2.6 metres per second headwind in 10.92 seconds. He posted a faster 10.47 in finishing third in his semi-final on Saturday and is keeping his fingers crossed he may have done enough to make the British team to compete in the European U23 championships in Tallinn, Estonia, in July.

He ran faster than his elder brother Rechmial, who went out after finishing seventh in his first round heat in a disappointing 11.07.

Although she finished eighth in the U20 3,000m championships in 8:55.16, teenager Ellen Weir is keeping her fingers crossed she has done enough to compete over 5000m in July’s European junior championships, also in Tallinn, as the third fastest British athlete over the distance this summer.

Charlie Eastaugh found it hard going in his 1,500m heat, finishing seventh of the 12 runners in 3:50.22 – just five seconds outside his PB.

Dwayne Cowan finished fifth in his 400m heat in 48.41, his first race over the distance this summer.

Main Pic: Gina Galbraith, who clocked her fastest 1500 metres time since 2018