Hercules Wimbledon AC round-up: Duo help Surrey perform well at SE Schools cross country match
Two of Hercules Wimbledon’s runners who have been selected to represent Surrey in next month’s English Schools Cross Country Championships in Kent ran strongly in the South East Schools cross country match at Reigate on Saturday, writes Tom Pollak.
Kiara Valkenburg was 17th out of the 77 finishers in 15:59 with Lulu Weisz 21st in 16:07.
They helped Surrey take third team place behind Kent and Hampshire. Two other Hercules youngsters competing in the event for Surrey were Charlotte Conway, 51st in the intermediate girls race, and Iona Alexander, 83rd in the junior girls race.
Another Hercules athlete selected to run in the English Schools Championships is Ava McAndie. She was fourth in the junior girls race at the London Schools Championships on Wormwood Scrubs. Emanuel pupils Edward Newton and Hugo Kelly were 10th and 14th respectively in the senior and intermediate boys races. Putney High’s Mae Losson was 13th in the junior girls race.
Junior international Chad Miller returned to racing after a nine-month gap with two promising runs in Newham & Essex Beagles indoor meeting at Stratford. He finished fourth in the two fastest 60m races in 6.81 and 6.80 respectively. His previous competition was in the British championships in Manchester in June.
Sixteen Hercules Wimbledon youngsters posted a string of personal bests in the London Indoor Games at Lee Valley.
Thomas Wharton, fresh from his South of England boys U13 gold medal-winning performance there a fortnight earlier, clocked 2:18.58 to win the 800m. He improved on his PB of 2:21.24 set in winning the South of England title.
Isabella Harrison posted a PB of 2:32.73 in winning the girls’ U13 800m. Nava Jansen also produced a lifetime best shot putt of 9.18m in taking third place in the U15 girls competition.
Schools international Conor Kelly was the best of the club’s five U17 sprinters in action, finishing third in his 60m in 7.36.
Felix Allen, 49, had five races in 10 days. He kicked off by finishing second in his age group in the Run-through Battersea Park Chase the Moon 5km. Two days later he was second in his category in the Last Friday of the Month 5km in Hyde Park. He contested the South of England 15km cross country championship the following day and then, last Friday, he was top finisher in his age group in the Ealing one-mile road race.
The club compete at the Surrey indoor championships at the David Weir Leisure Centre, Carshalton this weekend.
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