Athletics: Croydon Harriers steeplechaser Stevie Lawrence secures bronze in 3k event
BY MIKE FLEET
At national level, steeplechaser Stevie Lawrence, the sole survivor of a top-quality Croydon Harriers trio at the UK Championships and Olympic Trials, embedded her third-place UK ranking with a well-worked bronze in her 3k event.
Off the pace early on, she worked her way through the field.
To her credit, she hung in tenaciously and was rewarded with a personal best of 9 45.46 – a time which raised her to seventh in the All-time UK rankings
With the potential for improvement over the 28 barriers, in clear dry conditions, the Croydon athlete must surely be on the brink of a major breakthrough
Unlucky Olympic hopefuls European Bronze medal sprinter Romell Glave and UK discus record holder Lawrence Okoye were sadly sidelined through injury.
The Harriers’ Young athletes went about their business well elsewhere, the girls in the Lily B (Braben) League at Ewell Court on Saturday, and the older mixed team in the National Development League at Crawley
A well deserved win at Ewell exuded enthusiasm and promise, while a hard earned mid-table result at Crawley clinched their upper league status.
With sprinters predominant at Ewell, field eventers were not to be outdone and produced some of the most clearcut performances of the day. U17 hammer specialist Evelyn Bosoko’s winning mark of 49.47m almost doubled that of her nearest challenger, B string winner and team-mate Gabriella Tcheukam. Evelyn has now climbed to eighth in the UK rankings.
UK number one U17 300m hurdler Gracelyn Kendrick gave a virtually solo display of perfection, finishing 11.0sec clear of the rest in 44 seconds.
Similarly dominant was U15 javelin thrower Pole Podzerek, whose best effort of 22.03 saw her some seven meters clear of the runner-up
here was a sharp U13 100m double first from Ebony Rose Donker 27.2NS Dougita Danro 29.2sec, while Kezia Wheeler’s 19.68m javelin throw suggested great things to come
Ten event maximums were indeed impressive, embellished by a clean sweep in the relays
The U13s clocked 54.6sec, the U15s 50.6 and the U17s 48.5sec
The Harriers winning points tally of 311 almost doubled that of runners-up Herne Hill Harriers
At the K2 Stadium Crawley, Lia Bonsu closed her young career in the best way possible. Having hardly missed a club fixture since age 12, the doubly top UK top 10 ranked young woman She registered three victories, winning the 100m in 12.46, and the long and triple jumps with distances of 5.65m and 12.08m
Kyron Bailee-Burke, despite being unwell, was the epitome of a team player and competed with his customary determination.
He kept the winner on his toes throughout, closing in for a very creditable second in 2:01.32, and he had earlier run near best 400m of 51.68sec for valuable 5th place points
Second UK-ranked U17 Sprinter Farrell Fabuswa also caught the eye with 21.96sec clocking for the runners-up spot and scintillating relay leg, which took the club to top the UK list with their 43.01sec clocking. His fellow triumphant colleagues were Malaka Eludoucuou and Amari Donkor.
The club’s fifth spot sees them secure in this high division for 2025.
PICTURE: MIKE FLEET
Everyone at the South London Press thanks you for your continued support.
Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has encouraged everyone in the country who can afford to do so to buy a newspaper, and told the Downing Street press briefing:
“A FREE COUNTRY NEEDS A FREE PRESS, AND THE NEWSPAPERS OF OUR COUNTRY ARE UNDER SIGNIFICANT FINANCIAL PRESSURE”
If you can afford to do so, we would be so grateful if you can make a donation which will allow us to continue to bring stories to you, both in print and online. Or please make cheques payable to “MSI Media Limited” and send by post to South London Press, Unit 112, 160 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 2NZ
