Athletics: Charlie Wyllie emphatically wins for Hercules Wimbledon at 1500m Festival Night
By George Mallett
Hercules Wimbledon
It took 42 years but finally Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club have a sub-3:45 1500m runner as Charlie Wyllie emphatically won the 1500m Festival Night on his Wimbledon Park home track, moving one step closer to qualification for the British Championships.
Wyllie won Wednesday evening’s fastest race in 3:44.87, the quickest time since GB international Dave Clarke ran 3:39 at the Bislett Games in 1982. Wyllie did so making a bold bid for home just 800m into the race, with the only competitors to attempt to keep the pace faltering over the final lap. In doing so Wyllie cements his third position on the Hercules all-time ranks, moving closer to Mike Beevor who ran 3:43.6 all the way back in 1969.
Wyllie is chasing the British Championship standard of 3:44.00 with his final attempt coming this Saturday at the British Milers Club Grand Prix at Watford.
That wasn’t the end of the impressive performances with Charlie Eastaugh dipping under 3:50, running 3:49.50 for sixth in the same race. Eastaugh who occupies fifth on the all-time list was especially pleased as it took him the whole season to go under that barrier last summer, this being his opener over the distance.
The star of the night may have come in race six. U15 Isabella Harrison recorded the second fastest 1500m by any in the UK in her age group finishing in 4:29.24 for fifth. Harrison already holds the Hercules senior women’s record, despite being five years from the senior age groups. Her time is the 26th fastest ever by any U15 British athlete.
Fellow U15 Sam Dyson was not far behind, running a new personal best of 4:30.79 for seventh.
Harrison may have been fired up by two fellow U15s performances in the second race of the day. Freia Harper-Tee and Otelia Garcia-Davis secured a Hercules 1-2 in 4:52.89 and 4:54.62 respectively.
In the third fastest race of the day two athletes had major breakthroughs. Alex Sutton took a huge six seconds off his personal best to finish third in 3:57.60, narrowly ahead of Benjy Street who also ran under four minutes for the first time in 3:57.98. For Sutton it was a first track personal best in nine years, with Street taking a break from exams in his final year of Sixth Form.
Henry Silverstein was 11th in the same race, taking two seconds off his personal best to clock 4:01.99.
Earlier in the evening, Eoin Brady evidenced a clear improvement this summer to finish fifth in race 11. His 4:07.40 bettered his previous best by almost five seconds. Jack Hobden, seventh in the same race made an even more startling breakthrough to clock 4:08.98, a personal best by over 12 seconds.
Sebastian Cockerell made a mockery of those improvements taking a staggering 18 seconds off his own best to run 4:12.41 in race 10, good enough for fifth.
Isaac Lutaya, an athlete who normally competes over 800m showed a step up in his strength to run 4:13.55 for fifth in race nine.
Pancho Panchev was not far adrift with 4:15.06 for seventh in the same race.
In race seven Alexander McGuigan won by eight seconds for 4:15.81, showing perhaps he was due a battle against fellow U17 Panchev.
Zachary Elliott won race four in 4:28.71, with Tom Davies matching his victory in race five to run 4:28:38. Both were personal bests.
PHOTO: CHRIS SUTTON
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