Hercules Wimbledon keep up winning run to clinch SAL Division 1 return

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club are celebrating promotion to Division 1 of the Southern Athletics League thanks to a fifth successive win in the competition, writes George Mallett.

It means Hercules have won every fixture this year and will now see them compete against the best in the South of England with promotion to the top division secured.

Saturday’s win at Herne Hill saw the club take on City of Portsmouth AC, Guildford & Godalming and Plymouth Tavistock & Erme Valley, with Hercules earning 223.5 points to City of Portsmouth’s 210.

Team Manager Keith Scofield, in praising his team’s overall performance, singled out Stuart Leigh, competing for the club at aged 58.

After winning the 110m hurdles, Leigh also competed in the pole vault and triple jump and was described by Scofield as “someone who will do whatever is needed for the team.”

Hercules had notable wins over the sprints, middle distances and relays.

Perhaps the standout performance of the day came from Freddie Arkell running 22.09s over 200m. Success in the sprints was continued with a dominant win in the men’s 4x100m, as well as the B string 100m thanks to Jaleel Roper’s 11.27.

Devonte Casely-Hayford supported Arkell by winning the B string 200m in 23.52s.

Joshua Martin (U17) managed to beat all his senior competitors to clock a very fast 51.88s to take the A string 400m, with Andrew Merry rewarded for a breakthrough 2022 by taking a win in the A 800m.

Finn Johnson continued his return to form with a win in the 5,000m in a season’s best 15:39, with Joe Croft supporting him with a B-string win. Further points were secured thanks to a clean sweep in the steeplechase from Richard Jones and Jamie Bannister.

Mark Andrews took maximum points in the men’s B hammer and shot put.

Ariana Shala, an U17, was a strong winner in the women’s A 800m, with Lisa Thomas taking the B string. Thomas came back for a 2,000m A Steeplechase win. Gina Galbraith was rewarded for a busy afternoon with wins in the women’s A 1,500m and 3,000m.

Darcey O’Shea shared maximum points in the women’s high jump after tying for the lead. There were wins in the A and B 400m hurdles thanks to Lulu Weisz and Victoria Johnston.

Hercules also had elite representation at this year’s Great North Run in the shape of Daniel Cliffe and James Stockings.

Cliffe, a proud Newcastle United fan, sported that club’s jersey instead of his usual Hercules vest, a decision inspired by the race’s finish, deep in traditional Sunderland territory on the coast of South Shields.

It certainly made for an interesting TV start line as some may have mistaken him for a much more casual runner, but Cliffe was in fact the nation’s quickest runner over five kilometres in 2015.

Though somewhat away from his best form, he still earned a highly respectable 32nd out of almost 60,000 runners, finishing in a time of 68:55.

Stockings, a recent transfer from Woodford Green & Essex Ladies Athletic Club, was not far behind in 58th, with a 71:35 clocking.