Hercules Wimbledon seal Surrey League title for fourth straight season
Hercules have won five of the last six league campaigns, all the more impressive given their 2018-2019 triumph represented the first in the club’s history.
Hercules were, however, denied a clean sweep of all four fixtures, as second-placed Belgrave secured the victory with a clocking of 196 points for their 10 scorers to Hercules 251. It left Hercules 118 points ahead overall with 789 points, their lowest overall total in a number of years.
First home for Hercules was Toby Cooke in fifth, his second such finish this season, 26 seconds adrift of race winner Jeremy Dempsey (Thames Hare & Hounds). Michael Wilson was 11th, 19 seconds further back.
Fred Slemeck enjoyed his best performance of the campaign in 15th, with James Stockings and Alex Milne trading places in 24th and 25th respectively. Milne, who was racing after a short illness, finished fifth in the league’s overall individual standings.
Any athlete who has scored for the team earns the right to an engraved pint glass, courtesy of the club, and here is where the race gathered real interest.
American Hayden Beauchemin, completing a placement year at Imperial College, finished 29th to earn his glass, with George Mallett 31st. Josh Lally in 33rd scored for the first time with Charlie Sandison, returning from injury and making his club debut, in 38th. Oli Carrington, who has scored in each of the last three seasons, replicated his performance from the final fixture last year to take the 10th and final scoring place, only overtaking Eoin Brady, who has finished 11th and first non-scorer in each of the last two fixtures, in the final 400m.
Carrington rounded out the scoring in 40th.
Other action took place at the England Athletics U15/U17 and U20 Indoor Championships in Sheffield where a host of Hercules athletes secured silverware. All competitors had to qualify via performances in the preceding months, making even those that were present part of a select bunch.
Conor Kelly, Hercules’ 2024 European U18 400m medallist, won the England U20 men’s title, running a new outright best of 46.80.
What makes that all the more impressive is athletes struggle to better their outdoor form over the indoor track due to the tight bends of the 200m track, and Kelly’s outdoor best was already good enough for a European medal.
Matthew Wehrle matched him in the U17s, dipping under 50 seconds for the first time to take the U17 title in 49.97, having already ran a PB in the semi-final (50.62).
Tommaso Crosara (37.76) and Pablo Carriedo (40.25) made it a memorable two-three in the U15 boys’ 300m, securing their national medals with PBs. Crosara came back a day later to run 23.65 and finish fourth in the 200m final.
Ariana Freemantle, competing in the same age group, was an agonising three centimetres short of the podium thanks to a 5.01m long jump, a PB some consolation. A day later she cleared 10.72m in the triple jump, a PB by 30cm, for a brilliant silver.
U17 Maia Rose Heward-Mills competed in two events. She qualified for the 60m semi-finals in a PB before a superb bronze over the 60m hurdles, setting a new best of 8.58.
Isabella Harrison was fifth in the U17 1,500m final, running 4:37.74.
PICTURE: DANNY EASTON