Herne Hill Harriers finish second in Southern Athletics League match in Bromley
Herne Hill Harriers finished second in their Southern Athletics League match at Norman Park in Bromley.
The South London club finished on 218 points – with Cambridge topping the table on 245.
Herne Hill picked up more points than anyone else on the track but the relative club weakness, simply in terms of the numbers to select from, diminished the field events.
Long-term prospects look promising with U17 Je’nae James winning the A string shot with a fine 10.32m, 25 centrimetres clear of second place.
Emily Callaghan (U17) was also a winner in the A string javelin and Dionne Augustin showed fine technique to grab second with 18.60m. Augustin also had a crack at the senior hammer along with another U17, Shanice Daley. Alex Tischler (U20) threw 38.56m for second place in the A string javelin, supported by M60 Garth Francis, who got a second place with 26.42m.
Team U17 captain Memphis Ayoade cleared 1.65m in the high jump to finish third. He doubled in the long jump to win the B string with 3.72m and middle distance runner Jessica Tabraham (3.90m) came second in the A string, as well as picking up points in the high jump with 1.40m.
On the men’s side, Morgan Lewis jumped a fine 11.32m for second place in the A string triple and Umaru Saido jumped 10.76m in his first ever outing. Micah Goode (U20) ran a solid 11.89 for 100m and then a 24.11 200m, supported by budding shot put star, U17 Kai Broadbent (24.53), who got second place. Ayoade ran 400m in 52.14 to win the match A string.
The female sprinters harvested team points all afternoon.
Lilian Matamola 13.40 and Vanessa Grant 13.54 had a double win in the 100m.
Michelle Watson earned a battling second in the 200m (27.18) and Grant clocked up another B string win in 27.8. Aimee Hargreaves (67.35) and Lily Newton (67.91) both got wins in the A & B 400m respectively.
Hargreaves equalled her indoor PB with a fine 2:22.76 in the 800m and Newton’s 2:32.45 ensured both gained maximum points.
In the 1,500m, Katie Balme won in 4:57.0 with Isobel Penniceard supporting with a 5:10.13 win in the B string. Balme won the 2,000m steeplechase in 7:56.19.
The men were equally fruitful in the middles distance events. Sam Knight (73:27) and John Appleton (76:33) both earned valuable second place points in the 400m hurdles. Supervet Simon Coombes ran a strong 2:11.12 in the A string 800m and Eric Dol a B string win in 2:18.85. Dol produced another B string win in the 1,500m in 4:44.45, a PB by nearly five seconds. Mohammed Ismail’s impressive last 300m stole second spot with 4:25.11 in the A string.
Ismail had earlier run 16:05 in the 5,000m as a non-scoring runner behind a fine A and B win by Jeff Cunningham and Jack Brotchie, who led out the first 4km. Cunningham ran 15:43.9 and Brotchie 15:52.91.
Cunningham won the 2,000m steeplechase with a powerful run of 7:14. John Appleton hurdled well and ran smoothly to win the B string, also inside 7:45.
Minutes later, Appleton (62:2), Dol (62:2), Ismail (59:5) and Ayoades (53:01) picked up points in the 4x400m relay. The women produced a scintillating relay victory with Hargreaves leading out in 66.5 (third event), Penniceard into the lead with 61.7 (second event), Tabraham (third event) holding that lead and Balme bringing it home in 65 flat for her third event in an hour.
The 4x100m relay for the men was a non-starter but the women won impressively with Matamola, Grant, Daley and Watson stormed home to a 30-metre win.
In road running action Josh Pewter ran a big PB at the Brighton Marathon with his 2:39.09, placing an excellent 20th.
Ed Crowther finished 100th with his 2:57.31, just a few minutes outside his best, while Henry Brown timed 3:06.00.