Steeplechase and road and cross country relay success for WSEH AC’s young middle distance runners

The club’s young middle distance runners achieved some notable performances during September and October at the end of the summer and during the start of the autumn/winter season.

SIAB Schools Home International

The prestigious SIAB Schools Home International took place in Derby on 25^th September with 1^st and 2^nd placers in the Intermediate English Schools Athletics Championships in July selected to represent England against athletes from Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Shireen Higgins’ steeplechase squad took three of the four English 1500m steeplechase spaces with top ranked Rachel Clutterbuck and 3^rd ranked Freya Ruffels placing 1^st and 2^nd in the U17 Women’s race and UK number 1 Luke Birdseye remaining unbeaten in the steeplechase in 2021 after winning the U17 Men’s race.

• 

• 

Virgin Money Giving London Marathon Mini Marathon

The Virgin Money Giving London Marathon Mini Marathon was held on Sunday 3^rd October with Jake Meyburgh winning the U13 Boys British Athletics Road Championship race. Luke Birdseye (U17 Boys), Rachel Clutterbuck and Freya Ruffels (U17 Girls) and Phoebe Fuller (U13 Girls) also represented the South East in their respective age group races.

• 

• 

ERRA National Road Relays

On Saturday 9th October the ERRA National Road Relays took place at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Another successful day for WSEH’s athletes saw the U13 Boys’ team of James Farley, George Hilliar and Jake Meyburgh take the silver medals. Jake also ran the fastest lap of the race recording a time of 12:16 (31 seconds faster than the next fastest leg) whilst moving the team up from 15^th to 2nd. The club’s U13 Girls team of Phoebe Fuller, Zoe Allan (12^th fastest) and Tara Ferguson finished an excellent 6^th place in their 1^st year of competitive racing. In addition, the U15 Boys’ team of Ben Dewar, Sarim Toqeer and Guy Branston finished 18^th, the U15 Girls (Stephanie Massie, Abigail Farley and Summer Chapman) 15^th, the U17 Men (Luke Birdseye, George Thomas and Josh Mingoia) 11^th and the U17 Women (Freya Ruffels, Charlotte Dewar and Rachel Clutterbuck) just missing out on a medal in 4^th with Freya Ruffels recording the 9^th fastest lap and Rachel Clutterbuck the 12^th fastest.

Full results available here.

• 

SEAA Cross-country Relays

Last but not least the SEAA Cross-country Relays were held at Wormwood Scrubs on Saturday 23^rd October. A very successful day’s racing included 2 gold and 2 silver medals for the club. In the 1st race of the day Jasmine Young, Katie Clutterbuck and Amy Young took 1^st place in the U20 Women’s category with Jasmine and Katie recording the 3^rd and 5^th fastest times respectively.

• 

• 

• 

• 

In the U13 Boy’s race, George Hilliar, James Farley and Jake Meyburgh won by 50 seconds with Jake again recording the fastest lap of 6:25, some 35 seconds faster than the 2^nd fastest time. James and George ran the 8^th and 9^th fastest times respectively. The B team of Aaron Shiel, Blas Rivero-Stevenet and Oliver Bedford took a fine 6^th place whilst Narayan Bhambra and Josh Jarvis formed an incomplete C team.

The U13 Girls team of Zoe Allan, Tara Ferguson and Phoebe Fuller came an excellent 2^nd with Zoe recording the 3^rd fastest time and Phoebe the 9^th fastest. The B team of Lola Williamson, Grace Hughes and Sofia Sabbah were 13^th.

The 2^nd silver medal was won by the U17 Girls team of Rachel Clutterbuck (3^rd fastest lap), Nathalie Camp and Jessica Hatch, closely followed by the B team of Keshni Manek, Kiki Webb and new joiner Jemima Ridley in 3^rd place. Sadly for the B team girls, SEAA rules prevent clubs from winning 2 team medals in 1 race. The C team of Amelia Murphy, Jemima Davies and Charlotte Borgars finished in 12^th and Tamara Hibbins ran the 1st leg for an incomplete D team.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The U17 men’s A team of Alex Bishop, Luke Birdseye (9^th fastest lap) and Sam Nesbitt finished in 7^th place, closely followed by the B team of George Thomas, Oliver Emment and Toby Spencer in 11^th with the C team of Daniel Hasan Diaz, Josh Mingoia and Julian Abass in 15^th.

Two closely matched U15 Boys teams finished in 8^th and 9^th places with Jack Phillpotts, Ben Dewar and Alexander Didaskalou in 8^th and Marcus Hibbins, Thomas Taylor and Nathan Rollins in 9^th. The C team of Guy Branston, Sohan Nath and James McSharry finished 16^th with Samuel Golding and Sam Thuo racing as an incomplete D team.

Our U15 Girls A team of Eloisa Symonds, Abigail Farley and Stephanie Massie finished 6^th with the B team of Aashni Manek, Sorcha Lally and Chloe Murphy in 24^th. Annabel Bailey ran the 1^st leg in an incomplete C team.

The U20 Men’s A team of Thomas Chandler, Samuel Hodgson and Liam Stone was unlucky not to get 3^rd place, losing out by just 4 seconds although Liam ran the 3^rd fastest leg of the race. The B team of Matty Smith, William Goddard and Jordi Evans-Rodriguez were 5^th and the C team of Raphael Rivero-Stevenet, Christopher Baker and Ross Van Heerde finished 10^th.

Full results available here.