We lost.... and then we won!!
In the first part of this week’s race report, we have the following write-up by Captain Noelle O’Regan of a remarkable day at St Albans at the latest Southern Athletics League fixture:
The third SAL started off slow - a competitor threw a phenomenal +40m in the hammer; some of the female pole vault opposition didn't actually enter the competition until the bar was 3m high; and the first track race - 400m hurdles - was won by a Harrow athlete from the British league (with a 48s 400m flat PB). We knew it would be a tough match given that two of the teams were ranked above us in the league.
The Heathside Officials Extraordinaire, made up of Jonathan Litchfield, Jacob Howe, Josie Hinton, Liam Garrett, Tony Killilea, Jessica Vinluan, John Flahive, Dave Walton, Bethany Scott, Genevieve Weston, Joel Hawes, Sebouh Takvorian, Olivia Desborough, Chris Dissanayake, Ivor Wiggett, Gokce Baydar and Kabir Kemp, began to look worried. While the rest of the team were extremely thankful the volunteers had given up their day to stand in the heat and help run a smooth competition, the volunteers themselves were not so sure. Of course, they didn't want to be there simply to record the winning jumps, throws and runs of the opposition. They wanted to be the ones measuring the Olympic record-breaking results of Heathside athletes.
But then Heathside stepped up. Slapping on the sunscreen and popping the antihistamines, Heathside went on to win both A and B string in six separate races. First or second places were awarded to Heathsiders across almost all field events.
To make a point, in the 3000m, Olivia Desborough and Josie Hinton decided they needed to put at least 200m between them and the opposition. Seyfu Jamaal stepped that up, almost lapping the field and recording a blistering time of 16:10 in the 5000m, a stellar performance in the heat.
Bethany Scott decided to give the 2000m steeple chase a go, because why not, despite not having done it since high school. Of course, the natural won it in a time of 7:06, a full 1min 21s ahead of her next competitor, and breaking a 16-year Heathside overall women’s club record in the process.
The men's 4x100 team was knocked together seconds before the race, composing of Seyfu Jamaal, Ajarni Hinds, Nathan Cyrus and Luke Gray. Bar Nathan, between them they probably had a grand total of 47 seconds’ experience of ever running this distance/race. And they didn't even come last.
The most honourable performance was by Ajarni Hinds in the 4x400. Volunteering his services once more for the final race of the day (for a distance he had never raced), he obviously regretted his decision the minute he started running. Given the look on his face in the last 40m, it is clear he will never volunteer again for this distance - despite that, he brought in an extremely respectable sub-60s result.
Heathside left the St Albans track with a final score one point behind the winners (Harrow). But overnight, as the St Albans match referee reviewed the scores and found Harrow missing a timekeeper, the results shifted, launching Heathside ahead to first place. If it hadn't been for Chris Dissanayake and Ivor Wiggett stepping up as timekeeper and starter for the entire day, we would have lost. Heathside owes them this win.
Final scores
London Heathside – 206
Harrow – 201
Ashford – 197
St Albans – 171
Full results below.
Men
Event
Name
Result
100m
Jeff Rice
12.9
Ajarni Hinds
12.7
NS
Seyfu Jamaal
14.1
200m
Jeff Rice
25.4
Jaime Rodriguez Garcia
24.3
NS
Ajarni Hinds
25.7
400m
Luke Gray
51.6
Richard Macaulay
55.2
NS
Lemi Mideksa
59.8
800m
Jem O'Flaherty
02:02.7
Richard Macaulay
02:03.3
NS
Lemi Mideksa
02:10.2
NS
Tony Killilea
02:25.4
1500m
Liam Garrett
04:05.1
Ivar Stefansson
04:14.8
NS
Jem O'Flaherty
04:21.1
NS
Jake Spencer
04:52.9
NS
Andrew Brooker
04:03.5
5000m
Seyfu Jamaal
16:10.9
William Griffiths
16:59.3
NS
Jonathan Litchfield
18:50.6
NS
Tom Griffiths
20:09.2
110mH
Nathan Cyrus
20.6
Ivan Ross
22.7
400mH
Ivan Ross
66.4
Adrian Essex
91.3
NS
Lawrence Hopkins
63.2
2000m SC
Andy Barnes
07:17.9
John Flahive
07:27.3
NS
Lawrence Hopkins
07:04.0
NS
Adrian Essex
09:48.5
High jump
Nathan Cyrus
1.55
Ivan Ross
1.45
Pole vault
Nathan Cyrus
3.1
Ivan Ross
2.7
NS
Adrian Essex
1.6
Long jump
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
6.15
Isaac Tibbett
5.84
Triple jump
Nathan Cyrus
12.21
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
11.66
Shot put
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
10.69
Joel Hawes
8.05
Discus
Joel Hawes
26.13
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
23.54
NS
Ivan Ross
18.14
Hammer
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
20.69
Joel Hawes
20.1
Javelin
Ivan Ross
35.98
Emmanuel Nwaobodo
34.3
4x100m
Seyfu Jamaal
50.2
Ajarni Hinds
Luke Gray
Nathan Cyrus
4x400m
Jem O'Flaherty (56.4)
03:37.1
Richard Macaulay (56.2)
Andrew Brooker (53.8)
Luke Gray (50.7)
4x400m NS
Lawrence Hopkins (60.1)
03:59.7
Seyfu Jamaal (59.5)
Lemi Mideksa (60.2)
Ajarni Hinds (59.9)
Women
Event
Name
Result
100m
Pauline Le Tacon
13.8
Alishia Abodunde
14.1
NS
Gokce Baydar
13.8
200m
Noelle O'Regan
27.5
Naomi Conlon
28.5
NS
Gokce Baydar
28.2
400m
Noelle O'Regan
61.5
Naomi Conlon
63.7
NS
Jennifer Wing
66.4
800m
Bethany Scott
02:18.7
Ella Conlon
02:31.7
NS
Lily McKay
02:35.9
1500m
Kelly Thorneycroft
04:48.8
Olivia Desborough
05:08.6
NS
Aurelie Hadid
06:12.7
NS
Jessica Vinluan
05:46.7
NS
Lily Woolcock
05:03.9
NS
Mimi Blake
05:10.9
3000m
Josie Hinton
10:46.7
Olivia Desborough
10:48.0
NS
Leigh James
11:34.3
110mH
Yanna Raykov
19.6
Becky Wing
20.3
400mH
Lily Woolcock
77.6
Anna McAllister
84
2000m SC
Bethany Scott
07:06.0
Jennifer Wing
08:17.8
NS
Genevieve Weston
08:50.9
NS
Jessica Vinluan
09:12.8
High jump
Anna McAllister
1.53
Jennifer Wing
1.3
Pole vault
Gokce Baydar
2.6
Yanna Raykov
2.1
Long jump
Claudia Backhaus
3.85
Pauline Le Tacon
3.76
Triple jump
Pauline Le Tacon
8.02
Claudia Backhaus
7.76
Shot put
Noelle O'Regan
9.36
Claudia Backhaus
5.72
Discus
Noelle O'Regan
24.31
Yanna Raykov
15.04
Hammer
Noelle O'Regan
22.69
Genevieve Weston
12.4
Javelin
Claudia Backhaus
20.1
Gokce Baydar
12.56
4x100m
Pauline Le Tacon
53.3
Naomi Conlon
Noelle O'Regan
Alishia Abodunde
4x400m
Noelle O'Regan (63.32)
04:20.6
Lily Woolcock (68.37)
Ella Conlon (65.60)
Naomi Conlon (63.3)
4x400m NS
Aurelie Hadid (77.67)
04:48.7
Lily McKay (68.03)
Bethany Scott (69.01)
Genevieve Weston (74.02)
Written by Noelle O’Regan.