Just six days after improving her club vault record for the second time this winter Kate Cowley did it again on Saturday when she cleared 3.75m in the London Indoor Games at Lee Valley. Her clearance earned her third place and took Kate closer to her 3.80m indoor target. Also in action was Isaac Ogunlade, who was second in a 51.14s in a blanket finish in his 400m race. Nina Brennan made a welcome return to competition after her knee operation with 69.01s performance. Neill Collins ran 2m 18.74s in the senior 800m  added 29/ &updated 30/01/12   

Lauren Deadman was a brilliant silver medallist at the South of England Cross Country Championships held at Brighton on Saturday. She covered the 8km course in 29m 49s to come home just five seconds behind winner  Southampton's Ceri Mitchell. Vicky Smith was a respectable 48th with Jane Hallam in 230th. Rob Warner was the only senior male athlete to make the trip to the south coast & his 54:24 clocking on the arduous course, which many Essex contemporaries failed to finish earned his his highest placing of 58th of almost 750 finishers, the best by a club man for many years. Lydia Hallam's 21st place in the U15 Girls was an improvement on her2011 placing and led home the only complete club team. Heidi Surman-Wells (113th), Louise Lear (160th) and Robbie Nunn (165th) placed 18th in the team stakes. In the U13 Girls race Emily Marshall (89th) and Rebecca Brown (130th) gained experience in their first outing at Regional level, as did Elliott Nunn in the U15 boys' race (186th). Illness forced Gemma Phillips out of the U20 race half-way through. added 29/01/12

There was a third medal at this weekend's South of England Indoor Championships, making five in all over the three days of competition this weekend & last. On a weekend where Blackburn’s Holly Bleasdale smashed the UK Pole Vault record, the club’s own vault records were also rewritten. Kate Cowley added three centimetres to her senior record, clearing 3.70m to take silver, only losing gold on countback to Crawley’s Steph Smith. And in the Under 17 women’s equivalent Mercy Gutteridge equalled her own club Under 17 & Under 20 club records with her 2.80m clearance to place fifth. added 23/01/12

There were two long jump medals at today's South of England Indoor Champs. Josh Olawore suffered a series of no jumps before whose last round long jump of 6.95m won U20 silver behind Crawley's Oliver Newport who jumped 7.02m. Alex Law who had been under the weather after his Pentathlon success last Sunday had to juggle between the hurdles & the long jump. His 6.34m long jump was down on last week's distance but was enough to win bronze. Jack Edgar-Hill was fifth in the U20 Men's hurdles with 8.60s clocking, after an 8.70s heat and Michelle Hughes placed sixth in the U15 Girls' hurdles final after her fine heat run in a new best of 9.90s earned her a final place. There were a quartet of club hurdlers in the U17 Men's hurdles but all missed out on final places. New member Robbie Clarricoats returned from a six-week injury lay-off to post a fine PB of 8.51s in winning his heat but his semi final 8.62s third place time did not qualify for the final. Alex Law ran 8.66 in both heat & semi, just down on last week, while George Hadler's 8.77 heat & semi runs and Karl Tucker's heat PB of 8.76 & semi of 8.85s also fell short of a final place in a high quality competition which saw the six final qualifiers all better the UK leading mark just to qualify! Michele Hughes ran an indoor PB of 27.91s in the U15 200m to make the semi final but didn't win a final place. added 21/01/12

Hoseah Gikungu's dominance of the county cross country scene when he took gold in the Essex Schools senior boys' event at Basildon today. Beth Hall placed eighth in the senior girls' event while Lydia Hallam & Isabella Woods were 10th & 11th in the Inter Girls' competition. James Kidd was the highest club athlete in the Inter Boys race, finishing 13th while 20th placed Heidi Surman Wells was the highest club junior girl and Sean Wilson (22nd) led home the junior boys.   added 21/01/12

  pics added 27/01/12

Full Results

Alex Law stepped effortlessly into the U17 ranks when he won the South of England Indoor pentathlon by almost two hundred points at Lee Valley on Sunday. The Upminster 15 year-old comfortably won the opening event the 60m hurdles in a new career best and was never challenged as he long jumped a massive 6.49m, just 3cms shy of his outdoor best to open up a 200 point margin. His 9.55m shot effort, his first with the new weight, narrowed his lead, but second place in the high jump with a career equalling 1.78m clearance gave him a 286 point cushion as he lined up for the 1000m.  A 3m 04.46s run was enough to give him a final points tally of 3217 points, ahead of East Grinstead’s Ryan Spivey on 3030. Michelle Hughes was a commendable sixth out of 22 competitors in the U15 Girls’ equivalent. A hurdles PB of 10.08s placed her sixth and she followed this with a 1.40m high jump and 8.34m shot PB. A near-best 4.27m long jump left her in seventh and a heat-winning new 800m best of 2m 45.46s pulled her up a place with a new 2513 points tally. Massi Dendani placed third in his U20 Men’s 800m heat with a 2m 00.50s clocking and went on to finish fifth in the final, while Danny Wilson placed fourth in his U20 400m heat with 52.57s. Isaac Ogunlade just missed out on a place in the senior 400m. After placing second in his heat in 50.94s, he was fourth in the semi final with an indoor best of 50.36s. added 15/01/12 & updated 16/01/12 & 17/01/12

Individual wins for Hoseah Gikungu and Alexa Joel in the final Essex XC League fixture brought them league individual gold & silver medals in U17M & senior ladies' events. Lydia Hallam's runners' up spot earned her individual league silver and Grant Twist's third place sealed league senior silver, while Rob Warner sixth confirmed senior bronze and Mat Bland was second placed veteran. The best team league positions over the league season are second for the senior men's team, & 3rd for the senior ladies, U13 girls & both U17 teams. Both U15 teams were fourth while the U17 , with others fourth.  added 14/01/12   

Club athletes came back from yesterday's Essex Cross Country Championships with seven medals, including golds for Lauren Deadman & Hoseah Gikungu.  Lauren's victory in the senior women's race, marked a fine return from injury and Alexa Joel's silver medal added to the celebrations. Hoseah's county victory confirmed his county dominance and the U17 men's team added silver.  Gemma Phillips continued her fine winter with silver in the U20 women's competition and Lydia Hallam took a step towards her best form with bronze in the U15 Girls' event. The medal roll was completed by the U17woemen's squad who won team bronze, led home by sixth place Isabella Woods. Grant Twist's seventh place was highest for the senior men, and other top 10 finishes came from Vicky Smith (6th - SW), Bethaney Hall (10th - U17W)   added 08/01/12   

In weather condition in stark contrast to freezing temperatures of last year, the 2011 Boxing Day Handicap took place back at its original venue of Rise Park. A good field of 27 runners enjoyed very mild conditions and with recent improvements on the parks paths it bode well for good times. The overall race was again won by an Havering 90 athlete, John Ford closely followed by Christine Sutherland and Tony Pecararo. Alas a poor showing from the host club with only 4 athletes  but the Havering athletes made up for lack of numbers with  outstanding performances from Grant Twist in a lifetime best of 23 mins 52 seconds and closely followed by Rob Warner in an equally lifetime best of 24mins 44secs  with evergreen Matt Bland coming home in 3rd place in 26 mins 18 sec. Alas there were no Havering Mayesbrook women and under 20 competitors but a welcome return to competition from a former member Hayley Hawes who produced fastest time of the day in the women's race in a time of 32 mins 3 seconds. added 27/12/11   

Eleven club members feature in the UK top 50 senior rankings published this week. Lauren Deadman takes pride of place at sixth in the 5000m list with her 15m 46.34s clocking, and she also placed 12th in the 3000m with her 9m 10.77s PB, and 42nd in the 1500m. Harriet Scott was 25th in the 3000m and Faye Fullerton 32nd in the 1500m. Now departed Kike Oniwinde ranked tenth in the javelin with her 49.35m club record. Kate Cowley ranks in three events as her club vault record puts her 25th, her club triple jump record makes 34th, and she also placed 43rd in the high jump with 1.70m. Nicola Hill is 23rd in the 100m hurdles list with her 14.39s best and 31st in the 400m hurdles event with 61.23s, while Somma Power's 12.00m shot just squeezed into the top 50. Four men made the rankings: Richard Morrissey was 33rd in the 400m (47.57s), Isaac Ogunlade 36th in the 400m hurdles (53.23s), and jumpers Josh Olawore was 43rd in the long jump with his 7.20m U17 club record, and Jimi Tele was 44th in the triple jump with 14.60m..  added 23/12/11   

Kate Cowley opened her indoor season by improving her club senior pole vault record to 3.67m, competing in Bath today. Her clearance added 4cms to her previous club best and took Kate closer to her 3.80m indoor target.

Ben Ellis was the only club Under 13 boy to make the national top 20 rankings. His 2m 17.6s clocking which lifted him to third on the club all time lists placed him 15^th nationally but a faster time of 2m 15.3s, achieved when winning the Havering Schools title – a competition not eligible for ranking purposes – would have made seventh place.    added 18/12/11   

Hoseah Gikungu's fourth successive win in today's fourth round Essex Cross Country League at Colchester gave him an unbeatable lead in the series to ensure that he will lift the individual league trophy. And his win led the U17 Men to team victory. Grant Twist was runner up and Rob Warner fourth for the senior men, while Lydia Hallam (U15 Girls) and Bella Woods (U17 Women) also placed fourth. Vicky Smith was sixth for the senior women but an incomplete team could only finish ninth and the league-leading team slipped to third in the table. Amy Baggs had her best result of the season in seventh for the U13 girls.    added 17/11/11  Pics added 18/11/11 

Mercy Gutteridge marked her move into the Under 17 age group by improving her pole vault personal best and club Under 17 & Under 20 records with a 2.80m clearance, 7cms higher than before, at a long, drawn out competition at the Metaswitch Indoor Open at Lee Valley on Sunday. Only Kate Cowley among club females has vaulted higher. Beth Chambers also opened her indoor campaign with third place leaps in the U17 long & triple jump (4.77m & 9.90m) while Matthew Owers set a triple jump PB of 8.56m in the U15 event and also posted 60m sprint & hurdles times in his first indoor competition. added 13/12/11 

Alexa Joel came close to victory when she placed second for Essex in the South of England Inter Counties cross country event at Croydon on Saturday. Vicky Smith was a creditable 28th as Essex were third. Gemma Phillips led home the Essex U20 ladies contingent with her 10th place finish, and Lydia Hallam's 14th place finish contributed to the Essex team victory in the U15 girls' race. Bella Woods was 24th for the U17 Women, as Essex also took the team honours in that category.    added 11/12/11 

Young sprinter Modupe Shokunbi fine season was marked by her appearance in the national top 20 rankings for U13 Girls, published in "Athletics Weekly" this week. Her 100m best of 13.2s, which took her to fourth on the club all-time list, made 17th place in the national lists, while her 200m clocking of 27.4s (fifth in the StatPack lists) ranked her even higher nationally in 12th. Also in the u13 Girls' list was Freya Gutteridge, whose 23.54m discus throw squeezed into the national top 20. added 11/12/11 

Josh Olawore earned a narrow victory and Alex Law won silver as the club's two talented all rounders represented English Schools with pride at Saturday's Combined Events International in Glasgow. Josh's victory came thanks to a runners-up hurdles spot in 8.24s, fifth place in the shot in 12.25m, third in the 200m with 23.30s, and a winning 7.03m long jump effort. Lining up for the 800m Josh was 45 points clear of Wales' David Omoregie and a PB of 2m 21.06s, saw Josh edge home nine points ahead with 3559 points to win the over 16 event.  Alex Law marked his international debut with a consistent performance in which he was always in the medal hunt. Second place in a new hurdles PB of 8.69s was the perfect start, before a winning long jump of 6.39m put him in front of English Schools' champion Antony Hogg. Third place in the 200m with 24.29s and a shot put of 10.68m saw him take an 18 point lead into the final 800m event but Hogg overhauled him with a new PB to take gold, but Alex was delighted with his medal winning performance.    added 4/12/11 

Debbie Appleton took the Havering Mayesbrook honours with superb run in the Essex County Veteran’s Championship at Chigwell Row on Saturday. Even suffering an injury on the last lap Debbie had built such a clear lead that she had enough of a gap to limp home a worthy winner to take the county gold medal. Her sister Jo Sullivan also suffered an injury on the last lap but hung on gamely to finish the race. Mat Bland continued his amazing run of medal collecting with very good silver in an extremely exciting Men's 40 race. With three athletes vying for the lead all the way through the five mile course Ilford’s Spencer Hempstead eventually took the honours with Matt not far behind in second. Simon Hart ran well and although falling heavily, still finished well up the field. The Vets Over 50 men put out a team for the first time in many years and although not highly placed, the squad did well with Paul Berrett, Gary Howard, Kevin White and Derrick Earney all completing a tricky course.  added 4/12/11 

Two talented club all-rounders compete in England colours in Saturday’s indoor home countries combined events international at Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall. English Schools’ Octathlon Intermediate Boys’ winner and Essex Young Sports Personality Josh Olawore wins his second England Schools vest, having competed in the same competition as a Junior Boy two years ago when he finished fourth, part of the winning England quartet. He hopes to add individual and team gold to his growing medal haul. Club-mate Alex Law, whose third place at the National Schools’ Pentathlon earned his call up, competes in the Junior Boys pentathlon event and hopes to earn a podium place. The five events contested indoors include both athletes’ strongest disciplines – the hurdles and long jump – with the other three events being the 200m, shot and the 800m. added 1/12/11 

Hoseah Gikungu’s winning streak continued when he lifted the eastern Counties U17 cross country title at Ipswich on Sunday. Hoseah’s victory, which came after three winning Essex League performances,  was achieved with ease as he came home 45 seconds clear. But the team of Tom Davies’ 13^th place and Andrew Holland (22^nd) and Tom Brennan (23^rd) missed out on team medals, finishing fourth.  The U15 Boys scooped the team gold awards thanks to a strong squad display from Sean Wilson (7^th), Ed Thompson (8^th) , Adam Hill (10^th) and Elliott Nunn (13^th). The U20 men came home with silver as Adam Edwards (6^th), Ross Earney (8yth) and Chris Hyde (9^th) were runners up to Thurrock  and bronze medals went to the U13 Boys’ squad of Josh Stephens (7^th), Aaron Westwood (8^th) and Daniel Moulden (11^th). Just four ladies made the trip after a series of late withdrawals. Patsy McWeeney earned individual silver in the U20 event, Jess Ward was 8^th in the U13 event, older sister Rebecca Ward was 19^th in the U15 race, with Robbie Nunn 23^rd. added 29/11/11 

Alexa Joel finished in a creditable 26^th place in the UK European Championships Trials, held in conjunction with the McCain Cross Challenge race at Liverpool on Saturday.  Robyn Matson also too part, with her 72^nd place finish comfortably seeing her into the top half of the 163 finishers..

After making the U20 & U17 discus rankings with her 39.81m U15 club record English Schools' discus champion Georgie Taylor was placed second in her own age group's lists, headed only by  Birchfield's Adele Nichol who was also top ranked in the U15 shot. Lydia Hallam's bronze medal winning 800m PB of 2m 13.57s from the English Schools Championships was the sixth best in the age group during the summer and her best at 1500m of 4:39.84s ranked eight and her 3000m best of 10m 33.93s also made the top 20 lists. Mercy Gutteridge's brilliant season, which saw her break club U15 & U17 pole vault bests with her 2.73m clearance, was rewarded when she was ranked 14th U15 vaulter nationally  added 27/11/11 

Club triple jumper Jimi Tele has received a £1,500 OCS Young Sports Person Award in recognition of his outstanding sporting ability. In the awards scheme, run in partnership with the charity SportsAid, Jimi beat stiff competition to scoop the prize for the London East region.  17 year old Jimi has excelled in his sport, and holds a variety of gold competition medals, including the 2010 Aviva English Schools Championships and Aviva Schools International. More recently, he achieved a silver medal at the Isle of Man Commonwealth Youth Games. He is pictured right with his club coach Trevor Wells. added 27/11/11   

Hoseah Gikungu's winning streak continued as he made it a hat-trick of Essex Cross Country League victories in this Round 3 fixture at Hadleigh as the U17 Men were third. And a second consecutive win for the senior ladies, led home by Alexa Joel in and Debbie Appleton in second and third, put them level with Chelmsford at the top of the league table. Another fine fourth place by Rob Warner, with Grant Twist one place back helped the senior men to another second place. The improving U13 boys were third but the other teams could only manage fourth or fifth place finishes. added 20/11/11   pics added 21/11

Work on the new track & field facilities at Mayesbrook Park, along side the huge £12m handball centre are nearing completion as the series of photos show.  Building work has also started on a new sports pavilion, housing new changing rooms and a catering facility, located at the 100m start/final bend with completion scheduled for next spring.  The major upgrade is to make the facilities ready for use as an in-Games training for the  2012 Olympics and Paralympics, with the club moving back only after those competitions have ended in September 2012.     added 20/11/11  Pictures

All rounder Josh Olawore, who last night received the Essex Young Sports Personality of the Year Award, headlines club athletes who appear in the 2011 rankings for U17 Men. Josh tops the UK rankings with his English Schools' winning 5200 point Octathlon club record and ranks second with his winning long jump of 7.20m from the England Athletics Championships. His club 100m hurdles record of 13.35s, which won him national bronze ranks fifth and his indoor triple jump silver medal winning best of 14.02m also makes the top 10. Danny Wilson's UK School Games bronze medal winning throw of 46.27mranks him seventh in the discus while George Hadler makes the 400m hurdles top 20 with his 57.80 sec PB and Hoseah Gikungu's fine season is reflected in his place in the 3000m top 20 with his 8:57.46 best. New member Robbie Clarricoats was ranked 13th in the 100m hurdles with his 13.52s clocking in Thurrock colours. added 17/11/11 

Four club athletes made the UK summer 2011 top 20 lists for Under 20 Men's published recently. The shot rankings include both Emmanuel Quarshie, whose 15.05m PB earned him 11th spot, with Laurence Goodacre three places lower with his 14.35m heave. Under 17 Josh Olawore ranks 10th in the long jump with his huge 7.20m club record, and triple jumper Jimi Tele features in 17th with his legal best of 14.60m - he had a much longer wind assisted mark. After ranking 15th in the U20 women's discus list Under 15 Georgie Taylor's club U15 discus best of 39.81m places her an impressive sixth in the Under 17 women's lists. added 10/11/11 

Alexa Joel, Faye Fullerton & Debbie Appleton placed second, third & fourth to set up a fine victory for the Senior Ladies at today's Essex Cross Country League at Basildon. Hoseah Gikungu made it two wins out of two with another clear win in the U17 Men's race, half a minute clear of the rest. Rob Warner's excellent fourth place topped the pile for the senior men who placed second to Chelmsford again and need very good results in the three remaining fixtures to retain their title. St Mary's College student Gemma Phillips confirmed her improved form with a good fourth place in the U17/U20 women's race as the team placed third   But there was disappointment for the other teams as all finished outside the top three in their events.  added 29/10/11   added 30/10/11

Two club athletes feature in the UK national Under 20 Women's summer 2011 rankings, published in Athletics Weekly earlier this week. Kike Oniwinde, whose fantastic season saw her smash the club U20 & Senior javelin records on her way to a GB U20 vest in the European Junior Championships, ranked third in the javelin with her 49.35m best. But she won't improve further on her club best performances as Kike has now left the club & will appear in Enfield & Haringey colours next summer. Also in the U20 list is Under 15 Georgie Taylor whose club U15 discus best of 39.81m places her 15th in the national U20 rankings. Georgie will also feature highly in the forthcoming U17 & U15 listings, to be released in coming weeks.  added 29/10/11 

There was a promising start to the Essex League campaign as club teams notched up three second and three third places, and three individual top three positions. Hoseah Gikungu started where he left off last winter with a win in the U17 Men's race, as the team were third. Lydia Hallam's second place led the U15 girls to runners up spot and the seniors placed third after three top ten slots from Alexa Joel (3rd), Debbie Appleton (4th) and Vicky Smith (8th). Beth Hall's seventh place and good team support teamed the U17/U20 women second and the senior men started their title defence with second place with Grant Twist first home in seventh. Another third place came from the U15 boys and the U13 girls fourth but a sole scorer in the U13 boys saw them ranked just 11th.   added 09/10/11  & Pics

The U15 Girls team returned with a bronze medal from the South of England Cross Country relays at Biggleswade on Saturday. Lydia Hallam's 7:12 opening leg brought her home in second, and proved to be the third fastest in the race, and Robbie Nunn (8:27) kept the squad in the medal hunt before Heidi Surman-Wells' 7:51 lap, the ninth fastest overall, brought the trio home for a coveted bronze  Louise Lear, Zoe Rudgley and Ella Rudgley made up the B team, who were 13th. The Under 17 Girls ran well but were just outside the medals in fourth.  Isabella Woods was fourth in the first leg with 10:00 (eight fastest) and Shannon Sullivan (11:12) and Bethaney Hall's 10:02 anchor (ninth fastest overall) come home fourth.   added 2/10/11  & Pics added 3/10/11

Mercy Gutteridge and Kate Cowley ended their summer campaigns on a high as they rewrote the club record books with new marks in the pole vault at the Jim Day Memorial Event at Carshalton on Sunday. Starting at a modest 1.93m Mercy recorded first time clearances right up to a new club U15, U17 & U20 best of 2.63m, and for good measure a second time clearance at 2.73 added another 10 cms to her new club marks. Mercy started the summer with a best of 2.30m and has now added 43cms, almost 18 inches, to her best and is ranked 12^th Under 15 girl in Britain. Seasoned campaigner Kate improved her own senior vault best by a single centimetre with a 3.63m clearance making a 33cms improvement over the come-back season which also saw her add the club triple jump record to her earlier club records at 100m hurdles, long jump,  heptathlon and high jump which date to her  career as an international multi-eventer before she switched to the vault.  Claire Brennan returned from Peterborough on Sunday with runners up medal in the Eastern Counties pentathlon. She clocked 16.02s in the hurdles, threw a shot PB of 8.13m,  cleared a useful 1.50m high jump, and long jumped 4.55m before an 800m of 2:44.98s saw her notch up 2700 points. In the U15 event Michelle Hughes was on course for a podium place after PBs in the first three events the long jump (4.29m), 75m hurdles (12.36s) and shot (7.91m) before a below-par high jump of 1.30m and 800m of 2:52.17s saw her slip off the pace but still improve her previous best points score to 2256 point.  added 27/09/11

There was a good turn out and some encouraging results as the winter season kicked off with the customary curtain raiser of the South of England Road Relays at Aldershot. Fine weather and many of the youngsters running at the venue for the first time got the season off to a promising start. The senior ladies were the highest placed with veteran Debbie Appleton showing good form with her 13m 37s opening leg in 11th place, and Robyn Matson (14:47), Jade Edwards (16:03) and Ingrid Deane (14:28) combined to finish 14th, out of over 50 starters. Lydia Hallam was bundled over and trampled on at the start of the U15 girls race as 70 starters jostled for position and her fifth place finish in 11:01 in fifth place (and 11th fastest leg overall) was impressive in the circumstances. Francesca Smith (12:29) and Heidi Surman-Wells (12:31) brought the trio home in 21st. The second team of Louise Lear (13:49), Robbie Nunn (13.15) and Abi Spink (13.41) came 53rd. Opening leg runner for the U13s Gemma Archer-Haley also took a tumble and suffered cuts & bruises in a race with 80 starters. Her 10:02 clocking & runs from Emily Marshall (9:34) and Amy Baggs (9:26) finished 38th. The U17 Girls came 26th with runs from Lindsay McLachlan (12:21), Lindsey Wiggins (14.33) and Isabella Woods whose 11:38 anchor overhauled three opponents. On Sunday the senior men’s team bettered last year’s with a 32^nd place by finishing 32^nd of over 80 starters.  Two runners broke the twenty-minute barrier this year and both Grant Twist (19:20) and Rob Warner (19:30) set new PBs on the 6k course. Jamie Buckley Stanton had led the team off with a good 20:08 leg in 40^th place and Jason Lendon 20:47 and Simon Hart 21:36 kept the team in contention. Twist then ran the fastest Havering leg of the day to bring the team up to 35^th and Matt Bland 21.52 gained another place before Warner clawed back three more places to bring the team home in 32^nd place. added 25/09/11 & Updated 26/9/11