In near perfect conditions the 2007 Boxing Day Handicap race was held at the normal venue of Rise Park. This is now a multi club event due to strong interest from neighbouring clubs with a good turn out from Havering 90. The Havering Mayesbrook winner this year was the ever present Martin McVeigh, holding off fellow ever present Dave Holland. But the outstanding performance of the day was 17 year old Grant Twist with a breath-taking run of 25 min 11 secs winning the under 20s trophy. In the women’s event Jo Sullivan won the trophy for an unprecedented third time with a very much improved performance after a long injury-troubled period. There was a welcome return to competition for former international Anne Gifford (nee Reason ) who finished second and another outstanding run from international athlete Faye Fullerton who beat her last year's time by over 45 sec, and possibly achieved a ladies' course record of 26:17.     added 27/12/07

An impressive ten Havering Mayesbrook ladies have made the 2007 UK senior top 10 rankings. International multi-eventer Kate Cowley leads the way, appearing in five individual ranking lists as well as the heptathlon where she ranks 14th in her return to competition. Kate also ranks 14th in the long jump, with her 6.03m best jump, 25th in the high jump with her PB-equalling 1.73m and 25th in the 10m hurdles with a 14.32s clocking. For good measure she makes the shot top 50 with 12.02m in 44th and is one place lower with her 39.87m javelin best. The middle distance trio of Faye Fullerton, Alexa Joel and Harriet Scott feature prominently. International Faye's 11th 1500m ranking is the highest placing by a club senior athlete and she backs this up with 16th in both the 3000m (9:16.41s) and the 5km road lists with a time of 16:47. New signing Alexa ranked 13th at 5000m with 16:11.71s, 17th at 3000m with 9:16.55s and 28th at 1500m. Harriet features in the 1500m (22nd in 4:15.97s) and 800m (36th with 2:06.27s). Despite a quiet exam year U20 sprinter Lucy Sargent placed 17th in the 100m with 11.73s, and 29th in the 200m with 24.19s. Five other club athletes made the national lists. GB U18 International Nicola Hill was an impressive 34th in the 400m hurdles with her 62.24s PB while throwers Mel Harrison (discus - 40th), Louise Mathews (Javelin 44th) and Sarah Deacon (hammer - 47th) all gained top 50 places, while Sara Luck's recent indoor 1.68m high jump PB was good enough for 42nd. In contrast to the women's success only Bonne Buwembo, 24th in the javelin with 63.30m, showed in the men's top 50s. added 22/12/07

Alexa Joel (SW) and Ellie Bounds (U15G) both won their races and the U13 and U15 girls again triumphed in the fourth round of the Essex League at Hockley today. Making her first league appearance this winter, Alexa came home ahead of overall league leader and club mate  Lauren Deadman, who stays on top of the individual stakes, with Debbie Appleton seventh this time. In the U15 race Ellie Bounds made it a hat-trick of league wins to give her a good title lead and once the scoring four all made the top 8 with Sidnie Sales fourth, Rachel Sadler 6th & Amber Turner 8th to maintain their unbeaten record. The winning U13 girls were all in the top 10 with Amanda Blaxland third, Becky Stanley fifth & Shannon Sullivan 7th & Hannah Bloy 10th completing the winning quartet. First home in the other age groups were Jamie Buckley-Stanton again third in the U15 boys, Georgie-Lou Sales fifth in the U17/U20 women, Grant Twist was seventh U17 men, Ryan O'Mahoney 10th in the U13 boys and Rob Warner 19th for the senior men. added 15/12/07 & updated 16/12/07 

Deborah Knight and Sacha Martin have both made the top 20 in the u13 rankings. Deborah appears in both discus and javelin lists. She made the discus top 10 with her 25.13m throw, sixth best on the club all-time lists, but her javelin club record of 26.31m only just squeezed into the rankings at 19th. Sacha's high jump best of 1.44m which took her to second spot on the club all-time bests, was also 19th best nationally. With a further year in the age group next summer, she could go even higher and threaten Helen McDonnell's club u13 record of 1.53m  dating from 2001. added 2/12/07 

 

Faye Fullerton won gold and Alexa Joel was second as the club's leading quartet won the overall team gold for Essex in the London Championships and South of England Inter Counties at rain-soaked Parliament Hill yesterday. Despite running in borrowed spikes, after her own went missing, Faye dominated the event on one of the country's toughest courses, winning in 20:47, some 40 seconds clear of Alexa.  Harriet Scott was an excellent fifth in 22:00 (and first U23) but finished the race in pain with a foot injury which left her hobbling. Lauren Deadman completed the Essex scoring four in a superb ninth place with 22:18. Sara Luck, running in club rather than Essex colours, was a fine 16th, It's understood that the club quartet also won the London team champs. . Ross Clark  was first U20 in the men's U20/U23 event, placing 11th overall in 34:10. added 9/12/07  Link to full results

Brad Burr took pride of place in the Under 15 rankings with his fifth place in the national under 15 boys' javelin lists. His 51.78m PB was the second best ever by a club u15, beaten only by Bonne Buwembo. Also ranked was shot putter Lawrence Goodacre, a late season signing who has yet to represent a club team. His 14.96m putt at an open meeting in late August was sixth best nationally and added 65cms to the previous club best set in 1980.  added 2/12/07 

Javelin throwers Bonne Buwembo and Kike Oniwinde's took the Sports Performance honours at the Barking & Dagenham Awards Evening on Saturday. 

Mat Bland produced medal winning performances on both road and country, as Debbie Appleton also picked up her first gong since returning to action. At Chigwell Row yesterday Mat gained what he termed "a lucky bronze medal" as he unexpectedly won bronze in the Essex Veterans Cross Championships Champs, when the leader Dale Laughlin pulled up injured with just 200m to go. There was no luck about Mat's earlier medal, in the Essex & Chelmsford 10k road race, when he finished fifteenth overall and third veteran in 34:20. Debbie continued her comeback with a fourth place finish - and third Essex athlete - in the women's competition with 37:51s; she was also fastest over-35 woman. Also in Essex 10k action were Jason Lendon (20th) and Martin Chester (34th) as the men's trio placed fifth, while Emma Wallace (38th) and Jo Sullivan (51st) earned the women seventh place. added 2/12/07             

Eleanor Bounds and Sidnie Sales helped the Coopers' Coborn Intermediate Girls' team win bronze medals at the English Schools Cross Country Cup competition at St Albans yesterday. Ellie's superb runners-up spot was well supported by Sidnie's 12th, with Emma McAuliffe also running.

Harriet Scott and Bonne Buwembo in the older age groups, and Nicola Hill and Bradley Burr among the youngsters, won the Best Performance Awards at the club's annual track & field awards presentation evening held at Hornchurch Football Club on Friday. Rising middle distance star was the award winner in the U20 to Veteran women's category, and javelin ace Bonne triumphed in the men's equivalent. Hurdler Nicola's season was rewarded as she held onto the U13 to U17 best performance shield, while javelin thrower Bradley Burr too the boys' award. Club President Mark Bishop again handed out the prizes for best track, best field and team member in each age group from U13 to veteran. For full details see    added 2/12/07              

Wins for Lauren Deadman (SW), Georgie-Lou Sales (U17-U20) and Ellie Bounds (U15G) were among the highlights of the third round of the Essex League, held at Gloucester Park, Basildon today. But only the U15 girls team were able to repeat their first and second round victories. Lauren Deadman's second successive win puts her top of the individual stakes and behind her Debbie Appleton was third. Georgie Sales turned the tables on Laura Condron, who had won the first two rounds, while in the U15 race Ellie Bounds repeated her first round victory - she missed round two - as Sidnie Sales, Rachel Sadler & Rebecca O'Neill packed sixth to eighth places for an emphatic team win. Becky Stanley & Amanda Blaxland were third & fourth in the the U13 girls race and Jamie Buckley-Stanton was third in the U15 boys. Grant Twist was first U17 home in fifth, Ryan O'Mahoney was 7th in the U13 boys and Rob Warner improved to eighth in the senior men's event.     added 24/11/07 & updated 25/11/07              

Alexa Joel led home the club trio in today's European Cross Country Trials, held in conjunction with the Liverpool Cross  Challenge. Just 12 seconds and five places separated Alexa, Harriet Scott and Faye Fullerton as the drizzle and muddy conditions on the 8.1km course took their toll on the track specialists.  Alexa was 20th in the race won by Hayley Yelling with 29m 28s, with Harriet two places & five seconds behind and Faye in 25th in 29:40. Harriet finished eighth U23, missing out on her target place in the GB team, but may earn a reserve slot. She was well placed at 6.5km - the length of last year's trial, but faded in the final mile.  added 24/11/07               Photo: Rikko2Photo

Four U15 girls were ranked in this week's national top 20 lists. Kike Oniwinde, who swept the board of the major javelin honours was only second as Oxford's Dani Anderson's early season throw of 38.99m throw, the third furthest ever by an U15, kept Kike's English School's winning 38.16m effort - the fourth longest ever nationally - off top spot. Sidnie Sales' 3000m debut of 10m 48.99s was 15th best nationally in this age group, while Samantha Hill (29.15m) & Sophie Baggs (29.14m) both made the discus lists in 18th & 19th. Sophie has another year in the age group. added 24/11/07 

Georgie Bean and Joseph Ramie were ranked in the U17 Men's track & field rankings published this week. Georgie Bean's 56.08m javelin throw - third best ever by a club U17 - was good enough for 13th in the rankings. Continued progress in summer 2008, in his second year as an U17, should see him threaten Bonne Buwembo's club record and achieve a repeat of his top three ranking as an U15.  Joseph Ramie, on the other hand, improved rapidly as the season progressed and his end of season 13.43m triple jump earned him a top 20 national ranking, and was fifth best all-time by a club U17. added 17/11/07 

Nicola Hill, Bethan Siddons & Kike Oniwinde feature in the U17 Women's track & field rankings published this week. Nicola's great season which saw her lift two national titles ended with her as the top ranked U17 at 400m hurdles with her 62.24s PB and second in her title winning 300m hurdles event with 43.70s - beaten by Jenny White's UK Schools Games top ranking 43.22s which resulted in Nicola's only defeat. She also made the sprint hurdles top 20 with her 11.71s clocking and would probably have ranked higher if she had not switched her attention to the longer events mid-season. The only other U17 ranked was Bethan Siddons, whose indoor 1.65m clearance was enough to squeeze into the top 20.  English Schools & AAAs U15 javelin champion Kike ranked an impressive 12th in this older U17 category. added 10/11/07 

Lauren Deadman took some consolation from missing out on the senior women's national relay success when she was a comfortable winner in the second round of the Essex XC League at One Tree Hill today. There were again team victories for all three girls' young athletes teams. Improving Amanda Blaxland's second place set up a big win for the u13 girls, with five in ten, and Sidnie Sales' second in the u15 girls event also led the way with all four scorers making the top 10.Jenny Holland was first scorer for the victorious U17/U20s in eighth. Ross Clarke's third place in the senior men's event was the first of many good results contributing to the team's second place. Grant Twist's second place finish in the U17 Men's race was the first home for the second placed team, while third places went to both U13 and U15 boys. added 3/11/07 

Harriet Scott, Alexa Joel and Faye Fullerton combined to win a fantastic gold in today's National Cross Country Relays at Mansfield. Harriet Scott put the team in medal contention from the off to come home third in 9:51, for the sixth fastest leg of the day. Alexa Joel pulled the team up to second with her 10:01 leg, just behind Bedford and Faye Fullerton stormed round the 3km course to run the day's fastest leg of 9:44 and bring the trio home in 29:18, a convincing 40 seconds clear of second place Charnwood. added 3/11/07 

Pic: Georgina Fullerton

Link to Full results

Bonne Buwembo was ranked second in the UK National U20 rankings published in this week's Athletics Weekly. His club U20 javelin record of 63.30m, was good enough for second place behind junior international James Campbell in the national lists. Ross Clarke was the other clubman to fly the flag. His excellent 14m 47.7s clocking for 5000m placed him seventh in the national rankings, and his 8:34.86 clocking for the 3000m also made the national top 20.   added 3/11/07 

Three club athletes are listed in the UK U20 Women's top 20 rankings published in this week's Athletics Weekly. Junior international Lucy Sargent features in both sprints rankings, placing 8th in both the 100m and 200m with her 11.78s and 24.19s clockings. Nicola Hill's fantastic U17 season saw her burst into the U20 hurdles lists. She was 7th in the 400m Hurdles with her 62.24s PB and also ranked in the 100m hurdles event with 14.82s. There was some reward for Lisa Schofield's injury affected season when her early-season 100m Hurdles PB of 14.8s earned her a place in the national rankings. The rankings for other age groups will be published weekly over the next two months but for a preview go to www.athleticsdata.com      added 27/10/07 

The strongest women's team for years returned from Saturday's prestigious National Road Relays with superb bronze medals - an achievement to be proud against the country's elite. Harriet Scott (14:34) and Lauren Deadman (15:21) fought hard around the difficult hilly 4.3km course to set up the chance of a medal to place the team in 13th position after the first two legs. Faye Fullerton then put in the team's fastest leg (14:17), and the 8th fastest overall, to bring the team in the bronze medal position with one leg to run. Alexa Joel was up to the task and held off the challenge of Bedford's international Katrina Wooton to anchor the squad with 14:35 to win Havering Mayesbrook's first National medal for a number of years. Hayley Stibbs also ran an opening leg in 16:59.  On Sunday the young athletes made the same journey north. The under 15 girls' team of Sidnie Sales (15:34), Eleanor Bounds (14:43) and Rebecca O'Neill (15:44) came a creditable 19th in their first national team outing, while Georgie-Lou Sales came 13th on the first leg of the under 17 women's race. added 24/10/07