Young Athletes Excel at the South of England Road Relays

In spite of the M1 being partly closed we had full teams in all the girls relays and a team in the under 13 boys event. Unfortunately we were missing a fourth runner in the under 17 men’s relay.

Starting with the Under 13 boys 3000m relay on a flat windy course of one lap it was not a good event for spectators. On the first lap Alfie Turner did very well to finish 24th and was our fastest boy in the race. Then Charlie Rollo only lost three places to finish 27th. Having his first relay race, Otto Huber, our youngest runner only dropped 10 places to finish 37th. Then Basil Rock fought back to bring the team home 28th.

The girls relays had only three in their teams. For the Under 13’s Lily Dafter started very fast but gradually slipped back to finish 36th on her lap. This gave Zakia Mossi a nice group to chase and she put in a terrific run to pass 11 teams. Then Mabel Salkeld brought the team home in 34th place.

With injuries and other commitments the Under 15 Girls still had a respectful team which finished 31st. Led off by Lily Salkeld, she had more athletes behind than in front when she finished 41st. On the second lap, Melina Duer did well to pick up 10 places and Freja Schaap showed something of her old self by keeping the team in 31st place.

The best result came in the U17 Women’s relay. With lots of clubs putting their best athlete on the first lap Kosana Weir was up in the leading group and hung on to finish 16th. Then Amelia Casey, having her first ‘A’ team run, excelled herself by moving up to 13th. The gaps were widening between the teams and although Verity Walker had a good run, she was only able to gain one place before the finish. Our only ‘B’ team runner to arrive was Rose Barkle and she ran well to finish in 11:30.

Without a reserve Under 17 runner the team only found out that the fourth was not going to arrive just before the event. The incomplete team all performed well with Jake Hooley finishing 26th on their 4500m lap. Louis Medd then lost only one place to finish 27th. Then Nicholas Duer ran one second faster to get the team into 23rd place at the end of lap three.

Results. All relays 3000m except U17M which was 4500m.

Under 13 Boy. 24 A Turner 10:26; 27 C Rollo 11:21; 37 O Huber 12:30; 28 B Rock 10:34. Team 28th 44:51.

Under 13 Girls. 36 L Dafter 11:25; 25 Z Mossi 11:25; 34 M Salkeld 12:59. Team 34th 35:49

Under 15 Girls. 41 L Salkeld 11:03; 31 M Duer 11:15; 31 F Schaap 11:34. Team 31st 33:52

Under 17 Women. 16 K Weir 10:22; 13 A Casey 10:57; 12 V Walker 11:08. Team 12th 32:27

Under 17 Men. 26 J Hooley 16:18; 27 L Medd 17:26; 23 N Duer 17:25.