Athletics News

Monday saw our athletes compete in the London Youth Games area finals. Teams representing the boroughs from the whole of West London turned up knowing competition would be fierce. Hammersmith and Fulham (represented by Good Shepherd RC) started strongly as did Richmond (St James'), Merton (Malmesbury Primary) and Hillingdon (Whiteheath Junior). Hounslow (Strand!) had to wait a while for their first win but Aidan and Micah stormed through to win the 1 x 1 lap sprint with a very fast time. Josiah again dominated the jump events winning both the long jump and triple jump with Micah winning the vertical jump. In the girls' events Strand were finding things tough but our runners up in the longer distance races contributed well to our overall score. Wandsworth (Ravenstone) shone in the girls' field events and Ealing (Gifford Primary) did well in the long distance boys' events. The level of competition was exceptionally high with elite athletes excelling against each other. The final race of the whole day was the boys 4 x 1 lap relay - the boys' blue ribbon event. With Strand sitting in 4th place with 1 lap to go Josiah hauled in the opposition one by one to pip Kingston (St Mary's) on the line for a sensational win! The results were tallied and Strand finished a creditable 6th. Richmond and Hillingdon now go on to the London finals. Well done to all our athletes - a memorable journey comes to an end!