New Boy Battles for Bronze in Birmingham
Archbishop Lanfranc athletes made a barnstorming start to the 2010 Athletics season with major successes at all the Indoor Athletics Championships; five at the National Championships and successes at the Southern area and Surrey Championships. The school currently has 7 athletes ranked in the top 20 UK performers.
Mid-January, marked the first major competition, the South of England Championships at Lee Valley. The Archbishop Lanfranc based athletes began the winter season in earnest, having prepared with a combination of Sportshall matches in Guildford, training with their clubs, weight training in the school fitness suite and elite conditioning sessions on Friday.
Ladies team captain, Shanice Harrison (South London Harriers) reached another major final in the 300m. with a new personal best (pb) of 42.12 Novice 800m runner, Femi Agbetoyin, competing in school colours, became South of England champion in only his fifth 800m race. The throwers all performed to a good standard. Chioma Obi-Adewole (SLH) finished 5th and her sister Iyanni (SLH) finished 8th with a big pb in the Under 17 Shot event. In her first competition of any significance, Tamara Reid (Archbishop Lanfranc) finished 6th in the Under 15 Shot, with a massive pb. Taiwo Kamoju (Croydon Harriers) bounced back from the disappointment of disqualification in the 200m to compete in the 60m event. He looked impressive in winning his heat and then finishing a good second in his semi-final. Taiwo went on to be placed a very creditable fourth in the final, in his B string event and setting a new personal best in every round. His time in the final was well inside the qualifying time for the UK Indoor Championships. Javari Cameron (Croydon Harriers) competed in the Under 17 Long Jump, having already qualified for the UK Indoor Championships in the Triple Jump. Javari finished 4th in his B string event with a jump of 6m 06. Shanice Harrison rounded off day 1 with the 200m. Her experience from last year allowed her to run controlled heats and semis and yet again to reach a major final. Shanice finished a good 4th place in a very high quality field and qualified for a second event at the UK Indoor Championships. Simi Obi- Adewole (South London Harriers) winning a silver medal in his first competition in the Under 15 Shot, with a new personal best. Joshua Thompson (Croydon Harriers), a first year Under 17 triple jumper, was also in his first Regional championship and only in his fifth triple jump competition. Joshua jumped a massive new pb of 12m40 for 5th place.
At Croydon Harriers, they call Cameron Smith the ‘Postman’ because he always delivers in the big races. In the best quality field of the day and with a huge number of competitors, Cameron came through for a well earned bronze medal. He dominated his heat and semi-final and set new pbs in each race, culminating with yet another pb of 7.08 in the final. His time is well inside the qualifying time for the UK Championships, where Cameron will be one to watch.
At the end of February, five Archbishop Lanfranc athletes went to Birmingham for the UK Championships. It would have been seven, but two performers were injured. In an event where there seemed to be a quantum leap in the standard of performances. Shanice Harrison was knocked out in the heats with a time that would have made semis the year before. Taiwo Kamoju ran a huge pb of 24.29, yet he too was eliminated in the heats.Javari Cameron had three no jumps in the triple jump, with the additional disappointment of the third failure being in excess of 13m 50, which would have been a top six placing. However Cameron Smith achieved a creditable 5th in the final of the Under 17 60m. This was one of the high quality races of the day. However, novice 800m runner, Femi Agbetoyin stole the headlines with a bronze medal in his first visit to a national championship and only his sixth competitive race. Creditably, Femi maintains a level head and knows that there is much to do to be a major player in the outdoor arena.
The following weekend saw the Surrey Indoor Championships at Sutton Arena. The Archbishop Lanfranc sprinters cleaned up in the sprints. Shanice Harrison got an excellent silver medal in the Under 17 womens 60m. Little brother, Creston (South London Harriers) ran a pb of 8.30 to become Surrey 60m champion at Under 13 level. Taiwo Kamoju became the Under 15 Surrey champion with a pb and Cameron Smith was also Surrey champion in the Under 17s, again with a new pb.
In the field events, Iyani Obi-Adewole won a bronze with a new pb in the shot and younger brother Simi (both South London Harriers) picked up a silver medal in the shot, also with a new pb. To round off a great weekend Joshua Thompson (Croydon Harriers) gained a silver medal in the triple jump. Even with the two senior throwers and top triple jumper not competing, the seven Archbishop Lanfranc athletes all came away with medals.
In the current rankings Archbishop Lanfranc has 7 athletes ranked in the top 20 and 9 in the top 50. Creston, Taiwo, Cameron and Femi are all top 10. My congratulations to all our athletes and to those training hard to make the breakthrough this year.