Windsor Slough Eton & Hounslow Athletic Club

In similar fashion to the start of the season, the closing match for track and field fell to the Alder Valley Girls League with the Trophy & Plate Final held at Windsor, Slough, Eton & Hounslow AC’s home track at TVAC, Eton. With near perfect conditions, uncharacteristic sunshine and little wind, the girls of WSEH rounded off the season by becoming Trophy Champions. Leading from the early stages of the match, WSEH kept local rivals Guildford & Godalming AC, Reading AC and Aldershot Farnham & District at bay throughout.
The day’s efforts rounded off the young athlete’s achievements this season, building on the Clubs impressive win at Manchester in the UKA Young Athletes League Final, and the role the U15’s and U17’s play in the various other leagues they participate in.
A good, solid team performance throughout, with a special mention to those U17’s athletes bowing out of the Alder Valley League as they transition on to the U20’s age group.

U13 Girls
In the 70m Hurdles, Steph Clitheroe, achieved a new PB with 11.5sec, this on top of a 2nd place and equal PB in the 75m. Fellow sprinter, Olivia Caesar, equally impressed with a 1st in the 75m (10.6sec) and a 3rd in the 150m (21.0sec). Not to be outdone, Maddi Paris-Matic, also hit gold in the 150m with 21.6 secs. The middle distance quartet achieved three PB’s between them with Joanne Fallon and new signing, Ella Higham contesting the 600m in 1m53.0 and 2m1.1 respectively, with Abbie Schmid and Ellie Wallis in the 1000m, this time with 3m25.2 and 3m37.5. Morgan Lake equaled her PB in the 70m Hurdles, joining Clitheroe in a brace of firsts, supplementing this with another first in the Long Jump (4m66). Gabriela Zivanovic competed in the High Jump, Shot and Discus, taking away three firsts. Not her first choice event, the High Jump gained her a new PB (1m25). She achieved 7m83 in the Shot and a Competition Seasons Best of 22m83 in the Discus. Olivia Saligoi showed that her additional training mid-week paid off with a new PB in the Shot (5m89). Two PB’s in the Javelin for Hannah James and Anna Inverary helped add to the tally of points, along with Hannah Williams in the Discus.
The relay team of Lake, James, Paris-Matic and Clitheroe successfully negotiated the lap to bring the baton home in 2nd place in 55.2 secs .

U15 Girls
Karimah Muhammad and Cressida Millar along with Laura Suggitt contested the sprints with Muhammad scoring a first in the 100m (13.0 secs). Millar, in her race, achieved 2nd with 13.7 secs and the gained more valuable points with a third in the 200m (28.0 secs). Suggitt got a 2nd in the 200m with 28.9 sec and then complemented this with a 3rd in the 800m (2m32.0). Maryse Haynes contesting the B-string, came 2nd with 2m33.7. To round off the middle distance races, Ella Pepper and Naomi Barbour both secured firsts, with 5m3.6 and 5m6.9 respectively, Barbour also gaining a PB. Charlotte Banks and Demi Barrance posted 2nd (13.0 secs) and 1st (13.3 secs) in their 75m Hurdles race. Barrance also competed in the High Jump, achieving a 3rd with 1m40 while new signing, Chloe Gwilliam, got off to a good start also gaining a 3rd with 1m35. Early on in the day, and at short notice, Gwilliam stepped in to cover for another athlete in the Shot, gaining a new PB and 2nd place with 6m62. Due to local traffic problems, Ellie Norris nearly missed her Shot competition. Achieving 3rd with 8m49 she then moved to her signature event the Discus. Here, she didn’t disappoint, gaining a 1st with 25m56. Other notable performances came from Georgie Haynes and Olivia Lawson in the Long Jump scoring 4m50 and 3m91 respectively. Completing this age group with the Javelin were Sarah Taplin and Tara Barratt with their performances of 28m84 and 24m5.
With the relay quartet of Millar, Sarah Hing, Suggitt and Muhammad, this proved a very exciting finish to the U15’s day, coming in a close second.

U17 Ladies
With the inevitable march of time, this was for some of the U17’s, their last match in the Alder Valley Girls League. One such young lady was Laura James. She has been a stalwart team player, consistent, reliable and dependable. Qualities which makes choosing her as Team Captain an easy task. With her signature event, the Hammer, she achieved a solid 2nd with 29m52. She then followed this with the Discus, this time achieving 1st with 32m78m. This would have been Laura’s day over had she not accepted a request from the Manager to cover the Javelin, her least favorite event. She achieved a PB of 17m20 and added to the winning point’s total. The sprints started with the 100m with Chloe Mays gaining a 3rd placing with 13.2 secs. This was complemented with Sarah Phelps achieving a 1st (14.2 sec), despite her leg buckling as she crossed the line. Badly skinning both knees and an elbow, she went on to contest the 80m Hurdles, to score another 1st place (14.3 secs). Chloe Mays scored a 2nd in the 200m (26.9 sec), with Shanice Brown in the B-string achieving a 1st (28.8 secs). Brown, had earlier contested the 300m Hurdles along with Hannah Kirby, Brown achieving a 1st in 50.7 secs, while Kirby scored a 1st in 55.3 secs. Kirby later battled the 300m sprint achieving another 1st with 45.8 secs. Replicating her training regime of 300m reps, Georgia Taylor competed in the A-string, achieving 2nd place and a new PB of 44.5 secs. Previously, Georgia had run in the 800m (2m27.5) along with Jessica Wilkinson, who was another who stepped in at short notice. Wilkinson, achieving a seasons best of 2:35.0. Hannah Barefield and Melissa Hack competed the 1500m with 5m10.0 and 5m14.0 respectively. Letisha Richardson achieved a PB (4m71) and a 1st in the Long Jump. Also in the Long Jump, Phelps, prior to her fall scored 3rd with 3m96. Faye Williams won her 80m Hurdles in 12.3 secs. She followed this with a SB of 9m53 in the Triple Jump. Claire Hing contested the B-string Triple achieving 7m76, Richardson also gained 3rd in the High Jump (1m45) and a 1st in the Shot (8m52). Helena Majek scored a PB and 1st in her Shot (7m99). Chloe Wright scored 1st in Hammer (19m25), and 2nd in both Javelin (16m89), a new PB and Discus (23m54). Rachel Westbrook equaled her PB of 1m35 in the High Jump.
The relay team of Williams, Phelps, Richardson and May scored a terrific 1st of 53.1 secs, despite a near disaster between legs 3 and 4. With a piece of quick thinking, May was able to receive the baton, and triumph by crossing the line in first place.

After the match, WSEH AC were presented with the U17 Age Group Trophy and the League Trophy. Team Captain, Laura James accepted the trophies on behalf of the team.

A thoroughly enjoyable day of athletics. With the number of young athletes taking part in non-scoring events alongside this match, the future looks bright for WSEH AC.

May I take this opportunity to say thanks to all the young athletes, their parents and others that have contributed in any way to the smooth running of the Alder Valley Girls Team this year. I hope to see you all next year to do it all over again.

To the 2nd Year U17’s. Thanks for your contributions, sometimes your pain but mostly your enthusiasm over the last year. I will look forward in following your successes in the U20’s next year.

Les Phelps
Alder Valley Girls Team Manager.

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