Promising Start to our Season in SAL Division One

Only seven of our top 20 SAL points scorers from last year were available for our season-opener in Woodford, with injuries, exams and fixture clashes all taking their toll. Even so, we showed real strength in several areas, particularly men’s sprints, women’s and men’s middle distance, and women’s hammer. As always, the team spirit was excellent, and plenty of PBs and SBs pushed our athletes up the UK rankings, across multiple events and age groups, from U18 to V55. For full results, click on the link here.

Please put our home match at Mile End on Sunday 21 June in your diary.

We will be up against league champions TVH and our nearest rivals Heathside, so we’ll need a strong squad and plenty of support!

Sprint strength sets the tone

A great turnout from Coach Clarence Callender’s sprint group was a key pillar of our success. While Ezekiel Lowe was away representing England at the Loughborough International, a strong quartet of Kweku Abankwa, William Andoh, Calum Regis-Edwards and Farshad Kordloo scored heavily over 100m and 200m and combined for a dominant victory in the 4x100m. Aaron Barrett-Mowatt, also coached by Clarence, added valuable points in the 400m, 4x400m (alongside Kweku, Calum and Harry Wells), javelin and discus

Middle-distance dominance

We were the strongest club at the meeting in both the women’s and men’s middle-distance events, recording three wins and one second place over 800m, two wins and one second place over 1500m, and one win plus three second places over 3000m (women) and 5000m (men).

Top Individual Points Scorers

Laura Hindley was our top individual points scorer with 18, effectively completing the near-equivalent of a heptathlon in a single day. She won the 800m B race, then took 3^rd in both Long Jump A and Triple Jump B (possibly her first triple jump since school!), finished fifth in both High Jump A and Javelin A, and rounded off her day with the 4x100m anchor leg plus a very creditable 66-second split in the 4x400m.

• Laura Hindley – 18 points (800m, long jump, triple jump, high jump, javelin)
• Jade Dos Santos – 10 points (3000m, high jump)
• William Andoh – 9 points (100m, 400m)
• Laureen Okoghenu – 9 points (hammer, shot put, javelin)
• Akiko Findlay – 8 points (triple jump, long jump)
• Lyra MacDonald – 7 points (800m, 400m)
• Robyn Connolly – 7 points (hammer, discus)
• Tony MacDowall – 7 points (3000m steeplechase, pole vault, shot put)

Some standout performers

Women’s race captain Jade Dos Santos ran a 10:15.51 PB to win the 3000m A, while VPH debutant Amy Davila finished as second B runner.

Esme Ingram finished 2nd in the 2000m steeplechase, after leading for much of the race. Her time of 8:12.78 was a PB and the second fastest time in the UK by a W35 athlete in 2026.

Sam Lamb, originally attending the match as a field judge, kindly stepped in at the last minute to run the 1500m. She finished second A runner in 5:26.31, which ranks her as the 4th-fastest W50 this year.

U18 athlete Khalid Hussein produced a classy kick to win the men’s 800m in 1:56.89, a PB and his first official sub-two-minute run. That performance lifts him to 38th among U18M athletes in the UK.

Fellow U18 athlete Aneirin Lessard also ran a PB of 4:11.95 to finish as the fastest B runner in the 1500m. He followed Harry Wells, who cruised to victory as the fastest A runner before later contributing a useful leg in the 4x400m.

Kyalo Burt-Fulcher once again showed the extraordinary range that made him one of our fastest men over everything from 800m to 55k last season, including both the club track mile and 20 mile road champion. Fresh from a London Marathon PB of 2:28.39, he dropped down in distance to help the team and won the 800m B by one hundredth of a second with a determined finish. His 2:00.48 ranks him as the 6^th-fastest M35 in the UK this year.

Magnus Ross also switched from the marathon—having run 2:28.11 in London—to make his club track debut (per P10). He ran an excellent 15:16.38 to finish second in the 5000m A. The ever-reliable Paul Martelletti was second B runner in 15:41.52, the fastest time by a UK M45 athlete so far in 2026.

Field event highlights

Our team absences were most keenly felt in the field, where standards seemed noticeably higher than in division two. But we kept the scoreboard ticking over by making sure we had two scorers in all field events (except for missing three Pole Vault slots). By contrast we left eight track slots unfilled, including six in hurdles races, where David Shortridge was our lone, valiant competitor. We urgently need volunteer hurdlers to step up – coaching can be provided! Standout field performances included:

Robyn Connolly threw 42.07m to finish 2^nd A string in the hammer. Her furthest throw since 2022 (per P10), this ranks her 60th woman in the UK this year, meanwhile U20 Laureen Okoghenu was the top B-string thrower.

Akiko Findlay finished third in the women’s Triple Jump A with 10.44m, ranking her 38th among U18 women, and also took third in Long Jump B. U18M Edgar Wetherall also finished 3^rd in Triple Jump and 5^th in Long Jump.

U18s Sachin Gharu and Micah Prescod-Williams secured 2^nd place in both the A and B High Jump, both jumping promising PBs, of 1.65 and 1.55 respectively.  

Stephen Phillips threw the javelin 27.55m and while UK M55 rankings are based on the lighter 700g javelin, even throwing the 800g implement, Stephen’s distance would rank 11^th M55. Stephen was also one of several athletes taking advantage of the opportunity to run non-scoring races at the SAL. His 100m in 13.73 was another recent PB and currently ranks him 24th among UK M55 athletes.

Fellow M55 Adrian Armstrong finished 3^rd in the Hammer, throwing 27.05m, another recent PB. Again, the M55 rankings are based on throws with a lighter implement (6kg vs 7.26kg) but Adrian’s throw was not far behind his recent 28.44m with a lighter hammer that ranks him 7^th in the UK.

Maximum points for our officials

We also picked up the maximum 30 points for fielding a strong team of officials. Massive thanks to Suzi Ewing—our first timekeeper at an away match in a long time—track judge Ed Lowe, and the field judge team of Tom Fyffe, Cornelia Abe Minale, Tony MacDowall and Sam Lamb, with help from Diego Carlo Daprile. Thanks also, as always, to all our athletes and coaches. See you at Mile End!