South Bucks gained a second victory at the Southern Athletics League match at Luton on Sunday.
 
Despite several team changes during the week, the team were still strong enough to ward off a challenge from the host club.
 
There were twenty-seven South Bucks athletes in total (slightly down from 31 at the first match), nine coming from Chiltern. The match scores were South Bucks 286.5, Luton 250.5, Northampton 205, Biggleswade 153, Maidenhead 134, Aylesbury 41.
 
On a warm, sunny day there was some good athletics to enjoy. George Brown made his SAL debut with second place in 800m in a PB of 1.59.20. George added to this with a big win in his specialist event, 3000m with a time of 8.49.7, enough to earn the Man of the Match award. Matt Evans ran B string 800m and also gained a PB of 2.13.1.
 
There were seven Chiltern women taking part. Alice Brown was second in 400m in 62.7. In a tough 5000m in the heat, Ali Young and Charlotte Docwra had a good battle with Ali first A string in 2.02.2 and Charlotte first in B string in 2.04.6. Ali added first place in B string 1500m (5.28.0) with Soraya Lockwood winning A string in a PB of 5.10.3.
 
Holly Henderson won 1500m steeplechase in 5.51.4 and Abbie Henderson was third in A string high jump with 1.40m. Fiona Calder was second in B string 800m and also did non-scoring 200m and long jump. Alice was in the A string mixed relay team that was second and Abbie in the B string team that won.
 
Match 3 is on Saturday July 16th.

Several Chiltern Harriers made the trip up to Milton Keynes for the British Milers Club PB Classic on Saturday 4th.
This meeting, for athletes U13-U20, is a good opportunity for young athletes to improve their times, each race being led by a pacemaker with lap targets. Chiltern athletes George Brown, Will Brown, Alex Johnson and Max McGarvie helped with the pacemaking.
 
800m
Alden Collier was fifth in the Men’s A Race to log a season’s best 1.55.88. In the B Race U20 Max McGarvie also got a season’s best with 1.56.97. The C Race saw good runs from U17s Isaac Jessop-Tranter in 2.00.84 and John Nickless in 2.02.29, both outside their best however. U20 Louis Peterson won Race D in 2.00.34, just three tenths off his PB. U15 Callum Powell was fifth in the G Race in 2.19.51, just off his recently set best.
In the female 800m races Lily Jessop-Tranter ran 2.25.05 in the C Race whilst U15 Marlie Nkoane ran 2.33.07 in the Mixed I Race. U17 Allegra Massey won the Mixed L Race in a PB of 2.33.68.
 
1500m
In the Men’s C Race the Pinder twins both ran season’s bests - Euan in 4.22.30 and Archie in 4.26.58. U15 Alex Hughes ran 4.45.33 in the D Race, a little off his best, and in the F Race U13 Charlie Quantrill with 4.59.91 and U20 Charlotte Docwra with 5.10.64, were also a little off their best.
 
3000m
In the Men’s B Race U20 Tom Emery ran a PB of 9.07.12 and in the Women’s A Race U17 Maddie Hughes ran a PB, and ESAA qualifier, of 10.11.89.
 
Steeplechase
In the Women’s 1500m race Frankie Baxter ran a PB of 5.29.17.

A still, mild evening provided good conditions for middle distance running at Watford on June 1st, and the Chiltern contingent had another successful evening.
 
1500m
Race 1
There were PBs for U13 Maya Davis (5.28.25) and U15 Eleanor Horne (5.50.68). U13 Isaac McCall was just off his best with 5.34.71.
 
Race 2
PBs in this one for U13s Jacob McCall (5.25.04) and Eddie O’Brien (5.29.00) and U13 Nia Clarke was just off her best with 5.26.77.
 
Race 3
U15 Issy Robinson ran well for a PB of 5.06.89 and U13 Evelyn Wildman also logged a new best of 5.12.60. Vet 45 Ali Young ran a season’s best 5.20.67 and U13 Luke Coultate 5.30.01.
 
Race 4
Race 4 saw a Chiltern win for U15 Rory Hilton in a new best of 4.53.07. There were also PBs for U13 Charlie Quantrill (4.59.20), U13 Kara Gorman (4.59.98) and U15 Marlie Nkoane (5.02.62). U15 Olivia Clarke was slightly outside her best with 5.05.63.
 
Race 5
This saw a positive race from U15 Aidan Suleyman who hung on well for a PB of 4.58.08.
 
Race 8
U17 Ethan McCall ran well for a new best of 4.37.44. There were also PBs from U15 Callum Powell (4.41.57) and U13 Tom Ford (4.42.39).
 
Race 9
U17 Maddie Hughes worked hard for a season’s best 4.45.25.
 
Race 10
Senior Man Alex Paul had a good run to log 4.19.79 for a season’s best.
 
Race 12
U20 Louis Peterson ran a PB of 4.02.77 and U17 Isaac Jessop-Tranter also had a PB evening with 4.08.38.
 
Race 14
U20 Tom Emery ran well for a PB of 4.01.19.
 
3000m
There were five Chiltern PBs from five in the 3000m races at the end of the evening. In Race 2 Senior Man Aran Davidson with 8.49.47 and U23 Will Brown with 8.49.65 were third and fourth and not far behind U17s Thomas Redmond with 9.04.83 and Ash Finch with 9.08.14 also logged new bests.
 
In Race 3 U23 George Brown kept a good tempo for a big new best of 8.33.11.

Chisom Nwafor took part in the EA U18 Heptathlon Championships at Bedford at the weekend. The event, which also featured the Senior and U20 multi-events competitions, acted as a qualifier for the European U18 Championships which are in Jerusalem in early July.
 
In good conditions, and after recording four personal bests, Chisom won the gold medal with a points score of 5361, surpassing the qualifying standard for Jerusalem of 5200, and putting Chisom second on the U17 all-time list.
 
All weekend Chisom had a great battle with Taunton’s Seren Rodgers who ended on 5233. Chisom won three of the seven events and was never out of the top four. On Saturday Chisom opened with a PB of 14.69 in the 100m hurdles to be third. Chisom followed this with a win in high jump and another PB of 1.62m to remain third. A huge PB of 13.81m in the shot putt allowed Chisom to take the lead and open a gap on her rivals. A final PB of 25.33 in 200m meant Chisom ended the first day with a 63 point lead over Seren.
 
Day Two started well with possibly Chisom’s strongest event, long jump. A leap of 6.03m put her with a lead of over 200 and solid performances in javelin, 31.79m, and 800m, 2.28.53, left Chisom the victor despite a fast 800m by Seren to close the gap.
 
Chisom will now focus on getting ready for Jerusalem in just over a month’s time.

U20 Women
Christan Paulsen ran well in A string sprints, fourth in both in 13.1 and 26.5. Aaliyah Cain and Lottie Warkup were both fourth in the B strings. Olivia Edwards ran 2.29 for fourth in A string 800m, Tia Lomas 2.35 for second in B string. Charlotte Docwra was fourth in A string 1500m. Ella Griffin was third in 100m hurdles and Rufaro Chikwanda third in 400m hurdles. Olivia Brown had a great race to be second in 1500m steeplechase in an English Schools qualifier of 5.13.9. Tia Lomas jumped 4.52m in long jump with Rufaro and Hannah Wells doing well in triple jump. Hannah carried on her busy day with a win in shot, second in hammer, third in discus and sixth in javelin. The 4 x 100m team of Lottie, Rufaro, Christina and Ella were fourth whilst the 4 x 400m team of Tia, Charlotte, Ella and Lottie were also fourth.
 
U20 Men
The six U20 men available worked hard and gained some useful points. Ryan Wells won hammer and was second in discus and Keelan Welch was third and fifth in the short sprints in 11.7 and 24.3. Thomas Askey had a busy day with fourth in A string 400m and 800m. Max McGarvie added fifth in javelin and sixth in shot to his fourth in 1500m. Laurie Gawne won 3000m on debut in a good time of 9.35.5. Laurie added fourth in B string 200m. Andrew Partridge had a varied day in B string 800m plus PBs in long jump, shot and discus. The 4 x 400m relay team of Max, Laurie, Thomas and Max Baxter was third.
 
U17 Women
Keira Payne ran well in A string 100m and B string 200m with Bella Hussain in B string 100m and Aoife  McCauley looking after A string 200m. The 300m duo of Frankie Baxter and Aaliyah Cain ran well. In 800m Evie Burton added an A string win to her second place in the 1500m earlier. Sofia Lomas was second in B string 800m, Ellie Faulkner third in B string 1500m. Jo Snelling ran A string 80m hurdles with Aoife McCauley in B string. Jo also ran A string 300m hurdles, Mae Burton looking after the B string. Frankie Baxter made a good debut in 1500m steeplechase, winning with 5.33.0. Aoife and Bella did long jump with Sofia in triple jump and Mae in high jump. In the throws Frankie and Evie did shot, Aaliyah and Sofia discus, and Bella and Kiera javelin. The 4 x 100m team was fourth and the 4 x 300m team of Jo, Frankie, Evie and Sofia third.
 
U17 Men
Again just six South Bucks men participated but all made big contributions. Isaac Jessop-Tranter ran A string 200m (PB of 25.5) and 400m and the 800m was looked after by Archie Pinder and Ethan McCall. Euan Pinder was second in 1500m with Rowan Gawne second in B string. Max Baxter was second in 3000m. Max added A string discus and won B string long jump. Archie did A string long jump and B string high jump and Rowan added A string shot. Ethan ran B string 400m and threw a javelin PB of 25.89m with Euan second in B string. The 4 x 400m team of Euan, Archie, Ethan and Isaac was third.
 
The third match is closer to home at Harrow on June 26th.

For several seasons Chiltern Harriers has been involved in the Southern Athletics League, a competition for vets, seniors, U20s and U17s across the south. This has been in the form of composite teams with Bedford B and Vale of Aylesbury, neither of which have been particularly successful.
 
So this year the club have joined up with Wycombe Phoenix who have operated at a good level by themselves in this league. The South Bucks name continues the composite that has worked successfully in the YDL Upper Age Group for U17s and U20s for many years.

Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s had another good match in the second YDL match of the season. Despite having a few gaps in the team, athletes were flexible in helping the team out and covered plenty of events. The team was a creditable third in the seven-team division.
 
It was another peasant day in Southampton. Good conditions for athletics.
 
U15 Boys
A small team of five worked hard and there were some very strong efforts. Callum Powell won A string 800m in 2.20.2 with Aidan Suleyman gaining a PB of 2.26.4 to be third in the B string. In 1500m Alex Hughes was second in A string in 4.51.2 and James Holdsworth won the B string in 4.56.5. The team were short of sprinters but Cameron McGuffin made an excellent club debut, 28.2 in 200m and 44.9 in 300m. Callum helped out in long jump and threw a javelin PB of 21.89m to be third. James Holdsworth helped in discus and Aidan in shot and hammer. Cameron threw B string discus and Alex B string javelin. The 4 x 300m relay team of James, Callum, Alex and Aidan were third.
 
U15 Girls
A fuller girls team scored good points. Abi Masters ran PBs of 14.1 and 28.7 in the short sprints, and Ffion Harman and Florence Lee-Rubis ran well in 300m. Lucy Wilkinson and Olivia Clarke looked after 800m and Lily Jessop-Tranter had another good race to be third in A string 1500m in 5.00.0. Marlie Nkoane was second in B string in a PB of 5.06.1. Olivia Clarke and Rebecca Lawson scored useful points in 80m hurdles. Rebecca and Marlie helped out in long jump, and Olivia and Florence kept the momentum going in high jump. Lucy was second in hammer with a PB of 22.27m and third in javelin, Lily won B string hammer and Ffion was second in B string javelin. The sprint relay team was fifth (Abi, Ffion, Florence, Lucy) and the 4 x 300m team was third (Lily, Rebecca, Marlie, Olivia).
 
U13 Boys
The U13 boys saw good efforts all round. Felix Danielli was fourth in 1200m in a PB of 4.00.9, Hugo Mundy second in B string. In 800m Charlie Quantrill was second in A string and Luke Coultate won the B string. In 75m Lenny Brooks-Klingenschmid and Felix Danielli gained PBs and Aarav Johnson and Lenny looked after 150m. Charlie and Lenny scored very useful points in hurdles and Jacob McCall and Isaac McCall looked after long jump. Felix continued his good afternoon with a PB of 1.26m in high jump and Lenny won the B string. Hugo Mundy was second in A string shot with a PB of 7.17m and was third in javelin with 21.27m, both PBs. Jacob helped out in B string shot and Luke in B string javelin. The 4 x 100m relay team of Aarav, Charlie, Luke and Felix was third.
 
U13 Girls
Zoe Partridge and Carys Jones ran 75m with Kara Gorman and Zoe running 150m. In middle distance Evelyn Wildman was third in A string 800m, Carys second in B string. Kara Gorman ran a PB 4.01.1 to win 1200m, with Nia Clarke making it a double win in the B string. Nia and Megan Lockwood scored good hurdles points and Nia continued her good day with a PB in A string long jump, Megan looking after B string. Evelyn was second A string high jump with Carys getting a win in B string. Evelyn and Kara gained shot PBs and the 4 x 100m team of Nia, Megan, Carys and Kara were fifth.
 
The next match is at Guildford on July 3rd.

The storms stayed away long enough for some superb 800m running from Chiltern athletes on Wednesday.
Many PBs achieved, often by big margins.
Race 1
Rebecca Lawson U15                     2.40.31 PB
Maya Davis U13                              2.40.51 PB
Eleanor Horne U15                         2.44.15 PB
Carys Jones U13                              2.52.73 PB
 
Race 2
Luke Coultate U13                          2.32.21 PB
Lydia Cross U15                               2.35.23 PB
Nia Clarke U13                                 2.38.63 PB
Jacob McCall U13                            2.47.69 PB
Isaac McCall U13                             2.53.17 PB
 
Race 3
Ian Lawson V55                               2.24.40 PB
Issy Robinson U15                          2.27.31 PB
 
Race 4
Marlie Nkoane U15                        2.28.54 PB
Emily Ford U15                                2.29.81 PB
 
Race 5
Izzy Martin U15                               2.21.19 PB
Lucy Wilkinson U15                        2.28.19 PB
 
Race 6
Lily Jessop-Tranter U15                 2.20.56 PB
Jack Martin U13                              2.25.56
 
Race 7
Felix Danielli U13                            2.20.79 PB
Alex Hughes U15                             2.24.19 PB
 
Race 8
Tom Ford U13                                  2.18.40 PB
James Holdsworth U15                 2.19.03 PB
Frankie Baxter U17                         2.20.19 PB
 
Race 10
Alex Paul SEN M                             2.07.19 PB
Ethan McCall U17                           2.09.10 PB
Max Baxter U17                              2.13.42 PB
 
Race 12
Euan Pinder U17                             2.03.44 PB
 
Race 13
Thomas Askey U20                         2.03.40
Archie Pinder U17                          2.04.05 PB
 
Race 14
Isaac Jessop-Tranter U17              2.00.76
 
BMC Race 2
Oakley Denson                                 1.54.64 PB                          

Saturday  - clear blue skies, warm temperatures
There were 100m wins for U13 Boy Felix Danielli in 14.24 and U17 woman Mila Luker in 13.33. Aaliyah Cain was third in the U17W race in 13.62. Zeno Chiappe ran 15.32 in the U13 boys race. In the U15 Boys final Enzo Chiappe was fifth in 16.50. Sarah Cross was third in the senior women’s race in 13.70. In the U15 Girls event Abigail Masters ran a PB 14.11 in the heat to make the final where she was fourth in 14.12. Also involved in the heats were Iris Foreman (14.90), Georgia Potts (15.14) and Syra Raza (15.489).

In 300m Max Roughton won gold in the U15 boys race in a PB of 41.41. Several U15 girls contested the heats with Yasmin Warnes (45.76), Ffion Harman (46.07) and Florence Lee-Rubis (46.74) making the final. Also running well was Charlotte Hewson in 47.98. The final saw Yasmin take bronze in 45.76 with Ffion fourth in 46.07 and Florence sixth in 47.32. U17 Jo Snelling was fourth in her final in a PB of 46.35.

Alice Brown won gold in the U20 women’s 400m in a PB of 62.29 with Grace Thorpe third in 65.00. (approx. – results not up yet) U20 Thomas Askey ran a PB of 53.50 to be third and U17 Felix Palmer won silver in his race with a PB of 54.43. (approx. – results not up yet)

The 1500m was the middle distance race of the day and U13 Kara Gorman won gold in a PB of 5.04.13. Charlie Quantrill (PB of 5.00.38) and Felix Danielli (PB of 5.01.68) won silver and bronze in the boys version. The U15 girls race was split into two time trials with Lily Jessop-Tranter best placed overall in fourth with 4.58.11. Also running well were Marlie Nkoane (5.10.43), Olivia Clarke (5.17.93) and Jocelyn Davies (5.34.51). Aidan Suleyman front ran for a win in the boys’ version in 5.01.59. Allegra Massey (bronze in 4.55.99) and Sofia Lomas (fifth in 5.23.15) were involved in the U17 women’s race and Charlotte Docwra was second in the U20 event in 5.08.48. Laurie Gawne ran 4.27.25 to be second in the U20 men’s race and Rowan Gawne was on PB form to log 4.43.00 and be fifth in the U17 race. Short hurdles saw a win for Zoe Partridge in the U13s in 16.68.

In the field Chisom Nwafor took the honours in U17 women’s long jump. Chisom jumped 6.04m with a legal wind and 6.22m with a slight tailwind to win comfortably. This gives Chisom the qualification to take part in the European U18 Championships in Jerusalem later in the summer. Chisom is currently ranked no 1 in Europe. Also doing well in the U17 long jump were Mila Luker (PB of 4.73m for fourth) and Sofia Lomas (PB of 4.70m for fifth). The U15 girls long jump had a big field of 16. Florence Lee-Rubis won silver with a PB of 4.38m and there were good efforts from Ffion Harman (6th in 4.15m), Rebecca Lawson (8th PB of 4.04m), Yasmin Warnes (4.02m), Charlotte Hewson (4.02m), Yasmin Warnes (3.94m) and Georgia Potts (3.89m). In the boys U15 long jump Samuel Attia won silver with 4.71m, Enzo Chiappe 5th with 3.83m and Mattie Gemmell 10th with 3.22m.

In the throws, U15 Lucy Wilkinson won two golds in hammer (PB of 20.47m) and javelin (19.26m) Ffion Harman won silver in javelin with 15.16m and Florence Lee-Rubis won bronze with 12.56m. Allegra Massey won bronze in U17 women’s javelin with 13.79m. Sarah Cross won Senior women’s javelin with 29.99m.
  
Sunday – grey, showery, cooler
Chisom Nwafor continued her good work on Sunday with a PB win in 200m in 25.46. Aaliyah Cain was fourth in 28.29. U13 Felix Danielli gained another county title with a 200m win in 29.52. Luke Coultate ran 31.00. Elizabeth Nickless ran 31.17 in the U15 girls 200m to be fourth and Sarah Cross ran 28.00 (approx. – results not up yet) in the senior women’s race to be third.

There were some great 800m races to enjoy. Evelyn Wildman was just pipped for silver in the U13 girls race with a good time of 2.37.37 and Nia Clarke ran well to be fourth in 2.41.39. The U13 boys race was a high quality affair. Felix Danielli finished fast to be third in 2.26.23 just ahead of team mate Jack Martin (2.26.26). Also running well were Hugo Mundy (2.35.05), Luke Coultate (24.42.43) and Theo Roughton (2.45.33). There was a Chiltern 1-2 in the U15 Boys race with Rory Hilton coming home in front with a PB 2.19.41 ahead of Max Roughton in 2.20.85. Mattie Gemmell ran 2.42.36 and Charlie De Sousa 2.50.81. In the U17 men’s race John Nickless equalled his PB of 1.59.98 in a very closely fought three-way battle. After leading most of the way John had to settle with bronze. Frankie Baxter scored a season’s best 2.22.22 to be fourth in the U17 women’s race.

Perhaps the best middle distance event of the weekend was the U15 girls 800m. This featured three heats of eight, narrowing to a final of eight three hours later. So tactics and recovery skills were important. In heat 1 Issy Robinson ran 2.29.66 to be second so qualified well. Heat 2 saw a good run from Lydia Cross, fourth in 2.36.42 and a PB from Rebecca Lawson of 2.43.84. In heat 3 Lily Jessop-Tranter and Izzy Martin ran sensibly to qualify in first and second in 2.31.74 and 2.31.89. Also in heat 3 Alice Peckham scored a PB of 2.32.97, Lucy Wilkinson ran 2.36.21, and Genevieve Donald 2.53.56. In an exciting final Lily had a great run to win bronze in 2.25.35 with Izzy sixth in 2.30.20 and Issy eighth in 2.35.55.

Jo Snelling won bronze in 300m hurdles with a PB of 51.74. In the U20 400m hurdles Rufaro Chikwanda won gold with 73.14 and Jess Cook was second in 77.91.
​
In the field there were three high jump wins: Evelyn Wildman, 1.20m in U13 girls, Felix Danielli 1.20m in U13 boys, and Mattie Gemmell 1.30m in U15 boys. In U15 girls Ffion Harman and Florence Lee-Rubis both jumped 1.30m but Ffion shared silver, Florence was in fourth on countback. Chisom Nwafor gained yet another gold with 1.55m in U17 women’s high jump. Chisom scored gold number four with 12.30m in shot and Frankie Baxter was fourth with 6.78m. Sarah Cross won Senior women’s shot with 9.05m. Elizabeth Nickless won silver in U15 girls discus with 12.26m and Amber Galley won U17 women’s silver with a PB of 21.57m.