The penultimate Watford Open took place in typically fine conditions on Wednesday 24th August.
 
Despite it being the end of the season, there was a good turnout from Chiltern athletes and even some season’s bests and personal bests achieved.
 
400m
U17 Isaac Jessop-Tranter honed his speed ready for Saturday’s England Athletics Champs 800m at Bedford with a PB of 53.32 in 400m.
 
3000m
Richard Slade was a runaway winner of the only 3000m race of the evening with a PB of 8.38.32.
 
1500m
Race 2
U15 Issy Robinson ran 5.12.13 and there was a season’s best of 5.17.30 for U15 Lucy Wilkinson. U13 Maya Davis was a fraction outside her best with 5.21.71.
 
Race 3
U20 Liv Cameron ran her first 1500m for five years and impressed with a well-paced 5.00.10. Also doing well in this one were U15s Emily Ford 5.04.78 and Marlie Nkoane 5.056.26.
 
Race 4
There were PBs in this one for U13s Charlie Quantrill 4.53.75 and Kara Gorman 4.54.20. U15 Rory Hilton was off his best with 4.59.18.
 
Race 5
U15 Aidan Suleyman ran a PB of 4.50.96 and U17 Frankie Baxter was close to her season’s best with 4.54.93.
 
Race 7
U15 Alex Hughes ran well for a PB of 4.35.80.
 
Race 8
Good runs from U13 Tom Ford 4.40.44, U15 Callum Powell 4.43.01, and U15 Isaac Collier 4.46.60, all a little off their best .
 
Race 9
U17 Matt Evans confirmed his good training form with a nine second PB of 4.24.31.
 
Race 11
U23 Alex Aldred ran his first 1500m since 2019 and did well with 4.12.99.
 
Race 13
U20 Louis Peterson ran a PB of 4.01.43.

The South Bucks team confirmed its place at the top of Division 3 North with a fourth consecutive win at the final match at Sandy on Saturday 13th. The new composite in the Southern Athletics League of athletes from Wycombe Phoenix and Chiltern Harriers has proved successful in 2022, and next year should see promotion to the round-robin based Division 2 West.
 
There were eight Chiltern athletes taking part at an extremely hot Sandy and they contributed to a team score of 310, well ahead of Luton on 173, Biggleswade on 150, Northampton on 135, Maidenhead on 119, and Aylesbury on 7. Sue Slade and Anne Underwood supplied some top level officiating at the match, crucial to keep the league going.
 
U17 Mila Luker had a good day, second in A string 100m in 13.4 and second in A string long jump with a PB of 4.90m. In 800m U17 Lesedi Nkoane had her first track race of the season and was third in A string in 2.34.7 and U20 Charlotte Docwra won B string in 2.35.3. Vet 45 Bex Nkoane had a good run to be third in A string 1500m in 5.22.5.  Mila was in the victorious 4 x 100m team.
 
On the men’s side Senior Men Richard Slade in 9.00.3, and Aran Davidson in 9.02.8, won A and B string 3000m respectively. Ethan McCall was second in B string 800m in 2.13.8 and Matt Evans had a great run in 800m non-scoring to score a PB of 2.09.8. Ethan was in the mixed 4 x 400m relay team that was second.
 
The SAL has seen twenty-five Chiltern athletes contribute to the South Bucks teams across the four matches, ranging from U17s and U20s up through seniors and veterans. All have enjoyed a good level of competition and friendly atmospheres at all the matches.
 
Next year should see a step-up in the standard and number of athletes competing, as the team comes up against strong clubs established in the league.

Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s had a good match at Eton on Saturday in the fourth and final meeting in the YDL series.
 
The U15 girls, U15 boys and U13 boys all had solid teams out but, mostly due to summer holidays, Zoe Partridge was the only U13 girl. So the team’s fourth place was all the more impressive. The team finished fourth overall in this strong seven-team division.
 
Despite it being the end of a long season there were many personal bests and season’s bests from the Chiltern athletes
 
U15 Girls
Abi Masters logged PBs in both 100m (4th in 13.52) and 200m (5th in 28.13). Florence Lee-Rubis scored a PB to be fourth in B string 100m (14.00) and Issy Robinson was fourth in B string 200m in a PB of 29.65. In 300m Ffion Harman was fifth in A string (45.05) and Yasmin Warnes was second in B string (45.68). The middle distance girls scored good pints with Lily Jessop-Tranter winning A string 800m in 2.26.10 and Izzy Martin second in B string in 2.27.62. Lucy Wilkinson and Rebecca Lawson ran well in non-scoring 800m. Marlie Nkoane was third in A string 1500m in 5.06.66 and Emily Ford was second in B string in 5.09.04. Florence Lee-Rubis was third in A string 75m hurdles in 14.11 and Ffion Harman second in B string in 15.10. The 4 x 100m team of Abi, Ffion, Yasmin and Florence were an excellent second in a season’s best 53.35. The 4 x 300m team also ran a season’s best of 3.09.61. The quartet featured Lily, Marlie, Charlotte Hewson and Izzy.
 
In the field Florence was second in A string long jump with a PB of 4.58m. Rebecca was third in B string with 3.45m. Charlotte Hewson was fifth in A string high jump with 1.35m and Issy Robinson won B string with 1.30m. In shot there were PBs for Ffion and Emily, and Genevieve Donald and Izzy looked after discus. Lucy Wilkinson was second in A string hammer (20.55m) and Lily was second in B string (12.23m). Lucy was third in A string javelin (20.55m) with Marlie third in B string.
 
U15 Boys
There were 100m PBs for Oscar Freemont (3rd in A string in 12.13) and Issa Phillips-Pope (4th in B string in 12.91). Oscar gained another PB in A string 200m – 2nd in 24.25 whilst Cameron McGuffin was fifth in B string in 27.43. The 300m A string saw a PB for Cameron of 43.66, and Enzo Chiappe was fourth in B string. Max Roughton was second in A string 800m in 2.21.67 and Mattie Gemmell ran a PB of 2.32.78 to be second in B string. Rory Hilton ran 4.54.76 to be fourth in 1500m. The 4 x 100m team of Mattie, Issa, Enzo and Oscar were fifth, and the 4 x 300m quartet scored a season’s best 3.03.30, courtesy of Mattie, Rory, Cameron and Max.
Issa and Oscar looked after long jump and Max and Mattie coped well in high jump. Max (5th in a string with 8.20m) and Cameron (3rd in B string with 6.06m) both got PBs in shot. Rory did A string discus and Enzo and Rory looked after javelin.
 
U13 Girls
Zoe Partridge was the sole U13 Chiltern girl on the day and gained PBs in 800m (3.05.94), long jump (3.46m) and shot (5.47m).
 
U13 Boys
Zeno Chiappe (11.77) and Theo Roughton (12.22) were the 75m scorers and Kit Dixon (11.59) and Luke Coultate (12.50) ran non-scoring. In 150m Aarav Johnson (22.01) and Luke Coultate (23.22) did well. In A string 800m Jack Martin ran well for second in 2.29.82 and Hugo Mundy was second in B string in 2.39.00. Eddie O’Brien won the non-scoring 800m with Theo Roughton fourth. The 1200m saw an excellent win for Tom Ford in a PB of 3.43.21, inside the UK top 20 for the distance for U13s. In the B string Charlie Quantrill ran a PB of 3.56.78 to be third. Jack Martin and Kit Dixon scored very useful points, third in A string and second in B string respectively, in 75m hurdles. The 4 x 100m relay team of Zeno, Eddie, Tom and Aarav ran well for third in a season’s best 59.10.
Jack Martin and Tom Ford helped with long jump and Charlie Quantrill was third in A string high jump.  In the throws Hugo Mundy continued his great progress with javelin, second in the A string with a PB of 28.36m. Luke Coultate was fourth in B string. Kai Burgess, third in A string and Kit Dixon, third in B string, did well in shot.

South Bucks had another good match in the third of four Southern Athletics League matches on Saturday. The sun shone on the track at Sandy near Biggleswade and the match had a nice atmosphere.
 
The composite team of Chiltern Harriers and Wycombe Phoenix athletes recorded a third consecutive win, finishing on 329 points, well ahead of Northampton in second. There were ten Chiltern athletes taking part in the thirty-strong South Bucks contingent.
 
Senior Woman Sarah Cross had a busy day coming second in B string javelin with a season’s best 30.83m, second in A string shot with another season’s best 9.20m, and second in B string 100m: another season’s best of 13.40. Also contributing to the women’s team was U20 Olivia Cameron, racing on the track for the first time since 2017. Olivia was third in A string 800m in a promising 2.33.5. Also making a return to the track after a break was U17 Marea Logan, winning B string 800m in 2.38.00. U17 Frankie Baxter also made her SAL debut, scoring an impressive win in A string 2000m steeplechase in 7.53.80.
 
On the men’s side Senior Man Aran Davidson ran a well-paced race to win A string 5000m in 15.42.7, a very impressive performance given the hot conditions. Vet 55 Ian Lawson ran 19.13.4 as a non-scorer. U20 Max McGarvie was second in A string 1500m in a season’s best 4.22.7 and U17 Matt Evans scored a PB in the same race, running 4.33.2 to win the B string. Isaac Jessop-Tranter won B string 400m in a PB of 54.4 with Tom Askey just behind as a non-scorer in the same race. Isaac and Tom teamed up with Wycombe’s David Clark and James Twallin to win 4 x 400m relay in a brisk 3.42.7.
 
The final match is at Luton on Saturday August 13th which should see South Bucks confirmed as winners of Division 3 North, gaining promotion to Division 2 next year.

There were seven Chiltern Harriers taking part in the biggest meeting of the season for juniors, the English Schools Track and Field Championships, held this year at Sportcity, Manchester. All bar one were competing for Buckinghamshire Schools, one for Middlesex Schools. Warm sunshine made for great conditions.
 
All did well and the highlight was second place in the Inter Boys 800m for Oakley Denson. The first two in the Intermediate age group events are offered the chance to represent England in the SIAB meeting the following Saturday, so Oakley is off to Belfast next weekend to do that.
 
Oakley was in a tough heat on the Friday, comprising all three athletes at the top of the rankings. Fortunately all three made it through to Saturday’s final with Oakley logging 1.56.42. In the closing straight in that final it was those three again that contested the places and Oakley, who was always well placed, finished strongly to secure second and his ticket to Belfast. His time was 1.54.07.
 
Also in Inter Boys 800m was Isaac Jessop-Tranter, who ran well in his heat to record 1.58.35, fourth place and two hundredths off his PB, but not enough to make the final. Lily Jessop-Tranter got a late call up to run Junior Girls 800m and gained her first experience of a meeting at this level. Lily was outside her recently set best and was tenth in her heat in 2.25.10. Tom Emery was selected for Senior Boys 1500m for Middlesex Schools and ran well to record 4.02.49 for tenth in his heat, not enough for the final but a great effort in his first English Schools Championships.
 
On the Saturday the remaining Chiltern athletes were all involved in straight finals. First up was Thomas Redmond who ran well to be 16th in Inter Boys 3000m in 9.05.08, just outside his recently set best. Immediately after that Maddie Hughes ran well for seventh in Inter Girls 3000m, gaining a PB of 10.05.83. Frankie Baxter continued her progress in a new event for her, running a PB of 5.18.84 to be sixth in Inter Girls 1500m steeplechase.
 
All the athletes enjoyed their experience of top level athletics.

Chiltern Harriers U13s and U15s had another good match at Guildford on Sunday 3rd July in the third match in the YDL Lower Age Group season.
 
In the highest calibre match in the series so far, Chiltern came a creditable fourth, and are fourth in the seven team division with one match remaining. The match was well organised with good facilities such as electronic timing, photo finish and a working wind gauge.
 
U15 Boys
The Chiltern U15 boys had perhaps their strongest team of the season out. In 100m Issa Phillips-Pope was fifth in A string 100m in 13.16 and Nirva Raj Khanturaban was third in B string in a PB of 12.68. In 200m Issa ran 26.82 with Cameron McGuffin getting a PB of 27.31 in B string. In 300m Callum Powell ran a PB of 44.85 and Cameron McGuffin ran 45.04 in B string. The 800m saw a second place from Callum in 2.17.73 and Hari Mistry was fifth in B string. A superb PB of 4.34.60 came from James Holdsworth in 1500m A string, and there was a further PB from Aidan Suleyman of 4.53.53 in B string. Aidan picked up useful points in A string long jump and high jump. Cameron helped out in shot, Nirva Raj and James in discus, and Callum in javelin. The 4 x 100m relay team of Cameron, Issa, Nirva Raj and James were fourth, and in the 4 x 300m the quartet of James, Hari, Aidan and Callum were third.
 
U15 Girls
Abi Masters and Eleanor Horne ran 100m and Iris Foreman and Lily Jessop-Tranter 200m. In 300m Alice Peckham ran A string with Iris looking after B string. The 800m saw third place from Izzy Martin in 2.26.43 and there was third place in B string for Issy Robinson in 2.32.45. Marlie Nkoane and Katie Allsop ran well in 1500m. Issy ran A string 75m hurdles with Lydia Cross looking after B string. In long jump Abi Masters gained a PB with 4.11m to be fourth and Rebecca Lawson was second in B string with 3.87m. Issy Robinson jumped 1.35m in high jump and Alice Peckham and Eleanor Horne helped out in shot. Eleanor and Marlie looked after discus and Lily Jessop-Tranter was second in A string hammer. In javelin Katie Allsop threw a PB of 17.53m to be fifth and Izzy Martin was fourth in B string. The 4 x 100m relay team of Alice, Iris, Abi and Issy were fifth and the 4 x 300m relay squad of Izzy, Katie, Marlie and Lily were third.
 
U13 Boys
Jack Martin ran an impressive 10.81 in 75m with Felix Danielli running 11.27 in B string. Luke Coultate ran 11.80 non-scoring. Aarav Johnson and Luke looked after 150m. In 800m A string Charlie Quantrill ran well for third in 2.27.45 and Felix won B string in 2.30.42. Eddie O’Brien was fourth in non-scoring 800m, and Hugo Mundy and Kit Dixon ran well in 1200m. Felix and Kit helped out with 75m hurdles. Charlie and Eddie contributed in long jump, Felix and Luke in high jump. Hugo Mundy threw a big PB of 27.01m to win A string javelin and Jack Martin took care of B string. Kit helped out in shot. The 4 x 100m team of Hugo, Aarav, Kit and Jack were fourth.
 
U13 Girls
Nia Clarke ran A string 75m, Megan Lockwood A string 150m. In 800m Nia had a great race to be second and Carys Jones was second in B string. In A string 1200m Evelyn Wildman was third in 4.10.23 and Megan won B string in 4.21.89. Zoe Partridge ran A string hurdles and Evelyn was third in B string. Nia and Megan did long jump, and Evelyn and Carys high jump. Zoe and Carys teamed up for shot and Zoe helped in javelin. The 4 x 100m relay team of Evelyn, Zoe, Megan and Nia was fifth.
 
The final match is at Eton on July 30th. The team are placed fourth currently and should end up mid table: an excellent result in a division of large, strong track clubs.

​YDL Upper Age Group -Match 3
 
South Bucks put in another solid performance at Harrow on Sunday at the third match in the YDL Upper Age Group series of matches. A fuller team than that at Match 2 was narrowly fourth, leaving the team in a solid fourth place from seven with one match remaining. It was a sunny but blustery day at Harrow.
 
U20 Women
Christian Poulsen ran well in 100m and 200m with B string back up from Aaliyah Cain and Lottie Warkup. Alice Brown and Grace Thorpe ran well in 400m for third place each. In 800m Abbie Henderson was second in A string with Tilly Firth winning the B string. Holly Henderson was third in A string 1500m, Charlotte Docwra second in B string. Jess Cook was second in A string 400m hurdles. In the field Hannah Wells did her usual great job of covering events: second in hammer, fourth in shot, discus, and triple jump, and fifth in javelin. Jess Cook won B string shot and Abbie Henderson was second in A string high jump. The 4 x 100m quartet of Keira Payne, Christina, Lottie and Aoife McCauley was third.
 
U20 Men
Devonte Johnson ran 100m and 200m A string, with Tam Mango 100m B string and Thomas Askey running a 200m PB of 26.00 in 200m B string.  In 400m Oakley Denson was second in A string in 52.4 with Thomas Askey second in B string. Louis Peterson doubled up with second in 800m A string and third in 1500m A string. Archie Pinder won 800m B string with Laurie Gawne getting a PB of 4.18.2 to be second in 1500m B string. There was a double win in 3000m with Max McGarvie winning A string and Ibrahim Achchi B string. Ryan Wells scored great points in the field: first in hammer, second in shot, javelin and discus, and third in high jump. There was back up from Andrew Partridge, second in B string discus and shot, sixth in A string long jump. Archie was fourth in B string long jump. The 4 x 100m relay team of Tam, Devonte, Ben Gandini and Laurie was fourth.
 
U17 Women
A not fully fit Mile Luker was sixth in A string 100m, Keira Payne third in B string. In 200m Jemma Thomson ran well for fourth with Keira third in B string. Aaliyah Cain was fifth in A string 300m. Sofia Lomas ran a SB of 2.35.2 to be third in A string with Arabella Davis getting a PB in B string for second. Aoife McCauley and Lyla Griffin were third in A and B string 80m hurdles respectively. Frankie Baxter won A string 1500m steeplechase. In the field Sofia was third in A string long jump with Aoife second in B string. Sofia was also third in A string triple jump whilst Aoife was fourth in A string shot. Jasmine Smith threw a PB 21.07m to be fourth in A string discus with Lyla second in B string. Jasmine also gained a javelin PB to be fourth. The 4 x 300m team of Sofia, Jemma, Arabella and Frankie was third.
 
U17 Men
Max Stokes ran a PB of 12.0 to be fifth in A string 100m with Ben Gandini fourth in B string. John Nickless ran a 200m PB of 24.7 in A string, with Ben fourth in B string. John also ran well to be second in A string 400m in 53.9. There was a double win in 800m with Euan Pinder winning an exciting battle in A string and Rowan Gawne winning B string. In 1500m Isaac Jessop-Tranter won A string with Max Baxter second in B string. Sammy Bennetts was third in a string 3000m. The 4 x 400m team of Isaac Jessop-Tranter, Archie Pinder, Euan Pinder and John Nickless had a great win in 3.41.9, in the top ten performances in the UK. In the field Euan Pinder jumped a PB of 1.50m to be fourth in A string high jump, Isaac Jessop-Tranter was fourth in A string triple jump, Max Baxter was fourth in A string discus with a PB of 14.00m and Rowan Gawne was third in A string javelin with a PB of 26.19m.
 
The final match is at Portsmouth on August 7th.

Watford  Open - June 29th
Another mild, still evening saw some great performances from Chiltern’s athletes in 1500m

Race 1
Maya Davis U13                              5.21.27 PB
Rebecca Lawson U15                     5.31.15 PB
Eleanor Horne U15                         5.51.55
 
Race 2
Sofia Lomas U17                             5.11.84 PB
Lucy Wilkinson U15                        5.19.31 PB
Jacob McCall U13                            5.22.49 PB
Evelyn Wildman U13                     5.23.53
Nia Clarke U13                                 5.30.05
Isaac McCall U13                             5.34.80
 
Race 3
Charlie Quantrill U13                     4.56.86 PB
Emily Ford U15                                5.01.75 PB
Olivia Clarke U15                            5.03.66
Issy Robinson U15                          5.08.58
 
Race 4
Ian Lawson v55                                4.53.94 PB
Kara Gorman U13                           4.55.56 PB
Marlie Nkoane U15                        5.01.63 PB
 
Race 5
Lily Jessop-Tranter U15                 4.52.54 PB
Frankie Baxter U17                         5.02.57
 
Race 6
Tom Ford U13                                  4.34.87 PB
 
Race 7
Ethan McCall U17                           4.36.17 PB
Callum Powell U15                         4.37.29 PB
Alex Hughes U15                             4.39.56 PB
 
Race 8
Max Baxter U17                              4.31.37
 
Race 9
Archie Pinder U17                          4.14.79 PB
Euan Pinder U17                             4.17.14 SB
 
Race 10
Ash Finch U17                                  4.14.98 PB
 
Race 11
Isaac Jessop-Tranter U17              4.18.18
 
Race 13
Oakley Denson U17                        3.56.81 PB
                              

Watford Open June 15th
A hot sunny evening saw good performances from Chiltern’s middle distance runners.
200m
Race 1
Thomas Askey U20                         26.21     PB
800m
Race 1
Maya Davis U13                              2.35.95 PB
Eddie O‘Brien U13                          2.37.60 PB
Rebecca Lawson U15                     2.43.99
Jacob McCall U13                            2.45.42 PB
Race 2
Kara Gorman U13                           2.35.21 PB
Ali Young V45                                   2.37.43 SB
Lydia Cross U15                               2.38.53
Katie Allsop U15                              2.38.66 PB
Nia Clarke U13                                 2.39.11
Race 3
Issy Robinson U15                          2.28.38
Lucy Wilkinson U15                        2.32.36
Evelyn Wildman U13                     2.34.53 PB
Kit Dixon U13                                   2.50.42
Race 4
Marlie Nkoane U15                        2.25.96 PB
Olivia Clarke U15                            2.26.50 PB
Race 5
Izzy Martin U15                               2.23.54
Race 6
Lily Jessop-Tranter U15                 2.19.02 PB
Felix Danielli U13                            2.26.79
Race 7
James Holdsworth U15                 2.17.86 PB
Isaac Collier U15                             2.21.01 PB
Tom Ford U13                                  2.21.40
Race 8
Max Baxter U17                              2.16.05
Callum Powell U15                         1.17.53
Race 9
Alex Paul SM                                    2.09.79
Race 10
Ethan McCall U17                           2.12.11
Race 11
Euan Pinder U17                             2.02.82 PB
Race 12
Louis Peterson U20                        1.58.30 PB
Isaac Jessop-Tranter U17              1.58.33 PB
Archie Pinder U17                          2.02.07 PB
Race 13
Max McGarvie U20                        1.57.70
 
3000m
Race 1
Alex Hughes U15                             9.53.91 PB
Maddie Hughes U17                      10.11.44 PB
Emily Ford U15                                11.08.76 SB
Race 2
Thomas Redmond U17                  9.01.16 PB
Ash Finch U17                                  9.10.81
 
 
 
 

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.