A Weekend to Remember for Jeggo

Day 2 Essex Track and Field Championships Sunday 12 May

Expectations were tingling for more good performances, as day two of the championships dawned brighter and warmer than twenty-four hours previous.

It was great to see a number of our younger middle-distance athletes testing themselves in the County Champs; Daisy Rickwood in the U13 girls 800m ran 3min 00.03s a mere smidgeon off her PB.  U15 girls Emily Henderson and Emily Swan were both delighted with well-deserved PBs, the former knocking an impressive 7 seconds off her previous best time with a 2min 42.21sec run and the latter, Swan cutting her time down by a good 8 seconds to 2min 38.91sec. Alexandra Bell – Cobbold ran 2.38.6.  to finish fifth in her heat. New to the track this year, U17 Thomas Colsell qualified through to his final after a heat where he placed 5th in 2min 20.4s sadly though inexperience left him unaware he had got through and missed the race.  Milly Presland qualified in third from her U17W’s  800m heat in 2min 27.58s then finished 6th in a competitive final.

The 200m brought yet more PBs for the youngsters; with U13 Hollie Martin Whymark making it through to her final in 28.84s where she placed sixth.  She qualified through to the final of the Long Jump final  gaining yet another PB of the weekend with a best of 3.84m – what a great season this youngster is enjoying , Jess Scotchmer took 5th in her 200m dipping under the 31s mark for a first time in 30.98s, Jess also went on to win a great Bronze in the U13 Long Jump with a PB of 3.94m. U13  Nnaeto Eminike Obi  ran well to finish in 31.67sin his first ever championships. 

Three first year  U15 Harriers gained great experience in a quick race where all were placed in the same heat of their 200m, and all achieved good PB’s, with Olivia Gillon 5th in 28.31s  having improved her 2018 season time by a second and Alexander Bell-Cobbold came home 6th  in 28.48s.

Jimi Sijuwola, Tanaka Maara and Sam Shippey represented the U17 men, with Sijuwola comfortably qualifying in seconds place in a new PB of 23.24s and competed in the final despite feeling a niggly hamstring placing 6th.  Maara gained a new PB (24.43s) and with more committed training good drop this time as the season progresses.   Sam Shippey, competed in a very fast heat with a new pb 23.34s just missing out on the final.  Charlie Dobson ran his first 200m in nine months and become Senior 200m champion and will take lots of positives away after five months off the track.

But the day belonged to Rebecca Jeggo who along with Joy Ogunleye found themselves head to head in a straight final of their U20w 200m.  Drawn in lane 2, not standard practise as the quickest going into a race, Jeggo enjoyed good pick up as she came off the bend and relaxed into her stride, effortlessly wrapping up the gold medal as the clock stopped on 24.08s, with Ogunleye running a great race as a second year U20, she took a good Bronze in a new PB of 24.54s.  Unfortunately the wind gauge was just not playing along and the race was recorded at 2.1s and what would have been an outstanding Championship Best Performance and a massive PB for Jeggo (by 0.6) eluded her once again, but with the Loughborough International a week away all is looking positive for some swift legal times ahead.

Akin Akinboh ran 22.10sec for first in his U20 men’s 200m heat, quickly followed by Daniel Jones who also came through first, to also qualify, easing down over the line in 22.85secs. After a two hour wait they ran a terrific final; Akinboh winning a fabulous Gold in 22.3s and Jones placing second in 22.9s.

Heather Rose competed in the championships for the first time in a number of years and was so close to a medal, coming fourth in 26.2 secs in the senior women’s 200m.

Paul Preston is enjoying a great season and was also an unlucky 4th in the Masters 1500m, running a PB of 4min 47s.

In the U20 mens 1500m Ermeas Afewerki fought all the way to the line for his Bronze medal in 4min 07.9s, followed by a valiant effort from Danny Millward in sixth place with a 4min 22.56s time.

In the 300m Race Walk, the dynamic duo of Dominic and Daniel King triumphed again, Dominic winning in 12min 24.44s and Daniel second in 12min 52.44s.