SAL Match 1 Report – Walton

With plenty of twists and turns, each team brought strong squads in a tightly contested meet. Final results were Epsom & Ewell taking 1^st [333pts], Walton AC in 2^nd [303pts], Guildford & Godalming in 3^rd [277pts], Kingston & Poly in 4^th [261pts], Croydon in 5^th [184pts], and City of Salisbury finishing 6^th [149pts].

We took advantage of the home turf by fielding a strong team mixed with seasoned Walton AC members; such as Jonathan Hiorns [400m and 800m], Duncan Woolmer [800m and 1500m], and Robert A Smith [400m Hurdles, 110m Hurdles, 3k Steeplechase, and Javelin] picking up two 3^rd place finishes [Jonathan], a 1^st and 2^nd place finish [Duncan], and a 2^nd, two 3^rd’s and 5^th [Rob]. We then move to new a trio of SAL debutants for the ladies team Layla Drury [800m, Long Jump and Triple Jump], Hazel Ingham [Long Jump], making the step up to compete against older opposition as first year U17’s, Alex Slotwinska making her league debut on the track after a stellar Cross Country Campaign with the distance double [1500m and 3000m]. It was a great performance from these ladies, Layla picking up 3^rd and two 5^th’s in competitive A String fields, Hazel picking up 2^nd in an equally strong B string and Alex grabbing two 4th placed finishes in the A string against some stellar opposition – well done girls!

We also had plenty of other first and second place finishes; Surrey U20 Champion Ash Wright and Tom Clark did the A and B double in the High Jump, Trinidad & Tobago International Nicolas Landeau winning the 1500m leading from gun to tape, Nick Longjamnong winning the Long Jump B string and following this up later with winning the Triple Jump A string with Luc Balayer winning the B. Over with the Ladies on track we had 3^rd and 2^nd place finishes for Lucy Bartlett, Sarah Loades stepping into the A string 200m at late notice for 4^th after her 2^nd place finish in the 400m Hurdles, and Michelle Tafili collecting one 2^nd and two 3^rd’s in a Long Distance treble [800m, 1500m, and 2k Steeplechase]. In the field we had two Surrey Champion’s take centre stage; Tori-Ann Anderson equalled her Surrey performance and Club U20 Record with a jump of 1.65m for 2^nd place in a tight and highly competitive High Jump [with the UK no.1 U17 winning] and Nicola Bell taking victory in the Javelin, and two 3^rd place finishes in the Shot and Discus.

We also had some tremendous relay teams, and for the first time in a long time we fielded two Non-Scoring teams for the Mens and Women’s 4x100m Relays, with our Women’s non-scorers also beating one of the visiting club scorers! Congratulations to our Scoring quartets of Fraser McAllister, Jacob Thomas, Luc Balayer, Harry Livesey for the Men [4^th], Dara Popoola, Jimena Stynes, Kate Raven, Mia Chandler [5^th] and our Non-Scoring quartets of Dylan Haarhoff, Kane Dedewo, Alex Dopemu, and Nick Longjamnong [7^th], Oluwatobi Aderoju, Mia-Louise Howard, Hazel Ingham, Olivia Barnes [6^th].

Over in the 4x400m Relay, our women’s quartet of Kate Raven, Natasha Hart, Sarah Loades, and Jimena Stynes finished off their busy days’ work by picking up 3^rd place in a time of 4:31.9, well done ladies! Our men’s team finished off the meet with a fantastic win by .3 in a gripping race! Nicolas Walter kicked off leg one handing to Jonathan Hiorns in 4^th place, Jonathan began the charge for the top by clawing back a position and handing off to Nicholas Landeau in 3^rd, and Nicholas began his assault on the lead, dropping a 50 second split to overhaul the leads Croydon and Epsom had and handing the baton over to club debutant Thomas Darragh for the final leg. Thomas ran a controlled final leg, and held off the charging Epsom runner to bring the baton home and ensure the win for Walton in 3:40.3 to Epsom’s 3:40.6, sensational work from the lads!

Such was the performance of our team, we had three athletes nominated for the League Man and Woman of the Match awards and a WINNER for the Men’s award. Nick Longjamnong [TJ 12.95m], Nicola Bell [JT 38.86m], and Tori-Ann Anderson [HJ 1.65m]. The League Man of the Match award for the best performance across the day was won by our own Sam Mace for his 54.09m Hammer Throw, which was part of his clean sweep of three 1^st place performance in the Hammer, Shot, and Discus.

An amazing start to our 2024 Campaign, with our next match taking place 15^th June in Abingdon, Oxford. Let’s go Walton AC!