Apr-Jun 06

April 2006		May 2006		June 2006
	24/04/06		29/05/06		26/06/06
	17/04/06		22/05/06		19/06/06
	10/04/06		15/05/06		12/06/06
	3/04/06		8/05/06		5/06/06
			1/05/06

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club all-rounder Roydon John provided the springboard for Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club to win their second successive Rosenheim League victory of the season at Tooting Bec.

Royden won both the pole vault and long jump and was second in the shot and javelin before linking up with Dwain Dowding, Mo Agboke and Phil Glynn to help Hercules Wimbledon take second place in the 4x200m relay.

Earlier, Dowding was runner-up in the 100m sharing the winning time of 11.5 seconds and was also third in the 200m.

Teenager Alex Bruce-Littlewood also raced to second place in the 800m and was also third in the 3000m while Steve Hadley was third in the 400m and 400m hurdles. Glynn also finished third in the 1500m. the secure teenagers Ike Mba and Emily Martin showed superb form at the annual South of England championships at Crystal Palace over the weekend with two medal winning performances.

Match result: 1, Hercules Wimbledon 60; 2, Croydon Harriers 52; 3, Herne Hill Harriers 46; 4, Serpentine 33; 5, Striders of Croydon 30; 6, South London Harriers 16.

With two matches remaining, Hercules Wimbledon are just half a point behind divisional leaders Croydon Harriers.

Hercules Wimbledon road runners have also been in fine form taking the bronze medals in the Surrey 10 kilometres championship at Ham despite missing their top two runners Ian Horrocks and Kieran White.

Biathlon international Richard Xerri led the medal-winning trio home finishing fifth out of 350 runners in 34:03 with Gary Blesson 11th and second veteran in 35:11 with Phil Glynn 18th in 35:46.

Peter Giles and Maurice Sharp were first and second in the veterans over 60 category in 38:57 and 40:45.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters compete in the third of this season's Ebbisham Boys Young Athletes League meetings at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Sunday. At the other end of he age scale, the club competes in its final Southern Veterans League Mid London division match at Battersea Park on Monday (July 3) starting at 6.30pm and while next Wednesday, Hercules Wimbledon stage their annual HAC Young Athletes Memorial Trophy meeting at Tooting Bec, starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenagers Ike Mba and Emily Martin showed superb form at the annual South of England championships at Crystal Palace over the weekend with two medal winning performances.

Mba, 18, currently a student at Brunel University, was trying to emulate his performance during the winter when he lifted the South of England indoor title. He battled hard throughout the six rounds of the competition but narrowly failed to clinch the double and had to settle for silver medal position with a fine fifth round leap of 7.09 metres, just eight centimetres behind the gold medallist. He thus repeated his silver medal winning performance in 2005.

Martin, 17, a first year junior who was also trying to match her gold medal-winning performance in the South of England indoor championships, also had to settle for a minor placings medal. She followed a good no-jump with her best leap of the six attempt series of 5.50 metres to take the individual bronze medal. She was just 21 centimetres down on her lifetime best.

She also competed in the 100m where she narrowly failed to reach the final finishing fifth in her heat in 12.80 seconds.

Another Hercules Wimbledon athlete in action at Crystal Palace was Adam Przedrzymirski who just failed to win a bronze medal in the junior men's 5000m. He held the bronze medal position for most of the race but slipped down to fourth with four of the 12 laps remaining. However, his clocked a lifetime best of 16:34.56, shaving just over two seconds off his previous best time.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters secured a quartet of victories in the second of this season's Ebbisham Boys League meetings at Croydon.

Double Surrey champion Jose Costa won the under 13 100m B race, Jonathan Burgess, who took the 3000m bronze medal in the Surreys, ran away with the under 1500m in a fast 4:44.8, with Joe Toomey taking the B race in 4:50.6, and Luis Costa won the boys under 15 javelin. Jose Costa was also second in the 200m B race and fourth in the long jump while Luis Costa was also fourth in the 400m and high jump. Jonathan Burgess was also fourth in the 200m. Toomey was also second in the 800m B race.

Edward Saywell was runner-up in the under 13 80m hurdles with Matthew Burgess second in the B race and also third in the 200m A and 800m B. Saywell was also third in the high jump and fourth in the 800m A race.

Other useful points scorers were James Russell, third in the under 13 100m A race and fourth in the long jump B, Dean Belhaj, third in the under 13 1500m and high jump B and fourth in the 400m A, Liam White third in the under 15 long jump and fourth in the shot and Beau Feighan fourth in the under 15 100m race and fifth in the javelin B.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon youngsters compete in their third UK National Young Athletes League match at Kingsmeadow Stadium, starting at 11.45am.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club youngsters enjoyed a successful time at county schools championships returning with a bagful of medals.

Best of the Hercules Wimbledon contingent was Amelia Richards who lifted two titles at the London Schools championships at Battersea Park. First, she won the junior girls long jump title with a leap of 4.90 metres and then won the 75m hurdles title in 12.1 seconds.

A larger contingent of Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action at the Surrey schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium.

Outstanding Hercules Wimbledon competitor there was Emily Martin who lifted the senior girls long jump title with a personal best leap of 5.66 metres and booked her place in the 60-strong Surrey team to compete in the English schools championships at Gateshead next month. Her leap added nine centimetres to her previous best.

Sprinter Praful Nargund showed a fine turn of speed twice improving on his personal best time for 200m. First, he won his intermediate boys heat in 23.0, slicing four-tenths of a second off his previous best and then took the silver medal in the final where he went even faster in posting a time of 22.87 and hopefully booking a place in the Gateshead-bound team after narrowly missing out on a Surrey schools team place last year.

Alex Bodin also revelled in the warm sunshine taking more than a second off his previous best time to clinch the silver medal in the senior boys 1500m in 4:05.29 but he will have to wait to see whether he has done enough to qualify for Surrey team for Gateshead.

Amandine King also finished runner-up in the senior girls 800m in 2:34.23 while Jennifer Fernando was considerably faster in taking bronze in the intermediate girls 800m in 2:20.40 after clocking a faster 2:17.97 in her heat which may be enough to clinch a place in the team for Gateshead.

Serena Brotherton just missed out on a medal in the senior girls triple jump taking fourth place with 9.58 metres while Rosemary Fernando finished seventh in the intermediate girls 1500m in 5:21.64.

Relative newcomer Caroline Hicks made an impressive county championship debut taking seventh place in the 800m in 2:40.81 after post a faster 2:35.13 in her heat while Joe Toomey took four seconds off his lifetime best in finishing fifth in the junior boys 1500m in 4:44.89.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes compete in the South of England senior and junior championships at Crystal Palace on Saturday and Sunday. They also compete in the second of this season's Lily B Girls League meetings at Walton on Saturday while on Monday there is the third of this season's Southern Veterans League Mid London division matches at Battersea Park, starting at 6.30pm and next Wednesday (June 21) sees the fourth of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Tooting Bec, starting at 7pm.

Athletes from Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club gained a bumper crop of winners as they produced their best performance of the season in the UK National Young Athletes League meeting at Horsham.

Once again the boys side of the team took the lion's share of the winners with more than 20 individual triumphs.

Best of the bunch were Mike Adjei-Tabarade and Tom Richards with hat tricks of individual successes. Richards, who just missed out on a medal in the recent Surrey championships, won the boys under 13 200m, 75m hurdles and long jump B events while clubmate James Russell took the hurdles and long jump A contests.

Other successes in the under 13 events came from double Surrey champion Jose Costa who took the 100 and 200m and then helped he Hercules Wimbledon quartet to success in the sprint relay, Dean Belhaj in the 1500m B and Matthew Burgess in the high jump B.

Adjei-Tabarade, the Surrey long jump bronze medallist, achieved his hat-trick by winning the under 17 100, long jump and shot B events. Jonathan Dwonga won the 200m B and shot A, Jake Bodin the 800m A race and triple jump B, Will Spooner the 800m B and Derek Frempong the 100m hurdles A race.

Newcomer Anibal Peel-Atunes also got among the winners taking the javelin A competition. Hercules Wimbledon also won the under 17 relay.

Beau Feighan, Paul Stables and Joe Toomey gained individual successes in the 1500m, 80m hurdles and javelin B events.

Best of the small girls contingent was triple Surrey silver medallist Amelia Richards who gained an individual hat-trick winning the under 15 100m, 75m hurdles and long jump. The only other winner was Jennifer Fernando who took the under 17 800m.

Hercules Wimbledon's Ian Horrocks made a successful return to racing when he ran away with the Surrey 10 miles road running championships over a testing course at Dorking. Horrocks crossed the finishing line well clear in 53 minutes 43 seconds, 43 seconds ahead of the second runner.

Hercules Wimbledon also managed to close in a team with Phil Glynn 25th in 61:05, Steve Sinnott 34th and eighth veteran in 62:17 and Pete Giles first veteran over 600 in 68:37.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be chasing medals and places in the English Schools Championships teams when they compete in the annual Surrey and London schools championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium and Battersea Park, respectively, on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club all-rounder Royden John overcame appalling conditions to secure a hat-trick of individual wins in the second of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Croydon Sports Arena.

Pouring rain soaked competitors and officials alike but nothing was going to stop John and on a busy evening in which he competed in four events, he won the high jump with 1.55 metres, the long jump with 5.80 metres and the javelin with 34.67 metres. He was also fourth in the 100m in 12.3 seconds.

Best Hercules Wimbledon performer on the track was British international Richard Ward. He won the 800m in an impressive 1:57.8, considering the conditions, half-an-hour later finished third in the 400m in 54.9 and then another half-an-hour later won the 3000m in 8:50.6.

Teenager Alex Bruce-Littlewood won the non-scoring 800m with his Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Deon Coetzee in second place. Over 65 veteran John Webster was narrowly beaten in the hammer where he finished second with 27.80 metres.

Hercules Wimbledon host the third of this season's Rosenheim League East Division matches at Wimbledon Park next Wednesday (June 7th) starting at 7pm. After two of the six east division matches Hercules Wimbledon are well placed in the six-club contest in second place.

Hercules Wimbledon travel to Basingstoke on Saturday for their third Southern Men's League match while the club's youngsters are in action at in their second UK National Young Athletes meeting at Horsham on Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon's ace walker Estle Viljoen returned to action after overcoming an injury when she won the women's event at the Veterans Athletic Club's five miles road walk in Battersea Park. She clocked an encouraging 44:07 in a race in which she finished third overall and just one minute behind the winner of the men's race.

Over 60 veteran Fred Green was fourth in the five miles road running race in 32:52, 20 seconds ahead of his Hercules Wimbledon 60-year-old clubmate Dennis Williams.

Maurice Sharp was the fastest member of the Hercules Wimbledon team which finished seventh in the British Masters (Veterans) over 60's road relay championship at Sutton Park, Birmingham. Sharp clocked 18:35 for the three miles. The other members of the team were Dennis Williams (19:15) and Fred Green (19:32).

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club made a solid start to their Rosenheim League East Division programme at Battersea Park where their team was just pipped after leading right up to the final event.

In his first competitive season with Hercules Wimbledon, Hamid Agboke gained a confidence boosting match win when he took the 400m in 53.9 and then later helped Hercules Wimbledon finish third in the 4x200m relay. All-rounder Royden John had a busy time winning the pole vault with 2.80 metres, taking third place ion the 400m hurdles and fourth place in the discus.

Supervet World Masters indoor championships relay silver medallist Geoff Walcott showed age was no barrier as he took third place in both the 100 and 200m in 12.0 and 24.6. Over 65 veteran John Webster also did well to take third place in the hammer. Adam Przedrzymirski was runner-up in the 1500m and, after leading early on, Leo Cox faded slightly to finish third in the 800m.

Walcott was also a double winner for Hercules Wimbledon in the opening Southern Veterans League Mid London division match, also at Battersea Park. He won the over 50 100m in 12.3 and the 400m in 58.5. Clubmate Paul Wignall won the 100m B race. Tony O'Connor won the over 50 long jump while Fred Green won the over 60 1500m and John Webster the over 60 long jump.

Thre was a good Hercules Wimbledon turn-out in their second Southern Women's League match at a rainy and windswept Croydon Arena.

Jennifer Fernando and Amandine King got maximum points in the 800m winning the A and B races, respectively while Laue Causemille had a busy afternoon taking the 200m, finishing second in the 400m hurdles and high jump and taking fourth in the discus before anchoring Hercules Wimbledon to victory in the sprint relay. Other members of the quartet were Karen Tostee, Melissa Kheddouci and Rowena Dyson, who were competing in their first match for the club.

Caroline Hicks took the under 15 800m. Another winner was Rosemary Fernando in the 3000m. She later linked up with Serena Brotherton, Hannah Long and her twin sister Jennifer to help Hercules Wimbledon to second place in the 4x400m relay. Brotherton was also second in the under 17 sprint hurdles and third in the senior triple jump.

Teenage sprinter Parful Nargund made an impressive Southern Men's League debut at a blustery Withdean Stadium, Brighton, where he won his 100m race in 11.5, shaving one-hundredths of a second off his previous best. In his first competition of the season, Bekele Tola made an encouraging start with a winning javelin throw of 52.96 metres while all-rounder Royden John had a busy time winning the long jump, taking second in the sprint hurdles and pole vault and triple jump B event, and finishing third in the high jump.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes are competing in the South of England under 17 and under 15 championships at Chelmsford and in the Surrey Veterans Championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium, Kingston, on Saturday.

One of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngest athletes at the annual Surrey track and field championships at Kingsmeadow Stadium, 12-year-old Jose Costa, proved the club's most successful at the two-day meeting as he clinched two golds in a four medal haul.

Competing in the boys under 13 section, Jose, who goes to ADT College in Putney, Costa, achieved personal best performances in all four events he contested. He struck gold with a winning javelin throw of 30.70 metres, beating his previous best by more than two metres and also took the 200m title in a closely fought final in 28.53 seconds after clocking another lifetime best of 28.38 in his heat. He was also runner-up in the 100m in 13.70 after again running faster in his heat with 13.64 and made it a quartet of medals when he won the silver in the long jump with 4.42 metres, adding 22 centimetres to his previous best.

England international Ike Mba went one better than last year when he won silver by taking the junior men's long jump title with 6.91 metres. Clubmate Ka Chuen To clinched the bronze with 6.06 metres, beating the six metre barrier for the first time. He also took silver in the triple jump with 11.31 metres.

Two Hercules Wimbledon athletes found themselves battling it out for the silver medal in the junior men's 3000m. With a lap to go, Adam Przedrzmirski and Welsh medallist Alex Bodin were locked in a fierce contest but Adam used his greater strength to sprint away over the final 300m to dip under nine minutes for the first time. In fact his 8:58.92 for the silver medal was a 28 second improvement on his previous best time. Bodin, running the distance for the first time, was not far behind in 9:-3.48, to take the bronze. He also took the silver medal in the 1500m in a lifetime best of 4:06.94.

Jonathan Burgess dipped under 10 minutes to take the bronze medal in the boys under 15 3000m in 9:55.20 and Michael Adjei-Tabarade was also third in he under 17 long jump with 5.67 metres.

All-rounder Emily Martin got stuck in the bronze groove as she clinched four medals of that hue in the junior women's 100m, shot, high jump and long jump, while Amelia Richards gained a hat-trick of silver medals in the under 15 100m, hurdles and long jump.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando posted personal best efforts in finishing third in the under 17 800m in 2:20.72 and fourth in the 1500m in 5:16.16, respectively, while Steph Robson was second in the senior women's 3000m in 10:20.24.

After posting the fastest time in the heats of 23.41, Praful Nargund was bitterly disappointed to lose out in the final where he finished in silver medal position in a slower 23.74. There was an ever more galling experience for senior men's track and field captain Steve Davies who went crashing to the ground after clipping the final hurdle just as he seemed poised to regain his county 400m hurdles crown.

There were encouraging performances from Joe Toomey who reached the under 15 boys 800m final after taking five seconds off his previous best in clocking 2:17.35 in his heat while Anna Berry also reached the final of the girls under 13 200m with a personal best of 28.88.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon compete in their second Southern Men's and Southern Women's League matches on Saturday at Brighton and Croydon, respectively. Next Monday, Hercules Wimbledon take part in their second Southern Veterans League meeting at Battersea Park, starting at 6.30pm while next Wednesday, May 24, the club takes part in the second of this season's Rosenheim League matches at Croydon.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club teenage sprinter Praful Nargund warmed up for this weekend's Surrey tack and field championships with some impressive sprinting at his club's opening UK National Young Athletes League meeting at Crawley.

Nargund, 15, a pupil at King's College School, Wimbledon, equalled his lifetime best of 23.4 seconds in storming to victory in the men's under 17 200m and also took second place in the 100m in 11.6 to slice one-tenth of a second off his previous personal best achieved at the Hercules Wimbledon Young Athletes open meeting at Crystal Palace last month. He also won the javelin B event while Derek Frempong won the A competition as well as taking the 100m hurdles and finishing runner-up in the discus.

Nargund the pace for the other Hercules Wimbledon athletes who dominated the boys section of the match. Mike Tabirade and Jon Dwonga took the under 17 100 and 200m B races with Sean Crummy and Will Spooner gaining maximum points in the 1500m by taking the A and B races, respectively. Spooner also won the shot B, Crummy was also second in the 3000m while and Tabirade won the long jump with 5.54 metres and was second in the shot A.

Nargund then linked up with Dwonga, Tabirade and Frempong to help steer Hercules Wimbledon to victory in the sprint relay.

Jose Costa was in fine form in the under 13 sprints where he took the 100 and 200m events. He completed the individual hat-trick by taking the shot B event. Tom Richards took the 200m B race and was runner-up in the 75m hurdles while Tom Brandon won the hurdles B race and was second in the shot. Richards, Costa, Brandon and Hugo Danson then linked up to win the sprint relay.

Best of the under 15 boys were Joe Toomey, Joe Stone and Marcus Noble who won the 1500m, 400, and 80m hurdles B string events. Toomey was also second in the shot. Stone was runner-up in the javelin B with Luis Costa taking second place in the A competition. and second place in the long jump B.

Kwado Sarpong was just pipped in the 100m A race and was also third in the 200m. Jonathan Burgess was runner-up in the 1500m A and then helped Hercules Wimbledon win the 4x400m relay. Ben Feighan was runner-up in the 80m hurdles A race and third in the discus.

Best of the girls team was Amelia Richards who gained an individual hat-trick in the under 15 events. She won the 100m and 75m hurdles in 13.4 and 12.5 and the long jump with 4.65 metres.

Only women's under 17 winner was Jennifer Fernando who took the 800m A race while Alexandra Borthwick won the under 13 high jump.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be in action in the Surrey track and field championships which are being held at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters have made a promising start to their Ebbisham Boys Young Athletes League programme with a good crop of winners in the opening match at Tooting Bec.

The best individual Hercules Wimbledon performance of the match came from Sachi Fleming who took the under 13 long jump with 4.43 metres. He was also second in both the 100 and 200 metres races in 13.7 and 29.9 seconds.

The team comprised a host of newcomers, among them brothers Luis and Jose Costa gained a quartet of wins between them with Luis taking the under 15 400m and javlin and Jose the under 13 javelin and 200m B. Jose was also second in his 100m race and Luis third in the triple jump.

Joe Toomey was another double winner for Hercules Wimbledon taking the under 15 800 and 1500m events.

Backing up these winners were Kwadwo Sarpong and Beau Feighan who were second in the under 15 80m hurdles A and B races. Sarpong was also second in the triple jump and Feighan also fourth in his discus event. Mrcus Noble finished third in the boys under 15 100m.

Hercules Wimbledon supervet Fred Green has been showing good form in the Bushy Park five kilometres time trial races. On two successive appearances he was first in his age category. On his first appearance he clocked 20:29 and the following week he was 19 seconds slower.

At the other end of the age scale 13-year-old Jonathan Burgess made an impressive 3000m track debut at an open meeting at Watford. He clocked 10:00.6, ahead of two other under 15-year-olds and just outside the national grade two standard for the event.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon open their Lily B Girls League programme with a match at Guildford while Monday sees the opening Southern Veterans League Mid London division match at Battersea Park, starting at 6.30pm and next Wednesday (May 10), the opening Rosenheim League East Division match, also at Battersea Park, starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters have shown good early season form in their opening track and field league meetings and also performed well in the London Mini Marathon on Sunday.

Teenager Alex Bodin just missed out on a top three placing in the senior boys race. Initially he was placed third after crossing the finishing line in The Mall but, subsequently, he was relegated to fourth spot. Nevertheless, he was the highest placed Merton and Hercules Wimbledon runner in this year's races.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jonathan Burgess was also the top individual performer in the Wandsworth teams finishing seventh in the intermediate boys race.

Other leading Hercules Wimbledon runners in the Merton squad were Luke Jones 48th in the senior boys race, Oliver Horrocks 64th in the junior boys race and Kate Jones 93rd in he senior girls race.

Jennifer Fernando the leading Merton performer in the girls races finishing 22nd in the senior event with twin sister Rosemary Fernando 36th , Serena Brotherton 62nd and Emily Martin 104th.

It completed a busy weekend for Martin and the Fernando twins as they competed in their opening Southern Women's League match at Bracknell on Saturday. But, the outstanding Hercules Wimbledon athlete at the meeting was Surrey and Welsh champion Amelia Richards who gained a hat-trick of wins in the under 15 events. She took the 100 and 200m and long jump events.

Hercules Wimbledon secured maximum points in those three events as newcomer Anna Berry won the three B competitions.

Martin flexed her muscles for the tough encounters ahead with a hat-trick of victories. She won the 100m in 12.4 seconds, produced a lifetime best high jump of 1.57 metres and completed the treble in winning the long jump with 5.57 metres. She was also seCond in the shot.

Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando while Jennifer was also third in the javelin and shot B and Rosemary was second in the 200m and javelin B.

Making her debut in the senior hurdles, Lucy England won the 400m hurdles event and was second in the 100m hurdles.

Mary Brandon had a busy time finishing second in the under 15 hurdles and discus and third in the shot while Jade Brooks posted a personal best in the 800m.

Hercules Wimbledon's Claire Cann had a superb run in the main London marathon finishing 50th in the women's race in 2:56:56.

Hercules Wimbledon face a busy weekend with their opening Southern Men's League match at Kingsmeadow on Saturday, starting at 1pm, their opening UK National Young Athletes League match at Crawley on Sunday, starting at 11.45am and then, on Bank holiday Monday, the club stages the 24th Barry Jones five miles road race from their Wimbledon Park athletics track headquarters.

Hercules Wimbledon's seasoned veteran long-distance runner Dennis Williams is competing in the annual Flora London marathon from Blackheath to The Mall on Sunday for the 25th time. Williams, 60, has only missed one London marathon race in the 25 years they have been held and he leads a sizeable Hercules Wimbledon contingent in the 26.2 miles event .

Two sub-three hour women runners Zoe Pike and Claire Cann will be lining up at the elite start on Sunday with a third woman, Katy Luffingham also running and other Hercules Wimbledon runners toeing the starting line include Peter Lee, Alastair Brown and Alex Urban, at 21 the younger ever Hercules Wimbledon representative in the London marathon.

Meanwhile a large Hercules Wimbledon squad will be running for Merton and Wandsworth in the adidas London mini-marathon over the final 2.65 miles of the course from Southwark Bridge.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando head Merton's girls squad while Luke Jones and Sean Crummy are in the boys teams. Jonathan Burgess heads the Hercules Wimbledon contingent running for Wandsworth.

HerculesWimbledon ended their East Surrey League programme on a winning note in the final fixture at Ewell Court.

Richard Xerri led Hercules Wimbledon to victory as he finished fourth in the senior men's four miles road race in 23 minutes 47 seconds. Veteran Gary Blesson was seventh in 24:02 with teenager Adam Przedrzymirski eighth in 24:24 and Phil Glynn 10th in 24:44. Teenager Alex Bruce-Littlewood was 12th in 25:12 with Claire Cann, in her final race before the London marathon, first woman in 26:16.

Veterans Tom Morris, Stu Littlewood, Fred Green, Tony Austin, Dennis Williams and Ian Isherwood were 30th, 35th, 36th, 37th, 39th and 51st in 27:03, 28:10, 28:31, 28:44, 28:55 and 32:06.

Hercules Wimbledon's Geoff Walcott came away with a bronze medal from the World Masters (Veterans) Indoor championships at Linz, Austria - but he had to wait until the final day of the six-day championships for his medal-winning achievement in which he helped the UK men's over 50 4x100m sprint relay team to the bronze medals. He also reached the finals of his three individual events, the 100, 200 and 400m where he was seventh, sixth and fifth, respectively.

Hercules Wimbledon's Southern Women's League team open their programme with a match at Bracknell on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Young Athletes Open Meeting at Crystal Palace which was staged for the 25th time on Sunday saw some top class performances with three meetings records.

The presence of top young athletes from Cuba, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic boosted the standard of performances and two of the records fell to the foreigners. Cuban Nieves Lina set new figures in the women's under 17 shot with a winning putt of 12.26 metres.

Yanis Ramirez from Nicaragua improved on the women's under 17 javelin record with a winning opening throw of 50.22 metres. The third meeting record to fall was in the boys under 11 1000m won by Ranelagh's Josh Keisler in 3 minutes 13.2 seconds.

Teenager Daniel Pembroke from Windsor, Slough, Eton and Hounslow, the AAA under 15 bronze medallist last season, bettered his UK 14-year-old javelin age record with an opening throw of 60.67 metres in the under 17 contest.

Hercules Wimbledon youngsters also performed well with sprinter Praful Nargund making an impressive start to his outdoor racing programme as he powered to victory in the 200m in a lifetime best of 23.4 just edging out Basildon's AAA under 15 400m champion Matthew Lumm. Nargund's time took two-fifths of a second of his previous best. He also posted a personal best of 11.7 in finishing third in his 100m race.

Brothers Jose and Luis Costa also showed good form with Jose taking his boys under 13 100 and 200m races in 13.8 and 29.0 and Luis his under 15 800m race in 2:36.7.

Tom Richards was second in his boys under 13 100m race in 29.3 while Oliver Horrocks was just pipped for third place in the under 13 1500m.

Top teenage middle-distance runner Jonathan Burgess, who a few days earlier clocked a personal best 1500m of 4:38.43 at an open meeting at Watford where he was easily the youngest runner in the field, finished third in the under 15 1500m in 4:42.6. Jennifer Fernando was third in her women's under 17 800m race in 2:29.1.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men's team open their summer programme when they compete in the Sward and Kinnaird Trophy meetings at Kingsmeadow Stadium on Saturday, starting at 12noon.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's Young Athletes Open Meeting at Crystal Palace this coming Sunday (April 9) reaches an important landmark as it is being staged for the 25th time.

The meeting, now established as one of the top meetings of its kind in the UK, was first held in 1980 and has been promoted each year since with two exceptions, including in 2004 when it had to be cancelled to allow the Crystal Palace track to be refurbished. Over the year's literally thousands of young athletes have participated in the meeting including many who have used it as a stepping stone to international status.

Two athletes who represented English in this year's Commonwealth Games in Melbourne are also among the current record-holders - Claire Smithson who threw the discus in Melbourne showed her talent at an early age setting the girls under 15 discus record of 36.94 metres in 1997 and two years later set new figures for the women's under 17 shot of 12.20 metres.

Olympic discus thrower Emeka Udechuku, who also competes in Melbourne, holds the best meeting marks for the under 17 shot and discus with 18.03 and 57.18 metres both achieved in 1995.

Olympic marathon runner Mark Steinle set the boys under 13 1500m record of 4 minutes 41.5 seconds back in 1987 and more recently, another athlete to compete internationally, Tom Snow, posted new figures of 4:16.0 for the under 15 1500m in 2000.

Montell Douglas, fourth in February's AAA indoors 200m championship broke the under 17 100m and 200m records with 11.9 and 24.6 in 2002. Another developing athlete, Jay Thomas, the UK's top under 17 shot putter last season when he won both the English Schools and AAA titles, set the boys under 15 shot putt record of 15.55 metres in 2003.

There has been another bumper entry for this year's meeting which starts at 11am and runs through till 5pm. It will also have an international flavour with youngsters from Cuba, Nicaragua and the Czech Republic taking part. Mayor of Merton Councillor Judy Saunders will also be dropping in to see some of the action.

Hercules Wimbledon runners are competing in the final East Surrey League road races at Ewell Court track next Tuesday (April 11) starting at 7pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS