Jan-Mar 07

January 2007		February 2007		March 2007
	29/01/07		26/02/07		26/03/07
	22/01/07		19/02/07		19/03/07
	15/01/07		12/02/07		12/03/07
	8/01/07		5/02/07		5/03/07
	2/01/07

Three Hercules Wimbledon youngsters competed for Kent, London and Surrey in the annual English Schools cross country championships which were staged at Temple Newsam Park, Leeds, over the weekend.

Best of the bunch was Alex Bruce-Littlewood who was Kent's second finisher in the senior boys championship. He finished 44th out of more than 300 runners, covering the 6.65 kilometres course in 23 minutes 24 seconds less than two minutes behind the race winner.

Liam White was also the second finisher for the London team in the junior boys 3.65 kilometres championship. He was 104th out of more than 330 runners just over a minute behind the race winner.

The third Hercules Wimbledon runner in action at Leeds was Luke Jones who improved on his sixth place in the county schools championships at Reigate last month when he finished 150th and fifth Surrey scorer in the senior boys race in 24:49, more than a minute behind clubmate Bruce-Littlewood.

There is still time to enter Hercules Wimbledon's prestigious annual young athletes open meeting which is being staged for the 26th time at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday, April 15. Many previous winners of events in previous years have gone on to represent Britain at international level and quite a few of those competing in this year's meeting will have their sights on competing at the London 2012 Olympics.

Details of the events, including an entry form, can be found on the Hercules Wimbledon website: www.herculeswimbledonac.org.uk.

Hercules Wimbledon's former marathon international Steve Badgery produced the best age graded performance in the weekly Bushy Park five kilometres time trial on Saturday. Badgery, 59 finished 27th out of almost 300 runners in 19:23. First Hercules Wimbledon runner over the line was veteran Peter Lee, who was 12th and second over 40 runner in 18:10, a 24 second improvement on his previous best time for the course. Down the field, another Hercules Wimbledon veteran, Barry King, was 66th in 21:10.

What a week for Hercules Wimbledon teenager Amelia Richards. She was voted Wandsworth's young athlete of the year for her series of performances in 2006 and the top Surrey girls under 15 performer for her efforts at the county's indoor championships at Sutton earlier this month.

It seemed the ideal build up for her appearance in the England Athletics girls under 15 indoor pentathlon championship at Manchester on Saturday, her final indoor championship of the winter - but that's where things went horribly wrong in the opening event, the 60m hurdles.

Amelia, 14, the South of England champion at the event appeared to forget she was hurdling and stormed away from the start as if she was in a 60m sprint. Her strides were too long and she reached the first hurdle too close to take off and shuddered to a halt. Instead of trying to take the hurdle, the young athlete walked away and gained no points in the first of the five disciplines - her medal hopes completely shattered.

However, she did gain some consolation as she achieved a personal best of 8.25 metres in the shot. However, it was an early experience for young Amelia of the roller-coaster nature of her sport. One minute riding high and the second plummeting the depths.

She would prefer to concentrate on the memory of receiving the Wandsworth young athletes of the year award at a glittering ceremony in Wandsworth's civic suite. The citation read: "Amelia has come into athletics only in the last two seasons and has excelled in everything she has tried. She is dedicated and listens carefully to advice. Her commitment and hard work is evident though her success."

It was a testing week in other ways for the 14-year-old. Her father had to go into hospital and a girl from her school, Graveney, Tooting, was tragically killed when she was struck by a bus. "Maybe this event was a bridge too far," said her mother, Anne. "Everyone has bad days, and Amelia is determined to learn from hers. Mistakes made today will not be repeated and the outdoor season begins next month."

Elsewhere, Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters strengthened their grip on the East Surrey League title by comfortably winning the road relay in the shadow of Box Hill. Alex Bruce-Littlewood got the winning trio off to a flying start running the fastest young athletes leg of 10 minutes 47 seconds. Liam White (12:15) and Luke Jones (11:37) kept the team in front. The B team of Charlie Carrington (13:01), Geordie Logan (12:33) and Ryan Watson (20:02) was fourth.

Top duathlete Richard Xerri posted the fastest individual time in the senior relay of 10:41 - only six seconds faster than teenager Bruce-Littlewood. Steve Newton clocking 11:50, the fastest by an over 50 veteran, Naomi Warner (11:49) and Stu Littlewood (13:21) completed the team.

Hercules Wimbledon's Kieran White made an impressive debut in the Wimbledon Common time trial finishing runner-up in 16:31. Clubmate Deon Coetzee was fifth in 17:22.

Several Hercules Wimbledon athletes flexed their muscles for the summer track and field season competing in the Kingston and Polytechnic open meeting at Kingsmeadow Stadium. Jon Grayson won the long jump with 6.18m while Ed Saywell won the under 15 800m. Eleanor Smith-Hahn showed good form in the under 11 events winning the 100 and 800m and taking second place in the long jump.

Jennifer Fernando was runner-up in the junior women's 800m while Joe Toomey was first under 15 finisher in the 3000m in 10:07.28 ahead of clubmate Liam White (10:21.77).

This weekend, several Hercules Wimbledon youngsters will be in action in the English schools cross country championships at Leeds on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon teenagers Emily Martin and Amelia Richards enjoyed another successful meeting when they came away with five medals between them at the annual Surrey indoor track and field championships at Sutton Arena.

Amelia, who continued her outstanding start to 2007 so far winning the South of England girls under 15 indoor pentathlon title and taking two silvers in the Welsh indoor championships, proved the more successful as she secured two gold medals to the three silvers by Emily. She established herself as favourite for the girls under 15 60m title in winning her heat in 8.26 seconds, the fastest time of the qualifying round. She speeded up to 8.16 to win her semi-final and then clinched the gold medal in an even faster time of 8.12.

She made it double gold as she also won the long jump title with 5.05 metres, the only competitor to jump more than five metres. This weekend, Amelia competes in the England Athletics girls under 15 indoor pentathlon championship at Sports City, Manchester.

Meanwhile, Emily found the going tougher in the junior women's events. She looked good for gold in the 60m where she won her heat in 7.88, the best of the qualifying round times. However, despite posting a faster 7.85 in the final, she was just pipped for the gold medal. She made it a hat-trick of silver medals as she finished runner-up in both the long and triple jumps with leaps of 5.36 and 11.21 metres, respectively.

A third Hercules Wimbledon athlete in action at Sutton Arena was Ka Chuen To who finished runner-up in the junior men's triple jump with a leap of 11.36m.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Mark Baker won a silver medal in the British Masters (Veterans) indoor track and field championships at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, North London, when he finished runner-up in the men's over 45 60m final in 7.62.

Hercules Wimbledon's Steve Allen clipped 12 seconds off his previous best time for the course when he finished fourth in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial in 18:08. Teenager Will Spooner, competing in the event for the first time, was 17th in 20:30. Over 60 veteran Dennis Williams was 30th in 22:09.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood concluded his winter cross country racing programme with a superb run in the English National cross country championships at Sunderland. He was 17th out of almost 200 runners in the men's under 17 6000m race in 21:51.

Justin Kelly was 258th out of more than 900 runners in the senior men's 12000m race in 45:22 with Deon Coetzee 341st in 46:51.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes are making the trip to Box Hill, near Dorking, for the East Surrey League road relays. The relays for seniors, veterans, juniors, under 17 and under 15 runners, over four laps of two miles starts at 3pm. A two mile race for under 13 year-olds starts at 2.30pm.

Three Hercules Wimbledon youngsters were members of the winning Surrey boys under 13 team in the South East Regional Sportshall finals at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre. Not only did the trio help Surrey secure a team victory but they will also be in the Surrey team to represent the South East Region in the National Sportshall Finals which are being staged at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on Sunday, April 22nd.

Best of the Hercules Wimbledon trio was Jose Costa, the Surrey boys under 13 200m and long jump champions last summer who won the standing long jump with an opening leap of 2.38 metres. Costa, who celebrated his 13th birthday in January, showed an impressively consistent series as he followed this up with leaps of 2.30, 2.28 and 2.26 metres. He was just three athletes in the 12-strong Surrey team to win their event.

Hercules Wimbledon newcomer David Adenrele competed in two events. He was third in the triple jump with a leap of 6.69 metres and seventh in the six lap race. After an opening leap of 4.46 metres he improved top 6.69 metres in the second round before getting out to 6.64 and 6.66 metres with his final two attempts.

Third Hercules Wimbledon member of the winning Surrey team was Ed Saywell who was fifth inn the standing high jump with 1.30 metres.

Surrey gained a narrow victory in the match with 662 points beating Middlesex (654), Sussex (634) and Kent (536).

Hercules Wimbledon teenager Alex Bruce-Littlewood warmed-up for Saturday's English cross country championships at Sunderland by leading the field home in an inter-club match in Richmond Park last Saturday.

Bruce-Littlewood, at 16, one of the youngest runners in the field, gained a comfortable win in the 3.8 miles race crossing the finishing line in 21 minutes 36 seconds, 18 seconds ahead of Surrey Veterans cross country champion Paul Doyle. Bruce-Littlewood will be battling it out against runners in his own age group in the men's under 17 six kilometres race at Herrington Country Park, Sunderland, on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon runners dominated the inter-club match in Richmond Park, filling three of the first four places. Justin Kelly was third in 22:43 and Deon Coetzee, having his second race of the day, fourth in 23:03. Over 50 veteran Martin O'Halloran was the next Hercules Wimbledon finisher taking 11th place in 25:59 with Terry Savage 13th in 26:49, Alan Turner first over 60 veteran in 28:35 and fellow over 60 veteran Mike Kortenray, an outstanding endurance runner in his younger days, winning the South of England two miles title in 1968, 19th in 29:16.

Six hours before he raced in Richmond Park, Coetzee made his debut in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial over a soggy, water-saturated course. He finished just outside the frame taking fourth place in 18:08. Supervet Hugh Saxby was the first veteran of any category beating the over 40 veteran by almost a minute as he posted a debut time of 18:33.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes gained two medals in the British Masters (Veterans) Indoor Championships at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, Picketts Lock, on Sunday. Sprinter Mark Baker took silver in the over 45 60m in 7.62 after winning his heat in 7.71. Double World Masters medallist Geoff Walcott was third in the over 50 60m final ion 7.75 after also winning his heat in 7.79. He just missed out on a second medal as he took fourth place in the 400m in 57.20.

Two of Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's most talented youngsters competing in the England Athletics indoor championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena over the weekend both came away with medals.

Teenagers Amelia Richards and Emily Martin added to their burgeoning medal collection when they took silver in the girls under 15 and junior women's long jump events.

Amelia was first in the spotlight and managed to snatch the silver medal by just one centimetre with an impressively consistent series of jumps. She opened with 5.13m which led the competition at the end of the first and then improved with a second round leap of 5.17m which put her in second place by just one centimetre. She had a third round effort of 5.09m but was still just one centimetre behind the winner at the half-way stage in the contest.

Richards, who has made a tremendous start to 2007 winning the South of England pentathlon title and just being edged out in both the 60m and long jump in taking two silver medals in the Welsh indoor championships, started the second half of the contest with her best leap of the competition, 5.18m, which made her joint best at that stage.

She then had a foul in the fifth round before completing her series with 5.14m. However, to have five leaps between 5.09 and 5.19m showed impressive consistency.

After her silver medal winning effort she needed to summon more energy for the three rounds of the 60m. She was third in her first round heat in 8.08 seconds, the eighth best first round time to reach the semi-finals. There she raced to a lifetime best of 8.00 in finishing fourth to get through to the final where she also showed tremendous speed and stamina to take seventh place in 8.02, not that far off her best.

Double South of England championships silver medallist Emily Martin also came away with a medal as she produced her best-ever indoor form to take silver with a leap of 5.62m. It added six centimetres to her previous best set when winning the Surrey junior women's indoor title at Sutton Arena last March.

Both Amelia and Emily will be in action again this weekend when the Surrey indoor championships are held at Sutton Arena on Saturday and Sunday.

A quartet of Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action for Surrey in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Wollaton Park, Nottingham, on Saturday.

Richard Xerri finished 170th in the senior men's 12 kilometres race, twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were 166th and 188th, respectively in the women's under 17 championship while Ed Saywell was 77th in boys under 13 race. A fifth Hercules Wimbledon athlete, teenager Alex Bruce-Littlewood led the Kent team to the silver medals in the men's under 17 championship. Alex finished 23rd out of 263 runners.

Running for Essex University, Adam Przedrzymirski produced his best ever run in the London Colleges League to finish runner-up in the final race of the season at Ruislip while Justin Kelly also took second place in the Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial on Saturday in 17:34 with Deon Coetzee sixth in 18:18 and Steve Allen seventh in 18:20 and teenager Liam White 10th in 19:27.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon athletes compete in an inter-club match in Richmond Park on Saturday, starting at 3pm, will be in action in the Surrey indoor championships at Sutton Arena on Saturday and Sunday, and also take part in the Merton trials for the London mini marathon on Wimbledon Common on Sunday. Registration at The Study Preparatory School, Camp Road, starts at 10am with the first race for girls at 11am and the race for boys half-an-hour later.

Anyone aged between 11 and 17 on London Marathon Day, April 22, who lives or goes to school in Merton, is eligible to take part. Details from Merton Leisure Development on 020 545 3399.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club is celebrating achieving clubmark status, the first athletic club in London south of the River Thames to do so.

Hercules Wimbledon is also only the sixth athletic club in the capital to gain a clubmark. It confirms the club is a safe, effective, child friendly and well run organisation. Bob Smith, manager of the London Region of England Athletics, said: "Congratulations are due to Hercules Wimbledon on becoming the sixth club in London to achieve Clubmark status."

Nick Getting, chairman of Hercules Wimbledon, welcomed the award. "It has taken us a long time to get this award and is the culminations of many hours of hard work by our voluntary officials. It confirms that Hercules Wimbledon is an effective and well run club meeting the requirements and demands of the 21st century and the run-up to London 2012."

This weekend, two of Hercules Wimbledon's aspiring young athletes will be going for gold in the England Athletics indoor championships at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday.

Emily Martin, 18, who last month took silver medals in the junior women's long and triple jumps at the South of England indoor championships at Lee Valley, goes in both the 60m sprint and her number one event in Birmingham on Saturday.

Her younger Hercules Wimbledon clubmate, Amelia Richards, fresh from her tremendous 60m sprint victory in the Celtic Indoor Cup in Cardiff last month, also competes on Saturday in the girls under 15 60m and long jump, the two events in which she won silver medals in the Welsh indoor championships in Cardiff last month.

Meanwhile, other Hercules Wimbledon athletes will be competing for Surrey and Kent in the UK Inter-Counties cross country championships at Nottingham on Saturday.

Three Hercules Wimbledon athletes were in action in the South East England schools inter-counties match at Bexhill on Saturday. Running for Kent, Alex Bruce-Littlewood finished fifth in the senior boys race leading Kent to third team place.

Jennifer Fernando was 41st in the intermediate girls race in which Surrey were second and Joe Toomey was 51st in the junior boys race which was won by Surrey.

At the other end of the age scale, Hercules Wimbledon's Peter Giles was first over 60 runner in the weekly Wimbledon Common five kilometres time trial on Saturday. Making his first appearance in the event he finished 17th overall in 19 minutes 28 seconds. First Hercules Wimbledon finisher was Matt Fell, who was 13th in 19:03. Two other Hercules Wimbledon runners, over 60 runner Dennis Williams and over 65 runner John Wasbrough finished 52nd and 56th in 25:03 and 25:47, respectively.

Veteran Peter Lee led a small contingent of Hercules Wimbledon runners home in an inter-club 5.6 miles race in Richmond Park on Saturday. He was fifth in 35:51 with fellow veteran Steve Sinnott eighth in 37:14.

Hercules Wimbledon's Athletic Club's cross country runners were this week cock-a-hoop after lifting the Sweatshop Surrey League Division Two title and gaining promotion to the top division. Next season will mark the club's appearance in Division One for first time for a decade, since the 1996/1997 season.

Hercules Wimbledon managed to secure promotion despite missing half-a-dozen of their top runners in the final match of the season on a windy Epsom Downs. Top club runners Aidan Hogan, Ian Horrocks, Deon Coetzee, Adam Przedrzymirski and Richard Xerri were among the absentees for the crucial final match and it was left to Frenchman Arnaud Claverie to lead the promotion-clinching Hercules Wimbledon squad home.

He finished 14th in the race covering the five sodden miles in 30 minutes 51 seconds. Not far behind was triathlete Jamie Helmer taking 16th place in 30:55 with Gervaise King continuing his return to racing 22nd in 31:21, Gary Blesson third veteran taking 28th place in 31:54 with fellow veteran Peter Lee 33rd in 32:08.

With Justin Kelly 36th in 32:14, Phil Glynn 39th in 32:35, Steve Allen, making his debut for Hercules Wimbledon, 41st in 32:38, Hugh Saxby 50th and second supervet in 33:22 and John Querstet 65th in 34:08, Hercules Wimbledon finished second on the day to comfortable win the divisional title.

It was also a day of celebration for the club's youngsters who triumphed in the under 15 and under 17 race to lift the overall title for the season. The team packed solidly with Liam White, Deyan Knespl, Charlie Carrington, James Green and Geordie Logan finishing fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Another of Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters, Ed Saywell, was the winner of the boys under 13 race.

Over in Richmond Park, Hercules Wimbledon's Claire Cann had a solid run over a water-saturated course to finish third in her Surrey Ladies League race. Clubmate Amandine King was also third in the under 20 race.

Twins Jennifer and Rosemary Fernando were fifth and seventh in the under 17 race and Michaela Knespl was ninth in the under 15 category.

Claire Cann completed a busy weekend by taking third place in the Valentine's 10 kilometres road race at Chessington on Sunday in which another Hercules Wimbledon prizewinner was Peter Giles, who was first veteran over 60.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in an inter-club cross country match over 5.7 miles organised by the Bank of England Athletic Club in Richmond Park. The race starts near Roehampton Gate at 3pm.

Hercules Wimbledon's former All African race walking champion Estle Viljoen has made an impressive return to the sport after a seven month break.

Viljoen, a 36-year-old teacher at Mitcham's Haslemere Primary School, won the women's five kilometres event at the London Walks in Victoria Park on Sunday finishing almost half-a-minute ahead of the second woman. The previous weekend, he what was her comeback race, she finished second overall, beaten by just one male walker, in a league race at Enfield.

Viljoen decided to take a break from walking last June and has been keeping fit doing cross country - she was well placed in last October's Surrey Veterans Championships - running in the Bushy Park time trials, mountain biking and even doing some boxing.

She explained: "I had a knee injury for a very long time and I really tried to ignore it, but it became very painful and caused a lot of discomfort. It reached a point where I just could not stand the fact that I trained so very hard, mornings and evenings after a full day's teaching and then, when I raced, I was putting up with much pain. It also affected my walking action and frequently resulted in my disqualification which was very disheartening."

Viljoen went on: "Last June, I decided to take a complete break from race walking and to focus on running instead. I found my body was getting stronger and then just when I had decided to stick to running, and mountain biking, I received an email from UK Athletics inviting me to join a walking squad weekend at Leeds University.

"I love challenges and decided to set myself a target. I want to get in the UK team for the 2007 European Cup. I am prepared to give it my all. I realise I've got to go the extra mile. My motto in life is: 'Winners never quit and quitters never win'."

Viljoen added: "On the weekend they identified weaknesses in my body and advised me to do strength conditioning work, I have started a new training programme combining race walking and running." At the same time, she has qualified as a level 2 athletics coach.

Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon teenager Amelia Richards gained revenge on the athlete who pipped her to two gold medals in the previous weekend's Welsh indoor championships when she raced to a stunning 60m victory in the Celtic International Indoor Cup meeting at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff.

The Hercules Wimbledon athlete who was returning to Cardiff six days after winning silver medals in the Welsh indoor under 15 60m and long jump championships was among 16 competitors invited to take part in an under 17 60m event. First, Amelia won her 60m heat in 8.2 seconds, the second best time of the two races, to get a good lane in the final.

Then, three hours later, she won a thrilling final in a blanket finish in which the first three runners all clocked 7.91, which smashed Amelia's personal best before the day of 8.03. More significantly, she soundly beat Hannah Thomas from Wrexham who the previous weekend had pipped her to take the gold medals in the under 15 60m and long jump.

Amelia was naturally delighted with her win and was awarded a crystal bowl and a sweatshirt for her efforts.

Thios weekend, Hercules Wimbledon runners are in cross country action on Saturday. The men will endeavour to clinch promotion in their final Sweatshop Surrey League Division Two match on Epsom Downs where they go into the match at the top of the division. The club's women are competing in the final Surrey Ladies League match in Richmond Park.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters continued their impressive start to 2007 with teenager Amelia Richards coming mighty close to snatching two titles in the Welsh indoor championships at the National Indoor Athletics Centre, Cardiff.

Fourteen-year-old Amelia began her double medal winning effort by finishing second in her girls under 15 60m heat in a personal best of 8.16 seconds, behind hot favourite to take the title, Hannah Thomas from Wrexham, who won in 8.12. Drawn in the outside lane in the final, Amelia battled hard all the way and was just pipped on the line in true photo finish style.

It was close, really close. Amelia was just one-hundredths of a second from taking the gold medal as she had to settle for silver with 8.03, a massive improvement on her previous best before the day which had stood at 8.24.

Then it was onto the long jump where she again came up against the Wrexham athlete. Again, she was just pipped to the gold medal this time by a mere centimetre. The Hercules Wimbledon athlete cleared 5.14m, some way off her best of 5.35m set in taking the bronze medal at last year's English schools championships at Gateshead.

Amelia's two silver medals at the Welsh championships followed two silver medal-winning performances by her Hercules Wimbledon clubmate Emily Martin in the South of England indoor championships at Lee Valley Athletics Centre, Pickett's Lock. It also continues her superb start to the year. At the beginning of the month she won the South of England indoor girls under 15 pentathlon title at Pickett's Lock.

Hercules Wimbledon's Jennifer Fernando will be among club athletes running for Merton in Saturday's Surrey schools cross country championships at Reigate after retaining her Merton intermediate girls title on Cannon Hill Common.

Michaela Knespl and her brother Deyan will also be running after finishing runners-up in the junior girls and intermediate boys races. Charlie Carrington and John Green will also be in action at Reigate after finishing fourth and fifth in the intermediate boys race. Joseph Stone will also be running at Reigate after finishing third in the junior boys championship.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood had a good run in the South of England championships at Holkham Hall, Norfolk, finishing 13th in the men's under 17 race.

Former marathon international Steve Badgery was first over 55 finisher in the Bushy Park five kilometres race at Hampton Court in 19:31. Three times English senior men's cross country champion Dave Clarke, now an over 45 veteran, chopped 35 seconds off his previous best time in covering the course in 20:40.

Apart from having runners in the Surrey schools championship, Hercules Wimbledon will be competing in the third of this season's Surrey Sportshall League meetings at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre on Sunday while, at the other end of the age range, Hercules Wimbledon runners will be in action in the South of England veterans championships at Ruislip on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's top teenager Emily Martin made a superb start to her 2007 competition programme with a double silver medal winning effort in the South of England indoor championships at the Lee Valley Athletics Centre, Pickett's Lock.

Competing in the newly-opened £16 million indoor centre for the first time on Saturday, she shattered her personal best triple jump performance by taking the silver medal in the junior women's championship with a leap of 11.36m.

She improved significantly through all six rounds of the competition and after a modest opening jump of 10.62m, achieved a personal best of 11.12m with her second effort to briefly take the lead in the competition before producing two fine leaps of 11.33 and 11.36 with her last two attempts. Her final effort secured the silver medal by a comfortable nine centimetres.

During the course of the competition she improved three times on her previous personal best of 11.07m set in winning the Surrey indoor title at Sutton Arena last March. Before competing in the triple jump Emily warmed up by taking part in the 60m sprint reaching the semi-final round after finishing fourth in her heat in 7.88 seconds, just one-hundredths of a second slower than her personal best set in winning the Surrey title. She was unable to repeat that form in the semi-final round, which took place after her silver medal winning effort in the triple jump but still ran well as she again finished fourth in her race in 7.96, missing making the final by just one place.

Emily returned to Lee Valley on Sunday to snatch the silver medal in the long jump. After an opening no jump she leapt 5.53m., her best effort of the competition. Her third effort of 5.46m proved crucial as her best effort for the same as the eventual bronze medallist. However, her second best leap was significantly better and secured a second silver medal for the Hercules Wimbledon athlete.

Meanwhile, the club's runners were splashing their way through mud and water of Wimbledon Common. Led by Liam White, who posted the best under 15 time of the day, the young athletes team won their three stage relay by almost a minute. White covered the 1.9 miles circuit in 11:09 with Deyan Knespl (10:59) stretching the lead and William Spooner (11:42) bringing the team home well clear. Ed Saywell was third in the under 13 race.

Third leg runner Justin Kelly was best of the senior men's team clocking 10:03 in moving from fifth to second place on the third leg. Deon Coetzee (10:08), Phil Glynn (10:38) and Arnaud Claverie (10:21) were the other members of the team. Competing for the B team Gervaise King showed good form in finishing third on the opening leg in 10:14. Meanwhile, Hercules Wimbledon's Martin Miller won the over 60 title in the Veterans Athletic Club championships held on Wimbledon Common on Saturday.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are competing in the South of England cross country championships at Holham Hall, Norfolk, on Saturday..

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters achieved their best ever team placing in the Surrey Sportshall competition when they finished runners-up in the boys under 13 competition in the second match of the winter at Guildford's Spectrum Leisure Centre.

Hercules Wimbledon athletes filled two of the top six places with Ed Saywell taking third place with 42.5 points, just one-and-a-half points behind the winner, and Jose Costa finishing sixth with 41 points. Saywell won the six lap race while Costa was the winner of the standing long jump. Saywell was also joint second in the high jump with Costa fourth in the four lap race.

Judging by their performances at Guildford both Saywell and Costa are in line to represent Surrey in next month's South East regional Sportshall final.

Good efforts from Lawrence Fraser, David Stables and James Russell contributed to Hercules Wimbledon's total score of 372,5 for runners-up spot. "We were only 35 points behind the winners and if we had had a sixth competitor I am sure we would have won," said team manager John Dennis. Any youngsters wanting to line-up with Hercules Wimbledon's successful Sportshall team should contact Mr Dennis on 020 8946 9989.

The boys under 15 team also performed well finishing fifth overall with Henry Husband taking 10th individual place. The young girls under 13 team, comprising almost entirely of 10-yeart-olds finished 11th overall with Elenor Smith-Hann top scorer also producing the best individual performance in the long jump. The final Sportshall League match takes place at Guildford on Sunday, February 4.

Hercules Wimbledon's youngsters maintained their winning ways in the third of this season's Sweatshop Surrey cross country league Division Two matches at West End Common, Esher. Liam White won the under 15 race finishing ahead of clubmate Jimmy Green who was third in the under 17 competition. With Paul Stables fourth in the under 15 race, Hercules Wimbledon comfortably won the team competition and go into the final match in February with a comfortable overall lead.

Top Sportshall performer Ed Saywell showed his versatility by finishing fifth in the under 13 race.

Fresh from leading Hercules Wimbledon home in the Surrey cross country championships, Richard Xerri was again top finisher in the senior men's five miles race taking seventh place with Justin Kelly, having his first race finishing a good 15th with Jamie Helmer taking 20th spot. Hercules Wimbledon go into the final match at the top of the division and poised for promotion.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon are staging the East Surrey League cross country relays on Wimbledon Common starting and finishing at a new location alongside The Causeway near the War Memorial. The under 13 young athletes race over 1.95 miles starts at 2pm with the relay for senior, juniors and veterans and under 15 and under 17-year-olds starting at 2.30pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club's youngsters made a flying start to 2007 with medal-winning performances at Croydon, Detling and Lee Valley.

While most of the club's athletes in action over the weekend battled through heavy rain and thick mud in the Surrey cross country championships at Croydon, Amelia Richards competed in the comfort of the new State of the Art indoor training centre at Picketts Lock, Lee Valley, Pickett's Lock, Enfield, winning the South of England girls under 15 pentathlon title to add to the Welsh title she won at Cardiff last November.

She made a solid start winning the first of the five disciplines, the 60m hurdles, in 9.78 seconds, just outside her personal best. She then went on to clear a personal best of 1.50m in sharing the honours in the winning the high jump to add two centimetres to her previous best set when she won the Surrey outdoor under 15 pentathlon title last September.

She held a 49 point lead after two events but, despite achieving a personal best of 7.46m in finishing third in the shot she trailed by 13 points going into the long jump. There, she rose strongly to the challenge she faced and was the only competitor in the 10-strong field to beat five metres with a leap of 5.01m taking her into a sizeable 151 point lead.

She clinched the gold medal with an impressive 2:41.86 800m victory, winning by almost five seconds. She won the title by more than 300 points with a total score of 2854 points to better her previous lifetime pentathlon best score by 80 points.

Over at Croydon, Hercules Wimbledon's came away with the silver medals in the men's and women's joint under 20 and under 17 championships. Adam Przedrzymirski narrowly failed to gain an individual medal as he finished fourth in the 4.8 kilometres championship in 23:24 leading the team to silver medals. Deyan Knespl was 26th in 26:38, Luke Jones 33rd in 27:12 and Neil Fraser 35th in 27:22 to complete the silver medal-winning team. Other Hercules Wimbledon runners were Alex Skelton 37th, Tim Bartley 38th, William Spooner 39th, Charlie Carrington 41st, and Kerith Stewart 56th.

Medena Knespl, who returned to her American university at the weekend, led the junior women's team to a set of silver medals. She was eighth in 23:31, with Jennifer Fernando 11th in 24:03, and her twin sister Rosemary 13th in 24:14. Serena Brotherton finished 23rd with Hannah Long 30th.

Hercules Wimbledon's senior men narrowly failed to clinch a set of medals finishing fourth for the second successive year. They were led home by Richard Xerri who was 14th in 47:11 with Kieran White 20th (47:34), veteran Peter Lee 46th (51:17), Leo Cox 50th (52:24) supervet Hugh Saxby 59th (53:17) and Ian Horrocks 66th (53:53). Other Hercules Wimbledon finishers were Steve Sinnott 88th, and Martin O'Halloran 152nd.

Nicola Craig led the senior women's team home finishing 48th with Sandra Aragao 58th, Annemarie Seymour 84th and Katy Luffingham 93rd.

Ed Saywell finished a good sixth in the under boys under 13 championship with Dean Belhaj in 64th place. Liam White and Joe Toomey finished 17th and 19th in the boys under 15 race while Michaela Knespl was 13th in the girls under 15 championship.

Hercules Wimbledon’s Alex Bruce-Littlewood took the men’s under 17 silver medal in the Kent cross country championships at Detling.

This weekend, Hercules Wimbledon defend their lead in the third Sweatshop Surrey League match at West End Common, Esher, on Saturday, with the young athletes off at 2pm and the seniors off at 3pm, while the women are in action in the third Surrey Ladies League match at Putney Vale, starting at 12.15pm.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club runners face a tough start to their 2007 racing programme when they compete in the annual Surrey cross country championships at Lloyd Park, Croydon, on Saturday.

Hercules Wimbledon will be fielding runners in most of the 10 championship races with international duathlete Richard Xerri leading the challenge in the final race of the day for senior men over 12 kilometres.

Xerri showed good form when he lifted the Lauriston Runners Club's seven miles road running championship in pouring rain in Wimbledon Village on Saturday and hinted he is ready to take on the best in Surrey in a bid to make the county team for the UK Inter-Counties championships in Nottingham next month. He will be determined to finish higher than the 24th place he managed last season when Hercules Wimbledon narrowly missed out on a set of medals.

Steph Robson and Claire Cann, who led Hercules Wimbledon to bronze medals in the senior women's race will once again be leading the club challenge while Adam Przedrzymirksi who failed to finish in last year's junior championship will be out to make amends on Saturday to secure his place in Surrey's team for Nottingham after helping the county to bronze team medals in the South of England inter-counties championships at Parliament Hill Fields last month.

Przedrzymirski warmed up for Saturday's big challenge by finishing runner-up in the final Bushy Park five kilometres time trial of 2006 at Hampton Court in 16 minutes 52 seconds. He was also a member of the winning pair Lauriston Runners' Club's 30-minute paarlauf in Wimbledon Village on Christmas Day. He linked up with Belgrave's Don Anderson to cover five miles 1405 yards. Hercules Wimbledon's over 60 veteran Alan Turner partnered Ranelagh's Sam Perkins to take second place covering five miles 1349 yards while another Hercules Wimbledon over 60 veteran John Thomas linked up with Andy Weir from Thames Hare and Hounds to finish fourth.

Hercules Wimbledon's Alex Bruce-Littlewood set a new men's under 17 record in finishing fifth in the Hercules Wimbledon/Lauriston Runners' Club's seven miles road race in Wimbledon Village on Saturday. He clocked 39:12 to smash the previous best of 44:01 set by Hercules Wimbledon's Damien Robertson in 2003. Xerri clocked 37:55 in winning the Lauriston Runners' Club title with veteran Steve Sinnott runner-up in 41:00 and fellow veteran Peter Lee third in 42:50.

Hercules Wimbledon's Hugh Saxby was first veteran over 50 in 43:23 with teenager Deyan Knespl clocking 44:49 for the third best under 17 time on the all-time list behind Bruce-Littlewood and Robertson. His older sister Medena, on holiday from her American university, set a women's under 17 record with 48:22 , a time which also placed her third on the women's all-time list for the event which was first held in 1990.

Alan Turner was the first over 60 finisher in 50:00 with Nicola Craig clocking the second best women over 45 time on the all time list with 52:13.

Hercules Wimbledon supervets Martin Miller and Martin O'Halloran were in action in the final Veterans AC promotion of 2006 on Wimbledon Common. They finished eighth and ninth respectively covering the 5.5 miles course in 38:12 and 38:36, respectively. O'Halloran was also first over 50 finisher in the final Bushy Park time trial five kilometres event of 2006 clocking 20:50.

Hercules Wimbledon's track and field training at their Wimbledon Park track headquarters resumed this week following the Christmas and New Year break.

Hercules Wimbledon Athletic Club - NEWS