Athletics – Heathside star Colin Kpodonu on the rise
Published: 29 July, 2010
by CATHERINE ETOE
Young Athletes League
Southern Two, Thames
RISING young athletics stars clinched second and third places in the league with a string of fine performances in hot conditions at Mile End on Sunday.
Highgate Harriers took second on the day to finish runners-up overall while London Heathside finished third, on the fourth and final meet, to take the same position in the league.
London Heathside athlete Colin Kpodonu looks to have fully recovered from injury with two fine victories for the under-15s A string and a personal best of 59.4 in the 400m.
The 13-year-old Highgate School pupil, who broke his leg in May 2009, was first in the shot with a strong 9.35m. Kpodonu, who lives in Angel, just missed out on a club record when he stormed into first place in the discus with a throw of 17.87m.
The high fliers for Highgate Harriers included under-17 boys athletes Liam Ormes, Tony Lu, Gabriel Hoppen, Ashley St Ange and Theo Farrell.
They were backed by under-15s Anthony Williams, Ismail Hashir, Stanley Harrison, Gabriel Springer and Ben Dimant, and under-13s relay team Emmanuel Osei-Jeboal, Arnold Mensuoh, Idris Hashir and Michael Burroughs.
Peter Laing, Alex Badcott, Ben Hatch and Arnold Harrison were also in fine form for that age group.
Angelica Thomas, Meredith Lambert and Lulu Szego scored valuable points for the under-15s while Molly Boiling, Eva Mee, Lily Andrews, Kai Jandausch, Dante Bishop-Sauve and Grace Mee scored for the under-13s.
Xelia Mendes-Jones ensured that at least one Heathside club record fell when she broke the under-15 girls’ record in the javelin with a throw of 19.89m.
Selam Asefa’s wins in javelin B and discus A and Lily Beckford’s victory in 800m B ensured the same age group finished strongly in the points tally.
Among the under-17s A team, Daniel Szajna and Miron Woldemichael had good wins in the 1500m (in 5.08.1) and 3000m (11.19.9) respectively.