Athletes impress again as Chengelo receive warm welcome to Woking A.C.

Squad continue with good times at Sheerwater Track

Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad experienced one of their most enjoyable evenings on the trip so far as Woking A.C. pulled out all the stops to ensure that the athletes were welcomed as special visitors. Coach Nathan Honour and Club President Susan Deaves greeted the squad as they arrived and led them to a gazebo full of refreshments. This was on top of the free entry that Chigo, Maria and Johanna were offered for this competition. After getting to know each other for some time, the Woking staff and Chengelo Squad both set off to prepare for the races.

Just as it was on Monday, the events started with 100m followed by 400m. Maria and Johanna were once again in the same heat and were up against some top male athletes from Winchester and District A.C. The winning time was just over 50 seconds, with Johanna finishing further behind in 58.63 seconds and Maria in 59.47 seconds. This was Johanna’s third best time ever and Maria’s second best time ever and shows that they are getting used to running sub-60 seconds on a consistent basis.

After the 1500m heats was the 800m. Chigo was placed in a fast race, won in a superb time of 1 minute 53 seconds by one of the Woking A.C. stars. Chigo found himself towards the back of the pack as he normally does, before one of his trademark surges to the front, eventually finishing fourth in a time of 2 minutes 6.58 seconds. Chigo is also now running consistent times and this was only 0.18 seconds slower than his race on Monday.

Finally, the Bangala girls ran in an extremely exciting and competitive 200m race, with Johanna passing the leader on the home straight to win in 26.57 and Maria half a second behind in third. Nathan Honour was impressed with the performances against one of his athletes at the club and kindly printed out the photo finish of the race.

Just before the end of the evening, Nathan Honour presented the team with some memorabilia, including a Woking A.C. bag, t-shirt, club badge and a special plaque acknowledging the athletes’ performances. Chengelo Elite Athletics Squad will surely leave the Sheerwater Track with fond memories and new friends.

There were some special guests cheering on the team as Mr and Mrs Roff, former Chengelo staff members, came along and also hosted the squad before their trip to Brighton and Hove A.C. Open Meeting on Thursday night. Also, the McMaster family travelled up from Christchurch to encourage the athletes and had an enjoyable time seeing old friends and watching some great performances. Next up, Brighton!