ILFORD athletes caught the eye with 12 medals in all at this weekend s Essex Indoor Track & Field Championships at Lee Valley. In the junior men s 200m Healson Ihuoma and Gary Madigan ran in a straight final and this was very much in the balance until th

ILFORD athletes caught the eye with 12 medals in all at this weekend's Essex Indoor Track & Field Championships at Lee Valley.

In the junior men's 200m Healson Ihuoma and Gary Madigan ran in a straight final and this was very much in the balance until the final bend, with Madigan coming home in 23.75 for silver and Healson in 23.87 for bronze.

Sam Malekout, in the senior men, ran the 200m in a record a time of 23.81 for gold and also competed in the 400m and collected another silver in a time of 52.0.

Melodie Ihuoma, not to be out done by her big brother, ran the 60m in the under-17 women's event and clocked 8.39 to qualify for the final where she finished fourth in 8.26. In the long jump she went even better to leap 4m 55cm and claim gold.

Kofi Gibbon Jeffers ran the under-17 60m and reached the final where he narrowly missed out on a medal with 7.38 (fourth) and a PB while Evan Dewa Collier ran a valiant junior men's 400m to finish fourth in 61.85.

Jordan Akisanya, competing in his first year as an under-15 athlete, ran the 60m and finished in 8.46 before finishing second in the long jump with 4m 96cm.

Elijah Collins, in the junior men's high jump, also claimed gold with 1m 70cm while George Hadler ran the under-15 60m hurdles and claimed a PB with 10.10. In the final he ran 10.00 to win bronze.

On day two, Ihuoma collected two more medals, the first in the junior men's long jump where he won gold with a distance of 6m 26cm and bronze in the 60m sprint in 7.30 while Simeon Stuart, in the long jump, was considerably below par due to illness but was still able to come second with 6m 11cm.

Antione Green, running in the 60m after returning from the under-20 AAA's at Birmingham, ran 7.35 in the final after finishing fourth in his heat to equal his PB.

Ken Nwosu ran in the same event as an open competitor to run 7.22 while Nathaniel Senior competed in the junior men's triple jump and was delighted to win gold with a sound distance of 13m 81cm.

At the Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon, meanwhile, Keith Ennis recorded 1.32.12 for a top 150 spot.