No less than eight records fell at the 2020 Sussex Indoor Championships, with a hattrick in the Long Jump. Of the 122 athletes pre-entered, 114 battled through the winds to make it to the David Weir Leisure centre, to vie for county honours.
Brighton and Hove under 13s Stella Kalman and Elodie Bradley both set Championship bests and took home four medals between them. Bradley won the 60m in an excellent CBP of 8.25 seconds, a time which ranks her fifth in the UK. Kalman came second in 8.57s and there was a bronze for Hayward’s Heath’s Siobhan McMahon in 8.75s. The same three athletes took the podium positions in the Long Jump with Kalman setting a CBP of 4.59m, for sixth place in the UK rankings, McMahon upgrading to a silver medal with 4.35m and Bradley just six centimetres behind for the bronze.
Another CBP fell in the u13 boys Long Jump with Horsham’s Harry Long winning with 4.42m from Crawley’s Braimoh Busari’s 4.29m leap.
In the under 15 girls 60m there were three exciting rounds of competition and here Brighton’s Sophie Wilkinson triumphed, setting a PB of 8.19s ahead of joint silver medallists, clubmate Amber Purcell and Horsham’s Madeleine Way who, after lengthy deliberations by the photo finish team, could not be separated and were both given the time of 8.22s. Wilkinson later returned to also take the 60m hurdles crown, with her first sub-10 seconds clocking and second PB of the day – 9.90s.
Purcell won the Long Jump by 34 centimetres with a PB of 5.04m. Then, competing an age group above, she also topped the podium in the under 17 women’s Triple Jump, just three centimetres ahead of Worthing’s Hope Yelling, with a jump of 10.98m.
Horsham’s Kyla Ball was the only under 15 girl in the High Jump but unfazed delivered a five centimetre PB with 1.50m for the gold medal.
In the Pole Vault Lewes’s Amalie Smith-Jarman cleared 2.40m for gold, with another tie for silver between her clubmate Jessica Banner and Crawley’s Lydia Preston on 2.20m.
In the U17 women’s Pole Vault Lewes again dominated with Gemma Tutton sailing over 3.60m to set a new Championship best, followed home by her clubmates Amelia Hatchard with 3.50m and Emilie Oakden with 3.20m.
There was another 1-2-3 for Crawley in the 60m, with a clear win for Ruby Jerges in 7.91s after a PB of 7.86s in the heat. She was followed home by Isabella Lehtinen in 8.01s and Noa Maoundus in 8.03s. Lehtinen went on to win the 60m hurdles in 9.06 from Isabella Humphreys in 9.17s and Maoundus in 9.32s for another Crawley podium clean sweep.
Noa Maoundus, Ruby Jerges and Isabella Lehtinen
There were two CBPs in the under 17 men’s competition with Brighton’s Seb Wallace running 8.39s in the 60m hurdles and his clubmate Massi Campbell Triple Jumping out to 13.02m.
Ethan Muirhead won the 60m in 7.34 from Wallace, Horsham’s Hari Brogan and Crawley’s Will Sutton were 1-2 in the High Jump, both jumping 1.85m. Brighton’s Arthur Haines was the sole competitor and gold medallist in the Long jump with 6.21m. and East Grinstead’s Cameron Wells leapt 3.90 to secure victory in the pole vault.
In the Long Jump Cleo Tomlinson set a CBP of 5.57m for gold and 60m champion Ruby Jerges was also above the old mark with her 5.48m leap for silver. Crawley’s Michelle Okorie won the shot put by nearly three metres with her put of 11.22m. Her little sister Muna won the under 15 competition with 11.68m, which takes her to sixth in the UK rankings.
In the under 20 women’s competition Crawley’s Adeline Preston leapt out to a PB of 11.15m for a win in the Triple Jump and her clubmate Morgan Hayward did the same in the men’s competition securing victory with a PB of 14 metres. This mark takes him to eighth in the UK rankings. Brighton's Tom Ridley was just one centimetre below his best in the High Jump with a 1.90m clearance.
Eastbourne’s talented multi eventer, Bradley Eisnor, set a CBP in the Senior Men’s High Jump with his 1.95m clearance. He also won the Long Jump competition.
Sussex AA President Ron Penfold presented medals on Saturday. Meeting manager Martin Etchells thanked all the officials who ensured the event happened and said: “The Championships went very well for the athletes who made the effort to get there, despite the weather conditions.”