On Sunday scores of the county’s youngest athletes battled through high winds to get to Tanbridge House School, Horsham for the last Sportshall league fixture of the 2019/20 season.
Crawley boys had won every match leading up to the final, and looked like a sure bet to retain their title, but in the the girls competition just half a point separated Crawley from Brighton and Hove, so this was set to be an Amazonian battle.
The girls did not disappoint. Their competition went down to the wire with final results dependant on the relays. Ultimately Brighton triumphed by a narrow margin of just 3½ match points, winning with 880.5 to Crawley’s 877.
Crawley boys victory was dominant, with a final tally of 898.5 match points, 123 ahead of Horsham.
Across this season there have been many excellent performances from all the clubs, and several records have been broken. However the talent of one athlete has towered above all others. Under 13 Vittorio Anah of Crawley broke three individual records and was also part of a record setting relay squad. The youngster effortlessly floated both upwards and horizontally to achieve marks of 74 cms in the Vertical Jump, and 8.05m/ 2.55m in the Standing Triple and Long Jumps respectively.
Brighton’s under 11 boys set a new marker in the 4x1 lap race as did Crawley's U15 girls in the 4x2 lap relay. The other record smashed this season was the U13 girls speed bounce where Horsham's Madeleine Way in fact equalled the U15 girls record with 87 bounces in just 30 seconds.
The final result for the Girls was: Brighton – 18 league points, Crawley - 17, Horsham - 13, Haywards Heath – 7 and Chichester - 5 and for the Boys: Crawley - 20, Horsham – 13, Brighton - 13, Haywards Heath – 10 and Chichester – 4.
Before the action commenced there was a special presentation. It was 38 years ago that John Linfield of Horsham Blue Star introduced a development event of indoor adapted athletics to Sussex. John has organised the county’s Sportshall league ever since and expanded it to a second venue in Lancing a few years ago. Now in his 80s he is stepping back. Sussex AA President, Ron Penfold a colleague for 60 years, handed John gifts from the Association, as a token of the county’s appreciation.
Sussex AA thanks John and all the officials who have come out to support Sportshall across this season and the last four decades.