Storms cleared and the sun shone, along with a very gusty wind, on the young Sussex athletes competing in the South of England Derek Crookes Under 13 Inter-Counties fixture. Leading competitors from 13 counties took part in the annual event, held at the Kingsmeadow stadium in Kingston on Saturday.
Against strong competition, our girls team placed 6th with our boys team a very respectable 7th. With 3 outright winners, as well as several personal bests (PBs) and top three placings, it was a good day all round. Brighton and Hove’s Dulcie Yelling took centre stage in one of the first events, the girls javelin. Going in to the event ranked third in the UK, she didn’t flounder. Her throw of 34.87, shy of her 37.29 PB, was enough to take the gold placing.
This was quickly followed by a very impressive win in the boys high jump for Worthing’s Rio Williams. Leaping to a PB of 1.62, Rio took the title and is ranked 3rd in the UK in the event. Eastbourne’s Eleanor Strevens was our third winner in the girls 800m A String race. In an epic battle in the home straight against both a mighty head wind, as well as a strong challenge by the girl from Hampshire, Eleanor dug in and crossed the line first in a time of 2.24.70. Mollie Barrett (Brighton and Hove) was second in the 800m B String race.
Alex Riley (Brighton and Hove) had a very busy day competing in three events – 75m hurdles, discus and shot put. His efforts were rewarded with a PB in the discus of 25.06 placing him 5th overall. His throw of 9.21 saw him into 4th position.
Other personal bests on the day included Muna Okorie (Crawley) in the A string discus with a throw of 24.34 for 4th place. Clubmate Emma Kimber also in the discus threw well with 23.26. This took top spot in the B string contest. Carys Leshon threw 23.46 in the B string javelin for a 4th place finish. There were numerous other strong performances by Sussex athletes. See the full results here
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