For the first time the under-11, under-13 and under-15 Sportshall regional finals all took place on the same day at the Triangle in Burgess Hill. It was the girls who triumphed with both the u15 and u13 girls winning bronze team medals.
The under 15 competition is for all rounders and each athlete has to take part in a run, jump and throw or speed bounce. For the girls, Crawley’s Michelle Okorie was the only individual event winner taking the shot put with a distance of 11.45m. Her club mate Isabella Lehtinen ran a beautifully measured 2-lap race for second place in the sprint. Overall Horsham’s Cleo Tomlinson was the highest placed Sussex athlete finishing seventh out of the 46 competing. However, her five team mates - Lehtinen in 13th, Okorie in 16th, Crawley’s Noa Maoundis in 21st, Brighton’s Katie Ridley 33rd and Horsham’s Sophie Hogton 34th all have another year in the age group which bodes well for next season.
For the under-15 boys Crawley’s Alessio Anah was the leading Sussex athlete with a seventh place finish out of 48 competitors. His results included a second place in the 2-lap sprint. His clubmate Tom Kimber was 15th, Haywards Heath’s Ethan Lambert was 26th and Michael Shaw (B&H) and Edward Crossman (HBS) were 33rd and 35th respectively, just ahead of Brighton’s Joshua Pay in 37th.
Under-13 Mollie Barrett (B&H) had a fantastic 6-lap run to outclass the rest of the field and win the race, and then with Horsham’s Olivia Sharpe also won the 8-lap Parlauf. Madeleine Way (HBS) was left behind in her heat of the 2-lap race and slowest to qualify but turned it around brilliantly and commanded the final for joint first place. Crawley’s Muna Okori in the Shot put and Brighton’s Amber Purcell - Standing Triple jump - were both second in their events with 9.68m and 6.42m respectively. Meanwhile Kyla Ball (HBS), who is just back from injury, was third in the vertical jump.
In the under 13 boys competition Brighton’s Adam Mehew ran a savvy race to win the 6-lap and his club mate Alex Riley was 2nd in the Shot with 9.63m. Worthing’s Chae Goff was third in the Standing Long jump with a best of 2.45m.
Unfortunately in the under-11 Fun in Athletics event Brighton’s Stella Kalman was forced to withdraw due with an injury but not before she had secured second place in the Standing Long jump, with her club mate Elodie Bradley third, and the two of them also teamed up for third place in the 2+2 relay. There was more relay success in the 1+1 where Siobhan McMahon (HHH) and Connie Bagnall (B&H) achieved 2nd place.
In the boys event Chichester's James Taylor and Crawley's Cristiano Anah were third in the 2+2 relay. They were later joined by Harry Long (HBS) and Finn Buckfield (CRA) in the Grand Prix race, where the foursome took victory after a very determined run in which they held the inside line.
Team Manager Kim Milnthorpe said: “The performances across the board were solid and it was a young team so we have a lot to build on for 2020”.
Sussex AA hosted this regional event and would like to thank the officials and team managers from all the clubs in the county who have made it another successful season for Sportshall athletics.
See the full results here.
If you have any queries or want more information regarding this post, please Email Melanie Anning