Drizzle didn’t dampen spirits as the Sussex Cross Country League came to a strong finish.
More than 500 athletes entered the final event held at Stanmer Park, Brighton, last Sunday.
It marked the 4th of 4 fixtures in the league which began back in October last year at Goodwood.
As usual the day opened with the under 11 races where Ada Greenaway (Brighton & Hove) won the girls (8.22) and Benji Pocock (HYAC) the boys (8.19).
Both Ada and Benji have won all 4 races this season and as a result were league gold medal winners.
Victoria Ridley (Brighton & Hove), 2nd on Sunday, secured a joint league silver with Ivy Buchanan (HYAC), both on 7 points, whilst in the boys league Laurie Fox (Brighton & Hove) took silver with 7 points and Riley Ayre (Worthing) bronze with 8.
Brighton & Hove’s Skye Widdows comfortably won the under 13 girls’ race 33 seconds ahead of Ella Bartholomew (Lewes) on 14.10 and Amelia Skelton (HYAC) 14.23. It marked 3 first place finishes for Skye across the season and a well deserved gold. Season silver went to Darcie Wickenden (6 points) and bronze to Stella Gambie (Phoenix).
With 112 points HYAC finished the season as under 13 girls league winners followed by Brighton & Hove on 119 and Phoenix on 169.
The under 13 boys individual league gold and silver positions had already been decided prior to Sunday with Lewes’ Harry Chapman (gold) having won the first 3 fixtures and Rory Grant (Brighton & Hove) scoring 8 points for silver.
Both didn’t compete at Stanmer. Crawley’s Finlay Nottage displayed some fine running crossing the line in 13.03 and scoring 1 point – enough to get him league bronze. This was shared with team mate Xander Wagjiani who, 4th on the day, also scored 9 points.
Crawley took the team title (71 points), Brighton & Hove 2nd (90) and Phoenix 3rd on 183.
Isabella Buchanan (HYAC) looked strong in the under 15 girls race winning in 15.48 followed by Elizabeth Hutchinson (Hastings) in 16.03 and Izzy Wheeler (Horsham) in 16.23.
Isabella’s win gave her a collective score of 3 for the league title and she also helped her team win the league with 82 points.
Individual silver went to Katherine Haslip (Phoenix) on 6 points and Elizabeth Hutchinson on 7.
League silver to Crawley on 145 and bronze to Brighton & Hove on 169.
With two boys on 3 points and one on 4, the question before the under 15 boys was which Eastbourne athlete would take which medal.
All 3 pushed each other across most of the course but as the end got closer, it was George Armstrong Smith who broke away for the win in 14.20 followed by Fin Lumber Fry in 2nd on 14.21 and Byron Roberts on 14.25.
As a result George scored 4 points for the season gold and Fin and Byron 6 so shared the silver.
No surprise, with results like this, that Eastbourne were league winners on just 27 points. Could this be a league record?
Chichester took silver on 91 and Lewes 136.
Next up was the under 17 men’s race where certain runners had to finish in certain places to medal, and this could change at any point.
Freddie Matthews (Brighton & Hove) took the top spot on the day in 18.54 and in doing so secured himself a league bronze.
Second went to Thomas Barnett (Brighton & Hove) in 19.14 then came the battle for 3rd. Arun Khursheed (Brighton & Hove) battled for the spot right on the line and as a result scooped league silver.
League gold went to Jake Pursey (Phoenix), who didn’t run on Sunday as is now focusing on the indoor season.
Brighton & Hove comfortably won the league with 39 points. In second was Crawley on 145 and Phoenix 3rd on 176.
The under 17 women run together with the under 20, senior and vet women, and as a result can score as under 17s and seniors.
Winning the whole race on Sunday was under 17 Ava James (Brighton & Hove) in 20.50 followed by senior woman Imogen Matthews (Chichester) in 20.55 and then under 17 Freda Pearce (Eastbourne) in 21.32.
This meant Ava took the under 17 league gold (4 points) and Freda the bronze (9 points). Silver went to Raya Petrova who didn’t run Sunday but had already scored 6 points.
With 4 points Imogen won the senior women’s league gold.
Under 20 Anya Barret (Chichester) finished 5th on Sunday and scored 4 points across the season for gold.
Linda Schofield (Brighton & Hove) was top vet finisher on Sunday in 6th overall in 22.03.
In the vet age categories league gold medals went to Alice Robinson (Worthing) V35, Amy Dixon (HYAC) V40, Lisa Pemberton (Chichester) V45, Linda Schofield V50, Jeanette Kenneally (Brighton & Hove) V55, Jenny Hughes (Arena 80) V60, Nicky Callus (Burgess Hill) V65, Sue Baker (Chichester) V70 and Wendy Whelan (Chichester) V75.
The Division 1 women’s contest was won by Chichester on 172 points followed by Brighton & Hove on 229 and Lewes on 256.
Eastbourne topped Division 2 on 125 whilst Lewes scored 90 for the V35-50 title and Brighton & Hove 58 for the Over 50 age league.
The league gold and silvers were decided by two athletes not competing at Stanmer – Andrew Green (Brighton & Hove) on 4 points and Kieran Barnes (Brighton and Hove) on 8. Bronze went to James Dicks (Brighton & Hove) on 19 who placed 7th on Sunday.
Winning on Sunday was James Turner (Brighton & Hove) in 29.14 followed by Josh Burgess (Lewes) in 29.44 then the first vet, V35 Simon Heath (Phoenix) in 3rd in 30.06.
Brighton & Hove’s Rory Monti was the 1st under 20 to cross the line in 5th overall in 30.53. This gave Rory 7 league points and a silver overall.
Under 20 league gold went to Eastbourne’s Fintan Pearce (6th on Sunday) on 5 points.
In the vet age categories league gold medals went to Graham Russ (Steyning) V35, Zared Arasaretnam (Brighton & Hove) V40, Howard Bristow (Brighton & Hove) V45, Haywards Heath team mates Marcus Kimmins and Stuart Rowen joint V50, Graham Godden (Brighton & Hove) V55, Nigel Heron (Phoenix) V60, Tim Hicks (Haywards Heath) V65 and Tony Lintern (Crawley).
The biggest league win of the season goes to Brighton & Hove in Division 1 where 139 was scored in front of Phoenix on 474 and Brighton & Hove B on 577.
In division 2 Worthing took gold whilst in the Vets 35-50 it was Brighton & Hove winning and Haywards Heath in the over 50 age category.
For full results click here