The track & field season concluded with a flurry of competitions and successful Sussex performances.
There were several podium finishes for Sussex athletes at the England Athletics U15/U17 Open Championships in Birmingham on the weekend of August 26/27.
These including an impressive gold for Brighton & Hove’s Louis Opoku in the U17 men’s javelin (60.83) and silver medals for Stephanie Shaw (Crawley) in the 1500m (4.35.23) and Vittorio Anah (Crawley) in the triple jump (13.43).
Bronze medallists included Dulcie Yelling (Brighton & Hove) in the U17W javelin (46.07), Barney Hastings (Brighton & Hove) in the U17M javelin, Owen Wallek (Phoenix) in the U17M 1500m, Madeleine Way (Crawley) in the U17W Long Jump, Daisy Connor (Eastbourne) in the U15 800m and Jaiten Best (Brighton & Hove) in the U15W Triple Jump.
Meanwhile at the Under 20 Welsh International, Brighton & Hove athletes, Rachael Wall and Alex Riley, and Lewes' Emilie Oakden represented England. Rachael took silver in the javelin, Alex gold in the 1500m and Emilie gold in the pole vault.
Following this was the bank holiday weekend where the county played host to the 4th and final Sussex U15 Track & Field League fixture at Withdean, Brighton, followed by the U13 Track & Field League Final at the K2, Crawley, which included the Sussex U15/U17 3K Champs.
Brighton & Hove were the club who most celebrating winning both U13 and U15 League titles. They took the top spot on the Friday in the Under 15 match making it 3 out of 4 wins overall and on
the Sunday, although pushed all the way to the very end of the day, they beat Crawley by just 26 points to win the U13 trophy.
In the U15s, Saul Bennett (Brighton & Hove) ran a gritty race alone at the front to narrowly take the league record clocking 2.04.3 (beating the previous 2.04.4 record).
Then on the Sunday, Crawley’s Archie Oates, continued what has been a magnificent season, breaking the U13 league discus record with a launch of 34.63. Archie had already broken the record previously at Crawley back in June with a throw of 33.09. His season PB of 41.49 puts him number 1 in the UK.
The first of the races in the 3K champs was the U15 boys where George Gilbert (Brighton & Hove) took gold. This was followed by a win from in-form Arun Khursheed (Brighton & Hove) in the U17 men’s contest. The U15 girls and Under 17 women ran together with Rae Le Fay (Hastings) winning the upper age group and Freda Pearce (Eastbourne) the younger.
Unfortunately, the Sussex Masters’ Field Championships, which were due to be held at Lewes last Sunday, had to be cancelled due to a fallen tree and council restrictions.
The South of England U15/U17 Inter County Champs, at Horspath, Oxford, managed by Kari Sprostronov and Verity Cox, on the same day did go ahead. Full results are yet to be published but some highlights included a 1st place for Brighton & Hove’s Dylan Calvey in the U17M high jump and team mate Dulcie Yelling in the U17W javelin, 2nd for Lewes’ Grace Tuesday (U17W) in the 800m, 3rd for Arun Khursheed (Brighton & Hove) in the U17M 1500m and a championship record for Worthing’s Alice Howie in the U17W hammer.
These events all mark the end of a very busy and successful track season. The county has played host to an array of league competitions along with several championships. Well done to all the athletes who competed and contributed to a healthy and well supported summer and a huge thank you to all the officials and volunteers who turned out in all conditions for hours on end to ensure our events went ahead safely and smoothly.