The Sussex Indoor Championships saw some of the lowest entry levels this century, with a total of 106 athletes due to compete and 21 of them no shows. For possibly the first time since its inception, the champs had fewer than 90 participants, and many athletes only had to turn up to be guaranteed a medal.
The unfortunate clashes with the final Sussex cross-country league, the England national age group championships and the start of half term were all factors. However, the dropout in the youngest age group was most profound. There was just one entry in the Under 13 girls Long Jump and two athletes in the 60m sprint. The U13 boys fared slightly better with two Long Jumpers and three sprinters. The long reach of the pandemic has impacted this age group, with some team managers explaining that 'new' athletes were just 'not confident enough' to compete at the county champs.
There was just one outright Championship Best Performance, set by Brighton and Hove Under 15 talent Elodie Bradley. She dominated both heat and final to win the 60m in 8.01s, beating the old best by 1/100th. The time would have won all the other women's age groups bar the Under 20s, where she matched Crawley gold medallist Noa Maoundus's clocking. Elodie now holds both the U13 and U15 CBPs. Her clubmate, Charlie Fisher, won the U15 60m Boys race in a swift 7.63s.
Crawley Under 15 Braimoh Busari had a wonderful day on Saturday, setting a 20 centimetre personal best in the Pole Vault, sailing over 3 metres and setting another PB in the 60m Hurdles with a speedy 9.25s. Early season Braimoh is presently ranked third in the vault and sixth in the hurdles in the UK.
In a high quality, U15 girls shot competition a mere four centimetres separated Worthing's Alice Howie and Rebecca Roberts, with 10.24m and 10.20m respectively.
Sussex held an Under 15 girls Triple Jump competition for the first time. This was not the initial plan, but the four entrants in the Under 17 women's event were all competing up an age group. As we had no U17s, giving the U15s a championship competition of their own made sense. The inaugural event winner was Brighton's Jaiten Best with 9.43m, which is now a CBP.
Crawley's Poppy Oliver won the U20 Women's Long Jump, and Brighton's Amber Purcell took the U17W title before dashing up to Sheffield, where on Sunday, she came a fine fourth in the Triple Jump with a leap of 11.27m.
Crawley's Jade Brewster took top honours in the Senior Women's Long Jump with 5.15m, from Eastbourne's Cara Maker's 5.06m. Meanwhile, Livvy Connor (CRA) won the High Jump with 1.60m. Sussex veteran Leanne Buxton is preparing for the European Masters, and she took the Shot Put title with 10.70m and ran a swift 9.48s, competing as a guest over the U17W hurdles.
Brighton Under 20 400m runner Stephen Yell is a newbie to Combined Events and got in some practise, leaping to a High Jump PB of 1.75m and earning a silver medal in the Shot Put behind Crawley gold medallist Freddie Hawes's 11.16m. Dillan Tierney (CRA) won the U20M Pole Vault with 4m from Lewes's Isaac Lancaster (3.90m).
Bradley Eisnor won the Senior Men's High Jump with 1.90m, down 5 centimetres on his CBP set in 2020. Hastings coach and Masters athlete Wayne Martin took the Pole Vault title with 2.90m. Later, he returned to watch one of his athletes, Charlotte Wynne-Pennel, win the women's competition.
Eight of the 12 senior men entered turned out for the 60m heats. The eventual victor was Brighton's Toby Hawkins, who strained a hamstring 45 metres into the race but held on for the victory.
Thank you to all the officials from Sussex and Surrey who ensured the competition ran smoothly across the weekend.
View the results HERE