Nicole Taylor looked sublime in winning her fourth consecutive Sussex Cross Country County Championship in Bexhill on Saturday.
The Tonbridge senior woman took on the new 10K distance, introduced this year, in style – completing the course in 38.53.
Beth Kidger (Brighton Phoenix) was second in 40.19 and Team Bodyworks’ Emma Dixon (41.11) third. Arena 80 took the team title on the day with 52 points followed by Brighton Phoenix (60 points) and Hastings (84 points).
Nicole was one of four athletes to retain a Sussex county cross country in 2020. 
The first of the day had been Eleanor Strevens in the Under 15 girls’ race. Strevens (Eastbourne) was pushed hard all the way round the course but managed to pull away in the closing stages from Crawley’s Amelia Cox in silver and Eadie Yelling (Brighton and Hove) in bronze. Eastbourne missed out on the team gold though by 1 point to Brighton and Hove. The Lewes team were third.
Bodywork’s Bethany Cook stepped into her first year as an Under 17 in fine style winning her 6th county cross country gold in a row in 19.40. Harriet Bloor (Hailsham) was second in 20.17 and Lois Dooley 
(Brighton and Hove) third (20.37). Brighton Phoenix won the team gold in this age category with 15 points, Brighton and Hove A silver with 18 points and Brighton and Hove B team bronze.
Tomer Tarragano (Brighton and Hove) was the fourth to retain a title winning the Under 20 men’s race in clear form in 26.40. Horsham Blue Star’s Jacob Cann (27.03) was second and Ned Potter (Chichester) third in 28.13. The top teams here were Chichester on 19 points, Horsham Blue Star 21 points then Brighton and Hove AC on 27 points.
Weather conditions were pretty perfect for cross country running with the ground boggy after a lot of autumn rain but not as tough as has been in previous years.
The day had started with the Under 13 races where Brighton and Hove AC stole the show winning both the girls and boys’ team awards. 
In the girls’ race Dulcie Yelling took the gold with her Brighton and Hove teammate Rosie Gasson in silver. First year in the age group Esme Stephenson (Lewes) had a fine run in the bronze place helping her team to the silver medal. Brighton and Hove B team took the third place.
Hastings Runner, Finlay Goodman, stomped ahead to win the Under 13 boys’ race with Brighton and Hove’s Thomas Matthews in second and Haywards Heath Harrier Arun Khursheed third. 
Haywards Heath took the team silver with Brighton Phoenix bronze.
In the Under 15 boys’ race Henry Yelling (Brighton and Hove) made it a family hat trick of medals taking the gold in 15.35 to Charlie Ferris (Horsham Blue Star) in second (15.49) and Luke Newton (Crawley) third (16.00). 
Crawley were clear team winners with 16 points to Lewes 25 points and Brighton and Hove 26 points.
In a change from the norm, the Under 20 women ran 5k with the Under 17 women. Abigail Bedwell (Bodyworks) won the gold with Alice Cox-Rusbridge (Chichester) second and Naomi Fonteyn (Phx) third. Chichester won the team gold.
Another break from previous years was the senior men running 10k and not 12K. Entries were slightly higher this year than last and the standard didn’t disappoint. Jack Leitch (WDH) looked very strong in winning the gold in 34.49 with Crawley’s Paul Navesey second in 34.59 and his teammate Neil Boniface third in 35.22. Brighton and Hove AC took the team title, Lewes second and Brighton Phoenix third.
The closest battle came in the men's Under 17 race where Adam Dray (Lewes) took gold to Liam Dunne's (Chichester) silver. Both were given 17.33. Isaac Elam (Hastings) came third. Lewes were the victorious team with Crawley second and Hastings third.
Well done to all the athletes who took part and a big thank you to the organisers, officials and other volunteers who without their time and dedication it would not be possible for the event to take place.
As mentioned in this report, a few changes were made to distances this year. The reasoning behind this was based around a desire to make male and female race cross country distances equal in line with what is happening elsewhere and internationally. These changes involved running the Under 20 women with the Under 17 women over 5K. On top of this both the senior men and women ran 10K (in separate races). Following these championships, and moving forward, we would like to know your views on these changes. These views will be considered at a Sussex cross country panel meeting in Spring/summer. All clubs will be contacted directly regarding this and invited to the meeting, but in the meantime we would welcome any relevant opinions. Please send these to matthews2000@live.co.uk