Probably the best supported Sussex Schools Track and Field championships for at least a decade, produced several championships records and more than thirty English Schools standards to add to the 61 that had been recorded before the Championships.
Many of these were duplicates but the selectors will have a serious problem, not only whittling down the standards to the team limit of just 60, but even more explaining to disappointed parents and athletes who have not made the squad.
The wind was a little blustery but generally not helpful to the competitors.
Within a few minutes of the championships starting Joe Fuggle (MSx) smashed Tim Burrows 23 year old Intermediate (U17) 400m hurdles when he removed nearly half-a-second in a sparkling 55.5s that puts him on top of the English Rankings this season.
A few minutes later Vicki Pellett (Mid.Sx) topped the fifty metre mark for the first time in the Intermediate hammer throw removing the year old record of Lotte Hoare (Brighton & Hove) with 50.32m.
Hoare however had the satisfaction of winning the senior throw and she only just missed the fifty metre mark throwing with 49.66m.
There were further records in the Intermediate age group when Fumi Ademuwgu (Ouse Valley) heaved the shot 10.95m and team mate Catriona Jamieson (Ouse Valley) threw the javelin 34.77m for another record.
It must be noted however that in all three of these throws the events the weights of the implements have been changed so they were all young records.
Many of the leading senior (U19) athletes missed the championships as it clashed with the South of England Championships at Lee but Finley Bigg (West Sx South) chose the Sussex event and duly won the 400 metres in 49.8s, his second fastest time of the year while Nathan Parker (Brighton & Hove), who started his season very late because of injury stormed to a fine win in the 110m hurdles in 14.9s, just outside the National, let alone the Entry standard, while his Brighton College school mate did a similar job in the intermediate 100m hurdles in 13.7s.
In the senior girl’s events, where athletes are allowed to compete in two events, Abby Beswick (M.Sx) turned in an impressive double standard performance clocking 12.2s for the 100m and dragging Ella Chalmers (WSxS) and Imogen Levy (B&H) through the standards in 12.3 and 12.5s and she then added he 200m title in 25.6s.
On the track there were plenty of great battles and close finishes as well as impressive runs.
Orla Brothers (M.Sx) in the Intermediate 300m romped away from the field in 41.1s while in the Intermediate and Junior 200m Sophie-Anne Haigh West Sx.West) and Amber Anning (B&H) sped away from their rivals clocking 25.8s and 25.5s respectively and both were easing up.
It was not however in the sprints that we had the closest finish of the afternoon.
In the junior 1,500m Harmony Cooper and Olivia White from Hastings were looked together throughout the race with Olivia Wiseman (West Sx West) and even the judges found it difficult to sort them at the finish. The timekeepers could not split them and all three were credited with 4:56.3s but the judges eventually placed White first, Wiseman second and Cooper third.