Eight broken records and 43 national standards marked an extraordinary Sussex Schools Track & Field Championships.
Athletes from across the county gathered on Saturday to take part in the annual event at the K2, Crawley.
As the day progressed, the sun shone, and the strong performances kept coming.
The first championship record fell early in the day in the junior girls’ 1500m where Isabella Buchanan clocked 4.31.65.
Isabella’s was the first of eight in total – just two short of the record from 2016 where 11 were broken.
The oldest CBP to fall went to Arthur Rogers in the junior boys’ javelin when he removed the previous 1971 record by throwing 50.80.
Fellow junior boy, Archie Oates, also took a long standing record from 1995 by throwing 47.92 in the discus.
Possibly the race of the day was the inter boys’ 1500m where three boys battled throughout for the win. The outcome was decided on the line with George Armstrong Smith taking gold and a CBP in 4.00.36. Second was George Gilbert in 4.00.44 and third Jake Pursey in 4.00.55.
In the senior girls’ 100mh Jess Bliss broke her own record clocking 14.45 whilst inter girl, Ava Hayes, leapt 3.70 in the pole vault for her record. Ava is currently ranked number one in the UK.
Steeplechase has been an event flourishing in the county over the past few years so it was no surprise that one of the records to fall came in this event – Rae Le Fay clocking 5.01.79 in the senior girls’ 1500 S/C.
The eighth record went to triple jumper Jaiten Best, 11.49, in the inter girls category.
Results also reflected 17 national school standards and 26 entry standards.
On top of this, there were many other fine performances set during the day and it was a pleasure to watch so many talented youngsters turn out and do their best.