John Gill and his Haywards Heath Highwaymen, along with the other County officials were the real heroes of the Sussex Cross-country League races at Hickstead on Saturday.
Last minute problems with the condition of the course meant last minute alterations to the course and in a different field.
This plus snow flurries for most the afternoon were not the best conditions to complete this season’s League season but the conditions did not seem to deter the athletes and there were good numbers in each of the seven races.
After the Sussex Primary Schools had held their races and churned up the course the underfoot conditions got worse as the afternoon progressed but the course never got worse than “Testing”.
The first League race of the afternoon, the U13 girls, saw Brighton & Hove’s Rebecca Losh, without Bethany Cook (Bodyworks) to chase set the pace from the start and though Katy Coles (Crawley) hung on for a short while she had to let Losh run free to notch up her second victory of the season in 11:08 with Coles holding on to second place in 11:08 and Erika Body (Hastings) in third place in 11:27 while Brighton & Hove took the team race..
The U13 boy’s race saw another dominating run from East Grinstead’s Etahn Scott who notched up a convincing fourth victory of the season ahead of Carlos Nieto-Parr (Hastings) in 10:03 to 10:28 with Crawley’s Dylan Hanslow in third place in 10:31 and Worthing taking the team race.
Maya Ramnarine headed up the U15 girls race with Hasting club mate Harmony Cooper over the first lap but Cooper, who is returning from injury was unable to keep up the pace and dropped back while Ramnarine soared away for a convincing victory in 15:05 over Brighton & Hove’s Lois Dooley 15:33 who in turn kept clear of Alice Wright (Brighton Phoenix) 15:38 and Hastings were team winners.
The Boys U15 race kept a tight leading group for the first of the four laps before George Pool (Hastings) broke clear and cantered clear to win in 13:32 ahead of Joe Smith (Crawley) who is recovering from illness and recorded 13.24. Ethan Fincham (Synergy) finished third in 13:33 and the team race went to Crawley.
The U17 boys were the only ones who produced much of a battle and this was partly a grudge race as Chichester’s Will Broom who won the County Schools championships last month after Thomas Eames (Brighton & Hove) had been directed off course and he was eager to prove his superiority.
These two, along with Joe Body (Hastings) were looked together for four of the five laps but Eames made a long run for home half way round the final lap and was a comfortably winner over Broom in 16:29 to 16:32 with Body taking third place in 16:43 and Chichester winning the team race.
Both the senior races also produced good battles with Izzy Coomer (Lewes) establishing a comfortable lead before Brighton & Hove’s Helena Tobin, who usually starts slow, gradually pegged her back over the final two laps for a handsome victory in 18:43 to Coomber’s18:52 with Tara Bage (Phoenix) taking third place in 19:28 and Megan Taylor (Lewes) in fourth place in 19:43 while Dani Tarleton (Arena 80) was the first Veteran home in fifth place in 20:01, Gina Wilson (Lewes) placed sixth in 20:08 and Brighton & Hove’s Olivia Lyon-Monk was the first U17 finisher in seventh place in 20:16 and Lewes took the team event.
The senior men, although not producing the sparks that the U17 boy and senior women did produced a little excitement when Chris Smith (Haywards Heath) and Brighton & Hove’s Jamie Knapp, who had both won earlier races this year clashed.
Smith, who has been running in the League for several years, but has never taken the League title, forced the pace from the start but by half way Knapp had taken up the initiative.
Smith however was to come back on the final couple of laps for a good win from Knapp in 15:32 to 15:41with veteran Neil Boniface (Horsham Joggers) coming through strongly in the closing stages to take third place in 16:18 ahead of Josh Burgess (Lewes) who had settled in third place for most of the race having to settle with fourth position in 16:23.
James Turner (Brighton & Hove) placed fifth in 16:29 and Billy White (Phoenix) was the first U20 finisher in sixth place in 16:32 and Haywards Heath notched up their second team victory of the season.
There was a Crawley double in the U11 races that preceded the League races with Anna Fox winning the Girl’s race and Max Webb the Boy’s race.
If you have any queries or want more information regarding this post, please Email Reg Hook.