Louisa James from Hastings topped the sixty metre mark again when she won the England U23 hammer title at Bedford over the weekend.
James, who is the Sussex senior record holder, has been striving to get over the sixty metre mark again after her 60.69m last month and she chose the right time to do it hurling the implement 60.35m. She is hoping it will be step on her way to improving her County record of 62.30, she achieved in 2014.
James was the only Sussex gold medallist at the U23/U20 championships but there was a Sussex record for Brighton & Hove’s Bethany Close who had a fine run to take silver in the U23 400m hurdles in 58.74s, her first time inside sixty seconds and nearly two seconds off the Sussex Record at the start of the season. It was a mixed championship for Close who is still very much a newcomer to the event. She mistimed her heat completely and only scraped into the final following a disqualification which meant she took the tight inside lane in the final. She certainly has great promise when she gets it right.
There was another Sussex silver medal in the U23s when Nicole Taylor from Crowborough took second place in the 3000m steeplechase in 10:32.64s while in the same age group Ed Dodd (Eastbourne) finished fourth in the 800 metres in 1:52.12s after clocking 1:51.72s in his heat and
in the javelin throw Luke Johnson (Horsham Blue Stars) placed fifth throwing 53.59m.
In the U20 championships there were four bronze medals for Sussex with Spencer Thomas (Brighton Phoenix) being squeezed in third position in the 800m in 1:50.06s while club mate Finley Bigg finished seventh in the same event in 1:51.60s.
Joe Fuggle from Wadhurst took third place in the 400m hurdles in 53.93s; Billy White (Phoenix) sliced some twenty seconds off his previous best for the 3000m steeplechase for third place in 9:20.37s and Tamsin Campbell (Crawley) cleared 3.60m in the pole vault.
There were near misses for Livvy Connor (Lewes) in the pole vault with 3.45m and George Turner (Crawley) in the men’s pole vault with 4.10m who both filled fourth place as did Cameron Fillery (Brighton & Hove) in the 110m hurdles in 14.40s.
There was a disappointing sixth place for Phoenix’s Archie Davis who finished sixth in the 1500m in 3:57.06 after being well placed as the runners came off the last bend before dying down the home straight. Next weekend he will be chasing a world junior Qualifying standard in Denmark.
If you have any queries or want more information regarding this post, please Email Reg Hook.