More than six hundred runners completed the Sussex Schools Cross Country championships in difficult conditions at Waterhall on Wednesday.
Since these championships have been transferred to a mid-week event numbers have increased every year and 334 boy and 297 girl finishers is certainly a record for this century,
The recent frosts had made the ground hard but the slight easing of the temperature and a glorious sunny winter’s day meant that the surface became quite greasy and cross-country spikes were certainly the order of the day.
There were plenty of close battles but none more so than in the senior boys (U19) race at the end of the afternoon when Brodie Denholm (Brighton College) and Stephen Ferroni (BACA) staged a dead heat in 27:42s. They had dominated the race from the start and finished well clear of BHASVIC’s Jack Leitch who clocked 27:55s.
County U17 champion Dan Stidder (Heathfield), did not appear to enjoy the conditions, took fourth place in 28:52s to make sure of his place in the Sussex Schools team for the English Championships as the first four runners get automatic selection for the team.
Brighton College took the team title with 46 points from Christ’s Hospital 98 and Chichester College 104 points.
There was a run-a-way victory for Cardinal Newman’s Martha Coyle. Coyle took full advantage of the company of the Boys for the first lap, all seniors start together but the girls do not run as far as the boys.
Coyle clocked 18:29s while reigning champion Rosie Ellis (Chichester Coll) recorded 19:19s in second place. Louise Nash (William Parker) 19:52s and Karina Bennett (Bishop Luffa) 20:04s were third and fourth while Brighton College took another team title with 74 points to Hurstpierpoint College’s 81.
In a tightly run Intermediate (U17) boys race Ben Collins from Chichester, who romped away with the junior (U15) title last year had a much tougher battle this year before managing to finish just ten metres clear of Tomer Tarragano (Brighton Coll), who had finished third behind Collins last year clocking 21:35s to 21:38s.
Ben Martin (Seaford Head) finished third in 21:45s and Leo Stallard (Bishop Luffa) was four seconds further back in fourth place.
Forrest School won the team title with 72 points to Bishop Luffa’s 77 and Brighton College’s 79.
Last year’s junior girl’s winner, Almi Nerurkar (Brighton & Hove High), like Collins, also stepped up an age group and to take the Intermediate title. Nerurkar has not been showing the dominating form she had for the past few years this season but she had a great battle with the powerful Poppy Mercer (Cavendish) who had finished ninth in the junior event last year and is mainly a triathlete.
Nerurkar managed to get fifteen metre advantage and held it till the finish in 13:36s to 13:40s. Eve Clarke (Millais) took third place in 14:05s just two seconds clear of Grace Willis (Bishop Luffa).
Clark led her Millais team to victory with 69 points to Brighton College’s 114 and Brighton & Hove High’s 129.
Eastbourne College’s George Pool, who was fourth last year, was a convincing winner of the Junior (U15) title ahead of Joe Smith (Oakmeeds) clocking 17:03s to 17:16 with Leo Brewer (Brighton Coll) in third place in 17:19s and Ethan Fincham (Angmering) fourth in17:35s.
Brighton College notched up their third team title of the afternoon with 141 points to Bishop Luffa’s and Cardinal Newman’s 153 with Luffa taking second spot because their fourth scoring runner finished ahead of Newman’s.
The only real surprise of the afternoon came in the Junior girls where an unknown runner, in Sussex at least, Olivia McDonald (Seaford College) snatched couple of metre victory over Bishop Luffa’s Olivia Wiseman. It emerged that McDonald is a well-known young athlete over the border in Surrey where she runs for the Guildford and Godalming club and she had finished third in the recent Surrey Under 15 champion.
McDonald clocked 11:26s to Wiseman’s 11:27s, comfortably clear of Maia Hardman (Lewes Old Grammar) 11.41s and Dorothy Stringer’s Eloise Nicoll 11.46s. Nicoll led Dorothy Stringer to the team victory with 129 points to Brighton College’s 135 and Steyning’s 137