The Sussex summer track and field season kicked off to a chilly start on Friday night.
Athletes from twelve county clubs gathered at Withdean Stadium, Brighton, to take part in the first ever Under 16 Track & Field League, and standards were high.
Kicking off the evening were the boys’ 100m hurdles where Crawley’s Harley Saunders-Neate clocked 14.20 – the fastest UK outdoor time so far this year.
At the same time the pole vaulters got underway and by the end the county was celebrating four athletes cementing top UK rankings.
Milo Hilborne (Crawley) jump of 4.10 in the boys and Flo Matten (Brighton & Hove) 3.50 in the girls puts them both number 1, whilst Lewes’ Bill Scott (3.70) and Sylvie Ward (3.20) are ranked 2nd in the UK.
In the girls’ 800m Isabella Buchanan (HYAC) ran 2.13.70 – the fastest outdoor time in the country this year while coming back from injury, Louis Ashworth (Brighton & Hove), is 3rd with a 300m time of 37.80.
Arthur Rogers (Brighton and Hove) comfortably won the boys’ javelin contest with a throw 48.71 – a little bit shy of 53.32 – his previous early season throw.
There were strong performance by Felix Fowler (Brighton and Hove) in the boys’ high jump leaping 1.75, and Crawley’s Archie Oates in the boys’ discus (42.94).
Equally impressive to watch was the girls’ triple jump where Brighton and Hove’s Klara Novak-Wightman jumped 10.89 (the furthest outdoor in the UK this year) and Alex Koloutsos 10.37 (the second furthest outdoor this season).
Brighton & Hove were team winners with 540 points followed by Crawley on 476.5 and Lewes on 388.
Tonight it’s the turn of the Under 14s with the first East Division fixture at Lewes – the West will kick off on Friday at Horsham.