This weekend promises to be a busy one for Sussex athletes with three major competitions taking place.
The English Schools Track & Field Champs is being held in Birmingham whilst the Sussex Under 13 with Under 11 Quadkids Champs will take place at the K2, Crawley.
Alongside both is the SEAA Under 20 and Senior Inter Counties match at Horspath, Oxford on Sunday.
Sixty-three Sussex athletes have been selected to compete at the Alexander Stadium for the schools’ event taking place from Thursday to Saturday.
Those vying for medals include UK number 1 ranked Alice Howie in the Inter Girls Hammer, Rachael Wall in the senior girls’ javelin as well as Seniors, Alexander Riley in the 1500m and Miles Waterworth in the 800m.
Pole Vault continues to flourish in the county with three of the selected junior girls – Ava Hayes, Beth Boyes and Phoebe Scott – all ranked in the top 10 in the country. Not to forget Under 20s Emilie Oakden, currently number 1, Gemma Tutton 2 and Isaac Lancaster 7th .
Another discipline on the up in the county is steeplechase taking up 10 of the spots in the team. Alexander Sproston currently tops the tables in the senior boys 2000 S/C with Henry Yelling ranked 4th whilst Amelia Cox is highly ranked in the senior girls.
English Schools is probably the most prestigious event for youngsters in the track and field calendar.
Under 13s are not able to take part so they will be making the most of the Sussex Championships on home territory.
Here we will be looking out for HY’s Isabella Buchanan in the girls’ 1500m. Isabella will be looking to make her mark in
her first 1500m of the season with the championship record of 5.03.31 in her sight. With the form she has been in, it would not surprise anyone if she managed to match those at the top of the UK rankings. For this she would need to clock around 4.44.
Favourite in the girls’ high jump is Alex Koloutsos (Brighton & Hove) -currently ranked 5th in the UK.
Luca De Giovanni (Portsmouth) will be running in boys’ 1500m – he holds the quickest 1500m boys’ so far this season.
Two Brighton & Hove athletes are hoping for medal hat tricks – Seren Rowe competing in the 800m, discus and long jump whilst Louis Ashworth in the 800m, long jump and 150m.
The Under 13 Champs with Under 11 Quadkids is always such a positive event that usually marks a springboard for many athletes to enjoy future years in the sport.