Sun Shines At Wollaton Park

Sussex cross country runners enjoyed a rare occasion competing in brilliant sunshine at the UK Inter Counties last weekend.

Ten teams from the county made the journey to Nottingham for the races around the stunning Wollaton Park.

With a silver medal for the under 15 boys and some top 20 finishers, it was a successful day all around.

The races began with the under 20 men where Eastbourne’s Fintan Pearce was the top Sussex finisher in 38^th. Brighton & Hove’s Rowan Curtis and Jonathan Beckett were the next to cross the line in 66^th and 72^nd closely followed by Horsham’s Jamie McDowell.

Next up were the under 13 girls, who as a team placed an impressive 6^th out of 40. Darcie Wickenden (Crawley) 14^th, Ella Bartholomew (Lewes) 35^th, Skye Widdows (Brighton & Hove) after a nasty fall at the start 43^rd and Stella Gambie (Phoenix) 68^th.

This was followed by Ciara Muzio (Brighton & Hove) placing 12^th in the senior women’s contest followed by Imogen Matthews (Chichester)  in 27^th and Darja Knotkova (Lewes) 96^th. Out of 31 teams, the Sussex team were 7^th.

George Armstrong Smith (Eastbourne) has gone from strength to strength this winter season and Saturday proved no different. Looking strong across the 4K course, George placed 12^th leading his Sussex team mates to a bronze medal with Ben Wright 32^nd, Fin Lumber-Fry 35^th and Taylor Thom Watts 36^th. Also in the top 100 were Luca De Giovanni (Portsmouth) in 73^rd and Michael O’Connor (Lewes) 86^th.

With seven finishers in the top 100 (out of 273) the under 17 women placed 5^th overall. Molly Smithers (Chichester) in 15^th, Ava James (Brighton & Hove) 27^th, Daisy Connor (Eastbourne) 43^rd and Freda Pearce (Eastbourne) 50^th, Niamh Lesova 60^th, Zoe Neal 80^th and Alice Cox 83^rd.

There were three top 100 finishers in the under 17 men’s team (out of 290) with Freddie Matthews (Brighton & Hove) 47^th, Thomas Matthews (Brighton & Hove) 76^th and Freddy Boniface (Horsham) 78^th.

The seventh race was the under 13 boys where Harry Chapman (Lewes) came an impressive 18^th out of 313 – the biggest field of the day. Behind him was Crawley’s Xander Wagjiani in 86^th and Samuel Trotman (Lewes) 100^th.

Chichester’s Anya Barrett display strength in the under 20 women’s category coming 27^th, with Ellie McLean (Eastbourne) 51^st and Imogen Read (Pheonix) 89^th.

Out of 43 teams, the Sussex under 15 girls were 6^th and had six top 100 finishers. These included Isabella Buchanan (HYAC) 28^th, Elizabeth Hutchinson (Hastings) 40^th, Amelie Whitehouse (Crawley) 61^st, Scarlet Dixon 69th, Elodie Hill (Chichester) 81^st and Isabella Lundrum (Chichester) 83^rd.

The senior men were the last to go. In this race there were three top 100 finishers with Horsham’s Luke Burgess finished 46^th, Alexander Sproston 57^th and Rhy Boorman 72^nd.