Athletes turned out in scorching hot conditions for this year’s Sussex AA Track and Field Championships.
Over 900 entries had been made to the annual event held at the K2, Crawley across two days.
To mark the occasion there were five Championship records and two county records, and an array of PBs.
The first CBP was in the under 15 boys’ 300m where Eastbourne Rovers’ Nathan Burge clocked 37.04 to take the accolade from the previous 38.00 by Moyo Daramola. This was also enough to take Moyo’s county record of 37.20.
Over the weekend, Nathan won a total of 3 individual golds.
Also on day 2, Ava James (Lewes AC), who is so far enjoying a sparkling summer season, equalled Rae Le Fay’s (Hastings) under 17 women’s 800m CBP of 2:11.45, set last year.
This was followed by a very impressive run by Eleanor Strevens (Eastbourne Rovers) in the under 20 women’s 800m. The previous record was 2:12.40 set by A Bevan in 2002. Eleanor smashed this clocking 2:09.38. Silver medallist in this race, Stephanie Shaw (Crawley), ran 2:11.28, which would also have broken the previous record.
Stephanie didn’t have to wait long for her own record though. On Day 2 she took 5 seconds off the previous under 20 women’s 1500m record (set by G Baker in 2015) to take the gold in 4:32.94.
No surprises for the athlete who scooped the 5th CBP of the weekend. Worthing’s Alice Howie broke her own under 17 women’s hammer record throwing 59.60 (beating the previous 57.01 set last year). Alice has broke records at every Sussex Championships she has competed in.
As the sun continued to shine across the weekend, there was a great vibe from the spectators and athletes, and there were plenty of other impressive performances.
A chunk of these came from the pole vault where the jumps of several athletes not only won them golds but were enough to take them into the top 5 UK rankings. These included under 15 girl Beth Boyes (Lewes) jumping 2.90m, under 17 male Braimoh Bursari (Crawley) 4.25m, under 13 boy Charlie Carman (Worthing) 2.50m and under 13 girl Florence Matten (Brighton & Hove) 2.90m.
Florence also took gold in the under 13 girls’ minithon competition with 70 points.
In the boys’ minithon, Isaac Machin (Brighton & Hove) was the clear winner totalling 84 points. Isaac had started his competition with a phenomenal high jump of 1.57m, a 7cm PB which takes him in to the top 3 in the country. It also equalled the county record and marked a jump higher than his own height.
There were also plenty of top performances in the javelin contests with Crawley’s Harry Long (U17M) throwing 53.20m, Brighton & Hove’s Sophie Bliss 32.54m (U15G) and club mate Dulcie Yelling (U20W) 39.48m. All of these put these athletes amongst the best in England.
Brighton & Hove George Gilbert’s 1500m winning time of 4.17.62 also ranks him high in the under 15 boys, as did HY AC’s Isabella Buchanan’s 4.39.56 in the under 15 girls’ 1500m.
Sussex AA congratulates all athletes that took part in the championship. We would also like to send a huge thank you to all the officials and volunteers who gave up their time to ensure it took place. Without you there would be no competitions and you are very appreciated.
Last but not least, huge congratulations to 2 Sussex athletes and former county champions.
Brighton & Hove’s Amber Anning continued her stunning start to the season with a 49.51s 400m bronze medal at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Champs in Florida . This time ranks Amber 4th in the world in 2024 and puts her 3rd on the GB All Time list behind Kathy (Smallwood) Cook on 49.43 and Christine Ohuruogu on 49.41.
Across the pond at the Belfast International, Grace Vans Agnew (Phoenix) ran 2:01.21 in the 800m.
The full results from the Sussex Track & Field Champs will be published on Wednesday, May 15.