National athletic championships dominate this weekend’s activities with the Cross County event at Donnington on Saturday and the Indoor Championships, incorporating the Trials for the World championships at Sheffield on both Saturday and Sunday.
It is at Sheffield where more than twenty Sussex athletes will be in action ranging from seventeen year olds Toby Harries and Archie Davis who have accepted invitations to race in these senior championships, to the likes of Charlie Grice and Lee Emanuel who will be seeking an invitation to compete at international level.
Harries, Brighton Phoenix, will be contesting the 200m while club mate Davis is entered in both the 800 and 1500m races but is unlikely to attempt both. Grice (Brighton Phoenix), who will be defending his title and Emanuel from Hastings, will be racing over 1500m where Emanuel already has the qualifying standard this season but may yet decide to race in the 3000m where he is also entered.
BUCS 60m hurdles champion from last weekend - Beth Close (Brighton & Hove) - will be racing alongside Elise Lovell (Hastings) and Crawley’s Amy Barclay. Livvy Connor (Lewes), who no heighted last weekend, will be contesting the pole vault.
The National Cross-country championships take place at Donnington on Saturday and the Brighton Phoenix team look to be only Sussex team likely to complete a scoring six in the senior race. Although County champion Finn McNally is missing with Jon Pepper, Ross Skelton and Josh Guilmant they have a pretty formidable trio to head up the team.
On Sunday the county's leading under 11 athletes will be taking part in the regional Sportshall Final at Burgess Hill. In separate competitions for boys and girls the young athletes will be battling for honours against county teams from across the South East.
Also on Sunday the Brighton Half-marathon, which has certainly affected the support from Sussex Clubs for the National Cross-country championships, will see several thousand athletes pounding the streets of Brighton and Hove start at the Madeira Drive at 9.00am.