An Inter-county battle between Kent, Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex usually results in Sussex propping up their much larger and stronger rivals and although Sussex finished third in both the Intermediate (U17) groups overall they placed fourth in the annual Inter-county Schools match at Carshalton.
Such a defeat was not without some fine and winning performances from Sussex athletes notably in the Intermediate groups.
Again Amber Anning was well to the fore of winners of the “A” races galloping away from her rivals to record a personal best of 38.70s in the U17 300m which is the fastest time ever recorded by a Sussex athlete.
An equally impressive performance was the victory in the U17 400m hurdles where Jamie Lambert was left behind initially, as he was still in the start position when the gun was fired. Lambert though is a great battler and he fought his way back to win in an English Schools standard time of 57.4s which will likely put him in the frame for the Sussex Schools team.
Another personal best amongst the winners came from hammer thrower Ben Hawkes who lifted himself to third in the current British Rankings with 61.22m and he followed this with third place in the discus competition with 41.93.
Natasha Purchas soared over 3.50m to win the U17 pole vault and her 3.60m at last weekend’s Sussex Schools Championships is the third best by a British U17 this season.
Alyssa White won the 200m in 25.3s and Emily Robinson was victorious in the Discus with a throw of 35.52m. Edan Cole - the UK rankings leader- won the javelin with 59.46m and Lewis Kirby was just three centimetres off his PB in winning the Long Jump with 6.55m.
There were good wins over the hurdles in the Junior (U15) age group with Katie Bristowe had a great battle where Hampshire’s Holly Thurgood and although both were timed at 11.4s the Sussex girl was declared the winner. In the boy’s event Alex Clayton who finished second in the shot putt with 12.21m swept to victory in 11.80s.
Meanwhile Harry Rienecker-Found soared to 1.75m to take victory in the High Jump.