Sussex Triumphant On Home Turf

Sussex teams rose to the occasion on home turf at the English Schools Cross Country Championships on Saturday.

Crowds flocked to the event at Ardingly Showground and locals were treated to a team gold, a silver, two bronzes and winning a cup.

Making it more special was the fact English Schools is celebrating its 100 year anniversary.

The first bronze medal went to the inter girls with scorers Raya Petrova placing 25^th, Molly Smithers 33rd, Bethy Naylor Davis 36th, Elodie Hill 41st, Daisy Connot 44^th and Elsie Whyman 102^nd.

Next up came the junior boys where the silver winning Sussex team was led home by the highest individual finisher of the day, Taylor Thom Watts in 12^th place. He was joined by seven other top 100 Sussex athletes. Max Gayle in 35^th, Joe Stewart in 45^th closely followed by Harry Chapman in 46^th, Byron Roberts 65^th, Jago Dinnage 92^nd and Joe Roberjot 95^th.

There were also seven top 100 Sussex finishers in the junior girls with Elizabeth Hutchinson 18^th, Florence Goodman 24^th, Isabella Buchanan 46^th, Amelie Whitehouse 52^nd, Darcie Wickenden 61^st, Isabella Lendrum 79^th and Izzy Docwa 96^th. This all led to a fantastic team bronze.

George Armstrong Smith was the highest Sussex inter boy in 40^th followed by Finlay Lumber Fry in 49^th.

With the day going so well, pressure was on the senior girls and they didn’t disappoint. Gold was the outcome as Ava James crossed the line in an impressive 15^th, Stephanie Shaw 21^st, Rae Le Fay 33^rd, Eloise Hutchinson 41^st, Anya Barrett 48^th and Alice Cox 63^rd. India Somerville was also in the top 100 in 76^th.

The last race of the day as the senior boys and in this race Sussex exemplified true team strength winning The Wigan Cup for having the first full eight runners to finish (outside of the top three). The team was made up of Finlay Goodman in 33^rd, Owen Wallek 42^nd, Lucas Gorrill 49^th, Fintan Pearce 72^nd, Jude Clayton 119^th, Rory Monti 136^th and Finlay Blythe in 156^th.

Last year was a record breaking year for Sussex team success at this event. This was definitely matched this year. On top of this we had 32 top 100 finishers – one more than last year. Already looking forward to see what next year brings….