Team results are not yet available from last weekend’s English Schools Championships at Manchester but they are likely to be much better than anticipated following the excellent results that resulted in six gold medals.
This was a tremendous effort by the leading Team managers, led by Leanne Buxton and Judy Lasis who had both competed for the Sussex Schools teams several years back. All counties have suffered the disruption of school athletics through Covid but Judy, who has been senior team manager for several years, had to stand down because of a serious rugby injury to her son James and Leanne had picked up a lot of the work Judy did for the Association.
Six gold medals was a triumph for them and not for more than fifty years has the Sussex Schools team won more than six.
The 1950s, mainly under the leadership and inspiration of Vic Bratley, was a good decade for Sussex who won four golds five times and six golds in 1954. They hit a high note in 1958 when they finished with seventeen medals, including eight golds, won the Goodwill trophy for the Intermediate Boys group and a brilliant third in the Aggregate trophy Behind Lancashire and Surrey.
Things were very different in 1958 particularly transporting sixty school athletes nearly four hundred miles to Houghton le Spring, near Sunderland, via train and across London to, I believe Kings Cross station. In those days Charabanc travel was not organised for such trips. Luckily, there was not the plethora of vaulting poles to be transported and few, particularly School athletes would have their personal javelins as many do to-day. It was still necessary to transport a few vaulting poles between Victoria and Kings Cross via a double decker bus plus a couple of javelins. Once at their destinations they had to do the same from the local station to the Host School, which could well be several miles from the Track, and stored overnight.
I thought it might be appropriate to list the medallists as well as those from this year.
In 1958 Sprinter Ron Powell (Seaford Coll) was the only senior gold medal winner taking the 100 yards title.
A year earlier, on a rain soaked grass track, at Southampton, Ron had become the first sprinter ever to break 10.0 sec for the 100 yards at the championships. Unfortunately, he was squeezed into second place in the final behind Lancashire’s Peter Radford who was to go on to win several A.A.A. titles as well as Olympic medals. Ron did share a relay Gold and had previously won three long jump gold medals. No Sussex athlete has won more English Schools medals. It was many years before English Schools were able to present actual medals at their championships) Gold medallists were:
Wendy Thomas (Kings Manor) won the JG Discus – Roger Nicholson (Worthing Gram) the JB 440y –Colin Myers (Wadhurst) JB Triple jump – Rick Seeley (Rye Gram) IB 100 yards –Mick Smith (Hastings Gram) IB Triple jump – Peter Standen (Bexhill Gram) IB 880y in a record time of 1:56.7s and the IB Sprint relay team of Ray Eatwell (Chichester High), Mick Smith, Paddy Glossop (Hasting Gram) Rick Seeley.
Winning silver medals were: David Bunce (Tideway) JB Shot – Paddy Glossop (Hastings Gram) 440y – Gillian Wallis (Chichester Girls High) IG hurdles – Jenny Greene (Chichester High School) SG hurdles – Maureen Miller (Eastbourne) SG High jump.
Winning bronze medals were Rosemary Tidey (Whitehawk) JG 150y –Norman Cole (Bognor) JB Hurdles plus a record in his heat – John Osbourne (Oakmeeds) IB Javelin – Jackie Jeffries (Fitzherbert) IG Discus.
In 2022 at Manchester the gold medallists (Proper medals now) and a door to door trip via quality coach, were:
Alice Howie (Davison) JG Hammer –Grace Tuesday (Uckfield) JG 800m - Ruby Jerges (Brighton Coll) SG Long jump – Dulcie Yelling (Varndean) IG Javelin – Emilie Oakden (BHASVIC) SG Pole vault – Miles Waterworth (Brighton College) IB 800m.
Silver medals:
Will Sutton (Collyers) SB High jump – Stella Kalman (Burgess Hill) SB Long jump – Bruno Cimo (Steyning Sch) JB High jump – Braimoh Busari (Imberhorne) JB Pole vault - Harry Long (Tanbridge House) JB Javelin –
Bronze medals:
Amelia Hatchard (BHASVIC) SG Pole vault – Amber Purcell (Davison) IG Triple jump – Cameron Wells (Sackville) SB Pole vault.
This year’s team of 59 athletes set seventeen personal best, achieved 23 Entry standards and ten National standards a pretty good tally under any conditions.
There was a special link between 1958 and 2022 as far as Sussex athletics is concerned.
Peter Standen the 1958 880y IB winner and record breaker and he has never strayed from athletics. Last weekend and indeed this weekend, he has been on duty as a County official acting as a Marksman in interclub and League matches.