By Tony Miller -
Two of the brightest stars on the Sussex scene in the 1970’s and early 80’s were the Joyce sisters from Crawley.
Although we have had several twins competing successfully for Sussex over the years, without doubt the most successful siblings must be the Joyce sisters from Crawley who both competed, for Ireland, in the Olympic Games.
Just how good they were can be gauged by looking at the current Sussex records on this website where some of the records they set have still not been broken over 30 years later.
Both joined Crawley AC in 1969 and being the eldest by 17 months, Regina was the first to make her mark. Running in a BMC 1500m race at Crystal Palace in July 1971, she set a new World Age 14 best and UK Under 15 best of 4:36.4.
At that stage there was no competition for Under 13’s on the track, so Monica had to wait for her chance. But over the country she excelled, finishing 2nd in the National Inter Counties (with Regina 3rd) in early 1971.
The following winter Monica had a long unbeaten spell winning the Greater London League, Inter League and Southern Inter Counties, only to come unstuck on the hilly High Wycombe course in the National Champs where she had to settle for 3rd.
Monica joined Regina in the Under 17 age group in 1973 and it was Regina who gained the upper hand in the Southern 1500m finishing 2nd to Monica’s 3rd but six weeks later it was Monica winning the National Under 17 1500m title at Crystal Palace.
For a few years Regina raced only sparingly. Leaving school and the need to earn a living became the priority.
The following year, Monica won the Southern Inter Counties XC and was runner up in the English Schools. On the track, she just missed defending her National 1500m tile, finishing 2nd.
During the winter, Monica again won the Greater London League and Southern XC titles and was 2nd in the English Schools senior race.
Monica made her Junior International debut in August 1975 just a few weeks after her 17th birthday in a match against France. She finished 2nd in the 1500m in a pb 4:25.1, which at that time was the 5th fastest time ever by a UK junior. Her teammates that day included Daley Thompson, Seb Coe and Crawley colleague Richard Slaney.
1976 was difficult because there was no Under 20 age group for women in those days, so 16 year olds suddenly had to compete against fully fledged seniors. So no titles that year but most of her personal bests were revised.
Regina made her comeback in 1977, running faster than ever and winning the Sussex senior 800m, 1500m and cross country titles. Monica missed much of the year, but made it a Sussex 1-2 with Penny Yule in the 1978 Southern Inter Counties XC staged at Crawley. The following week she represented England in the Home Counties XC in Barry, finishing 3rd.
Regina and Monica would regularly represent both Crawley and Sussex, and an example was the 1979 Southern Inter Counties. Monica won the 1500m and Regina the 3000 and they were the only winners for Sussex over the three age groups that afternoon. That same year, Regina represented GB over 1500m in a ‘B’ international v France.
Towards the end of the year, Monica and Regina were joined by Julie Barleycorn to take the bronze medals in a high quality National Road Relays.
In 1979, Monica moved to America, enrolling at San Diego State University
Regina had a real purple patch in 1980. It started with a win in the National Inter Counties Cross Country Championships at Coulsdon and Julie Barleycorn, Wendy Hamlyn and Alison Blake joined her for a famous Sussex team victory.
Two weeks later she added the Southern title and followed this up with third place in the National Championships. This secured her a place in the World XC team in Paris where she was part of the England team that finished with the silver medals. This was a one place place improvement on the previous year where she had helped England take the bronze medals in Limerick.
Later in 1980, Regina won the National 3000m title and in Sep represented Great Britain on the track in a match against France. Immediately afterwards, she left for a four year course at Washington State University.
Both made their homes in America, got married, and have lived there ever since.
Monica was already making a name for herself on the USA scene and set a UK indoor best of 2:29.2 for the rarely run 1000 yards in Feb 2001. Three months later, she ran a 4:32.82 mile which was to top the UK rankings for the year. She returned to Britain to win the Southern 1500m title and represented Great Britain against the mighty East Germany in Dresden.
1982 was a key year in their athletic careers because they switched their allegiance to Ireland, based on the citizenship of their parents, for competitive reasons. It certainly paid dividends.
Both represented Ireland at the 1984 Summer Olympics, Regina in the Marathon and Monica in the 3000m. Prior to the Olympics, Monica had represented Ireland at the 1982 European 1500m, the 1983 World Championships and the 1984 World Cross Country Championships. Following the Olympics, she finished a brilliant 12th in the 1985 World Cross Country and 8th in the World Road Race Championships.
Regina also ran in the 1983 World Championships, leading the Marathon field by some 40 secs at one point, before being reeled in and eventually finishing 7th.
Monica returned to England to win the National 5000m title in 1982 (with Regina in 2nd) and 1985 and also won the Irish 1500m title on three occasions. She set Irish records at 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m. Regina also set Irish records at 10,000m and Marathon. Both girls continued to run for Crawley on their regular trips home.
Both became U.S. citizens, Regina in 1993 and Monica in 2000 and are still active on their Masters scene. Monica set a W50 world record at 5000m and 15k Road.
Monica still holds the Sussex 1500m record at 4:06.69s in 1982, 3,000m at 8:49.51s in 1984 and the 5000m at 15:27.5s in 1983 while Regina holds the 10000m record at 32:35.7s in 1983 and the Marathon at 2:32:56s in 1982.