Hundreds of under 13 and under 11 athletes gathered for their track and field championships at Crawley at the weekend.
Despite the threat of thunderstorms and gale force winds, strong performances and happy smiles shone through.
From the moment the event at the K2 kicked off, there was an atmosphere of determination and resilience with the first under 13 gold medal going to Averie Gates (Crawley) in the girls’ 70m hurdles (12.20) and Chichester’s Isaac Page in the boys’ 75m hurdles (13.16).
Isaac went on to just miss out on a second gold in the high jump where he jumped the same as the winner, Crawley’s Xander Wagjiani, with both boys leaping 1.40m.
Xander also missed out on a double win coming a very close second in the boys’ 1500m, just behind his club mate, Finlay Nottage, who won in a time of 4.48.52.
Someone who did scoop several golds across the day was Eastbourne’s Zachary Soan taking wins in the 75m (9.96), 150m (20.19) and long jump (4.75m).
Brighton & Hove’s Evie Hunter was also a multiple top spot medal winner in the discus (21.35) and javelin (28.85).
Monty Rowland (Brighton & Hove) was the only athlete with an individual Championship Best Performance on the day throwing 40.40 in the boys’ javelin – the previous record was 39.70, held by Ali Mogul since 2019.
There was another CBP in the boys’ 4x 100 m relay where Brighton & Hove clocked 54.49.
Earlier in the day, HY’s Brianna Ripley had performed a masterclass in sprinting winning the 75m in 10.02.
Later in the 150m she was just beaten to the top spot by Crawley’s Isabella Carroll who clocked 20.19.
As the day progressed, weather conditions deteriorated, making it increasingly difficult for athletes.
With this, in the 800m Barnaby Moyes (Brighton & Hove) won the boys’ race in 2.20.97 and Ada Greenaway the girls’ contest in 2.25.25.
Calista Scott-Smith (Eastbourne) was a comfortable winner in the girls’ high jump ( 1.42) as was Amelia Dorrington (Brighton & Hove) in the girls’ long jump (4.55).
Other winners included Jessica Wilson (HY) and William Baldwin (East Grinstead) in the shot put competitions, Archie Windham (Worthing) in the discus and Charlie Carman (Worthing) in the boys’ pole vault.
Milly Pile (Lewes) is currently ranked number 1 in the UK for the girls pole vault so it was no surprise that she won the contest on Saturday. Her leap of 2.50 was short of her PB of 2.70 but highly impressive none the least.
The day also included the under 11 Quadkids Contest where Victoria Ridley (Brighton & Hove) scored 224 to win the girls event.
Team mate Jack Matten was just 1 point off the CBP with 279 points after a phenomenal howler throw of 50.46.
It was a very enjoyable day. Well done to all the athletes who took part and a huge thank you to the officials and volunteers.