The Sussex Women’s cross-country team for this weekend’s C.A.U Cross country champions at Prestwold Hall, Loughborough looks like being one of the best they have turned out in several years.
Just one of the top five runners in the Sussex Championships, Beth Kidger, at the beginning of the years is unable to make the team but with Nicole Taylor, Emma Dixon, Leah Harris, Emma Footman and Beth Garland all due to show that is not a bad start.
The reverse is the case in the senior men’s team where only one, Jack Leitch, the champion, of the first five finishers in the County championships will be facing the starter at Loughborough though three times champion, Tom Evans, who missed the championships this year, will be joining the squad.
Sussex will have scoring teams in all 20 of the races, but the U20 women’s event where only three runners will be donning the Sussex vest.
It is to the Younger age groups that we would look for high individual placings with probably Bodyworks’ Bethany Cook the most likely to turn up trumps in the U17 age group though may not get amongst the medals.
Newcomer to watch will certainly be Finlay Goodman from Hastings Runners in the U13 group.
For probably the first time since the 1980s one family will produce three siblings, all sporting the Sussex vest in an Inter-county National championships.
The Yelling’s from Brighton & Hove will be represented in three races with twins, Eadie and Henry competing in the U15 age group and Dulcie, who is also the 2019 Sussex and South of England U13 inter-counties javelin champion and British U13 javelin record holder, in the under 13 race.