2025 marked a very special edition of the English Schools' Championships in Birmingham, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 'Schools Olympics.' Past champions were invited back for a special parade, and several Sussex gold medallists made the journey, including Richard Carter (5000m SB, 1982) and Pyers Lockwood (400mH IB, 2019).
In 25 years' time, one of the county's greatest ever junior athletes will be among that roll call. On Saturday, there was a fourth consecutive gold medal for Alice Howie (Worthing & District Harriers), who led the way for Sussex Schools on Day 2 of the Championships.
Dominating the Senior Girls' Hammer, Alice threw 53.96m to win by over two metres. Her victory places her in elite company, becoming just the fifth Sussex Schools' athlete to win four English Schools' titles – joining Claire Smithson, Lizzie Korczak, Onochie Achike and Geoff Beales.
The first silver of the day came in the Senior Girls' 1500m Steeplechase, where Rae le Fay (Tonbridge AC), competing in her final English Schools before heading to university in the USA, ran a composed and committed race to clock a fantastic six-second PB of 4:53.02. On the track, Owen Wallek (Brighton Phoenix) followed with a superb run in the Senior Boys' 3000m, claiming silver in 8:29.37.
Isabella Buchanan (HY) then matched that achievement in the Junior Girls' 1500m, for the second year in a row, with a time of 4:29.83.
The first track medal on Saturday was a brilliant bronze for Jessica Bliss (Brighton & Hove) in the Senior Girls' 100m Hurdles, narrowly missing second place by 0.01s in a sharp time of 14.31s.
Sussex shone in the Junior Boys' Pole Vault, where Milo Hilborne (Crawley AC) equalled his personal best of 3.80m to secure silver, and Bill Scott (Lewes AC) followed closely for bronze, clearing 3.60m in a tightly contested event.
Back in the Senior Girls' Steeplechase, Alice Cox (CRA) placed fifth in 5:04.61, with Ava James (B&H) finishing seventh in 5:08.41, adding to the county's strength in the event. In the Inter Girls' 1500m Steeplechase, Bethany Naylor-Davis (Waverley AC) ran a strong race and a one-second PB to take fourth in 5:06.60.
On the field, Arthur Rogers (B&H) just missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in the Junior Boys' Javelin, throwing 53.32m, a two-metre personal best.
In the middle-distance finals, Grace Tuesday (PHX) finished fifth in the Senior Girls' 800m in 2:15.8, as did Daisy Connor (Eastbourne Rovers) in the Inter Girls' final, running 2:10.29. George Armstrong Smith placed 6th in the Inter Boys' 1500m in 4.06.02. A seventh-place finish went to Molly Smithers (Chichester) in the Inter Girls' 3000m, clocking 10:01.70. Emily Carman (WDH) placed seventh in the Senior Girls' 400m, recording 58.72 after a 56.31s heat, despite suffering from severe nose bleeds from the night before, up to, and during the final.
In the Senior Boys' 2000m Steeplechase, Freddie Matthews (B&H) ran a PB of 6:05.27 for fifth place. Jesse Sobrasuaipiri (B&H) was eighth in the Senior Boys' Long Jump with 6.61m, and Louis Ashworth, also of Brighton & Hove, placed eighth in the Junior Boys' 300m, securing valuable team points.
It was a day packed with medals, personal bests, top-eight finishes and standout moments – a superb all-round showing from Sussex Schools.
Only the Top eight athletes in each event score, but many of our athletes delivered impressive performances. We will not know until later in the week if Sussex Schools has achieved any team trophies, but you can view the full results here.
Special thanks to the Sussex Schools' team managers who made this event possible.
Thanks to Andy Cox - @AC_Phots - for the wonderful pictures.
Watch Alice Howie in the hammer circle below:
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