The East 2 Youth Development League under 13/15 match this Sunday has been cancelled due to the absence of a starter. The fixture in which Lewes AC, Hastings and East Grinstead were all due to take part was to be held at the Julie Rose stadium in Ashford, Kent.
Lewes AC's Peter Masters said: "We have been told they could not get a starter. Apparently no starter guns are now permitted at Ashford because of a new housing development close to the track. They are trialling two types of electronic starting and the firms involved didn’t have anyone to give guidance to whoever might take on the role."
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This weekend several Sussex athletes will be travelling to Bedford for the England Athletics under 23 and under 20 track and field championship. In addition to the 74 gold medals up for grabs, is the chance to gain selection for the two Age Group European championships to be held in Sweden next month.
Brighton Phoenix's Spencer Thomas needs a one tenth of a second improvement over 800m to gain a U23 standard which, if he also won would give him automatic qualifying for Sweden. Archie Davies is looking to take off 1.5 seconds over 1500m for a spot on the team, and his club mate, the reigning 2017 European U20 200m champion, Toby Harries, may surprise us in the U23 competition. His windy 20.92s from the heats of the Southern championships suggests he could be coming back to form, if he is not injured - he was a no show for the regional semi-final.
Brighton's under 20, Amber Anning, has already run well under the 400m standard of 53.90 a number of times this year and will be aiming to book her place on the plane to Boras. Fellow under 20's Eastbourne's DJ Thomas (Shot) and Worthing's Ben Hawkes (Hammer) are both ranked second in the UK, but have yet to achieve the standard, so they are both hoping for more over the weekend.
Crawley's Jessica Lambert is ranked fourth in the UK and will be battling for a podium finish in what looks to be one of the most exciting races of the weekend.
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Sussex Schools' will take its smallest ever team to the south east Combined Events Championships in Basingstoke this weekend.
Just three athletes will wear the Sussex Schools' colours. They are Senior Girl Eli Middleton for Worthing College, Inter Girl Isabelle Humphreys of Christ's Hospital and Junior Boy, Jabar Busari of Imberhorne.