A tremendous second day at Gateshead for Sussex Schools athletes saw them turning in one of their most successful years ever as far as medals were concerned.
They were never expected to match last year’s “Best for fifty years” results but they came closer than expected with ten medals and five of these were gold, which was one better than last year.
They started the day well with the left over results from Friday that Livvy Connor (BHASVIC) retained her senior Pole Vault title by clearing 3.80m while Chloe Billingham (Weald) placed fifth with 3.50m, both National Standard (ns) performances.
The event had gone on so long on Friday night that the results were not published until well into Saturday morning.
Connor was one of three members of this year’s team who had won titles last year but the two had moved up an age group.
Nevertheless both Amber Anning (Roedean) and Joe Fuggle (Uplands) led their older rivals a merry dance in their events with Anning romping away from the field in the Inter 300m heading the talented Alex Shaw (Surrey) by more than five metres in an (ns) time of 38.81s.
Fuggle appeared to take the early stages of his Senior 400m hurdles steadily but he was clear as the runners entered the home straight but was in complete control as he headed Bailey Sticking from Kent over the line clocking 53.72s to the runner ups 53.93s.
Remarkably both Anning and Fuggle will still be young enough to defend their titles next year.
The fifth gold medal of the championships for Sussex, Edan Cole (Cardinal Newman) had won the Inter javelin throw on Friday, came in the dying moments of the meeting as Finley Bigg (Steyning) ran a tactically perfect Senior 800 metres. With a group of five athletes entering the finishing straight with any of them capable of winning it was Bigg who burst through from the back of the pack to win by a couple of metres from Daniel Mees (Cambridge) in 1:51.57s.
There was just one silver medal and that was a fine run by Cameron Fillery (Brighton College) in Senior 110m hurdles where after his usual steady start he powered his way through and was closing rapidly on winner William Aldred (Manchester) at the finish clocking 14.75s into a strong head wind to the winner’s 14.53s.
There were four bronze medals including a surprise in the Junior 80m hurdles where a completely raw Sam Odu (Christ Hospital) snatched third place, again into a strong headwind, clocking an ns time of 11.54s. after clocking 11.53s when winning his heat on Friday.
George Turner (Cardinal Newman) cleared 4.30m in difficult conditions to take bronze in the Senior Pole Vault and again in difficult conditions Lillie Franks (Ardingly) leapt 1.71m (ns) for Bronze in the Inter High Jump.
Stephen Ferroni (BACA) completed the collection of bronzes with a sensible and steady senior 3,000 metres in (ns) 8:26.84s.
Joe Smith (Oakmeeds) had a steady and sensible run to finish a fine fifth in the Junior 1500m in a ns and personal best time of 4:11.76s while there were more fifth places for Abby Beswick (Sackville) with a leap of 5.58m in the Senior long jump and Scott Staples (Seaford Head) set a new personal best and ns for his fifth placing in the Senior javelin throw with 57.07m.
The Junior girls relay squad took sixth place in their 4 x 100m relay in 50.79s while Harry Baker (St Pauls) cleared 1.84m for seventh place in the Inter High jump and Jackson King (Brighton College) also filled seventh place in the Senior Shot putt with 12.41m.
A cracking personal best and ns in 10.88s in the semi-final took Jake Binns through to the final of the Senior 100m where he finished eighth while Maia Hardman (Lewes Old Grammar) took eighth place in the Junior 800 metres in 2:18.14s after qualifying for the final in 2:16.11s.
The Senior Boys team won the E W Hanley Trophy for the first time. The full team results have not yet been published.
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