Sussex Schools U17 and U15 athletes travelled to Basingstoke in Hampshire for the annual South East Schools Inter-Counties fixture. The athletes were selected based on their performances at last week’s Sussex Schools’ Championships. Some of them already had English Schools' qualifying times, and others were hoping to secure their places. As one of the strongest regions in the country, there is always excellent competition against the counties of Surrey, Kent, Hampshire and Middlesex.
Our Intermediate Boys team (U17s) came fourth overall. There were wins for Tom Matthews in the 1500m S/C in a two-second PB time of 4:38.40. His club and teammate mate Louis Opoku backed up his Sussex Schools Championship Best Performance last weekend by launching his javelin out to 58.46m for the win. Meanwhile, Barney Hastings made it a 1-2 for Sussex with a 52.96m throw for silver. Dylan Calvey was a gold medallist in the High Jump with 1.88m, just two centimetres below his PB of 1.90m set at the Sussex Schools Champs last weekend.
The Intermediate Girls' team (U17s) finished fourth overall. Alice Howie dominated the Hammer with a six-meter victory (55.17m). The other standout performance for the Inter Girls was Ava James winning the 1500m S/C in 5:14.48, beating her one-week-old county record of 5:15.70, set at the Sussex Schools' Champs. In the 3000m, Laila Hellyer, Niamh Lesova, and Rosie Gasson (guesting) claimed the top three spots with times of 10:39.95, 10:45.57, and 10:51.79. Other notable performances include Kyla Ball with silver in High Jump (1.65m), Stella Kalman with silver in Long Jump (5.22m), Harriet Yelling's silver in Triple Jump (10.66m), and Jessica Bliss with a third-place finish in javelin (34.44m).
The Junior Girls (U15s) were fourth. The standout performance was Isabella Akpoveta winning the 100m in a time of 12.39s into a headwind. She is currently ranked fifth in the age group in the UK, and the time was just outside of her PB of 12.33. Temperance Cornish ran 26.13 for silver in the 200m, only 3/100ths off her PB. Kaiya Morson won the Long Jump with a leap of 4.71m. Talcia Kluna threw 10.63m for second in the Shot Put.
The Sussex Junior Boys Team was also fourth. In the 1500m, George Gilbert was second in 4:20.97. David Michael-Uloghowas third in the Triple Jump with a leap of 11.05m. Arun Gibbons was third in the shot with a putt of 13.38m. Ede Ruso threw the hammer out to 40.76m for the bronze position in the hammer.
Our thanks to the Sussex Schools' team managers and to the officials and Hampshire Schools' AA for hosting the event.