Sussex athletes rose to the occasion at the 100th English Schools’ Championships in Birmingham, coming away with 10 medals, a county relay record, and 11 personal bests across a fiercely competitive and swelteringly hot weekend.
In total, 24 athletes achieved National Standards and 10 reached English Schools Entry Standard – a great return on a historic weekend of competition.
Sussex athletes brought home:
- 🥇 1 Gold – Alice Howie (Worthing & District Harriers) – Senior Girls' Hammer – her fourth consecutive ESAA title
- 🥈 6 Silvers –
- Rae le Fay (Tonbridge AC) – SG 1500m Steeplechase
Alice Cox and Rae le Fay SG 1500m S/C - Owen Wallek (Brighton Phoenix) – SB 3000m
- Isabella Buchanan (Hastings AC) – JG 1500m
- Jaiten Best (Brighton & Hove AC) – IG Triple Jump
- Flo Matten (Brighton & Hove AC) – JG Pole Vault
- Milo Holborne (Crawley AC) – JB Pole Vault
- Rae le Fay (Tonbridge AC) – SG 1500m Steeplechase
- 🥉 3 Bronzes –
- Jessica Bliss (Brighton & Hove AC) – SG 100m Hurdles
- Ava Hayes (Lewes AC) – IG Pole Vault
- Bill Scott (Lewes AC) – JB Pole Vault
Owen Wallek
After securing silver in the Inter Girls' Triple Jump Jaiten Best, has been selected to represent England at the Schools' International this weekend.
Brighton & Hove AC’s Senior Boys’ 4x100m squad lit up the track with a record-breaking run for Sussex, as Jesse Sobrasuaipiri, Charlie Fisher, Sonny Ryder, and Louis Wilson stormed to a new county U20M record of 41.99s, finishing a superb fifth in a national-class field. They smashed the 33-year-old record of 44.1s held by Crawley since 1992.
Sussex athletes set 11 personal bests across the two days, including:
- Alice Cox (Crawley AC) – 5:04.61 in SG 1500m Steeplechase
- Bethany Naylor-Davis (Waverley AC) – 5:06.60 in IG 1500m Steeplechase
- David Michael-Ologho (Sussex Schools) – 13.68m in IB Triple Jump
- Louis Ashworth (Brighton & Hove AC) – 36.72s in JB 300m
- Rae le Fay (Tonbridge AC) – 4:53.02 in SG 1500m Steeplechase
- Freddie Matthews (Brighton & Hove AC) – 6:05.27 in SB 2000m Steeplechase
- Sonny Rey-Crisp (Eastbourne Rovers) – 14.35m in JB Shot Put
Sonny Rey-Crisp - Arthur Rogers (Brighton & Hove AC) – 53.32m in JB Javelin
- Flo Matten, Sylvie Ward (Lewes AC), and Milo Holborne (Crawley AC) – equalled PBs in Pole Vault
Top-8 Placings by Age Group
| Age Group | Top 8 Placings |
|---|---|
| Senior Girls | 9 |
| Senior Boys | 6 |
| Inter Girls | 6 |
| Inter Boys | 2 |
| Junior Boys | 9 |
| Junior Girls | 5 |
| Total | 37 |
Sussex athletes delivered a host of high-quality performances at this landmark edition of the championships, with medal finishes, personal bests, a county record, and international selection all part of our contribution to the ESAA centenary.
Team Manager Judy Lasis praised the athletes: "The team was very focused and despite incredibly hot weather, they all performed very well. We're proud of them."
Thank you to Judy and the rest of our fantastic Sussex Schools' team managers, led by Tim Brown: Sue Thomas, Jason Jeffery, John Clements, Sharon Gordon, Lucy Kirby and Will Broom.
- Day 1 report: Silvers, bronze and a county record for Sussex
- Day 2 report: Amazing Alice strikes gold again as Sussex shines
- Full results: Click here to view
Photos by Andy Cox, @AC_phots
Jaiten Best photo by Pat Apantaku