The weather was awful, with the wind swirling at will. The rain thoroughly drenched athletes and officials and switched from torrential to a drizzle within minutes. However, none of this prevented some wonderful performances and six new records at the Sussex Schools' Championships at K2 on Saturday, whilst many youngsters also secured their invitations to be part of the Sussex team for the English Schools' Championships in Birmingham next month.
Four of the championship best performances were on the track and the first one fell in the third race of the day. Jessica Lambert (CRA) and Grace Vans Agnew (OV) have both had a breakthrough season in the 400mH, with silver and bronze medals respectively at the recent South of England championships. On Saturday in the senior girls race Lambert dominated. Looking strong and slick over the hurdles, she ran a controlled race to cross the line in 61.3 seconds, a second ahead of Vans Agnew whose time of 62.5s equalled her second fastest run.
The three other track records came towards the end of the day and were well worth the wait. With just one 1500m S/C race inter girl Lois Dooley (BHP) and senior girl Olivia McDonald (WSW) both broke the previous records. McDonald’s 5:12.6 and Dooley’s 5:19.2 were both slightly below their season’s bests, however both are potential finalists at the ESAA champs.
In his 100m heat Timi Esan (OV) had looked extremely relaxed. He was saving everything for the final where he dipped under an important milestone for the first time, with a sub-11 clocking of 10.99 seconds.
Meanwhile, on the field, Italian junior international, Mame Diarra Sow (CRA) claimed gold and a CBP in the triple jump. Sow, who is studying English at Crawley College, leapt 12.57m, nearly a metre more than the previous record. She was initially entered as a guest but her eligibility to compete has been confirmed and Sow can now represent the county at the English Schools’ Championships. On present form she will be vying for a medal at Birmingham.
Emilie Oakden (OV) has had an outstanding season in the pole vault and cemented this with a 3.35m CBP in the junior girls competition.
There were many other good performances across the day, despite the minus winds putting paid to great times in most of the track events. However, the inter boys 100m hurdles turned into a cracker of a race with James Pavey (BHP) and Seb Wallace (MID) both crossing the line in 13.8s – an ESAA entry standard. They could not be separated and shared the victory.
Junior and inter athletes who came first or second have been invited to represent Sussex at the Inter counties fixture this Saturday in Erith, Kent.
Meeting Director Judy Lasis said: "The event was a great success and we must thank all the officials who did an excellent job, as always, in very challenging condition."
The Sussex team for the English Schools' Track & Field Championships (12th-13th July in Birmingham) will be published next week. All athletes selected need to have achieved an ESAA standard as a minimum, but this is not a guarantee of a place on the team.
School Areas (abbreviated above)
- BHP Brighton, Hove & Portslade
- CRA Crawley
- OV Ouse Valley
- WSW West Sussex West
- WSS West Sussex South
- HAS Hastings
- MID Mid Sussex
- SD South Downs