News

Taylor stitches up the Inters at Lancing 23rd Jan 2010
(click image to enlarge)	Nicole Taylor was the only winner to upset the favourite at the first “Brooks” Sussex Schools Cross-country championships ever to be held over the Lancing Manor course. Thanks largely to the efforts put in by Worthing’s Don Smith and Maureen Stephens the courses were clear and well marked and the afternoon went off without any tears by athletes, or tantrums from parents, who had gone off course. Taylor (Crowborough Beacon), who is the reigning Year 8 Schools Cross-country champion ran a sensible race allowing, in the absence of race favourite Johanna Spannagl, St. Bedes’ Abigail Ashbee-Simmonds to steam away at the start and open a comfortable, almost race winning lead. The Beacon girl however pegged back the gap over the second half of the race and proved the stronger of the two pulling clear to win by six seconds in 14:18. Phina Sunderland (Angmering), who had gone off course in the junior race twelve months back pulled away from Ardingly’s Beth Kidger to take the bronze medal. In a poorly supported team event Ouse Valley were clear winners with 63 points to West Sussex West’s 80. At the county championships at the start of the year Charlie Grice (Cardinal Newman) completed five successive victories. This time it was the turn of Sion’s Brittany Saville to notch up five years without defeat in the Sussex Schools cross-country championships. Saville trounced the senior girls field racing clear of her rivals right from the start and romping home with the largest margin of victory of the afternoon. With schoolmate and rival Abigail Fowlie not reaching the starting line Saville had things all her own way to clock 18:46, well over one-minute clear of Bexhill College’s Stacey Clusker who clocked 20:10 and was in turn comfortably clear of Bishop Luffa’s Rebecca Moore who clocked 20:46. Grice duly won the Inter-boys race after he had shaken off the attentions of Dorothy Stringer’s Alec Rice before the halfway mark. Grice eventually crossed the finishing line only six seconds clear of Ardingly’s Will Durkin who came through strongly over the closing stages to take the silver medal in 19:56 ahead of Rice who clocked 20:00 to make this the closest battle of the afternoon although Grice never looked in real danger. Grice led the Brighton & Hove team to a nine-point victory over Ouse Valley with 49 points. BHASVIC’s James McCarthy who had won the Inter title two years back made no mistake in the senior boys event taking the field by the scruff of the neck from the start and never looking like relinquishing it. Recording 23:09 McCarthy finished a full one hundred metres clear of Hastings College’s Ross Skelton, who is in his first year in the age group. Clocking 23:32 he was in turn fifty metres clear of fellow Hasting’s first timer, Max Thomas (William Parker) who clocked 23:47 just snatching the bronze medal from BHASVIC’s Will Gray by one second. And so to the babies, the juniors who I am certain we will be seeing collecting medals at these championships for the next few years. In the Girls race Grace Baker (Rye), did what she has been doing all season, getting her nose in front from the gun and making sure no one caused her any concerns. At the finish, which she reached in 12:04, she was seventeen seconds clear of County Under 13 champion Rebecca Elphick (St Richards). Elphick never let Baker out of her sight but neither did she manage to make any impressions on the lead Baker had establish over the first half of the race. Ringmer’s Eve Rothwell, who will be young enough to run in this age group again next year had probably her best run of the season to take third spot in 12:31. Ouse Valley chalked up their second team victory of the afternoon scoring 78 points to Brighton & Hove’s and Hastings’ 88 points but Brighton & Hove took second team spot as they closed in their scoring six first. Ben Collier (Tanbridge House) had employed similar tactics in the Boys race but he never really established a large enough lead to be able relax finishing just five seconds clear of Hurstpierpoint’s James Oliver, the County Under 13 champion, in 15:28. Oliver, like Rothwell in the girl’ race is young enough to contest the same age group next season. Luke McWilton won the battle for the bronze medal with fellow South Downs athlete Jake Alger by just one second in 15:42. Mid Sussex took team honours with 91 points to Brighton & Hove’s 105.