Boys and girls excel at festival

The Kent under-11 Sportshall boys and girls’ teams were both crowned champions in the Fun in Athletics South East Regional Festival at Burgess Hill in West Sussex.

The girls finished 18 points ahead of runners-up Buckinghamshire and 36 points clear of third placed Berkshire.

They recorded six overall event wins – in the obstacle relay, over and under relay, high stepper, speed bounce, standing triple jump and vertical jump.

Grace Pitman and Yasmin Sadler Reeves won the individual balance test and Kizzy Gape in the standing triple jump.

The boys had a 22-point winning margin over Berkshire who finished a point ahead of Surrey.

They collected eight overall team victories – in the obstacle relay, hurdles relay, grand prix, high stepper, balance test, speed bounce, standing triple jump and target throw.

Five athletes youngsters won individual events – Max Merrien in the speed bounce, Louis Hillier and Toby Yemm in the balance test, Aston Fredericks (standing long jump) and Tom Wills (target throw).

The Kent teams won selection following their performances in the Sportshall Athletics Decathlon and the KCAA Sportshall Championships at the Stour Centre last month.

Ashford Leisure Trust community development manager and Kent team manager Peter Le Rossignol said: “It was a fantastic result for the county.

“The 28 young athletes worked so hard for the team and the results reflect this. The athletes have shown they are among the best in the UK.”

Ashford AC Jade Curtis won the under-13 high jump at an open event at Lee Valley. The Spring Grove pupil clinched victory with a winning leap of 1.35m

Max Nicholls has qualified for the England Schools CrossCountry Championships at Castle Donington in March, after finishing runner-up in the senior boys’ race at the Kent Championships at Wilmington on Saturday.

The Ashford School pupil who lives at Ivychurch and runs for Tonbridge AC, heads for Leicestershire, hoping to go one better than last year when he won the silver medal.

Another Ashford youngster, Jamie Carley, also qualifed with a third-place finish in the intermediate boys’ race.