Athletes notch county championship success
Chichester Runners & AC were well represented at this year’s re-vamped Sussex County Championships in Brighton, writes David Churcher.
In chilly, overcast conditions it was a good opportunity for some of the younger athletes to experience championship athletics for the first time, and they gave a good account of themselves.
In the U15 girls’ 100m, Ellie Courtney (14.58sec), Rosie Boult (14.45sec), Rachel Hopwood (14.29sec) and Eve Langford (13.54sec PB) all ran well in the heats, with Langford (first year in this age group) going on to the final where she finished a creditable seventh. Langford and Hopwood ran the 200m heats, with both qualifying for what turned out to be a close final. With 30m to go, they were in medal contention, but dropped back in the closing stage, recording PBS to finish fourth (28.92sec) and fifth (29.00) respectively.
With a superbly welljudged even paced performance, Amelie Mcgurk won U17 300m gold in a PB of 43.32.
Dominic Barth (U20M) continued his fine progress in the 100m with a new 11.27sec PB for fourth place, missing bronze by 0.02sec.
On her long journey back from injury Rachel Laurie
(U23) won the senior ladies 400m gold in 62.90.
The dominant pairing of Finlay Roberson and Harvey Mcguiness, in the under-17 1500m, both smashed their
previous best and finishing way ahead of the rest of the field. Roberson came out on top with 4.12 and Mcguiness clocked 4.14.8.
Under-17 Zac Ferris was just outside 2.30 for the 800m while Joe Mclarnon was within a whisker of breaking two minutes.
In the 800ms Josh Dunne ran another consistent 2.05 clocking while Anya Barratt broke 2.30 for the first time with 2.28.3 and followed this up with a 1.35m high jump.
In the 1500m Ben Ward clocked 5.13.7, Digby Fulford close behind with 5.18.4.
Ned Potter was just unable to hold off Jacob Cann of Horsham in the 1500m while Will Broom ran away from the rest of the field with a solo run of 1.54 over 800m, a new personal best and less than a second outside the club record.