Race win just what doctor ordered
A record total of 10 Chichester juniors had the honour of competing for Sussex in the South East Regional Intercounties Sportshall final held at Burgess Hill.
In one of the strongest regions in the UK, Sussex were up against powerhouses Surrey as well as Kent, Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
In nationally ranked company, the squad came away with a number of top three placings with the added bonus that the under-13 boys emerged with a team bronze medal.
It was in this under-13 team where the Chichester squad excelled, with both Max Gayle and Reuben Shewan
gaining individual runners-up spots.
Gayle used his combination of speed and endurance to run a fine four-lap race while Shewan hit the 63 mark for a fine leap in the vertical jump.
Gayle teamed up with Levi Pearce for a Chichester double in the speed bounce while Ivo Edgar produced a good standing long jump with Joe Stewart backing this up with an equally impressive triple jump.
Chichester were also well represented in the girls’ under-13 squad with Isla Pearson running a fast four-lap race for an individual bronze medal which she further backed up with a club record mark of 82 in the speed bounce, again third best of the day.
In addition Maya Stair joined Pearson in the speed bouncewhileolivepringwas on good form in the vertical jump. The trio helped Sussex to a hard fought fourth place, just outside the medals.
Chichester’s top pair of under-15 boys were part of a strong Sussex team where an all-round ability is the order of the day, finishing and second and third best Sussex athletes.
Ben Stewart used his endurance from cross country combined with his track speed in the four-lap as well as breaking the 10m mark in the shot and notching up a capable triple jump.
Austin Stack was at home in the two-lap sprint and speed bounce before setting a new club record in the standing long jump of 2.65m for another individual medal for the Chichester athletes.
PHIL BAKER
sussexworld.co.uk/sport
A month after starting work as an A&E doctor in the Southern Hemisphere, Chichester’s distance star athlete Beth Garland has emerged victorious from her first race in New Zealand.
As part of the world trail series, the Rotorua event attracts runners from all over the world with well over 1200 runners lining up for the advertised 21km race – which in reality was just over 23km in length.
In her first competitive race since the English National championships exaxtly a year ago, Garland made light of the spectacular yet undulating terrain to cross the line in 1hr 41min, a full seven minutes ahead of the second woman to finish.
Even more impressively Garland had only 16 of the 1,000-plus men in the race ahead of her at the finish after steadily making her may through the field.
It was just 13 months ago that Garland and Ned Potter became Chichester first ever wommen’s and men’s Sussex cross coutry champions in the club’s near 40-year history.
Remarkably their careers have taken a parallel course since with Potter also winning his first ever cross country race on foreign soil – with victory in the San Fransisco Colleges inter-state race last September.
With both athletes not yet at their prime, we look forward to reporting on more international success from the pair in the future.
- PHIL BAKER
The Chichester Corporate Challenge road race series began last night – see pictures on the new Observer app and full coverage in the paper next week.