Eastbourne athletes made a big contribution to a very successful Team Sussex performance at the Youth Development League for the Under 17 and Under 20 age groups held in Carshalton on 30th June. Having won their first match at Lewes and finishing a close 4th in the second match, the team, largely made up of Eastbourne Rovers and Lewes AC athletes, earned the runners up spot in the final match of the season. This clinched them 2nd place overall in their division, the best position by Team Sussex for some years.
In the Under 20 age group, Fintan Pearce and Ben Brown had clear wins in the 800m (2:07.1s) and 1500m (4:23.0s) respectively, with Ben also gaining maximum points in the 800m B race. Sophie Hutchison ran an excellent PB of 28.7s for 3rd in the 200m A race and also gained good points with 2nd in the 400m B race. Zoe Wright came a close 3rd in the Triple Jump (9.40m). Fintan, Sophie and Zoe were all part of the maximum points scoring mixed 4 x 400m team, a fitting finale for Sophie who was competing in her final YDL since she moves into the senior age group next season.
In the Under 17 age group, Oscar Mizen had a successful day with 2nd in the 400m A (54.2s), 1st in the 200m B (23.8s, running in the U20 race), and 2nd in the javelin (a PB of 33.19m). Honest Chinengundu came away with 4th in the 100m A (12.0s) and 3rd in the 200m A (23.6s) where he also ran against older competitors to fill a team spot in the U20 race. Ethan Howcroft was another high points scorer with 2nd in the 100m B (11.9s) and 4th in the 200m A (24.7s). Josie Usher continued her consistent good results in the sprints with 3rd in the 200m A (28.2s) and another 3rd in the 100m B. She also placed 2nd in the High Jump. Katy Brown stepped up to replace an absent team mate in the A Shot and was rewarded with 3rd place, just short of her PB, with 7.03m and then went on to win the B javelin. Freda Pearce, another U17 competing in the U20 age group, did well to win the B 1500m. She and Katy filled in slots with the specialist sprinters to make up a 4 x 100m team who stayed well in contention with Josie Usher running a strong last leg to bring them home 3rd (57.5s). The usual men’s 4x100m team of Oscar, Ethan and Honest were a runner short so ran in the U20 race to enable U20 distance runner Ben Brown to stand in on first leg and they were delighted to come away with a win.
Team spirit is building in this composite team where many athletes are juggling GCSE and A level exams, coursework and part time work commitments alongside their training and competitions. The Lewes-Eastbourne partnership, with a few athletes from Worthing and Haywards Heath, enables Team Sussex to have a strong presence in Division 2 South of the YDL and provides a valuable and enjoyable competition experience for the individual athletes as they face competitors from all over the south of England.
