As the Indoor Athletic Season gets underway Eastbourne Rovers athletes have travelled to the Lee Valley 200m indoor track to compete in age band competitions throughout January.
The first weekend was the South of England Indoor Championships for U15/U17. First on the track to represent Eastbourne was Evie Lenoard. She ran a well- paced heat in the girls 800m to clock 2m20.90. This saw her into the final where she stuck to the leader for the 4 laps to clinch the silver medal in a brilliant time of 2m18.05.
At the same Championships Oscar Mizen lined up in the U17 boys 400m. He had the hardest heat so had to work hard running a personal best of 53.07 for 4th place. However this was fast enough to get him through to the semi- final where he produced another great time of 53.69 for 4th place giving him 8th overall.
The next weekend saw the first of the London Games event. This time it was the U20/Sen in action. In the 60m races athletes have the chance of racing in 2 time trials. Bryn Smith opened with 7.01 secs which was a good warm up to then dip under the magic 7secs to record 6.99 in his second race. U20 Caitlyn Spencer was thrilled with a personal best of 7.91 in her first race followed by 8.1 in the second.
In the U15/U17 London Games Oscar Mizen was back in action in the 400m. On this occasion he only had to compete in one race so blasted round the first lap to get into a good position at the break. He held onto first to record a new personal best of 51.58. Training partner Nathan Burge lined up in another U17 400m race. His first time running this distance, he found himself with a clear lead after the first lap which he held onto to cross the finish line in a great time of 52.28.
After travelling so far Oscar decided to take on the double sprints- so prepared to line up for the 200m. A fast start saw him soon take the stagger out of 2 of the field and he came off the final bend in second place with another PB of 23.45- so a great day out.
The last competition of the month saw Bryn Smith in action again in the south of England Championship Senior 200m. He breezed through the first round in first place in 22.2 to gain a good lane in the semi final. Another win and improved time of 22.01 put him in the final. A good start kept him in contention and despite shaving even more off his time to 21.94, Bryn had to miss out on the medals settling for 4th place, but a very successful afternoons competition !
Eastbourne athletes now look forward to more 60m races and the Sussex Indoor championships in March.