A rare sunny day lit up the beautiful setting of Glyndebourne for the final fixture of the Sussex Cross Country League on 14th February. Over a course comprising of muddy farmland and a significant hill, Freda Pearce was Eastbourne Rover’s leading performer.
Running with the Senior Ladies on a 2 lap 5K course, she ran strongly to come through 2nd overall, clearly winning her U17 age category. With ever-improving Katy Brown achieving 5th U17, the girls’ team lifted themselves to 3rd overall in the league this season winning bronze. The Senior Ladies team, in which U17s and Masters athletes can also score, finished 2nd on the day, their best position this season, the team completed by Jenny Brown (15th) and Laura Downham (22nd). The team were delighted to also finish in 3rd place overall in the league. Finally, competing in the Masters category in the same senior race, the Eastbourne Masters team were happy to place 5th (age category positions: Jenny Brown 1st, Marina Davies 2nd, Flick Webster 8th), resulting in another 3rd place overall in the league. In the Senior and Masters 8K race, Stuart Pelling and Richard Fox ran strongly on the tough course placing 4thand 8th in their age groups. U17 Zion Okojie achieved 5th place whilst Fin Lumber-Fry, as a result of his first three league races earlier in the season, won bronze overall in the league.
In the younger age groups, the Under 11s completed a 2K course with Emily Petrova having an outstanding run moving through the field to finish 2nd(bronze overall in the league). Others gaining valuable experience in the younger age groups were Violet Walpole, Imogen Myers, Olivia Frasson Srok Jacob Patton and Aidan Wai in the U11 races and Poppy Charlwood and Harry Waterson in the Under 13 races.
In the U15 girls race, Chyna Wai ran well to finish 16th whilst Ksenia McCrae picked up places steadily throughout and by the final hill had moved up to 3rd. This was by far her best position of the season and a great confidence booster as she prepares to represent Sussex at the National Schools Championships in mid-March, alongside Freda, Fin and other experienced Eastbourne teammates.
