In the Sprints, Senior Bryn Smith set a high standard taking double gold in the 100m and 200m. His dynamic starts saw him hold the lead and cross the finishing line with fantastic times of 10.91 and 21.5 respectively.
U17 athlete Oscar Mizen ran head to head with club mate Nathan Burge in the 400m. Oscar pulled through in the home straight to take the gold in a personal best of 50.9 which is a qualifying standard for the English Schools competition.
The following day he then tackled the 400m hurdles and took only 10 seconds longer to complete the lap with 10 barriers to gain a silver medal. Nathan was not going to be out done as he followed his silver in the 400m (51.2 - also an English Schools qualifying standard) with another silver in the 100m (11.3 PB) and a bronze in the 200m with another personal best to finish his busy weekend in 22.9 against some competitors a year older.
U15 sprinter Kristi Prifti surged ahead to take gold in the 100m (13.3) and after running a strong bend hung on for the bronze in the 200m (27.4).
Caitlyn Spencer could not match her superb personal bests ran earlier in the month but she certainly put on a fight for her sprints – taking gold in the U20 200m in 25.76 The 100m was a battle to the line with Caitlyn getting the same time as the winner but had to settle for the silver medal.
In the U15 boys 100m final Eastbourne fielded three out of the eight athletes, showing the strength and depth they now have in this age group. Jesse Okwunwa left his fellow competitors at the start line as he soared down the home straight for a fantastic personal best of 11.7 and another gold for Eastbourne.
Daniel Suarez Biberle was unlucky to just miss out on the medals with his 4th place in 12.2 secs. And newcomer Aaron Goldsmith placed 6th in 12.4, achieving a PB of 12.28s in his qualifying heat. Later in the day, the three athletes combined with Fletcher Howcroft to dominate the 4 x 100m relay, leading from the start and finishing well ahead of the next team, in an impressive time of 48.31.
Seniors Shania Martlew, Sophie Hutchins and Felicity (Flick) Webster all lined up for the 400m. Shania is usually seen in the shorter sprints but she proved what a good all-rounder she is by taking the gold. Sophie held onto the pace as long as she could and clinched the silver.
Flick came 4th and showed she is in form ready for the Masters season. Aoife Cherrill achieved personal bests in her sprints with 13.7 (5th) and 27.5 in the 200m, while Lily Clements is finding her old form reaching the final in both her sprints (100m in 13.70 and 200m in 28.1).
Honest Chinengundu (U20) was lucky to have two straight finals so he was fresh to deliver personal bests in both the 100m and 200m in 11.5 and 22.6 securing bronze and silver medals.
Senior Dylan Brudenell is finding his form again in the 400m coming second in his heat to see him into the final when he took bronze with 52.34.
U20 Edwin Thomas, and U15 athletes Will Holloway, Amelie Paviour and Rosalie McMahon all gained valuable experience competing at this level. In his their year of U15 Will ran 14.44 in the 100m and finished 7th in the javelin with a PB of 22.85m, and Rosalie ran an impressive new PB of 14.06s in the 100m.
Amelie ran well in her individual 100m heat (14.33s) and used her growing experience to contribute a great 1st leg for the gold medal-winning U15 girls’ 4 x 100m team. Alongside Blythe Bray, Ayana Reid and Kristi the girls kept their concentration, enabling Kristi to sail down the home straight for the victory.
Eastbourne’s slick changeovers in the relays made their teams stand out above the rest. Following on from the flawless gold-winning U15 boys and girls teams, the U20/Senior men also showed how they had practised to perfection with a fast start from Edwin giving to Dylan down the back straight, Honest on the bend, to Bryn bringing the baton home.
Clear winners in 43.23. Lastly, the U20/Senior women kept their cool with Aoife, Shania and Sophie keeping in touch with the others so Caitlyn could battle the last leg to clinch them silver medals.
Meanwhile on the field Josie Usher was in action in the U17 High Jump. She showed great technique to clear 1.50m for her silver medal and that was after competing in the 100m and 200m! Senior Cara Webb came 6th in the Long Jump with a leap of 4.66m - a good opener for the season.
Martha Simmons was hoping to reach over the 10m mark in the U17 girls Shot Put but her 9.85m was still enough to secure the gold medal.
Sonny Crisp has moved up an age group but held his own coming second in the U15 Shot Put with 10.79m and gained a new PB in the Discus hurling 29.94m.
Flick Webster secured a silver in the Senior Women’s Discus with a SB throw of 17.40.
Ailsa McCutchan just missed out on the medals coming 4th in the Hammer with a new personal best of 24.07.
From the junior middle distance squad, U15 Georgia Lennard took another 3 seconds off her 800m time, after several PBs already this year, finishing in 2:38.43, and Ksenia McCrae, in her first track season, improved her 1500m time to 5:25.58. Sophie Cann successfully stepped down to the 300m distance and was rewarded with 6th place in the final with a new PB of 47.61.
From the junior sprints and field events squad, Calista Scott-Smith, in only her second competition with Rovers, did fantastically well to finish 6th in the U13 Girls Minithon. In this multi-event competition she was joint winner of the High Jump in a PB of 1.38m, scored solid points in the Shot Put (5.09m) and 150m (23.18s) and finished only 5 points behind the bronze medal winner in a field of 40 girls. Team mate Milli Phillips also did well in the Minithon placing 13th overall, which included an excellent 3rd place in the Long Jump, jumping 4m for the first time.
U15 Isaac Sweetman continues to improve in his events. In the 80m Hurdles final he came 6th (14.14s) and followed that up with 10th position in the Long Jump (4.39m). And as well as being part of the gold medal-winning U15 boys’ relay team, sprinter Aaron Goldsmith threw 21.84m in his first javelin competition.
In the middle distance events, there were also several Masters races, which saw Rovers pick up another three medals. Gold in the V35 1500m for Matt Southam (4:41.66), silver in the V45 1500m for Juriy Korchev (4:45.51) and gold and a new PB in the V45 800m for Flick Webster (2:47.63). #