Potter and Garland give Chichester golden double at Sussex cross country championships

Conditions were soft underfoot but the drying wind from midday made for competitive and enjoyable racing.

During this season it has often been Chichester’s juniors who have provided the highlights but on this occasion it was the two senior races at the end of the programme who made it a day to remember for the club.

Senior men

The senior men’s race always comes first at theses championships and there was great anticipation to see how the lead group would unfold.

The possible pre-race favourite was Finn McNally, winner of the 2022 Chichester at Goodwood in February, with last year’s winner Jacob Cann from Horsham Blue Star also certain to feature.

Chichester’s Ned Potter had set things alight at the Goodwood Relays with a scorching lap, just seconds slower than teammate Will Broom who was not in the line-up at Bexhill.

Based currently in Loughborough, Potter’s past two races have been far from Sussex with the European cross country trials in Liverpool in November and then running a fine personal best of 29min 13sec in the Telford 10k in December.

After the initial charge up the first hill at Bexhill on Saturday, a high quality group took charge at the head of the field with Potter in the mix.

Gradually the group whittled down until the three main protagonists found themselves clear. Sensing he was feeling as strong as anyone in the race, Potter kept up the pressure and soon there was daylight between the Chichester man and his nearest challenger.

The gap continued to increase to be a commanding 50 seconds at the finish from McNally and Cann a further 10 seconds further back.

Potter’s win was a first for him in any age group at these championships and was a red letter achievement for Chichester Runners as it was their first ever county senior cross country champion in their 38-year history of the club.

It marked just reward for all the hard work Potter has put in to his training over the past half dozen years or so, as neither he nor Cann showed such promise in their teens with both of them outside the Sussex top 20 in the under 15 age group – a great example to all aspiring young athletes to keep plugging away at their training.

The rest of the Chichester men’s squad was a mixture of youth and experience with Wesley Adams 58th, Jim Garland 69th, Michael Kwoka 72nd, Steve Davy 79th, Jason Boswell 92nd and reserve Peter Anderson 106th for a team placing of ninth.

Senior women

Lining up for final event of the day, Chichester’s women must have been inspired by Potter’s run and were soon off on their 8k course.

What was different from the men was that in-form Tonbridge athlete Verity Hopkins decided to throw down the gauntlet from the gun and went charging away from the rest, inspired no doubt by her superb 33.37 clocking in the Telford 10k.

With Chichester’s Beth Garland currently based as a junior doctor in Edinburgh, it is probable the Tonbridge athlete did not have her down as a serious challenger, even though Garland had posted a 6th place in the Scottish short course championships before Christmas.

Imagine her surprise when not only did she find herself in a battle for the lead but having to give her all to maintain contact with the smooth-striding Chichester athlete.

Soon it was obvious that the early burst to gain a lead was taking its toll and Garland simply ran away from her rivals to such an extent that her winning margin at the end was a commanding minute and 26 seconds.

Behind Garland there was much Chichester interest with Alice Cox-Rusbridge vying for third place for much of the race before having to settle for 4th at the finish, while Imogen Matthews was also having a great race in 13th and Fay Cripps scything her way through the field to bring the scoring quartet home in 16th.

Thinking they may have an outside chance of a team medal at the start, it was delight when they pipped Brighton Phoenix for silver with 34 points to 35 while they were within a whisker of the club’s first team gold, finishing just five points behind winners Lewes AC.

Much credit must go to Chichester’s B team, all well into the veteran age groups with Helen Dean 32nd, Nadia Anderson 33rd, Kim Nelson 37th and Wendy Whelan, the oldest runner in the race in 50th.

Junior races

Teamwise it was a question of just missing out on medals in three of the age groups – but a number of individuals put in performances to catch the Sussex selectors’ eyes with places in the county teams up for grabs for the National Inter-Counties in Loughborough in March.

The most consistent junior team this season has been the under-15 girls but they had to settle for 4th with Molly Smithers having a fine race in 5th followed by Ela Pemberton in 18th and Carrie Anelay just getting the better of Millie Isitt in 20th.

The under-15 boys were led home by Ben Ward just squeezing into the top 10 with Stanley Wilkes 23rd and Micah Williams just getting the better of Digby Fulford. Matthew Mainwaring led the under-13 boys in 4th place with Ben Stewart 21st, Harry Cruttenden 27th, Max Gayle 28th and Freddie Gay 34th. Elodie Hill was a fine 6th in the under-13 girls race with Isla Hill 26th. Anya Barrett was 9th in the under-17 women’s race, with Isabelle Isitt 18th.