Rovers roar: Eastbourne athletes go from strength to strength

Rovers accumulated 150 points and a credible second position in the team results. They were comfortably ahead of Lewes AC (120 points), HY Runners (101 points), Phoenix (63 points) and Hastings (nine points). Brighton & Hove were top of the table with 183 points.

Fin Lumber-Fry did well in the 600m (A string) placing 2nd in 1min 42sec, just one second behind his Brighton & Hove rival & Sussex team-mate George Gilbert. Annabelle Taylor stormed to victory with a PB in both the 75m & 150m B string races (11.3 sec and 22.3 sec).

Kristi Prifiti continued her fine spell of form, winning the 75m and 150m A string races (10.7 sec and 21.0 sec). This is particularly impressive as Prifiti has another year in her age category.

Talented Jonah Messer won the boys’ 600m (B string) 1min 51sec. He came second in the 75m hurdles in 15.4sec. Evie Lennard implemented mature race tactics in the 600m race where she held back during lap one and made her move with a sprint finish on the final straight of lap two to clinch first position in 3min 20sec, just a tenth of a second ahead of Isabella Buchanon of HY Runners.

Pearl Winslet had an incredible race in the 70m hurdles. After falling at hurdle three, she rolled, got up and continued to win the B string race in 15.8 sec.

Joshua Webster ran well in the 75m hurdles, placing 1st in the B string race with 15.7sec. He clinched second in the 1000m (B string) in 3min 24sec.

In the field events, Fisher Winslet competed strongly in the high jump – placing 2nd with 1.20m (A string). He claimed first in the javelin (B string) with a throw of 16.98m. Ever improving Jack Shires placed a comfortable 2nd in the javelin (A string) with 18.01m. He equalled this with 2nd place in the high jump (B string) with 1.15m.

Fletcher Howcroft showed his talent for field events with a strong 2nd in the shot putt with 5.41m and third in the discus with 11.53m. Fine performances also came from other Eastbourne Rovers: Byron Roberts - 150m 3rd & long jump 3rd; Ben Wright - 1000m 3rd & shot put 2nd; George Armstrong – Smith 150m 3rd & long jump 3rd; Vinnie Hardy 75m 3rd; Milla Winslet 600m 4th & high jump 4th.

The relay races proved very exciting with second position for both the girls’ and boys’ Rovers teams. The Eastbourne Rovers Under 13/11 team are looking forward to the final of the league at the K2 stadium, Crawley, on Sunday, September 4. Clubs from West and East Sussex will be competing in the grand finish to the season.

INTER COUNTIES

Huge congratulations go to the Eastbourne Rovers athletes who represented Sussex at the Under-13 Inter Counties Match in Kingston.

The competition standard was very high and the youngsters put everything into their performances in exceedingly warm conditions. As teams, the Sussex girls and boys both placed fourth, which is the highest ranking for quite some time.

Particular mentions go to Fin Lumber-Fry, Evie Lennard & Kristi Prifiti, all of Eastbourne Rovers, who were selected to compete for Sussex. Lumber - Fry had a convincing win in the 1500m (B) race in 4min 47sec. He led from the gun and continued an impressive run of form this track season. It follows on from his win in the recent county championships in the 1500m.

Evie Lennard once again showed great race tactics in the 800m (N/S) where she stormed along the final straight to clinch second place in 2min 35sec. What makes her performance so special is that it’s Evie’s first year competing on the track, so to represent her county so soon is an incredible achievement.

Young sprinter Kristi Prifiti has gone from strength to strength this season and has taken her running to another level. For her Sussex debut she placed fourth in both the 100m and 200m with 14.12sec and 28.26sec.

At just 11, Kristi has another year in her under-13 age group and is destined to work her way up the leaderboard.