Picture special: Eastbourne Rovers athletes shine for Sussex at Oxford

The top cross-country runners in the county were selected for the SEAA Inter Counties, which took place just before Christmas. Sussex enjoyed success across the day starting with a win by Isabella Buchanan (HY Runners) in the under-13 girls’ race. With support from Bibi Webb (Crawley 8th), Evie Lennard (Eastbourne Rovers 11th) and Elodie Hill (Chichester), the girls were awarded team bronze.

This placing was matched by two other Sussex teams – the under-17 women, for whom Eastbourne’s Eleanor Strevens placed 21st and Ellie Mclean 37th, and the senior women team, with Rachel Hillman (Lewes A/C) 25th. Fin Lumber-Fry (Eastbourne) and George Gilbert (Brighton & Hove) had fine runs in the under-13 boys’ race placing 7th and 11th respectively, and the team, like the under-15s, placed 4th. Eastbourne’s Ben Wright and Jonah Messer ran superbly on the county stage placing 46th and 65th respectively.

Eastbourne athletes Daisy Connor and Freda Pearce had impressive runs to position 27th and 32nd in the under-15 girls’ race. The under-15 boys Sussex team came fourth, and Brighton & Hove AC’s Finlay Goodman had a strong run to place third. Eastbourne Rover Ilya Korchev held his ground well in 71st as did his teammate Benjamin Brown, coming 88th in the under-17 race.

Staged alongside the inter-counties match is the SEAA Masters Championships. In the women’s race Eastbourne were awarded bronze thanks to the efforts of Sue Fry (V50) in 7th, Jenny Brown (V50) 8th and Liz Lumber 29th (V55). The cross-country season has been a full and fun one so far, with lots more coming in 2023. First up will be the Sussex Cross Country Champs at Bexhill this Saturday, January 7. This is sure to be a mudbath after recent downpours.

Eastbourne Rovers coach Chris Voice said: “The squad have been training hard over the festive period for the championships and hopefully they will be rewarded with strong performances.”