Young Chichester athletes show spirit and talent at Kingston

Individual first places were hard to find but it was the club’s under-15 girls who brought home the only double A and B string win of the day.

Molly Smithers produced a strong finish down the home straight to win the 1500m in 5.00.4 and slash seven seconds from her previous best into the bargain.

In the same race Elodie Hill was too strong for the B string runners to romp home in 5.20.3.

Tilly Wyatt continued her good sprinting form over 100 and 200m while Anya Dickinson and Isla Hill formed a solid partnership over 800m.

Showing good commitment to the team, the five girls added points to the total in the long jump, hurdles and shot put.

For the boys, the combination of Ben Stewart and Harry Dunne combined well to produce a couple of pairs of second places in the 800m and shot put showing their versatility in both track and field.

Stewart added nearly a metre to his previous best with the 4kg shot with a best of 9.78m while Dunne was within a whisker of his best with 2min 20sec in the 800m.

Two more of the under-15 squad were involved in two of the closest finishes of the day with Daniel Ellis running stride by stride with his rival in the 80m hurdles with both boys clocking 13.1 seconds, a new best for Ellis and putting them just outside the UK top 50.

Later in the day it was the turn of Stanley Wilkes to forge a clear lead in the 1500m over the opening two laps only for his closest rival to draw level with 100 metres to go.

One final last effort pushed Wilkes clear to win in 4.38.9, his first ime under the 4.40 mark.

With Kai Lendrum scoring good points in the B string as well as javelin and hurdles plus the other four backing up the sprints and long jump, the under-15s held their own against strong opposition with an impressive overall display.

It was unfortunate that only half a dozen under-13s were available for this match.

But those who competed did themselves proud.

Max Gayle, by now the most experienced member of the under-13 squad, was again in good form with strong performances in 150m, 1200m and hurdles.

Sprinter Thomas Kelson was back in action in the 75m and was well backed up by Reuben Hughes, a newcomer to this league.

The pair also combined well in the long jump.

All-rounder Joe Stewart scored well in shot put, hurdles and 1200m.

Sisters Isabella and Chloe Lendrum flew the flag for the club in the under-13 girls’ section – combining well in the 800m while Chloe tackled the long jump and Isabella the hurdles and high jump.

CHARLIE ROE

Chichester decathlete Charlie Roe has produced the performance of his life at the Sportcity venue in Manchester.

After coming so near in 2022, the 31-year-old has joined the exclusive band of athletes who have scored over 7,000 points, a feat achievened by only 100 or so British men in the history of athletics.

Competing in the England Athletics Senior Championships, Roe won a bronze medal after two days of intense competition.

It was on the track where Roe, now based in the midlands but with strong Chichester links, was at his best with an 11.05 clocking over 100m, a new best without wind assistance.

He managed 49.18 over 400m, the fastest of any competitor over the weekend.

A 15.75sec 110m hurdles was also close to his best while a long jump of 7.04m added more useful points.

Perhaps a high jump of 1.84m was the only disappointment of the 10 events with Roe a 2m performer at his best.

A 4.10m pole vault kept things going as did a 11.42m shot put and a 30m-plus discus effort.

A new PB of 52.47m in the javelin was a bonus, his first ever competition throw over 52m, which left the 1500m to go as the final event, always a prospect of dread to multi-event athletes at the end of two gruelling days.

Roe needed a sub 4.30 run to see him past 7,000pts – and he crossed the line in a PB of 4.29.17 to achieve a dream, some 20 years after starting out with Chichester Runner’s U13s.