Youngsters impress at Specsavers School Games Cross Country Finals

With the sun shining brightly, 270 primary students ran the undulating 1.25 mile course, cheered on by a large crowd on Thursday 28 March.

Area teams represented were; Brighton & Hove Hawks, Central Sussex Dolphins, Crawley Cougars, Hastings & Rother Leopards, Mid Sussex Panthers, North Wealden Warriors, South Downs Giants, Southern Sharks and West Sussex West Wolverines.

Two thrilling races took place - the boys competed first (Y5 & Y6 pupils) and the girls (Y5 & Y6) followed, with pupils competing for individual and team county titles.

Arun, representing Mid Sussex Panthers took home the individual title for the boys, with Thomas, representing Brighton and Hove Hawks, in second and Jacob, representing Mid Sussex Panthers, in third.

Arun said: "It was a lot of fun today. I enjoyed the finish the most with Jacob and Thomas chasing me."

Jacob added: "There was lots of support, it was really nice when we were running round with everyone cheering you on."

While Alice, representing Crawley Cougars, won the girls individual race, Esme, representing South Downs Giants, finished in second and Elodie, representing Brighton and Hove Hawks, was third.

In the area team results Mid Sussex Panthers won the boys competition while Southern Sharks scooped the top honor for the girls.

Individual results

Boys

Arun, from Southway Primary School, representing Mid Sussex Panthers

Thomas, from representing Brighton and Hove Hawks

Jacob, from Lindfield Primary Academy, representing Mid Sussex Panthers

Girls

Alice, from Milton Mount Primary School, representing Crawley Cougars

Esme, from Wallands Community Primary School, representing South Downs Giants

Elodie, from Hove Junior School, representing Brighton and Hove Hawks

Team results

Boys

Mid Sussex Panthers

Brighton and Hove Hawks

Hastings & Rother Leopards

Girls

Southern Sharks

Brighton and Hove Hawks

Mid Sussex Panthers

The competition was delivered by a local organising committee made up of Active Sussex, the Sussex School PE and Sport Network (SGOs) and volunteers. The Finals also received support from our fantastic Young Leaders, from Dorothy Stringer High School, who are trained to support the competitions.

The medals were presented by special guest - England marathon runner James Westlake, from Haywards Heath, who was delighted to see so many young people taking part.

"It's been fantastic to see all the children out running around the field and enjoying themselves... it's good to see them out of the classroom and being in an active environment," the long distance specialist said.

"At this young age it's about fun and enjoyment, and getting out there and trying lots of different sports and if today encourages one child to take on running that's fantastic but it's all about them enjoying themselves, having fun and experiencing different sports."

Holly Prescott, Strategic Manager at Mid Sussex Active and a Sussex School Games organiser added: "It's fantastic to have so many children involved, this is the pinnacle of the cross country calendar for primary school kids across Sussex.

"It's amazing, our runners were absolutely fantastic and all the children that took part showed real skill and determination around the course but to get the first and third place in the boys race was fantastic and really helps with the overall results going forward into the school games finals in the summer."

The Specsavers School Games Cross Country Finals are the last in a trilogy of competitions leading up to the Specsavers Sussex School Games 2019, on Wednesday 26 June, at K2 Crawley.

The Specsavers Sussex School Games Sportshall Athletics Final took place on Friday 15 February, with the county finals for Badminton were held on Friday 15 March.

Specsavers Sussex School Games Cross Country Final gallery here.

Find out more about Active Sussex here.