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A junior squad from Eastbourne Rovers Athletics Club made an impressive start to the track and field season at a notably chilly Sussex Under-13 league meeting at Withdean, Brighton.

A strong team of scoring U13 athletes placed a credible third behind Brighton & Hove and HY Athletics Clubs, and were joined by a number of U11 track and field newcomers who competed in non-scoring events to gain experience.

On the track, sprinter Zachary Soan kicked off the season in fine form winning the Boys 150m A race and taking 2nd place in the 75m (A). Jack Cullen placed first in the Boys 150m (B) in an impressive time of 22.3s, with Harley Hoad displaying promise for the 75m distance (B, 11.6s).

Zachary, Jack and Harley raced with teammate Carter Gunner to finish 2nd in the 4x100m relay behind Brighton & Hove. There were also solid sprints from track and field novices Milli Philipps (75m A, 4th 11.4s), Bella Burton (150m A, 5th 25.6s) and Poppy Charlwood (150m B, 3rd 25.3s), with Milly Macey (A, 3rd 16.2s) and Neva Loseby-Brown (B, 2nd 17.8s) showing guts to take on hurdles for the first time.

Parents praised the infectious team spirit of Eastbourne Rovers U13s and U11s squad

Inspired by the club’s junior middle-distance success in recent years, athletes Grace Luford-Brown (600m Girls A, 4th 2:05.2min) and Georgia Lennard (600m Girls B, 3rd 2:06.7min) at the top of the age group were joined by first-year competitors Jenson Evans (1000m Boys A, 5th 3:48.0min), Neva Loseby-Brown (1000m Girls A, 5th 3:55.8) and Harriet Keiko-Whiting (1000m Girls B, 4:13.1).

On the field, William Holloway triumphed in the Long Jump Boys A with a huge 4.06m jump, and teammate Jack Cullen also took first in the Boys B event.

Other field performances came from Carter Gunner (Shot Put A, 3.92m), Jenson Evans (Shot Put B, 3.69m), William Holloway (Javelin A, 22.16m), Grace Luford-Brown (Long Jump A, 3.05m), Bella Burton (Long Jump B, 3m), Georgia Lennard (Shot Put A, 3.87m), Milly Macey (Shot Put B, 3.29m) and Harriet Keiko-Whiting (Javelin A, 8.28m).

Eastbourne Rovers fielded a large squad of non-scoring U11s – Dylan Fox, Declan Bunn, Tayo Hewitt, Frank Philipps, Lela Reid, Ava Simmonds, Orla San Emeterio, Emily Petrova, Jessica Webster, Amber Lewis, Willow Anderson and Ada Messer - who showed fantastic team spirit and determination at their first stadium event.

Lela Reid excelled running fast times over both 75m and 600m, and Tayo Hewitt shone as the second fastest U11 in the Boys 75m.

Young Eastbourne athletes have promising at Brighton track meeting