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Medal Success and Massive PBs for Lewes AC at 2026 Sussex AA Track & Field Championships
Lewes Athletic Club’s junior athletes delivered a series of outstanding performances at the 2026 Sussex AA Track & Field Championships held at the K2 in Crawley on Saturday, 9th and Sunday, 10th May.
The annual championships, organised by the Sussex County Athletics Association, bring together the county’s top athletes from under-14 through to masters level to compete for county titles across track and field disciplines. The event also serves as a key selection opportunity for athletes hoping to represent Sussex at regional inter-county and national competitions.
Lewes AC enjoyed one of its strongest championship weekends in recent years, with athletes producing a remarkable collection of personal bests, season’s bests, medals, finals appearances and county titles.
Among the standout performances on day one was Joe Hickey, who stormed to a huge personal best of 11.72 in the U16 boys’ 100m heats before backing it up with 11.86 in the final. Fellow sprinter Aidan Gallagher also broke the 12-second barrier for the first time with an excellent 11.93 PB.
Edward Riseborough produced one of the performances of the weekend in the U18 men’s 400m, flying to a massive personal best of 50.45, while Jake Briggs also impressed with a PB of 55.90 over the same distance.
Grace Moriarty continued her excellent sprint form with a strong PB of 28.48 in the U16 girls’ 200m, while Isabella Soares produced a brilliant 13.87 PB in the U14 girls’ 100m before going on to secure third place overall in the Girls Minithon competition.
There were further personal bests for Maisie Bodsworth in the U16 girls’ 800m (2:41.86) and Joseph Payling in the U16 boys’ 300m (38.31).
In the middle-distance events, Stanley Taylor enjoyed an outstanding championship with a superb 4:52.28 PB in the U16 boys’ 1500m, alongside further PBs of 13.28 in the 100m and 44.79 in the 300m.
Harry Chapman claimed a silver county medal in the U16 boys’ 1500m with an excellent PB of 4:16.44, while Alfie Batchelor recorded a PB of 4:15.91 in the U18 boys’ 1500m and Michael O’Connor ran a brilliant 4:11.11 PB in the same event.
In the field events, Ava Hayes claimed the U18 women’s pole vault title with a season’s best clearance of 3.80m, adding the Sussex County crown to her national title.
Day two brought more success for the Lewes athletes. Joe Hickey returned to sensational form in the U16 boys’ 200m, running a huge PB of 23.56 in the heats before claiming silver medal position in the final with 23.90.
Aidan Gallagher followed up his 100m breakthrough with another PB of 25.01 in the 200m, while Kalani Laister-Marsh dipped under 24 seconds for the first time with an outstanding 23.99 PB to qualify for the final. Leo Ison also impressed with a PB of 26.06 in the U16 200m.
Further strong performances came from Eoin Dacey (25.36 PB), Jake Briggs (24.79 PB) in the U18 200m and Amelie Bedford, who broke the one-minute barrier with an excellent 59.79 PB over the U18 400m.
Oscar Fermor-McGhie delivered one of the standout performances of the championships, becoming the 2026 U16 boys’ 100m hurdles County Champion with a superb PB of 13.63.
Casper Dennis also secured county gold in the U16 boys’ 800m, winning the title in a brilliant PB of 2:05.77. Otto de Burca added another strong U16 performance with a PB of 2:11.56, while Samuel Trotman clocked 2:16.38 PB in the same event.
In the U18 boys’ 800m, Max Farley ran an excellent PB of 2:07, continuing the club’s impressive strength in middle-distance events.
Imogen Clarke rounded off a successful championships by winning the U20 women’s high jump title with a PB clearance of 1.40m.
The club also celebrated impressive sprint depth across the championships, placing two athletes into both the U16 and U18 sprint finals.
One of the biggest highlights of the weekend came from Herbie Belfield, who delivered an exceptional championship campaign to become Sussex U14 Minithon Champion. Belfield clocked a superb 11.91 personal best for 100m and now ranks among the top five fastest U14 boys in the UK.
Lewes Athletic Club Chair Philip Westbury said: “Overall, it was a fantastic team effort with an abundance of courage, composure and brilliant attitudes right across the squad. Massive congratulations to everyone who competed over the weekend. It was a proud coach moment seeing so many athletes step up and deliver outstanding performances under championship pressure.”
Want to Improve Your Running Performance with Lewes AC?
Lewes AC offers various training sessions to help boost your performance at road and trail running events:
- Strength and Conditioning: Join our coaches on Monday nights to improve core strength and stability. Sign up here.
- Track Sessions: Fine-tune your technique, pacing, and endurance on with distance based track sessions Thursday evenings, or time based track sessions on Saturday mornings. Sign up here.