Young athletes shine are Mountbatten marvels for Chichester

Having just been pipped by host club Woking in their previous encounter, the squad reversed the placings to go into a clear second place behind league leaders Portsmouth AC.

The under-11 section of the team led the way with the boys in particular notching a string of wins.

No better start could have been made than in the boys’ 100m, where Alex Austin and Lewis Hall gained a clean sweep with Austin’s 13.3sec the fastest of the day.

There was a near repeat in the 200m with a first and second - and just two dropped points out a total of 30 was just reward for their efforts.

The momentum was kept up by Ben Collins and Will Broom in the 800m with another double first, with the pair picking up useful points in the hurdles.

A relatively-inexperienced duo of Ned Potter and Harry Carter both made the top three in the 1,500m while the squad was strengthened by a new paring of Jamie Holmes and Michael Ackerman in the throws. Firstl they gained a second and third in the javelin before rounding off a great day for the squad with a double win in the shot.

Star of the girls under-13s was again Alyssa White with a 75m and 70m hurdles double. She was well-supported by Roberta Collyer in the 75m while Caitlin Brown and Lucy Clark stepped up to the 150m. Emily Guiry was consistent in both 800m and shot while the new pairing of Brown and Florence Smith competed well at 1,500m.

For the third time this season, Sophie-Ann Haigh produced a sparkling double in the 100m and 200m and set a wind-assisted time of 25.8sec in the 200, one of the fastest in the country over the distance for her under-15 age group.

With Mia Faulkner and Imogen Deacon supporting well in the B strings, this standard was kept up on the track by the middle-distance trio of Anna Hains, Katie Hains and Grace Wills over 800m and 1,500m.

Mia Selman was just edged out to second place in a fast 75m hurdles while Talisa Jemmett achieved the same result in the high jump with Faulkner in support.

First appearances of the season from Alex Jarrold and Molly Whatmore strengthened the throws with good marks set in shot, javelin and hammer with Jarrold’s shot mark of 8.71m the pick.

The under-15 boys were slightly below strength with several regulars missing, but their replacements more than did themselves justice.

Jay Lake once again proved his value to the team with three excellent second places in shot, discus and hammer, only deprived of wins by the Woking athlete from the Surrey team.

In the sprints, Brandon Bell was supported by newcomers Oli and Sam Gibson who both gave a good account of themselves in the 200m. A new pairing of Alex Smith and Adam Croad did themselves justice in the 800m, as did Sam Reading and Kai Terry in the 1,500m to keep the points moving to add to the club’s impressive total.

With the final match in the National League this Saturday at Worthing, the club are keen to finish off their campaign on good style by cementing their runners-up position.

Match result

1 Portsmouth 569pts

2 Chichester 433

3 Woking 410

4 Worthing & District 329

5 New Forest Juniors 319

6 Fleet & Crookham 295

7 Havant 265