The host club defied extremely strong winds to deliver some excellent displays in the Division Three South East fixture at the Ark William Parker Academy track on Saturday. So strong was the wind, in fact, that the high jump and long jump bars were being blown off, and sand was blown from the long jump pit. Nevertheless, Louisa James was in fine form in winning the women's hammer and discus. The former world youth champion recorded a personal best in the discus and was only a centimetre off her PB in the hammer. Ellen Crombie looked very good in winning the women's 1,500m and 2,000m steeplechase, the latter in a personal best time. Rosa Pitt also performed very well in winning the women's 100m and 200m A races, as well as being part of the victorious relay team. She ran a PB of 12.7s in the 100m to boot. Just three days after winning a bronze medal for England at the Manchester International, women's team manager Elise Lovell won three of the four events she took part in, as well as the relay. Several young girls held their own on their senior debuts, notably Hannah Claasen, who won the women's B string 100m and came second in the B 200m. Masters athlete Becky Mabon, a valuable squad member who is willing to do any event to help the team, knocked some 15 seconds off her 3,000m PB. The men's team was pleased to welcome Glyn Fuller back to competition and he contested several events to boost the club's points total. Men's team manager Jason Jeffery wished to thank deputy Mike West, Lovell and all the officials for their help throughout the season. Finishing runners-up to Eastbourne Rovers wasn't enough, however, for Hastings AC to gain promotion. Things looked promising after winning the first two matches of the season, also on home soil, but availability difficulties for subsequent away fixtures hampered their progress. Anyone feeling inspired after watching the Olympics is welcome to train with Hastings AC. Sessions are open to male and female, social and competitive athletes aged eight upwards. Call Terry Skelton on 07711 777363 for more information. See our comprehensive sports coverage in the Observer every Friday. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1 Make this website your homepage 2 Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/pages/Sport-Sussex3 Follow us on Twitter @SportSussex 4 Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out!
