SOUTHEND AC’s girl sprint teams were in dominant form at the final day of the Essex Championships at Colchester.

The day was predominantly taken up with relay events with steeplechase titles also decided.

And it was in the relays that the Southend girls shone, picking up five gold medals.

There was gold too for Basildon’s distance athletes who won the senior men’s one mile relay, while Emily Bullis capped a brilliant track season with a county gold medal in the 2,000m steeplechase in 7m 40.0s.

Southend AC’s three girls 4x100m teams all won golds; the under-13 squad of Elena Iruskieta, Ellie Rowan, Brogan Ravenall and Daisy Pallett, the under-15 line-up of Gabby Pearson, Tasmin Erysthee, Melody Tillbrook and Shereen Raouf and the under-17 quartet of Jade Packer, Kerry McCrory, Sophie Rickner and Lucy Shaw.

Raouf, Pearson and Erysthee were joined by Iona Doyle in the gold medal-winning under-15 girls medley relay while Lucy Kidwell helped Packer, Shaw and Rickner get second gold medals in the under-17 women’s medley.

The winning senior men’s Basildon mile team was Grant Webb, Tom Richardson and Jack Fitsall.

There were silver medals for Basildon’s two under-15 3x800m teams with Matthew Ashley, Mason Webb and Joe Wakerley making the second step of the podium for girls and Kiera Tippett, Elise Coombs and Maddie Evison getting second place for the girls.

Basildon’s Jonathan Burton won a silver in the under-20 men’s 2,000m steeplechase (7m 3.9s), while the club’s senior women also won a silver in the medley while the under-13 boys won bronze in the 4x100m.

There were bronze medals for Southend AC’s middle-distance youngsters.

The under-13 girls team of Georgia Goble, Joanne Rimmington and Meghan Samuels were third in the 3x800m while the under-15s – Iona Doyle, Eleanor Pepper and Natasha Walter – were also bronze medal winners.

Billericay Striders’ Crispian Bloomfield won bronze in the senior men’s 3,000m steeplechase in 10m 43.7s while Benfleet RC’s under-17 men’s 3x800m team won a bronze medal.