Ciara Horne is our Performance of the Month winner once again, after a superb performance at the BUCS Track Cycling Championships in Newport on the last weekend in March. Ciara brought home two gold medals and one bronze – from the 500m Time Trial, where she was pleased to be in the mix, as normally competes over longer distances.
In the Individual Pursuit Ciara not only took first place, but also smashed the championship record by 10 seconds, and then added to her medal tally with another win in the Scratch Race.
It was also a busy weekend for Lara Nyman and Laura McCormack who both competed in 5 races each. Lara’s top positions were 4th in both the Sprint and the Individual Pursuit, and Laura finished 6th in the same events. The pair also combined to take the silver in the team sprint.
Athletics
Jonny Hay made a solid Senior Intercounties debut at Cofton Park on 10th March. More used to competing over 1500m and shorter cross country, Jonny acquitted himself well over 12km to finish in 10th. Pippa Woolven raced in a tough junior women’s field at the end of a heavy cross country season and also finished 10th.
Biathlon
Paul Weston Triathlon Scholar Emily McLoughlin was part of the successful team that competed in the BUCS Biathlon Championships held at the start of the month. After a strong performance in the 1500m run put her in third position, she excelled in the 200m swim to move up into second place, winning
the silver medal. Along with good performances by the rest of the UoB team, Emily’s performance helped Birmingham’s women’s team to claim the
gold medal in the team competition.
Golf
Martin Tavoda played in the BUCS Student Tour Qualifier at the Prince’s Club in Kent on the 4th and 5th March, and finished with a final score of 73, ranking him 4th out of 70 players.
Judo
Lucas Rowe has had a very successful month, both in domestic and international competition. At the English Judo Open he took the silver medal in not only the Junior category, but also in the Senior competition, winning all but his final fights, and scoring maximum points in each fight. These results mean that Lucas is now ranked 2nd Junior and 5th Senior in Great Britain in his Under 60kg category. Later in the month Lucas competed for Great Britain in the Portugal U20 European Cup, where he finished 9th against a high standard of
International competition.
Lacrosse
The women’s Lacrosse team came agonisingly close to reclaiming their BUCS title, losing at the last minute to Cambridge. The score reflected the nature of the game, with both sides having many chances in the hard-fought match. Alice Brunyseels and Hollie Harrington both played well, with Alice scoring a hatrick, and Hollie providing numerous goals and assists. In the end the team
had to settle for the silver medal, but Coach Dave Abini said he could not be disappointed with such a performance.
Rugby
Garnet MacKinder finished off what has been an excellent season in style. Five
tries to contribute to Birmingham’s 48-7 drubbing of Manchester set Garnet up to captain the side for the last time this season in their clash against
Loughborough, where they were playing to secure third place in the BUCS
League. Birmingham did not disappoint and allowed Loughborough only 5 points to their 43. Garnet scored three of UoB’s tries, and was delighted
with the team’s performance.
Squash
Olly Mapp put in a brave effort against Marwan el Shorbagy (ranked 35th in the world) at the BUCS finals, and although he eventually lost 3-1, he managed to take a game off the highly ranked player. The team, which Olly has been a vital part of this year, lost the final overall, but picked up the silver medal after a
successful season.
Swimming
At the BUCS team championships Alessandro Lazdins swam in the Division 2 Team and won the 100m and 50m Freestyle races, both in PBs, breaking his previous best in the 100 by a massive 1.5 seconds. Phil Hodgson also competed well over the weekend, swimming a PB and Club Record in the 100m Individual Medley, and recorded his 2nd fastest time ever in the 200m freestyle. In both 4 x 50m relays the Division 1 team were less than 0.5 seconds off the club record. The Division 1 team finished 5th overall and collectively improved a great deal on last year’s times.