BUCS Athletes win Honors and prepare for International Stage

British & BUCS Records fall at BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships

 Bath’s Cameron Chalmers won his fourth consecutive BUCS 400m title, with a new BUCS record of 45.71

More than 1,300 student athletes descended on Bedford International Athletics Stadium with some significant performances and records being set over the course of the three days and for many of the Brits competing, it was a chance to put themselves forward for selection in the forthcoming Summer Universiade in Taipei.

A 17-year-old Championship record fell on the track, as Bath’s Cameron Chalmers won his fourth consecutive BUCS 400m title, with a new BUCS record of 45.71. His time was also a new Guernsey national record. Chalmers said after the race: “I’ve been pretty nervous all weekend. I’ve been dying to open because I’ve been training so well: no niggles and dropping some really fast times in training. My goal for the season was sub-46 seconds. I’m so, so happy – I didn’t think I’d run that quick, I thought maybe it would be 46.1 or 46.2. But when I saw the clock it was just ridiculous.”

Elsewhere, Jonathon Hopkins (Cardiff Metropolitan) won his third consecutive BUCS 3,000m steeplechase title, setting a new Championship record in a time of 8.39.42s, whilst Loughborough’s dominance was again evident with Jessica Judd completing an 800m and 5,000m double on the same day.

In the field, Taylor Campbell of Loughborough set a new Championship record of 73.40m on his way to BUCS gold in the men’s hammer throw, beating the previous record set seven years ago whilst Charlie Myers of Northumbria cleared 5.35m in the pole vault to claim gold and a Championship record. In another notable achievement, Yooucef Zatat of University of East London won his fourth consecutive BUCS gold in the shot put, with a throw of 17.23m

Meanwhile, there were British records tumbling, with double delight for University of East London’s Vanessa Wallace (F34), who set a new British record in the seated discus and also in the seated shot (17.36m). Shortly after, Middlesex’s Stacie Gaston (F57) set a British record of her own – 17.33m in the seated shot put to go with the F57 British seated discus record that she had broken the previous day. Joshua Bain of Loughborough rounded off the records with a new British record in the men’s F37 ambulant shot.

Oxford Brookes rule the Water at BUCS Rowing Regatta

 Oxford Brookes

Once again, a huge number of competitors descended on Holme Pierrepoint, Nottingham for the BUCS Regatta with 72 universities being represented by over 2,000 students in 1,160 boats.

Oxford Brookes showed the impressive depth of their rowing programme, dominating on the water to be crowned this year’s Champion University of BUCS Regatta and presented with Overall Victor Ludorum.

After five Championship wins and having crews make 24 A finals – Oxford Brookes walked away with both the Overall and Men’s Victor Ludorum. They provided the highlight of the Regatta by winning the Men’s Championship Eight for the fourth consecutive year and claimed bronze in the same event with their B crew – a feat no other university has achieved at a BUCS Regatta.

In the Women’s Championship, University of London won the women’s Victor Ludorum for the second year in a row – following some impressive results including an upset over Brookes with victory in the Women’s Championship Coxed fours. Other Gold Medals for University of London women included WC4x WC2- Wit4x WInt1x.

Both teams will now turn their attention to the EUSA Rowing Championships in Serbia next month.

Golf Tour Success for St Andrews and Stirling

The best university golfers descended on Prince’s Golf Club, Sandwich, for the BUCS Golf Tour Finals. The 72 hole, three day competition was the last event in the MacPherson Order of Merit, following which the men’s and women’s stroke play honours were awarded.

A pulsating final event saw the fierce competition produce a brilliant standard of golf as the men’s competition entered the final day with a five-way tie at the top of the leaderboard. It came down to the St Andrews pair of Georg Burns and Matthew Myers to fight for the win. Despite finishing one-under-par, Burns was unable to match the performance of his university teammate as Myers saved his best golf until the very end, posting a men’s best score of five-under-par 67 to win the competition with a combined score of 283 (-5).

Combined with a third place finish at both the Dundonald Tournament and Fife Tournament, and a fifth place finish at the Scottish Student Sport Championships, it was victory at Tour Finals which gave Myers the points needed to the top of the overall men’s MacPherson Order of Merit.

In the women’s competition, Irish international Sinead Sexton of Stirling was the talk of the course with a masterclass in stroke play, taking the title including an unofficial course record 66 in round three taking her to an incredible total of 20-under-par.

Gemma Batty of Stirling held onto second place to earn her enough points to remain top at the conclusion of the women’s Macpherson Order of Merit. After an incredible tour, including victories at the Stirling International, the Fife Tournament and the Dundonald Tournament, Batty established her place as women’s stroke play champion, retaining the trophy she won in 2014-15. She then dedicated her win to previous BUCS Golf Chairperson Rob Macpherson, who sadly passed away last academic year. 

St Andrews and Stirling head to the Czech Republic in September to take on the best of Europe at the EUSA Golf Championships in September.

(Source: BUCS)