Athletes in shape at BUCS Champs

Leeds Met athletes are celebrating following success at the BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships which was held in Bedford over the weekend.

Matthew Hunt, a BSc (Hons) Sport & Exercise Science student, took Gold in the Men's Javelin with a throw of 71.06 metres. Hannah Evenden performed impressively in the throwing events, taking silver in the Shot, Discuss and Hammer.

Daniel Gardiner finished 3rd in the Men's Shot with a throw of 14.29 whilst Sam Cullinane was third in the women's Javelin with a throw of 42.47 metres.

The women were placed fourth in the overall team points table whilst the men's team finished seventh.
The BUCS Outdoor Athletics Championships saw over 1000 students compete over the bank holiday weekend.

Speaking after the event Athletics coach Mick Hill said: "The team did extremely well in sunny but very windy conditions winning 7 Medals in Total, 2 Bronze, Four Silvers and 1 Gold. The conditions made it extremely difficult for the track athletes but everyone of our students gave their all and were a credit to the University.

"Team spirit was magnificent and I was especially proud of the athletes who had to pull out of the team through injury but still made the trip to Bedford to support their team mates. In 2010 everything seemed to go in our favour and we had our best Championships ever. This year our team was weakened by illness and injury to serious medal prospects before the event then at the Championships we had Jo Adams disqualified having made the final of the 1500m. Several athletes picked up injuries at the Championships meaning their performances were seriously affected or they had to withdraw from the event.

"In the women's team Hannah Evenden performed brilliantly winning 3 Silver medals in the Shot, Discus and Hammer. Sam Cullinane last years Silver medallist who has had a long standing back injury did very well to throw 42.47m to win the Bronze medal in the Javelin. On the men's side Daniel Gardiner showed what a brilliant competitor he is winning medals in the Shot and Long Jump producing lifetime bests with his final attempts in both. He also found time to run the lead leg in the 4 x 100m relay only to see the chance of the Gold medal go when our third runner Ashley Hill tore his hamstring just before handing the baton to Umar Hameed. Then in the very last event the 4 x 400m relay he ran a storming last leg to make up 10m and beat Sheffield Hallam to secure 6th place.

"Our only Gold medallist Matthew Hunt produced the best throw of his life by almost 5m in the Javelin Qualification, it was measured at 76.77m which is inside the UKA Qualifying Standard for this summers European Under 23 Championships in Ostrava. He couldn't repeat this performance the following day but his 71.06m effort was good enough to win the Gold medal, over 2m clear of his nearest rival.

"Although outside the medals finishing in 5th place Sophie Wood produced the performance of the Championships from our women's team. Her time of 59.85 in the 400m Hurdles was inside the UKA Qualification Standard for the European Junior Championships that take place in Tallin Estonia in mid July. This is a remarkable achievement from Sophie who began the season with a personal best from last year of 64.31 seconds! As a first year Sophie is looking to be a significant force for us over the next few years, it also speaks volumes for the training environment at Leeds Met."

Our athletes are already looking forward to next years BUCS Championships which will take place as the test event in the Olympic Stadium!! Roll on 2012!!


Selected results:

Men's Long Jump
1st - Rainer Groh - Bath - 7.80
2nd - Daniel Gardiner - Leeds Met - 7.66
3rd - James Groocock - Bath - 7.55

Men's Shot
1st - Zane Duquemin - St Mary's - 17.01
2nd - Robert Mohan - Loughborough - 15.73
3rd - Daniel Gardiner - Leeds Met - 14.29

Men's Javelin
1st - Matthew Hunt - Leeds Met Carnegie - 71.06
2nd - Richard Shuttleworth - Loughborough - 68.71
3rd - Matt Smith - Bath - 68.10

Women's Shot
1st - Rachel Wallader - UC Birmingham - 15.54
2nd - Hannah Evenden - Leeds Met Carnegie - 13.51
3rd - Sarah Benson - UWIC - 13.03

Women's Discus
1st - Tesni Ward - Sheffield Hallam - 44.58
2nd - Hannah Evenden - Leeds Met Carnegie - 42.14
3rd - Claire Williams - Loughborough - 37.99

Women's Javelin
1st - Tesni Ward - Sheffield Hallam - 50.58
2nd - Sophie Thomas - Loughborough - 45.96
3rd - Sam Cullinane - Leeds Met - 42.47

Women's Hammer
1st - Myra Perkins - Loughborough - 61.94
2nd - Hannah Evenden - Leeds Met Carnegie - 52.57
3rd - Kathryn Yhnell - Gloucestershire - 50.03
(Sophie Hitchon - Guest - 69.43 UK Record)