On the track, the Cambridge women were even more dominant, losing only one event, the 60m Hurdles. Women’s captain, Kate Laidlow had a superb day, breaking the individual record in the 60m, anchoring the 4×200m team to a convincing victory and running the fastest leg in the women’s 4×400m. She was ably backed up by President, Lucy Spray who anchored the 4×400m team to another emphatic win. The Cambridge ‘B’ team also beat Oxford in the 4×400m demonstrating the quality and depth of the Cambridge women this year. In the middle distance races, the Oxford teams were extremely poor, but even without being pushed the Cambridge women showed their talent. In the 3×800m, Rose Penfold and Christie Noble both achieved the half blue standard, whilst fresher Katie Sandford only missed it by a second. In the 3×1500m the light blue women lapped Oxford three times with Rosemary Pringle breaking five minutes for the first time on the opening leg.

The men’s track team faced much harder competition from their dark blue rivals, but still came out on top, winning all but two events. In the 60m the Cambridge men clinched victory with Mark Dyble, Louis Persent and the first Oxford athlete breaking the previous individual record. Dyble had a stunning run in the 4×200m to secure a light blue victory by just a few tenths of a second. Persent, a world junior silver medallist, showed his class on the final leg of the 4×400m teasing the Oxford runner by easing round the first lap just ahead before comfortably striding away from him in the last 100m. Rory Graham-Watson also had a tough day running solid legs in the 4×200m, 4×400m and 4×800m respectively. In the latter of these he ran six seconds quicker than any other competitor in the event. The prize for the most inspirational performance of the day has to go to Eamonn Katter, who pulled out a superb leg in the 4×200m to move Cambridge into pole position, as well as running a strong leg in the 4×400m.

In the field, Oxford also pulled out some strong performances as a reminder to the light blues that they cannot be complacent going into the Varsity match in May. The dark blues had five individual victories in the field compared to Cambridge’s three. But the Cambridge teams fought hard to retain the field trophy they had won last year. Ayo Adeyemi pulled out a huge jump in the men’s triple jump to clinch victory for the youthful Cambridge team, as well as contributing to the team success in the long jump. The pole vault was the highlight of the men’s field for Cambridge who not only broke the team record, but would have still won without their top scorer counting. Nate Sharpe vaulted the blues standard height to take the Cambridge men to a convincing victory, ably supported by Tom Wagner, Josh Mouland and Alex Bates.

The Cambridge women claimed victory in the match for the first time in five years, but know they will face a much stronger Oxford side in May. At the start of this academic year, this Cambridge men’s team was seen as a development squad that would not pose a strong challenge to Oxford, but they are already proving that they have the quality to cause a big upset in May. Travelling to Oxford in May will have with it new challenges that the Cambridge squad must face, but for now there is great confidence within the team on which they hope to build over the coming weeks.

There were also some strong performances on the track from the Cambridge women. Women’s captain, Kate Laidlow finished 2^nd in the 400m in an indoor best time of 58.15s and anchored the 4×200m relay team to 3^rd place. Fresher Lizzie Thompson fought hard in the 400m to finish 3^rd in her heat, as well as running a good leg of the relay. Another fresher, Nikki Moss showed that she was finding some consistency in her form producing two solid performances in the 60m and 200m and putting the relay team in a great position after the first leg. The relay team was completed by President Lucy Spray, who also finished 3^rd in the 200m. Natalie Arrowsmith of Newnham proved that she is one of the most improved athletes in CUAC by running a personal best in the 200m, despite feeling that the race had not gone that well, further proving what great shape she is in.

A much larger team will now face Oxford on Sunday in the Indoor Varsity Field Events and Relays match at Lee Valley in London. But if the RAF match is anything to go by, the team is in good shape and should go into the fixture against the dark side displaying great confidence.

Wilberforce Road was the venue for the rather chilly 65^th anniversary of the Freshers’ Varsity athletics match on Sunday. The Freshers’ Varsity match traditionally has been a very difficult match to predict with neither side knowing what to expect from their opponents. The light blues began the day well with Lizzie Thompson of Trinity Hall and Christian Roberts of St John’s taking wins in the women’s and men’s 400m Hurdles races respectively.

Thompson certainly proved her talent in winning four individual events throughout the day; the 200m, high jump and 100m hurdles to add to her impressive 400m hurdles victory. She will be one to watch come the Blues Varsity match in May. Rosamund Healey of Pembroke took a fantastic double in the hammer and the shot, despite only taking up the hammer a couple of weeks prior to the match. Kathryn Hesketh, a former Oxford blue, has finally seen the ‘light’ this year and showed her former club that there’s no going back by taking victory in the long jump. Cambridge dominated the women’s jumps with one-twos in the high jump and triple jump, Helen Stewart of Newnham the victor in the latter. The CUAC women showed their strength in depth in the 400m and middle distance races; Katie Sandford ran a great race in the 400m winning by more than 3 seconds to confirm the light blue one-two, whilst in the 800m Rose Penfold and Sophie Dundovic eased their way to another impressive one-two. Sandford, Penfold and Thompson were joined by Taj Tomouk in annihilating a dismal Oxford 4×400m relay team, with the Cambridge women winning by more than 200m. Nikki Moss demonstrated her sprinting ability in style with an inspiring win in the 100m and a very strong 2^nd leg in the 4×100m relay. By the time Thompson took the baton on the final leg of the relay, Cambridge were already clearly in front and they made light work of securing the win.

The Cambridge men were equally impressive in destroying their Oxford rivals, with ten different athletes taking event wins. Alex Jackson of Queens showed that he could be a very useful athlete for CUAC in the future, winning the long and high jumps respectively and taking second in the triple jump behind team-mate Ismael Akram of Emmanuel. The Cambridge men’s throws squad is certainly one of the club’s greatest assets this year with no less than eight men competing at the match. John Garrity, who also plays rugby league, won the hammer and placed second in the shot behind Toby Haseler of Corpus Christi. Tom Elton deserves a particular mention for his performance in the discus. Elton, under immense pressure, came from behind in the final round to clinch the victory for Cambridge at a pivotal moment in the match. From then on, it was no longer a question of whether Cambridge would win, but rather by how much. Americans Nate Sharpe and Ross Elliot won the pole vault and 110m hurdles respectively in their light blue debut. Whilst in the longer distances, the Cambridge men proved they were a force not to be messed with producing one-twos in both the 1500m and 3000m from Tom Nutt and Alex Young in the former, and Dan Sellman and Sam Ashcroft in the longer distance. This all bodes extremely well for the Varsity cross country match in a few weeks time.

Cambridge showed time and again that they were the exceptional team, and Oxford failed to even put up any real fight. The CUAC captains Sam Dobin and Kate Laidlow should be congratulated for their efforts in leading their young teams to success in their debut match in light blue vests. It already seems that the year ahead is boasting an exciting future for Cambridge athletics.

This was the last chance for those new to athletics in Cambridge to prove they have what it takes to take on the Dark Side in the first of three clashes in the 2009/10 season.  Those lucky enough to be selected will hear in due course and hopefully this great opportunity to sample a little bit of Varsity Magic will only enourage those involved to train harder and get keener for the year ahead, culminating in the big one in May.

Full results of the Cuppers competiton will appear in due course.

If you’re heading to Cambridge this year and are interested in continuing or picking up track and field, please get in touch with the President or Captains.  They’d love to hear from any interested prospective athletes and will give you all the information you need about the club and events we’re putting on during freshers’ week, Michaelmas and the entire year.

Remember: CUAC is not just for elite athletes, the club caters for all abilities and welcomes complete novices interested in taking up athletics for the first time.  Just get in touch and get involved.

Here are some important dates to put into your Michaelmas term diary:

6th/7th October: Freshers’ Fair - you will get information about the freshers’ fair, where all the University societies have representatives to tell you all about their club/society and you can sign up to e-mail lists and receive more information.  CUAC will have a stand at this event so make sure you come along, meet the committee and sign up (no commitment necessary).

9th October: CUAC Freshers’ cocktails - an informal gathering of other people interested in possibly joining the club, and the committee to tell you everything you need to know.  Of course, a few cocktails will be served in the spirit of Freshers’ Week.  A good way to find out whether you’d like to join our wonderful club!

10th October: CUAC Introductory training session (at Wilberforce Road Athletics Track) - particularly useful for less experienced athletes, this taster session will show you roughly how training will work, explain the squad structure, and let you have a bit of fun on the track/in the pit etc.  Don’t worry about hangovers and the like, it’s a very informal taster session - nothing too strenuous!

18 October: Inter-College Athletics Cuppers (at Wilberforce Road) - You should have been approached by the captain of your college team to see if you’re interested in competing for your college against other athletes from other colleges.  This is a great way to get to know other athletes, other people from your college, and people from other colleges.  A first opportunity to compete, it’s a fun event that caters for all abilities.  Come along, get involved, represent your college!

8 November: Freshers’ Varsity (In Cambridge this year!) - A great opportunity for new Cambridge athletes to get a taster of competing against Oxford.  In addition to the main Varsity Match against Oxford in May, and the Indoor match against them in February, this is a 3rd Varsity Match, especially for those who have not competed against Oxford before - this is not just for first years, it’s for any CUAC Fresher (ie, you haven’t been doing athletics at Cambridge before).  If you’ve been to the taster session, competed well at the Cuppers competition, and been to training and shown promise, you will be selected to compete against the dark side.

President - Lucy Spray

Men’s Blues Captain - Sam Dobin

Women’s Blues Captain - Kate Laidlow

Alverstones Captains - Mark Dyble and Amin Ahmadnia

Alligators Captain - Rosemary Pringle

Honorary Secretary - Laura Duke

Junior Treasurer - Andrew Lomas

Congratulations to the newly elected Committee and good luck in taking CUAC into the future and onto even more success.

All teams went into the match with high hopes thanks to a great indoor season, a fantastic US Tour (that time partnering Oxford), an astonishing BUSA performance, and lead up competitions with PBs from all areas, and the Alverstones team had long been targetting the biggest ever victory in the seconds match but what transpired was quite remarkable.

The CUAC Men’s domination was something to behold.  There were amazing performances from all members of the team.  The day saw great PBs from Humphrey Waddington and Mark Dyble, dominant performances from Louis persent and Ben Richardson take his tally of Varsity wins to an incredible 13!  The victory was certainly emphatic, equalling the largest ever winning margin of 49 points (129.5 to 80.5).  The Alverstones set a new record for the largest ever winning margin in the second team match, winning by 134 points to 76 (an astonighsing 58 point margin).  Victory for this team was perhaps always expected but one this emphatic will certainly be treasured.  The quality of the current men’s team can perhaps best be displayed byt the sheer number of full blues performances this year.  There have already been 21!  Compare this to the usual 14-16 over the last 6 to 7 years (and the mere 12 in 2007, the year of the last record breaking CUAC win).  Along with the quality improvements, the strength in depth is great and ever increasing.  This can bee sen not simply through the record win, but by the fact that many Alverstones actually beat the Oxford blues in their event.  This can be seen with the day’s final emphatic win in the 4×400m relay as both CUAC teams finished ahead of those from Oxford.

The Women’s Blues match was always predicted to be a more closely fought affair, and that certainly came to be.  Thre CUAC Women’s Captain Lucy Spray led by example, winning the 400mH early on and following this up with 4 further wins including the 100m and 200m.  She was ably backed by a very strong team and other event wins came from Emma Rowley, Kate Laidlow, Laura Duke and Emma Perkins.  However, there were some great performances from the Oxford women too and the match was in the balance thoughout the day.  Unfortunately by the time of the 4×400m relay, it was too late;  Oxford has pulled ahead just enough to ensure victory.  This meant that despite the comphrehensive CUAC win in that 4×400, Oxford crossed the line to win by a mere 3 points.  The Alligators however showed that the Women have also been increasing heir stregnth in depth as they crushed the Oxford Millipedes 114 to 87.

It was a great day for CUAC, with record wins, some incredible performances and the usual Varsity Magic driving everyone on and more importantly bringing everyone in the club even closer together.  The systems now in place are successfully nuturing top athletes, assisting progressing atheltes and encouraging new ones.  However, the day was just a little too reminiscent of the Varsoty Match 2 years ago, when a similarly spectacular victory ended 3-1 rather than 4-0 because of just 2 points.  That much sought after 4-0 will now be the central focus of the new committee.

Good Luck and GDBO.

Full results here

There was a great medal haul including 4 silvers (Louis Persent - 400m, Rory Graham-Watson - 800m, Paolo Natali - 3kSC, and Humphrey Waddington - Triple Jump) and a bronze (Paolo Natail, again - 10k), and a great number of athletes making semis and finals and many more setting PBs.

Along with the medal winners, CUAC produced another 7 qualifying finalists (Ben Richardson - 110mH, James Kelly - 5k, Matt Grant - 3kSC, Men’s 4×100m, Ian Simson - Triple Jump, Ben Cossey - Discus, Polly Keen - 2kSC) and many athletes progressed to the Semi-final stages (Mark Dyble - 100m, Liam Fedus 800m, Kate Laidlow and Becky Welbourn - 400m, Rosemary Pringle - 1500m).  It was a great weekend all round with Personal Bests from many of the team (Rory Graham Watson, Humhrey Waddington, Mark Dyble, George Kenyon, Owen Churton, Dave Nefs, Sam Dobin, Ben Cossey, Ryan Harper, Polly Keen).

The weekend bodes well for the team heading into the Varsity Match with just one warm-up fixture remaining before the big day.

Not only is this an inter-college competition with trophies at stake for the winning colleges, but perhaps more importantly it is an opportunity for those CUAC athletes fighting for spots in the Blues, Alverstones or Aligators teams to compete againts each other and get competitive times/distances/heights on the board.

(Timetable)

Please arrive 15 minutes before your event.  Each athlete will be given an individual number - please collect this from the announcer’s box.

All CUAC members (especially college contacts) are encouraged to drum up as much support for the event, an bring as many college competitors down to the track, as possible.  Please invite friends to the facebook group.

Please Note:  most sessions move back one hour.  See here for further details.