Sunday April 16th sees the annual inter-collegiate “summer cuppers” competition (aka CUAC Sports) take place at Wilberforce Road.

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.

With The Varsity Match fast approaching, and athletes arriving back to Cambridge from the Easter Vacation, CUAC Full Club training starts again this week.  The importance of training over the next few weeks cannot be underestimated, so all athletes are encouraged to attend all sessions.  Competitions come thick and fast over the next few weeks so do not hesitate to contact yourt captain and/or squad leader for advice on competition preparation etc.

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

While many Achilles athletes were in the US competing for Oxford & Cambridge against Harvard & Yale and then Penn & Cornell, those still in the UK headed for Kingston-upon-Thames to take part in the annual Kinnaird and Sward match to compete as an Achilles team.

Even without the athletes competing in the states, Achilles put in a great performance to come second in the Sward (field events competition) and WIN the Kinnaird (Track events).

Notable CUAC performances came in the form of a win in the 1500m for Sam Dobin and PBs from Andy Wheble and Didi Akinluyi in the Hammer and Discus respoectively.  Humphrey Waddington (competing for his home club of Kingston and Poly) won the Long Jump with a new PB and full blues distance of 6.97

A combined Oxford and Cambridge team completed two track and field meets in the USA over the Easter Vacation as part of the Transatlantic series.  The first against a combined Harvard and Yale team and the second against Penn  and Cornell.

The first contest saw a dramatic and historic victory for the Oxbridge men, beating Harvard and Yale 10 wins to 9, for the first time since 1993 and for only the third time in the last 50 years.  CUAC event winners came in the form of Ben Richardson (110mH), Ben Ellis (100m, 200m), Louis Persent (400m), Ian Simson (Triple Jump), Mikael Decressac (Javelin), all with performances comfortably within full blues standards, and the victorious 4×100m team was 75% CUAC (Richardson, Dyble and Ellis)!

The Women went down 7-12 to a strong Harvard and Yale team but still provided some great CUAC performances, with Laura Duke winning the Hammer with full blues distance and setting PBs in the Discus and Shot, Clare Palmer setting a new PB in the Javelin and Florence Cavalli Vaulting beyond full blues height despite an ongoing injury.

The second meet saw the Oxbridge team take on much stronger opposition in the form of a combined Penn and Cornell team.  The men lost 3-16 and the women 2-17.  However, there were some more awesome performances from CUAC athletes.  Ben Richardson and Paolo Natali provided the only two individual victories of the day on the men’s side, and Louis Persent ran an incredible 4×4 anchor leg to pull the Oxbridge team from last place to first.  Laura Duke managed a second victory in the Hammer and improved on her mark from the Harvard/Yale match.

Andrew Lee set another PB and full blues distance, and Matt Grant followed suit.  There were also first time full blue performances from Clare Palmer in the Javelin, Jon Cook in the 800m and Mark Dyble in the 200m (also setting a new PB in the 100m).

Now the focus switches to competing AGAINST Oxford on May 16th!