AUTHOR

Georgia O'Dell

Building on the excitement of last weekend in Cardiff, this Saturday saw the return of the county championships to our very own Wilberforce Road. A forecast of clear skies and home track advantage promised a spectacular CUAC turnout – and with medallists and seasons bests across the board, we certainly weren’t disappointed.

Opening the day bright and early in the 400m hurdles, President O’Flaherty ran a smooth 1.06:69 to take the gold, with silver going to Sunshine Kellah-Nash in a strong hurdles debut. Alex Kingston followed them up with silver in the men’s in his season opener.

In the field, the women’s triple jump and men’s hammer kicked off events. Ella Hanratty jumped 10.35m to secure herself the silver, whilst Alex Blake-Martin also found a silver in his throw of 40.72m. Finlay Nunn meanwhile took to the high jump, and his 1.70m effort was rewarded with gold.

As the day heated up attentions turned to the 100m which saw heavy CUAC representation. A tight finish in the men’s final saw James McCulloch clinch bronze (11.72), whilst Zain Ahmed, Zhe Xi Ho and Luca Rueegg took 5th, 6th, and 7th respectively. The women’s brought out 6 CUAC sprinters. Captain Maya Vandermark secured half blues (12.95) and a silver medal. She was followed by Georgia O’Dell, Alice Eyssens, Lea Rabot, and Nausicaa Ng (4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th). Mikan McDonald made her first 100m appearance in the heats. Next up was the wheelchair 100m, in which Susannah Morgan placed 2nd (23.44) and Olive Watt placed 3rd.

Back in the field, the men’s triple jump was heating up. Seb Mobus flew out to 12.96m for silver, and fresher Toni Nicholson to 11.72m for 1st in the U20 category. Leonie Brunning took silver in the hammer with a whopping 47m. CUAC pole vaulters put on a superior performance; Oh Chin Aik taking silver in the men’s (3.40m), whilst the women took the whole podium, Lauren Healy gold (2.90m), Summer Breen-Levine silver (2.50m), and Rachel Marsh bronze (2.20m).

Under the sweltering midday sun, Poppy Crosthwaite took on the 800m in 2:32.30 for silver. Susannah and Olive were back out for the wheelchair 800m, getting another silver and bronze respectively. These tough races were followed up by a stacked 400m field. Maya took the gold in 1:00.83, Poppy the silver, and Tierney Walsh the bronze with a pb. In the men’s, Ben Greenleaf ran 50.17 to take the first heat. The second heat was dominated by James, who won in a jaw dropping 49.14 securing him a pb after 5 years and blues in his second event. He was followed home by Rhys Gibbs (50.36), and Zac Baylis (51.92).

In the meantime, we returned to the sand for the next instalment of horizontal jumps. The women’s long jump gold was taken by Georgia (4.91m), the silver by Julia Volovich, and Izabella Sabharwal De Bessenyey a strong 4th in her season opener. The men’s competition saw Marus Cloke Browne take silver with 5.67m and Ryan Kang bronze. The field had the excitement of the women’s discus, in which Rachel McKinney threw 22.22m for silver, and the men’s javelin with Arnav Sharma securing bronze. Matilda Strevens pushed herself to an equal pb and gold in the high jump (1.55m).

Next on the track was the 200m. Olivia Sparks chased all the way to the line to take a very close silver (25.79). She was followed by Jess for the bronze, with Lea contining her strong debut in 5th, and Nausicaa in 6th. In the men’s heats, Sol ran a pb of 23.00 and Luca followed up his 100m earlier in the day with 25.36. Pelumi Babalola took the second heat in a comfortable 22.66 ahead of Zhe Xi and Rhys. Pelumi went on to win the final in 22.76, followed over the line by Rhys in silver and Zhe Xi a close 4th. Susannah and Olive in their third event of the day took another silver and bronze in the wheelchair 200m.

As the afternoon cooled, CUAC saw more success in the field. Gabe Lamb threw a winning 39.28m in the senior men’s discus, taking it by centimetres from Alex BM (39.05m). Arnav came in 7th. The final track events of the day saw Hareys’ Daniel Taylor win gold in the men’s 1500m (4:07.13). Alice took silver in the 100m hurdles (17.37) and John Bennett took bronze in the 110m hurdles managing an impressive 16.29 (despite hitting every hurdle).

With the Varsity match in under two weeks, the strong performances by CUAC athletes across all events this Saturday show what a formidable team we are going to be. Congratulations everyone on your county medals, let’s keep building for varsity!