Cuppers 2023

Match Report

AUTHOR

Leonie Brunning

PUBLICATION DATE:

18 October 2023

ARTICLE:

There was a strong showing of athletics on display at the Wilberforce Road athletics track on 14th October 2023. Team spirits were high amongst the athletes despite the cold (but sunny) conditions as complete beginners and seasoned athletes competed against each other to try and crown their college cuppers champions.

Winners of the men’s competition were St John’s with a massive 136 points, ahead of Queens’ college (65 pts) and Robinson (59 pts).

Winners of the women’s competition were Emmanuel with 110 points, delegating Sidney Sussex to second place with 82 points, while St John’s came third, just 4 points shy of second place (78 pts).

While it was strength in numbers that won the men’s match for St John’s, Leonie Brunning almost single handedly claimed the title for Emmanuel achieving six wins out of six in the events she competed in, supported by Bethan Mapes in the pole vault.

There was a lot of talent on display across all disciplines and colleges, with some outstanding performances from new and returning athletes alike. In the women’s competition there was impressive shot putting from Hiliary Gallito throwing 10.11m well over the half-blues standard, and some great javelin throwing from Katie Thompson posting 28.03m in the Javelin to reach half-blues. There was also a strong showing in the Pole vault as Lauren Healy also reached half-blues standard with a vault of 2.35m.

On the track Jess O’Flaherty stormed home to win both the 200m and 400m for Robinson, while in the longer distances Rosie Vallance claimed a victory for Peterhouse in the 1500m. The versatility and determination of some athletes was on full display, as they competed in multiple disciplines, in an all out attempt to score maximum points for their college. Special mention goes to Annie Durand-Marandi who competed in 6 different events across the course of the day which included the High Jump where she achieved an excellent clearance of 1.63m to jump her way to full blues. For this achievement she was awarded best women’s performance.

As for the men, there were some quick times on the track despite the cold – in a large 100m field Satoki Shimamune won for St John’s in a time of 11.3s. Jake Lipman took the win for Emmanuel in the 200m crossing the line in 23.6s over a second ahead of the next competitor, and showed his speed once again in the 400m crossing the line in a half blues time of 51.3s. Ikechi Mere, was awarded best Men’s performance, and started his mammoth day of multi-eventing with a win in the Hammer throw followed that up with strong showings in 5 other field events and then running as part of the St John’s relay team. Elsewhere in the field Morgan Treasure jumped 12.81m for a half blues distance in the triple jump as well as winning the long jump for Robinson. Queen’s James Goh went clear at a new personal best of 1.70m to take the win in the high jump and Barnaby Corry vaulted over 3.60m to achieve the half blues height in the pole vault.

With so many stand out performances from first time competitors at Cuppers it will be exciting to see how these newcomers progress throughout winter training! The efforts of these athletes will no doubt have played a role in who the CUAC captains will choose to compete in Freshers’ Varsity (11/11).

The selected athletes will take on the Dark Blues at Wilberforce Road, in what promises to be a thrilling day of competition. With the home-advantage the light blues will be looking to reclaim the Freshers Varsity Match trophy!