SHEFFIELD OPEN
Right, the first indoor race of the season, and a turn up of 5 people! Not bad for a race so early on in the season. We had a good range of events, triple jump covered by the ladies, 60m done by men and women and a 2000 by one very brave soul!
First even of the day, the 60m mens race. A slip at the start due to pushing off harder than the past (which is a good sign) ensured Jon Baxter a negative head start, but managed to pull back and get 2nd place. A fiery race, lead from the front from the start, Jordan Braithwaite claimed Uni's first win of the day. Easy!
Along came the women and Kate Birks claimed a solid 7th (and considering 60 is not her event at all, not a bad result).
For the male sprinters, Jon Baxter (10th), Jordan Braithwaite (18th) and for the women, Kate Birks (23rd).
Next event worth watching, the warriors of the sandpit, Kate rushed over having just done the 60m, to join Beth Gibbons to kick off the jumps. Kate managed to secure a 3rd place even with a busted ankle, and Beth, a solid 6th place. Not bad at all! Kate Birks (3rd), Beth Gibbons (6th)
Finally, the mens 2000m. Joshua Bull put in a great performance, coming 3rd place by a mere 4 milliseconds! What a shame, but the competition was tough. Joshua Bull (3rd)
Jordan attempted the 150m, but nearing the finish line, felt a tightness in the hamstring, so pulled out. A sensible choice, as this is early in the season.
TRENT MEADOWS, EAST MIDS LEAGUE 1
It was a quiet October morning upon the rolling hills of Trent Meadows Country Park; or at least it was until 35 University athletes armed with stolen air horns and SpongeBob square pants boxers descended upon the race course.
A quick start over very uneven grass covered surface saw the university quickly establish a leading position, with young 10k sensation Josh Bull leading the way. Ex-pres Tom Mahon and freshman athlete Ben Costello were close behind, maintaining their own private battle along the course. In the next group XC Captain Stuart Wallace, a guy from Stroud (Andrew Watt) and I were battling our way around a very quick first loop. Hoards of athletes including Hot Chocolate hero Ahmed, and Hiorns mark 2 were close on our tails, demonstrating the strength in depth that NUAC really possesses this year.
Meanwhile the clubs infantry (John Baslington) was lost somewhere near some Cricket grounds in a completely different Trent Meadows.
The finishing positions saw Sea Bass Chef James Taylor win the men’s race with a time of 31:03, particularly impressive given his especially slow start. Fresher Josh Bull came in second, followed by Tom Mahon in his first XC appearance after an impressive track season, and Ben Costello completing NUAC's perfect score.
Making up the lads B-team was President Robert Smith (33:16), proud to be Stroud Andrew Watt and Stuart Wallace (who gave everything for the cause today competing with an injured calf); with birthday boy Jonny Simpkins completing the team after he’d has his mid-afternoon nap.
Meanwhile in the female race fresher Jenni Ward (22:24) ran a spectacular race, finishing a mere 4 seconds behind the winning athlete from Long Eaton. Laura Jane Day finished in third, describing her race as “Mehh” and continuing for a second lap whilst newbie Hannah Shortland finished in a very creditable 5th place, completing a winning women’s team (the first complete team in two years).
Jennifer Fernando (26:06), Bethan Faulkner and Stephanie Dennis made up the women’s B- team, showing huge amounts of potential to push forward in future races and contend against most other clubs' first 3.
Overall a spectacular performance from the club, given the depth this year NUAC looks set to flourish in the 2011/12 season.
MANCHESTER RELAYS
The cross-country squad started the season well with a strong team display at the traditional season-opener at the Manchester Relays. A popular event with universities and local clubs alike we would be pitted against some quality athletes particularly from reigning champions Birmingham. The target of bettering our 5th place of 2010 was made challenging by the absence of NUAC stalwart Jonny Thewlis from the line-up but we arrived at the sodden Wythenshaw Playing Fields confident of a good result. Captain James Taylor led the team off and came through strongly to clock 11:04 over the 2.1 mile course to place 8th, handing on to Tom Crowley who had a terrific run to move Notts into medal contention. Crow’s split of 10:54 knocked well over half a minute off his time from last year and proved to be the quickest NUAC run of the day. Andy Watt, one of three freshers making their NUAC A-team debuts ran on leg 3 clocking a competitive 11:27 to keep us in the mix. What should have been a formality handing on to Club President Rob Smith proved anything but as the coach driver decided to drive off... with Rob’s vest and spikes on board! With a limited warm-up and Crow’s vest, Rob ran well to smash his 2010 time with an 11:53 clocking. By this point the teams were quite spread out and positions established but it still required freshers Ben Costello (11:36) and Jonny Simpkins (11:33) to bring the team home in 5th, and in a time some 30 seconds faster than last year! As it turned out we were beaten by 3 Birmingham teams and Salford Harriers so we were in fact the 2nd best university there!
Our ladies A-team also raced well: Jenni Ward (13:25), Kathy Stringer (14:32) and Laura Day (13:23) brought us home 12th, 1 place and several minutes better than last year. The men’s B-team also placed higher than last year in 23rd with the ladies’ equivalent coming home 29th.
On the same day fresher Joshua Bull ran well to finish 17th in the BUPA Great Yorkshire 10K in 33:08 alongside such top international athletes as Micah Kogo and Chris Thompson. Overall then a successful day out for the club and one that bodes very well for further success over the country this season.
BUCS INDOORS AND TRACK RESULTS 2010-11
After months of training the track team had their first competition at the English Institute of Sport, Sheffield for the indoor BUCs. Following a few bumps in the road Jen Phelps was first up with her 60m run showing amazing commitment having 10 minutes to get ready, warm up and run getting a time of 8.75s. Next up were two of our experienced 800m runners Miguel Querejeta and Jon Hiorns who got times of 1:57.75 and 2:01.49 respectively giving Miguel a place in the semi-finals.
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| NUAC sprinter Jon Baxter taking a nap |
Leo Rice, our Guernsey hurdler, moved his talent to the straight 400m where he clocked a time of 51.52s. Brad our only field athlete of the weekend started his season with a very impressive 1.85m in the high jump with bookies tipping him to be the man to watch for outdoors. Turning the attention back to the track was the 60m with Jon Baxter getting a time of 7.4s and Luke showing the crowds how to fall with style (video coming soon) and getting a time of 7.62s.
The Sunday was a much quieter affair with only three of us competing in the 200m. Jen this time was here to prove herself getting a time of 27.82s in the 200m. Leo and Luke then followed with times of 23.58s and 24.39s respectively.
Thanks to all of you who competed and a special thanks to Lara Cochrane who unfortunately was injured for her event that not only came to support but drove some us down.
To the right is a summary of all of the other track results that have been achieved by Nottingham University Athletics Club over the course of 2010/2011 Indoor season.
The final event of the year is the BUCS Outdoors Championships, taking place at the end of April / start of May. For those with one eye on 2012, it has been announced that the 2012 event will be the first event to take place in the Olympic Stadium, so getting some experience in 2011 will be invaluable!
ED PRICKETT NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY RELAYS
Women's Race (1:30pm)
The weather for the 7th Ed Prickett Relays around Nottingham University Campus could not have been much better for the time of year. This definitely contributed to the respectable turnout in both the women’s (19 teams) and men’s races (38 teams).
It was Juliet Doyle of Charnwood AC who set the fastest first leg of the day; a rapid 10"50 for the 2.04 mile course, which eventually stood out as the fastest leg of the day. It was not enough, however, to fend off the mighty force that was Loughborough University, who eventually recorded 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions with their ‘A’,’B’,’C’ and ‘Past’ teams respectively. Charnwood A team recorded a respectable 5th place finish ahead of Loughborough D, Leicester University B, Leicester University A, Charnwood B and DOSS A rounding out the top ten.
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| Fastest leg of the day went to Juliet Doyle of Charnwood AC... | .... but that wasn't enough to stop Loughborough dominating the final results in 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th place. |
For Nottingham University, strong performances by Abi Lazenbury and particularly Courtney Hyde, who ran the first and third legs were credited with a 15th place finish.
Men's Race (2:30pm)
Despite Nottingham University holding a home lead up until final leg, Loughborough still achieved a 1-2 finish in the Men’s race. Loughborough Old Boys narrowly beat Loughborough A Team after a spectacular shootout in the final few hundred metres between G Wiltshire and S Kerr.
BUCS winners, Birmingham University (A Team) made a late pass on Notts Uni A to take a top 3 finish overall, just 22 seconds behind the final winners.
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| Loughborough runners prepare for the start of the men's race |
Of the Nottingham University A runners, club president Tom Mahon ran an impressive opening stint of 9”48, which was recorded as 8th fastest leg of the day. Tom passed onto Jonny Thewlis, who, in his final relay race for Nottingham University Athletics Club, after 8 years of competition, finally secured the fastest leg of the day in a blistering 9”32, powering the team into the lead of the race. That is, an average mile pace of 4”46. Vice-President Tom Bell was the third runner in the team, who maintained the lead with an impressive 10”18 before passing onto Erasmus student Miguel Querejeta, who, despite specialising in 800 metres on the track, still recorded a spectacular 10”30 to give the team a 4th place finish on home turf.
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| Nottingham's Jonny Thewlis receiving the Ed Prickett trophy for his fastest leg from Ed's father, Mr P Prickett at the Awards Speech |
There was an impressive turnout of Nottingham University Athletics runners, be it past or current members. The B team, characterised by particularly strong legs by Mike Moore (10”49) and Jack Poulton (11”30), finished in 19th place, whilst the C and D teams finished in 24th and 27th places respectively. ‘Notts Old Boys’ recorded three teams in 32nd, 33rd and 36th places.
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| Miguel Querejeta ran the final leg for the 'A' team to record an impressive 4th place finish. | Jack Poulton has been one of the most consistent attendees at NUAC races throughout 2010/11. |
Thank you to Home Fixtures committee members Dave Nuthall and Jonathon Hiorns for organising what was regarded widely as a very successful 2011, along with everybody who helped on the day – Marshalls, St John’s Ambulance and sponsors Up & Running.
DARLEY PARK EAST MIDLANDS XC LEAGUE 5
The course may have been hilly, some of our runners may have raced the day before, some of our runners may also have been shaking off colds BUT that didn’t affect us. We had dominated the previous four races of the league and we wanted a strong finish to the league. That is exactly what we got!
We completed our full set of individual victories with James Taylor crossing the line first. Tom Bell crossed the line 3rd, missing out on 2nd by a matter of seconds. Tom Crowley and Miguel Querejeta completed the “A” team in 4th and 5th respectively. This gave us a total points score of 13 for the day.
Our “B” team was made up of Jack Poulton, Dan Kennedy, Dan Siow and Miquel Gimeno-Fabra in 8th, 18th, 20th and 24th (respectively) making their total point score 70. Just to put this into some perspective, the 2nd “A” team on the day scored 76. We therefore managed to finish 8 guys before the next team had even finished 4. Supporting these guys was Danny Risdon, who doubled his monthly mileage by racing, who came a very respectable 44th.
In the womens race, we fielded two athletes, Laura Day and Hollie Ryder. Laura managed to break her 3rd place duck and improved one place to second. Hollie, on her East Midlands League debut, came 21st.
As today was the final race in the league, we hung around for the presentation in the pub afterwards. We were duly rewarded with two “small” trophies, one for absolutely dominating the mens “A” team race and one for doing the same in the “B” team event. Our “A” team only scored 91 points over the 5 races, which is a fantastic achievement!
Well done to everyone who took part in today’s race and the races earlier on in the year. Let’s keep this up next year and show them we can be just as dominant in the womens race too!
HYDE PARK UNIVERSITY RELAYS
On a dull and mostly wet day in the capital, many of NUAC's best emerged at Marble Arch from a sweltering bus journey. The close proximity of loud but peaceful Libyan embassy protests and the constant grumble of supercars on Park Lane reaffirmed the fact we were very much at the heart of one of the biggest cities in the world. With the adrenaline pumping, it was time to race.
At the start line, Chris Davison (A Team), hot off his spectacular victory at Colwick Woods, Alex Büsser (B Team), an Athletics and Tennis competitor at University and Laura Day (Women’s A) prepared for the first leg of six in the Hyde Park London relays. The road-surfaced route ran around the perimeter of the Serpentine Lake, 5km for men and 3km for women.
In the ‘A’ team, Chris returned from his leg in an impressive 17’03, passing onto Vice-president Tom Bell (16’03), Dan Kennedy (19’02), Jack Poulton (18’37), both in their impressive Hyde Park debuts. Rob ‘the cheese-grater’ Smith set a 5km personal best (18’22) before passing onto Jonny Thewlis who, despite illness, ran an impressive16'35 in the fastest NUAC leg of the day. The efforts of the ‘A’ team runners culminated in a respectable 16th place finish in a very highly-competitive event.
The ‘B’ team was pervaded by a number of respectable times for the 3.2 mile course, including Alex Büsser (19’34), Dan Siow (19’41), Jamie Sismey (20’10), Dave ‘Hugh Grant’ Nuthall (21’02), Gary Buckley (21’13) and Rob Smith in his second leg of the day (21’46). The final classification for the Men's B race was 33rd.
In the female ‘A’ race, which was dominated by St Mary’s University, Laura Day recorded a very impressive 13’18 for the 3km loop, good enough for 24th quickest leg in the women’s category.
Congratulations to all those who competed in Hyde Park, the next race on the University Relays calendar is our very own Ed Prickett relays on 12th March 2011!
colwick woods east midlands xc league 4
On Sunday the 20th of February 2011 NUAC braved the cold, bleak weather and made the short trip to Colwick woods. The somewhat depleted post-nationals team were determined to maintain the club's dominance of the prestigious East Midlands Cross Country League. Inspired by the courage of the clubs freshers the old-boys (in the shape of ex-president Chris Davison and Chunder-mile champion Alex Gardner) came to help the cause.
After as quick a tour of the 4km loop as was safe without spikes, the team gathered at the start line. A quick start saw Chris Davison, Jack Poulton and Robert Smith chase Southwell's Paul Butcher along the only flat part of the course; roaming poodles and fallen trees made for extra obstacles in the mountains that are Colwick woods. With NUAC holding positions 2,3 and 4 things were looking very comfortable in the early stages of the race. Chris Davison continued to push on, easing over the steep ascents and slippery descents of Colwick woods like a mountainous bharal, to move into the top spot. Meanwhile our two Phd students Jonathon Thewlis and Stuart Wallace, the spikeless duo, slipped around the course in surprisingly commendable times.
The second (slightly more gruelling lap) saw Chris Davison pulling away further to win by over a minute, making it 4 out of 4 first places for NUAC in the league. Runners Jack Poulton (5th), Rob Smith (6th), and Jonny 'grand-abs' Thewlis (9th) ran well, completing the winning men's team. Dan Kennedy (22nd), Alex Gardner (27th), Stuart 'guitar hero' Wallace (31st) and Gary Buckley (45th) formed the men's B team, finishing 6th out of 19 teams.
The clubs female representative Laura-Jane Day fulfilled her XC captain duties, easing around her second (and somewhat surprisingly less muddy) cross country course of the weekend in a comfortable 3rd place.
BUCS CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011
The 2011 British Universities and Colleges Sports Cross Country Championships were held at Sennely's Park, Birmingham on 5th February 2011. On a very windy Saturday afternoon, students from over 40 Universities and Colleges across the country competed on the biggest stage for university level cross country competition. In total there were three events - first the 10km men's 'A' race in which six of the top runners for the universities compete with the top four running for the team result. The second event was the 7km women's race followed by the men's 'B' race for the remainder of the men athletes.
In the 'A' race, Ian Kimpton (#522) for Nottingham had one of the races of his life, leading the race from the outset and battling with the leaders throughout. In the end he was only beaten by Nick Goolab of Birmingham University (1st), Ross Murray of St Mary's University (2nd) and James Wilkinson of Birmingham University (3rd). At the finish line, Ian finished only 17 seconds behind Goolab with a time of 35 minutes 12 seconds.
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The NUAC Men's 'A' team also comprised of club legend Jonny Thewlis #529 (15th), Tom Crowley #540 (59th) and Tom Mahon #541 (60th), finishing in a very respectable eighth place overall for the teams classification. Also running in the 'A' race, comfortably in the top 100 and closely behind were James Taylor #524 (68th) and Tom Bell #539 (81st).
In the women's 7 kilometre race, which was dominated by Charlotte Purdue of St Mary's University (winning by an incredible 53 seconds), it was Laura Day who was the fastest finisher for Nottingham in 110th place ahead of Jen Fernando (150th) and Abi Lazenbury (212th), who all counted towards the team effort which placed Nottingham University girls in 25th place out of the 41 Universities represented in the women's race.
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| Laura Day (110th) | Abi Lazenbury (212th) |
There were also some impressive performances by Nottingham athletes in the Men's B Race, with 18 NUAC runners completing the gruelling Sennely's Park 8km configuration out of a total of almost 300 finishers. In particular, former NUAC president Chris Davison was one of the most impressive outings with a spectacular 21st place finish. Making up the first of the teams for Nottingham was last year's president, Mike Moore (83rd), Miquel Querejeta (88th) and Triathlon specialist Samuel Chambers in his NUAC debut (101st).
John Baslington and treasurer Rob Smith were an impressive 112th and 117th respectively, ahead of Jack Poulton (124th) and Dan Kennedy (140th), all four of them making impressive BUCS debuts. Gareth Little (181st) and Matt Tucker (183rd) both had storming runs to finish almost together in a closely fought battle. Finishing around 30 seconds behind them were Dan Siow (195th) and social secretary Mike Shute (197th), who both posted times under 37 minutes.
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James Clifford (207th) and Dave Nuthall (210th) both pulled off charging finishes to the race
ahead of Jamie Sismey (213th) and Gary Buckley (214th), Chris Biggs (223rd), and right behind him Matt John (224th).
HOLME PIERREPONT east mids xc league 3
Storming to their third consecutive victory in this year's East Midlands XC League, NUAC nearly achieved their first ever clean sweep of the male and female races. Leading the mens team home was Tom Crowley (1st), followed by James Taylor (2nd), Tom Bell (4th) and Tom Mahon (5th). These four completed our "A" Team and will undoubtedly win the team competition for the race.
They were backed up strongly by Jonny Thewlis (8th), John Baslington (who had a storming sprint finish) in 9th, Rob Smith (17th), Dan Kennedy (33rd) and Jamie Sismey (50th). We only had two girls running today but they both ran extremely well! Jen Fernando came home 2nd with Laura Day close on her heels in 3rd.
Following BUCS, the next race on the University calendar is the Hyde Park Road Relays on Saturday 26th Feb. More information will be provided closer to the event.
bramcote park east midlands xc league 2
Nottingham University Athletics Club continued their dominance of the East Midlands Cross Country League on 21st November to claim victory and four of the top eight positions in the second round at Bramcote Park. Congratulations to club Vice-President Tom Bell who came in for victory, to back up his third place finish in the first round at Trent Meadows. Jack Poulton (6th), Jonny Thewlis (7th) and Dan Siow (8th) all put in sensational performances to keep NUAC on top of the standings.
John Ryan's upward form continues with an impressive 26th place finish ahead of David Nuthall, who despite a lack of training of late, recorded a 34th place finish. Matt Tucker came in a solid 39th ahead of Dan Kennedy (45th) and Gary Buckley (63rd).
In the female race, Laura Day scored a spectacular third place in her East Midlands League debut ahead of Steph Ainley, who scored an impressive top ten in 9th place.
