CUAC Hit The Olympic Stadium

Cambridge Athletes gave other unis a run for their money at the BUCS Olympic Stadium.

athletics bucs CUAC field hare and hound jane thomas Olympics running track track and field

This weekend saw the annual BUCS Track and Field meet, which was particularly special this year: it was held at the Olympic Stadium. BUCS was the first competitive event to take place at the Olympic Stadium, and, with a high standard at the event, it was christened with a fitting competition.

However, the grand venue and the importance of this inaugural competition didn’t intimidate the Cambridge University athletes, who rose to the occasion showing their prowess.

The women’s 4×400 team

The women led the way, with Rebecca Moore finishing 4th in the 10,000m final in a time of 35:10.74, a spectacular time that, cruelly, would’ve been well worthy of a medal in previous years. Emily Dudgeon showed great form to battle through heats, semi-finals and finals to take the silver medal in the 800m with a fantastic time of 2:06.

Start line for the 5000m

Polly Keen, despite having been plagued by injuries for a year and unable to run for the last 3 months, she managed 5th in the 2000m Steeplechase finals. Jocelyn Trayler-Clarke was placed 11th in the 2000m Steeplechase in the overall classifications. Recognition must also go to Joanna Mobed, who ran 19:30 in the 5000m heats, and Annabel Sheperd-Baron, who ran the 1500m heats in 5:12.

On the men’s side, William Mackay came 4th in the 10,000m finals, in the face of stiff competition. Over in the 5000m, both Chris Bannon and Robin Brown gained PBs with times of 14:39.9 and 15:18.19 respectively, showing the fruits of their winter training and putting them in a good position to go forward. Sam Ashcroft also ran well, clocking a respectable time of 15:39. Mention must also go to Matt Grant’s and Tom Watkins’ running in the 3000m steeple chase, coming in close together at 9:38 and 9:47, and Llody Hilton, who posted a time of 1:58 in the 800m heats.

These results should put the squad in prime position looking ahead to the Track and Field Varsity Match on the 19th May, which is being held in Oxford, where Cambridge will be looking to retain the trophy from last year.