The BUCS Nationals were held over the weekend of Week 6, with Lancaster sending a number of competitors to what constitutes one of the most important warm-up events to Roses of the year.
Unfortunately for the athletics club, they did not enjoy a successful weekend. Although they did send a small squad to compete, not one of them reached a final and instead succumbed in the heats. However, a notable performance was given by Theodore Reeve, who ran a dominant 7.07 in the first heat of the 60 metres before tiring and clocking a 7.17 in the semi- final. Also performing well in the heats was Mikel M. Gutierrez, who managed to win his heat in the 400m in a time of 49.60. However, he was defeated in the semi-finals to leave Lancaster without representation in any athletics finals.
Also experiencing a fairly difficult weekend was the Lancaster Men’s Climbing Team, who despite sending a number of competitors did not place in the top 100. Dan Dry represented Lancaster’s best effort, placing 110th in the field with a score of 155. However, Lancaster still managed to place in the middle of the field in the team competition, coming in at 41st in a field of 82 teams. In the Women’s competition, Suzie Buckmaster performed well to place in the top 50 with a score of 113. The efforts of her teammates meant that Lancaster Women placed 24th in the team competition, an impressive effort in a field of 52 teams.
Lancaster sent several swimmers across to Sheffield for the Nationals, with both Men and Women entering a vast variety of events. Competing against previous and up and coming Olympic and World Champion hopefuls made the weekend a tough one for Lancaster swimmers. Good performances were shown across the board despite the challenge of such competitors. Notable performances were produced by Elliot Bloor across many events, Susannah Yielding, Alexandra Fisher and Alice Lilley.
There were high expectations for the Fencers at BUCS individuals. After winning bronzes in 2013 and 2014 respectively, John Simmons and Patrick Jennings were hoping to fly through the ranks in the Men’s Sabre. After a strong start, with Jennings leading after the Poule stages and Simmons in 4th, the two had difficult draws on their pathways to the final. Unfortunately, both fencers went out to the same competitor who went on to win the competition. Simmons finished in 9th but the challenge didn’t stop Jennings coming away with a medal, achieving third place overall.
The Men’s and Women’s Foil competitions also saw competitors from Lancaster taking part. All put in strong performances, with all reaching the direct elimination stages. At a competition where many leading British Fencers of high calibre were participating, the success of Lancaster’s fencers showed that the standard of fencing at the University is going from strength to strength.
Lancaster’s Trampolining Club had their best year so far at BUCS nationals, taking home their first ever medal. With six categories of competitions, Lancaster sent 12 people to compete in Sheffield, with one competitor in the highest category. It was a successful weekend for all of Lancaster’s participants, with many producing excellent scores. During the Saturday preliminaries, Andie Forster performed brilliantly, coming 3rd in her Women’s BUCS 4 category. Five competitors made it through to the finals on the Sunday, with a standout performance from Brendan Hatch, coming 3rd overall in his league, the Men’s BUCS 5, taking home a bronze and winning Lancaster’s first ever Trampolining medal.
