Students competed recently at the 40th anniversary AoC Sport National Championships in Nottingham, not only returning with 11 medals but also helping the South East (SE) region retain the title and prestigious Wilkinson Sword trophy.
17 students, competing in badminton, cricket, cross country and golf, travelled to the University of Nottingham where they battled against athletes from colleges across England, Wales and Northern Ireland during the three day event.
Nick Pipe in the singles, Soon Fun and Sophie Mercure in the mixed doubles, formed part of the badminton team, alongside five students from other SE colleges. After winning all their pool games and beating the North West in the semi-final, the team found themselves in the gold medal match against the West Midlands team who they had beaten on the first day in the group stages. It was a tense final but despite Nick, Soon and Sophie winning their individual games, the West Midlands team beat the SE 3-2.
Georgina Carter represented the SE in the golf tournament alongside three others and after two days on the golf course, under tough conditions, the team claimed the silver medal.
Eight runners from the SE made up the cross country team and this year there was a strong Farnborough representation. In the men’s race, Max Heyden finished 4th, Robbie Coupland 8th and Jack Pearson came 25th helping the SE win the bronze medal under very warm race conditions.
In the women’s race Lizzie Squibbs finished 4th, Amelia Wilks 5th and Emily Jones came 10th to take the team gold.
Ben Clark, Andrew Hattey, Thomas Kirkpatrick, William Redhead, Maxwell Martin, Matthew Funnell and Harrison Button competed in indoor cricket. After a tough start on the Saturday, the boys had a much better day on Sunday and won against Wales, Yorkshire and the North East, finishing 7th overall.
The South East region managed to finish nine points clear of second-placed South West and the North West team finished in third.
AoC Sport Managing Director Marcus Kingwell commented, “What a fantastic weekend we've had at this year's National Championships. Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved, the past three days have been a resounding success. Congratulations to all who took part, we're already looking forward to seeing you all again next year!"
