BUCS Gatorade Nationals: Report

BOXING

by Guy Michels

Lukasz Posnik returned from Sheffield’s Don Valley Stadium as the new BUCS 71Kg novice boxing champion. In what was a highly exciting encounter the UoM student overcame Shay McCartney of Sheffield Hallam to claim an unanimous points decision.

The opening round saw both fighters trade punches, with the Hallam boxer looking to take the fight to his Manchester opponent. However, it was Posnik who landed the cleaner shots, and towards the close of the first stanza began to gain the ascendancy through the use of his superior jab and dangerous straight.

The opening minute of the second round continued in a similar pattern with the UoM student repelling his opponent’s advances with flurries of well timed punches. Sensing his growing superiority Posnik upped the ante, and it wasn’t long until a crisp combination forced McCartney to take a standing 8 count. Despite being momentarily shaken the Hallam boxer recovered well and even caught Posnik with a couple of powerful shots before the end of the round.

Following one last debrief from the corner the duo returned to the centre of the ring for the final two minutes of what had been an action packed fight. Both men knew they still had a chance of claiming the victory, but fortunately for Posnik the final round continued in much the same vein of the previous two. The UoM student again landed the more telling blows and kept out of harms way, to the frustration of his tiring opponent.

With the final bell signalling the end of the fight, it was of little surprise to hear all the judges scoring in favour of the UoM student, whose record now stands at 6 wins from 8 outings. After the fight a clearly delighted Posnik was quick to thank everyone from the University, as well as Moss Side Fire Station Boxing Club, for all their support and help over the past three years.

SWIMMING

by Ella Stone

This year has seen yet another successful BUCS long course championship for the University of Manchester swimming team. Not only did we finish in 6th place overall behind the 5 ITCs (intensive training centres), but we were also only 23 points behind Bath University – a notable achievement.

Some stand out swims to mention include Jen Titterington, who had multiple top 10 finishes including the 800 freestyle, 400IM and 200 fly, as did Vicky Garlick in the 200IM, 400 and 200 freestyle, and Daniel Mills in the 1500 and 400 freestyle. Other swimmers that gained those valuable point scoring top 10 finishes include Ella Stone in the 50, 100, and 200 backstroke, Yasmin Bithrey in the 100 fly, and Jess Powell in the 100 breastroke.

Rebecca Guy also produced some impressive individual swims, not only making the final for the 50 breastroke but also winning a silver medal in the 50 freestyle and a bronze in the 100 freestyle, adding to her medal collection from previous BUCS championships. Leni Papadopoulos also won the multidisciplinary 100 fly and 200 IM as well as breaking both the British and European records in the 200 fly in a time of 2.41.41.

Once again our relay teams produced some great results, with both freestyle teams progressing to the A final. The girls (Ella Stone, Rebecca Guy, Vicky Garlick and Yasmin Bithrey) finished 4th missing out on a medal by only a second and the boys (Tom Moss, Justin Craig, James Garland and Danny Mills) finished 9th. Both teams also broke club records in this event, and over the whole weekend six club records were broken, showing how the swimming team is not only keeping up with the competition in the pool but also improving consistently on our own achievements. So, overall the BUCS weekend saw some fantastic swims, and the team looks forward to achieving even higher next year.

TRAMPOLINING

by Andrew Georgeson

The University of Manchester trampoline club, captained by Camren Williams, returned from the 2013 BUCS Open in Sheffield with their first trophy victory for over five years. The competition was split into five categories based on experience and the top twelve from each category would go onto receive a place in Sunday’s final. Should a team get 3 or more competitors through from the top 4 categories competing, they would then form a team which would go on to compete on the Sunday.

The competition was fierce with some categories having nearly 200 competitors in, making Manchester’s achievements all the more impressive. Manchester men’s squad had a brilliant weekend with Matty Burton, Paul Quarton and Chris Wort all progressing through to the final and ultimately coming away national champions in the team event.

Although the women’s team got three competitors through to Sunday’s final in Ruth Shevelan, Dawn Pickavance and Katey Phillps, the difference in categories they performed in unfortunately meant they were not eligible to form a team. First-year student Alice O’Grady had this to say about the weekend. ‘It was a great experience to perform in front of a massive audience, and we were extremely proud as a team to come away with such a brilliant result and get so many competitors through to the finals.’

The team would also like to pass on their thanks to coach Sarah Scott who travelled with the team to Sheffield.

OTHER SPORTS

by Matthew Barber

ATHLETICS
Sport scholars Scott Wong and Jack Andrew were the standout UoM achievers at the EIS, as both made the final of their respective events. Wong finished 4th in the final of the shot putt, while Andrew, a decathlete by trade, came 5th in both the pole vault and 60m hurdles. Having battled through tough heats, this was an excellent achievement by the two athletes.

JUDO
It was a succesful weekend for the Judo team, as Rosana Dutkiewicz and Sigita Zigure won gold medals in each of their individual weight categories and Steven Woltering claimed a bronze.

KARATE
The karate team celebrated a great championship at Sheffield’s Ponds Forge. The women’s team were awarded the bronze in Kumite, whilst individuals Christina Finta, Erica Pericas-Hewitt, Holly Carey and Victoria Ogunseitan secured further bronze medals in their various Kumite categories. Plus, Brian Kayanga went on to secure the gold medal in the Men’s Senior Kumite.

BOWLING
Chris Lam put in a top performance to reclaim his gold medal in the men’s individual ten pin bowling.

FENCING
Fencer Mihai Rascu picked up silver after a fantastic performance in men’s foil event.

BADMINTON
Ben Dolman reached the quarter finals of the men’s individual tournament but was knocked out by Manchester graduate, now Leeds postgraduate, Jamie Bonsels, who finished 2nd overall.