Selwyn Relays 2006

By Jacob Eisler

In a year of inter-college racing marked by fierce rivalries and victories separated by mere feet, it's not surprising that the final College League title should come down to this: a final relay, appropriately enough around a course that covers virtually the same terrain as the first College League meet of the year. The Selwyn relays are the enjoyable culmination of a fine year of running, but also the last chance for the best colleges and runners to compete for a variety of hard-won honours.

The setup and location of the relays heightens the drama. The course, consisting of 4 legs for men and 3 legs for women, is a flat, hard course slightly longer than 4 kilometres, and begins with a lap around the Wilberforce Road track. Consequently, each lap of runners had the chance to set a target pace as well as size up the competition early in each leg, before setting off on a dash around the Cavendish labs and environs.

The compact route ensures runners are continuously aware of one another's position, and in this year's marquee men's match up Queen's College (represented by Matt Young, Andy Bell, Matt Grant, and Alex McIntosh) and Jesus College (Jamie Brunning, Pete Leek, Rich Hewitt, and Will George) were sufficiently close to maximise the effect. Trailing Jesus by only a handful of points in the league standings, a dominating Queens' effort was a prerequisite to winning the league. As the penultimate lap of runners sprinted in, Grant provided McIntosh with a lead of roughly 150 metres over George, which was substantial, but certainly not definitive, and the coming struggle was only heightened by the initial track lap as George had McIntosh gauged in his sites. Yet 13.40 later (good for 3rd place), McIntosh returned, having retained a comfortable margin over George (13.43, 6th place) and guaranteed the Queens' team a hard-fought victory in the relays. The individual champion, in his 2006 College League debut, was track specialist Richard Ward, leading a revitalized Pembroke team with a stunning 12.47 effort.

In the women's competition, Claire Day charged to a convincing individual victory for Queens' with a judiciously paced 15.35, while newly elected Hare and Hounds President Joan Lasenby (15.50, 2nd place) led Trinity (also featuring Erica Thompson and Sarah Kummerfeld) to a resounding college victory (an All-Star, mixed college team of Day running a second leg, Tricia Peters, and Charlotte Forbes (16.07, 3rd) had the best women's time).

As the final League race, the relays also wrapped up final college and individual titles. The 2nd place team finish for Jesus was sufficient to wrap up the men's Division I title; Queens' victory on the day gained them a second place league finish. Indeed, it was a good day for second place finishers in the relays, as George's finish on the day was enough to guarantee an individual league victory and a Jesus sweep of team and personal titles. The Trinity ladies' team victory was especially impressive in that it gave the Trinity women a sweep of the year's College League competition, with victories in all five scored races plus Cuppers; and Forbes's 3rd-place finish cemented her women's college league victory and was a fitting coda to an impressive freshman campaign.

Despite the intense atmosphere permeated by intercollegiate rivalries, the relays ended on a light note, as Ward, having bet against the Cambridge women in the Varsity Match, was obligated to honour his promise to Si Rutherford and run a leg in a dress, in this case a lovely gold-and-black number. Despite the obstruction of straps and a rather thick inner lining, Wardy still managed to run the second fastest time of the day (13.24) and provided extensive amusement to all in attendance.

Last modified: Sunday April 27 2014 16:38:47