Cambridge thrashes Oxford in II-IVs Varsity Match
By Leika Gooneratne
This year Cambridge played host to the cross-country II-IVs Varsity Match, and the Cambridge runners were keen for a battle of speed in the picturesque country park of Wandlebury.
Cambridge came away victorious despite a slow start. The home university lost the women's IIs and only Tricia Peters - last year's first Cambridge woman at the Blues' race - broke into the top 5. The women's IIIs, being run for the first time as a separate race from the IIs, levelled the ground, with some strong running from fresher Liz Howse and Sabrina Verjee gaining them the top two positions. Sabrina has grown from strength to strength, her hard training gaining her a time more than 2 minutes faster than her Cuppers race on the same course the previous year. A pack of nine Cambridge runners claiming every place between 10th and 18th position easily clinched the 136-173 victory.
With the scores tied, it was now the men's turn to prove themselves. It is unusual for the Spartans' and Barbarians' race to be won by one university and the last time Cambridge achieved this feat was in 2000. However, the valiant effort by this year's men's II and III teams caused a repeat of glory. Ulrich Paquet displayed some experienced running, and along with CUH&H Hon. Secretary Lee Harper and fresher John Redshaw, led the II team to a Cambridge victory. Ex-captain Si Rutherford had his best Varsity race in 6 years, being the fifth scorer for Cambridge and beating his nemesis Matt Sims (recently defected to Oxford), after diligently tailing him for most of the race.
In the men's IIIs race, Ali Connell, usually safer on track, risked re-injuring himself on the cross-country course to be the first runner home for Cambridge, after being largely responsible for setting up the event with James Gill. Andy Bell who had just scraped through into the IIIs team in the trials at Cuppers, surprised all with storming in as the second Cambridge runner home. James Gill had an unforgettable sprint finish against ex-Oxford captain Paddy Wallace, unfortunately just missing out on beating him.
Chris Morris - according to Captain Claire Day, "probably the keenest IVs captain ever" - was the inspiring force behind the IVs mob. Their enthusiastic solidarity and a miscalculation that raised Cambridge's hopes for a 4-1 win made their eventual loss doubly disappointing. The race was one of the closest ever with a final score of 543-547, a solitary Oxford runner making the difference. Yet, the first three places had Cambridge's name on them. Ed Dickins hung back in the first couple of laps reserving his energy to overtake the leaders only at the very end to win the race. After taking much of the head wind, Alex Gaastra and Charlie Pitt-Ford had to settle with second and third places respectively.
With a final score of 3-2 to Cambridge, the scene was set for an exciting Blues match and inescapable Light Blue victory the following week at Wimbledon Common.