As has been the case for many years a strong Harey contingent descended on the track for Varsity Athletics in glorious sunshine.
In arguably the two biggest track events of the hare and hound track calendar (the blue-ribband and the 5000m) CUH&H women did not disappoint. Katherine Turner and BUCS winner Rebecca Moore were in fine form leaving the opposition a long way adrift. Also showing the winning spirit were the ladies Steeplechasers who almost collected the full allocation of points despite the departure of the long standing CUH&H heroine of the event, a certain Dr.Polly Keen. The roles played by these Women, and several others at an away fixture in exam term helped CUAC ladies win both the blues and the seconds match.
Though mildly less successful in the final standing I can confidently say that all our male athletes gave their everything, no more so than a certain former captain, Matthew Leach. He rewrote the form book out kicking opponents, not once, but twice in the final straight. His reward was two maximums, one in the mile and one in the five thousand. His effort was supported by a trio of J’s in the 5k as Joe Christopher, James Hoad and James Chettle ran through to make it a high scoring event for the light blues.
The Varsity match scores in such a way that a 2nd and a 3rd come up better. With this logic we showed our strength in depth in both the 800m; Lloyd Hilton(C) and Ed Smith(C) packing in quickly behind a fast finishing Tom Frith (O) and the brutal 3000m Steeplechase where BUCS finalists Josh Carr and Pete Townsend claimed 2nd and 3rd in a hotly contested contest. When the Oxford blues pair went out hard the Cambridge men stayed calm. As the latter laps approached the light blue athletes were gaining ground when Tom Quirk (O) hit a barrier, and was almost unable to walk. In the spirit of the event Paul Hodgson(C) of the Alverstones team helped the gentlemen round for his point (this observing the letter of the law as no outside help would have been allowed). No such kindness was required in the other Alverstone events as Zac Howe and Phillip Crout helped collect maximum points in the 800m and mile respectively. In the end Oxford claimed the blues title while Cambridge retained the seconds title.
On a final note, Richard Ollington long time Steeplechaser (3rd Alverstone in 2014) come Marathon runner come friend of CUH&H has taken on a joint role as Men’s Captain of CUAC, we wish him and Edward Hezlet (a man with a training camp ton to his name) all the best from their spell in charge. Until next time, GDBO.
Comments and Corrections to Phillip Crout (pc494)