University of Birmingham running at the BUCS Cross Country run.CategoriesAnnouncement Events Student News

Record breaking medal haul at BUCS Cross Country

Record-breaking BUCS Cross Country medal haul  

University of Birmingham Athletics made history with the highest-ever medal haul by any institution at this weekend’s BUCS Cross Country Championships.

The record-breaking weekend saw the Athletics Club beat their 2022 record of ten medals thanks to eight individual medals and five team medals at Temple Newsam in Leeds.

 

To strengthen their dominance, Birmingham won three of the four team titles with three out of four individual wins available.

 

The team took its largest ever cohort with 150 competitors across the event supported by staff and alumni.

 

The Cross County Championships host four races across short and long distance for Men’s and Women’s competitors. In each race, there are individual medals and team medals at stake.

Birmingham post-graduate scholar and GB representative Amelia Quirk claimed her first-ever BUCS title in style, winning her race by a massive 36 seconds.

The Men’s Team completed the first-ever podium sweep at the Championships in BUCS history, with third-year sports scholar Will Barnicoat winning his first ever BUCS individual Gold.

His teammates Tomer Tarragano, a third-year Chemistry undergraduate, and Ollie Smart completed the podium with an unprecedented 1-2-3.

With the Long Distance results contributing to the University’s overall BUCS points, the Athletics Club bought home 72 points, bettering last year’s haul by 30 points.

Sports Awards timings on a screen in the Elgar Concert area.
A group of students waiting outside in he sun on a grass area.

Posting on Instagram, Luke Gunn, Head of Performance and Athletics, said: “I couldn’t be prouder of what we produced this weekend!

 

“This team has a culture where every athlete looks out for their teammates and coaches that continually go above and beyond to make sure each athlete has the best experience.

 

“This weekend was truly special and one I feel we will be talking about for many years to come!”

MAn

See a summary of the results below:

 

Men’s – Long
Will Barnicoat – GOLD
Tomer Tarragano- SILVER
Ollie Smart – BRONZE
Team – GOLD
+ Tyler Bilyard, Mike Ward & Noah Campion

 

Women’s – Long
Amelia Quirk – GOLD
Team – SILVER
+ Elisha Tait, Elsa Palmer & Kate Willis

 

Men’s – Short
Elliot Moran – SILVER
Sam Burkitt – BRONZE
Team – GOLD
+ Fin Ward & Ethan O’Shea

 

Women’s – Short
Charlotte Alexander – GOLD
Rosie Hamilton-James – SILVER
Team – GOLD
+ Rose Chesterfield
& Team – BRONZE
+ Freya Stapleton, Zoe Hunter & Hannah Seager

 

Next up, sports scholars Tomer Tarragano, Tyler Bilyard, Charlotte Alexander and Elsa Palmer will represent Great Britain at the World University Cross Country CHampions in Oman on 17 February, with the BUCS Indoor Championships taking place on 23-25 February in Sheffield.  

Discover more about University of Birmingham Athletics
Stage at the Sports Awards 2023CategoriesAnnouncement Student News

Sports Awards 2024 | Save the date this 30 May

Sports Awards 2024 | Save the date 30 May  

The University of Birmingham Sport will celebrate the achievements of its 2023/24 sporting stars at this year’s coveted Sports Awards 2024 taking place on the evening of Thursday 30 May.

Returning once again to the decadence of the Brammall Music Building, athletes, coaches and students can now add the date to their sporting calendar ahead of the annual event.

 

This year sees 13 categories open for nominations, of which details will be announced in the coming weeks, with the full list of categories including:

 

Campus League Team of the Year
Coach of the Year (non-student)
Coach of the Year (student)
Club of the Year
Full Blues
Half Blues
National Team of the Year
Outstanding Contribution
ED&I Award
Sport Colours
Sports Person of the Year
Regional Team of the Year
Volunteer of the Year

Glass trophy for Georgia Pexton - Coach of the Year
Glasses of champagne on a table with someone pouring drinks.
Group of students joined by Carolyn Cutbill at the Sports Awards.
Group of students stood on stage at the Sports Awards.

The Sports Awards 2023 recognised all levels of sporting achievements from our volunteers to our elite athlete scholars.

Standouts included; Athletics scooping Club of the Year for their impressive BUCS points contribution; Hockey Women’s 4s named as Regional Team of the Year for their treble winning season; Cheerleading awarded with Outstanding Contribution supporting wider UOB events; and the Sailing Club acknowledged with the PRIDE Award helping to reduce cost barrier for its members.

Sports Awards timings on a screen in the Elgar Concert area.
A group of students waiting outside in he sun on a grass area.

Andy Allford, Director of Sport at University of Birmingham, said: “Sport remains a key part of student life for many during their time at Birmingham and it’s important we continue to take the time to celebrate achievements at every level.

 

“It’s always one of my favourite nights of the year and over the years, we’ve been able to widen the recognition and status of our sporting stars across the University. We’re already looking forward to reading through each nomination and coming together this May to celebrate in style.”

Andy Allford presenting at the Sports Awards.

With more than 200 people in attendance last year – including the Vice Chancellor and Principal of University of Birmingham Adam Tickell – we’re hoping to make this year’s event even bigger with a selection of arrival drinks, food options and post-event entertainment.

 

With a number of guest presenters from roles across the University, keep an eye out across University of Birmingham Sport social media channels and our weekly Sports Desk newsletter – which covers all our BUCS highlights each week – for further details.

 

More about the Sports Awards 2024
CategoriesEvents

Swapping the desk for San Diego: Tom to represent Wales

Swapping the desk for San Diego: Tom to represent wales 

Meet Tom Porter, a staff member at the University of Birmingham who this June will represent Wales on the international lacrosse stage.

 

Competing in the World Championships in San Diego, California, he will join 30 of the best teams in the world across 11 days of fixtures.

 

A current Project Manager at the School of Engineering at the University, read his story below….

My Journey to Lacrosse

 

I first picked up a lacrosse stick at Loughborough University in 2013 having never previously heard of the sport. I found that I had a natural fit for the defensive position, and I played for 2 seasons during my time at Loughborough. However, upon graduating due to the lack of lacrosse in the Midlands at the time I left the sport for a couple of years. In 2018 I was part of a group of people who gathered in Nuneaton to see if it was possible to form a local lacrosse club.

 

This group of people would go on to become some of my best friends and we formed Nuneaton Lacrosse Club which now thrives with 2 men’s teams and a women’s team. I fulfil the role as the Club Captain at Nuneaton Lacrosse Club, and I am incredibly proud of the work we do to promote the sport in the Midlands.

My Journey to Wales

 

During 2018 the previous World Championships were held in Netanya, Israel. At the time a friend managed to secure a spot on the Wales Lacrosse team for those championships.

 

This ignited my desire to try out for my Country. In late 2018 I attended open trials for Wales Lacrosse and was successful at my first attempt in breaking into the Wales squad as a defender. I was a member of the Wales team that attended the Home Internationals tournament in 2019 and won that title beating England & Scotland.

I was then again successful in being selected for what we all thought was going to be the 2020 European Championships. However, Covid-19 had other plans and these games were postponed. It was a significantly challenging time, Wales Lacrosse is recognised as an elite sport by Sport Wales so we were able to continue training as lockdowns eased, but there was huge commitments to home workouts and Zoom meetings with teammates.

 

Finally in 2022 these games were rescheduled, and I went to the European Lacrosse Qualification Tournament in Poland. Wales won all 5 of our games in Poland and were the first European nation to earn their qualification spot at the World Championships. At this tournament I also scored my first points for Wales recording a goal and 2 assists across our games. During 2023 I have again represented Wales at the Home Internationals tournament, recording a victory against Scotland and narrowly loosing out on the title against England.

Now the Welsh team are on their way to the World Championships in San Diego, California. Where we will compete against 30 of the best teams in the world. Across 11 days of competition, we will face a tough Group B draw which sees Wales take on Uganda, France, Denmark & number 6 in the world ranked Japan. The top 2 countries from this group will carry on with chances to take the overall title of World Champions.

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