BUCS OUTDOORS 2011: (Photos to follow!)

Well, there was no repeat of last years silver medal at BUCS 2011, but in terms of depth it was a stronger overall display than last year. DUAXC reached 2 finals, 5 semi-finals, and won BUCS points in two events, with club records also falling in both of those disciplines.

Leading the way after being involved in both of those events was BUCS debutant Marshall Hungwe. After winning the 400m club trial, Marshall broke the 50 second barrier to qualify as a fastest loser for the Semis. However not content with merely reaching this stage, Marshall smashed his PB and the old club record, with a stunning 48.65 clocking. Although he agonizingly missed out on the final (by 1/100th, yes 1/100th of a second) Marshall still earned the club a solitary BUCS point due to Loughborough having three athletes in the final.

After just missing out on anchoring the 4 x 400m Relay squad to their final, Marshall returned, along with John Siddall, Gareth Phillips and anchorman Thomas Knight to break the club record, smash the 44 second barrier (for the first time in DUAXC history!) and qualify the final. Once qualified, club president Owen Walpole had to don his sprinting spikes due to an injury to Marshall, and he performed admirably as the quartet finished 5th and consequently earned 4 more BUCS points.

A word also for DUAXC's Athletics Athlete of the Year, Thomas Knight who ran two blistering final legs for the relay team. Tom had earlier repeated his BUCS Indoors exploits by qualifying for the semi-finals of both the 100m and 200m. Although Tom will be somewhat dissappointed with his semi-final performances, they were still fine performances, and as a fresher he will have many more chances to reach finals.

Elsewhere, in the sprints Athletics captain Gareth Phillips showed his improvement with two solid showings as he took a number of scalps over both 100m and 200m, while John Siddall (relay) and Max Argens (400m) also performed well for the club.

Over the middle distances, Owen Walpole was once again hugely unlucky not to make the 800m final, as he missed out by one place for the second successive year, despite funning his fastest time of the year thus far. Owen had come 2nd in his heat, beaten only by former World Championship competitor Nick McCormack! The club will miss his performances next year. Michael Grimes continued in the form he showed in the winter, as DUAXC 's Cross Country athlete of the year qualified well for the semi-finals, and was just lacking sharpness over the latter ages as he ran a solid season's best. There was an excellent PB and 4th place finish for incoming Athletics captain Ed Hickman-Casey, who like Owen and Mike will surely lower his PBs (and the notorious 2 minute barrier soon.) In terms of effort, Chris Lowe after performing solidly over 1,500m, took one for the team majorly by running (on the same day) in the 5,000m heats.

In the longer events, Martin Proctor showed what an addition he has been to the club this season as he came 2nd in the 10,000m B race. A fine display! He was closely followed by Patrick Vis  in 5th place, who has been one of the club's strongest freshers this year, while another, Alex Robinson continued his return from injury with a solid if not spectacular sub 16 minute showing.

In terms of the field events, Sean Dickinson performed well with PBs in both the Shot Put and the Discus, but it was Sarah Maguire who once again stole the limelight. After reaching the final last year, DUAXC's female athletics performer of the year did so again, and just missed out on a top 8 finish (and BUCS points) by placing 10th.

Elsewhere, in terms of girls it must be said that it was a very unsatisfactory showing. Bria Dickinson competed over 5,000m but was forced to drop out in a high standard of competition, while club secretary Olivia Short performed well over 800m, just outside the time she ran last year. Yet elsewhere, it was dissappointing to see so many dropouts and absenties. In particular, with an array of strong 400m runners this season, a 4 x 400m medal would surely have been a possibility so to have no competitors was frustrating. This was by no means the only example, and surely there could have been more distance competitors from the clubs large cross-country contingent, while there were late withdrawals also on the male side.

However, overall it was a very good set of displays, and with the likes of Tom, Mike, Alex, Pat, Chris, Gareth and Sarah all still here next year, an even bet display should be possible at the Olympic Stadium!

100m:

Heat 1: 4th: Thomas Knight 11.35 (q)

Heat 10: 5th: Gareth Phillips 11.90

Semi Final  2: 8th: Thomas Knight 11.42

200m:

Heat 3: 2nd Thomas Knight 22.51 (Q)

Heat 4: 5th: Gareth Phillips 23.87

Semi- Final 1: 6th: Thomas Knight 22.72

400m:

Heat 2: 3rd: Marshall Hungwe 49.95 (q)

Heat 7: 7th: Max Argens 56.52

Semi-Final 1: 4th: Marshall Hungwe 48.65 (PB/Club Record!!)

800m:

Heat 2: 2nd: Owen Walpole 1:57.1 (Q)

Heat 3: 4th: Ed Hickman-Casey 2:02.0 (PB)

Semi-Final 1: 3rd: Owen Walpole 1:54.74 (SB)

1,500m:

Heat 2: 10th: Chris Lowe 4:26.94

Heat 4: 2nd: Michael Grimes 4:12.34 (Q)

Semi Final 1: 10th: Michael Grimes 4:02.20

5,000m:

Heat 1: 19th: Chris Lowe 17:35.07

Heat 2: 11th: Alex Robinson 15:47.01 (SB)

10,000m:

'B' Race: 2nd: Martin Proctor 33:49.33 (PB/14th Overall)

5th: Patrick Vis 34:38.41 (PB/18th Overall)

4 x 100m Relay:

Heat 3: 4th: DUAXC (Gareth Philipps, John Siddall, Marshall Hungwe, Thomas Knight) 43.98 (q/Club Record !!!)

Final: 5th: DUAXC (Gareth Phillips, John Siddall, Owen Walpole, Thomas Knight) 44.51

4 x 400m Relay:

Heat 1: 4th: DUAXC (Michael Grimes, Marshall Hungwe, Max Argens, Owen Walpole) 3:31.23

Shot Put:

Qualifying B: 11th: Sean Dickinson 10.12m (PB)

Discus:

Qualifying B: 10th: Sean Dickinson 23.50m (PB)

Women:

800m:

Heat 2: 6th: Olivia Short 2:29.76 (SB)

5,000m:

Heat 1: DNF Bria Dickinson

Javelin:

Qualifying A: 6th: Sarah Maguire 36.43m (q)

Final: 10th: Sarah Maguire 34.73m