The day began with some rather thrilling field events as Tom Medd and Zoe Thresher took one for the team and competed in the high jump, of which neither of them have attempted in the last 4 years, but any points against the well-prepared Beckett side always help. After a few embarrassing attempts from the pair, Leeds Uni’s own Felix McCorquodale stole the spotlight as he jumped to victory, showing Beckett what we’re really made of. Meanwhile, Gemma Brown and Christina Nick put their throwing skills to practice in the hammer net. Nick threw a massive 36.35m, missing out on first position by a mere three centimeters and Brown claimed third place with a throw of 20.01m. Both girls continued to impress in the shot put as Brown finished in third, once again, with a throw of 9.24 metres. Nick, Leeds’ star female thrower, went on to win the shot put with a fantastic throw of 12.07m, raking in point after point for the team.
The weather was far from ideal for track and field, as it would be out of the athletics season, as a strong head wind posed a challenge for the 100m runners. Despite being blown sideways out of the blocks, Leeds University’s Zoe Thresher finished in 2nd place between two Beckett runners as Natasha Carlisle and Phoebe Bramley chased them down from behind, gaining a total of 4 points for the team. Our new additions to the men’s sprint team certainly didn’t fail to impress as Miles McGrady, Matthew Williamson, Seb Mahony and Jerome Nwaodor took on a rapid Beckett team who won the race in an impressive 11.7 seconds.
With no time to rest, the girls were up again at the start line of the 200m. Thresher took the first 80m at a somewhat relaxed pace but managed to kick her way to the line, crossing amongst a crowd of Beckett’s and narrowly missing out on 3rd place by 0.1 seconds. Carlisle also impressed the team as she ran her first 200m for Leeds University, she’ll be one to watch. Leeds’ newly acclaimed high-jumper Tom Medd snatched 3rd place in the men’s 200m, ran in a remarkable time of 24.4 seconds considering the strong head-wind. Grieogaur Hogg, Sam Burgess and Jerome Nwaodor followed quickly behind, taking a few more points on board for the Leeds team.
Leeds’ women’s captain Kirsty Fraser, having been out with injury for quite some time, came back with vengeance in the 400m. With some tough Beckett competition at the start line, she managed to stick in 2nd place with a time of 62.1 seconds whilst fellow Leeds’ competitor Rachel Emmott took third place, following just seconds behind. Both girls also impressed in the 1500m, bringing in those much needed points to the Leeds team. Harvey Stainthorpe, Reuben Cole and Tom Medd smashed the Beckett 400m side, finishing in 1st, 3rd and 5th place, leading with Stainthorpe’s winning time of 53.0 seconds.
The relays ended as we expected. With only two teams at the line, this meant the male and female relays would run together in the 4x100m and 4x400m. This is never good news for the girls, or Leeds University in general. Of course, Beckett men took first and women second, leaving Leeds behind in third and fourth in both the relays. However, despite Leeds’ loss to an incredible Beckett side, the inspiring team spirit and support for all the dedicated athletes on the day completely outshone the results.
University of Leeds 113 – 174 Leeds Beckett
Zoe Thresher
Photo Credit: Zoe Thresher