BUCS Outdoors 2016 took place, and the competition endured another wet and windy weekend. Despite all this, 10 BUCS and All Unis records were broken. With more stringent qualification requirements for seniors this year, the overall numbers shooting were down - albeit slightly - at 236.
In the gents team event, Edinburgh withstood Warwick whittling away at their early lead to win with a record 3550. Warwick were a mere 20 behind when the final whistle blew and both sides beating the record established last year. A little way behind in third place were Loughborough who scored a total of 3459 to take bronze by 40 points from Birmingham. Behind the leading quartet, there was a gap of just over 150 points to fifth placed Nottingham.
The leading two women's teams finished the other way round to the gents, with Warwick ahead of Edinburgh. Here however Warwick were in charge, racking up a lead of nearly 150, to win with 3311. Edinburgh's total of 3164 was only just enough to push Birmingham's womens team into third place for the second year in a row. Birmingham were on 3155 and Southampton were fourth only just behind on 3128. Second to fourth changed hands often over the course of the day. Nottingham's ladies matched their gents in fifth place, but they were exactly 200 adrift.
Requiring seniors to hit a first class score has made an impact on the number of complete gents and ladies recurve teams - only 10 and 9 respectively (with BUCS points available for the top 8) down from 16 and 11 last year. Edinburgh ended their 4 year national trophy "drought", having last won a national at Lilleshall in 2012. Warwick's women's team win ensures they pick up 4 of the 6 national titles for the second season running. Birmingham finished 4th and 3rd to round off their thoroughly excellent season. Despite a string of top 10 finishes in the interim, Loughborough won BUCS team medals for the first time since 1999.
Loughborough won the novice team category, with only Birmingham providing a sustained challenge. Loughborough's winning total was 3164, ahead of the 3080 from their league rivals. The rest of the field was some distance back, with Southampton taking bronze on 2743. Bradford's were clear on fourth place on 2682. There were 11 complete teams of 3, down from 17 last year.
Not long back from Mongolia, Tom Hall (Warwick) won gents recurve, top scoring at every distance along the way. His score of 1283 beat the existing BUCS/All Unis record by 24 points - and the rest of the field by 65 - completing an individual BUCS double. Only Arthur Coveney (Loughborough) was able to hang on to Hall's coat-tails, restricting his lead to 21 at lunch. However a relative stumble from Coveney at 50m proved decisive and in the end he fought off Guy Matzkin (Edinburgh) by a solitary point, 1218 to 1217. Coveney and Matzkin won their respective clubs' first medals at this event for 10 and 4 years respectively. On his own in fourth place, claiming the last BUCS point with 1189 was Andrew Howe (Southampton). Vlado Hurban (Edinburgh) totalled 1175, just three ahead of Dominic Collis (London) despite Collis shooting the second best gents 30m. Francis Berti and Christopher Avins (both Birmingham) were 7th and 8th alongside 9th placed Charlie Mcfarlane (Northumbria) in the 1160s. Mcfarlane had been third after the first distance. The top ten was rounded off by Roy Hotrabhvanon (Edinburgh) on 1158. There were 18 gents 1100+.
Ladies recurve was won by Rebekah Tipping (Birmingham) with 1236, exactly 10 ahead of Madeleine Meatyard (Warwick). Meatyard had led by 8 after one distance, but 60m saw a 24 point swing to Tipping. Meatyard cut the gap down, but Tipping went on to add individual gold to silver (Indoors 2015) and bronze (Outdoors 2012 for Aberdeen) to her collection. Meatyard also won her third individual BUCS medal. Sarah Smith (Derby) won her second Lilleshall bronze a little way behind the leading duo with 1192. Smith's previous bronze was in 2011. Charlie Birch (Oxford) missed out on a medal but did take the last BUCS point. Birch's 70m left her back in 9th place, but the highest 30m ladies recurve total of the day, ending in fourth in 1181. Johanna Meyer (Edinburgh) who hit the second highest ladies recurve 30m of the day, ended fifth on 1177, rounding off the leading group. Eleonore Cossade (Oxford) was just over 50 further back on 1125, with Kate Carter (Loughborough) the last lady over 1100.
Gents novice recurve became a two horse race with James Lamprecht (Loughborough) and Ye-Sheen Lim (London) gradually moving clear of the field. By 30m the gap was around 30 points and both men had held the lead. The shortest distance became a virtual shoot off with Lamprecht's 1143 enough to beat Lim by 12. The competition for bronze went right to the wire with Guy Coop (Birmingham) on 1092 hanging on for bronze against Shawn Ong (Imperial) on 1091. Jamal Rahman (Birmingam) was the last novice man in 4 figures on 1033.
Georgie Jones (Loughborough) totally dominated ladies novice recurve, top scoring at every distance. Jones' winning total of 1077 was enough for a 114 point winning margin. Gesa Jost (Cardiff) picked up silver on 963, with Tupa Silva (Birmingham) taking bronze with 912. Silva had been outside the top 6 after a rocky start. Rowena Bicknell (Kent) finished fourth, a further 20 behind on 892.
Gents compound was effectively decided by 50m, with the leaderboard otherwise competitive. First Pip Tucknott (Edinburgh), then Chris Woodgate (Warwick) then finally Harrison Ooi (Edinburgh) held the lead. Ooi's 341 at 50m put him 9 clear with only 30m to go. His final score of 1359 was enough to put an additional 2 points on the existing BUCS/All Unis record set here last year. Tucknott's 1352 made it an Edinburgh 1-2, with Woodgate claiming bronze on 1349. Joshua Moore (Swansea) took the last BUCS point in fourth place with a total of 1342. Sarah Prieels (Edinburgh) put in a commanding performance to claim the ladies compound title in emphatic fashion with a score of 1389. Prieels' mark beat the previous best by a massive 32 points. That record was shot by Danielle Brown (Leicester) in 2007 - it was the last record standing from the first year of the 1440 round at BUCS Outdoors. Hard lines to 2016 silver medallist Elizabeth Foster (Northumbria) who scored 1363 - a total which would have won gold in any of the previous 9 championships. Foster shot the best 30m of any compound, male or female - to take her clear of Rebecca Blewett (Nottingham). Erin Prior (Coventry) pocketed the last BUCS point in fourth. Top novice compound was Tom Reed (Southampton) who scored 1311 to also claim a new BUCS/All Unis record.
Both senior barebow titles were decided by performances at 50m. Jon Gordon (Swansea) won gents barebow after an huge short metric swing. Gordon's 50m was 50 points better than any of the others and saw him take the lead despite being 60 behind at half way. John McGrath (also Swansea) overtook Mark Ferguson (Exeter) during 30m to take silver in an all SWWU podium. Jennifer Mankin (Sussex) picked up another ladies barebow title. Mankin was 11 behind Suzannah Boardman (Exeter) but over 150 clear of third place. Mankin's 50m was nearly 100 better than the field and she stretched her lead at 30m. Mankin ended on 940, with Boardman on 829. Jessica Oatley (Bath) pinched bronze right on the finish line back on 604. In the novice categories Willie Usher Smith (Liverpool) and Anna Blanchard (Bath) won with 727 and 734. Smith overtook Faheem Mirza (Warwick) during 30m to win by eight, whilst Blanchard was over 80 clear. There were 41 barebows in total.
Both senior longbow BUCS/All Unis records were broken, both going above 600 for the first time. Perhaps the most dominant performance in terms of winning margins came from Emily Williams (South Wales) who won ladies longbow. Her winning total was 613, her winning margin was 219 and in the process she put 98 on the BUCS/All Unis record. Alex Newnes (Aberystwyth) made it a Welsh double, winning gents longbow with 605, winning by 36 and breaking the existing record by 34. Helen Woodcock (Central Lancs) and Edward Pike (Edinburgh) were silver medallists. There were no longbow novices.
The weather for this event was as wet as is now traditional, nevertheless 7 BUCS/All Unis were broken on the Saturday. There was also a H2H event held on the following day to BUCS, which will be reviewed separately. As ever, massive thanks to the team of organisers lead by Richard Anderson - and to all those who took part.
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