UK Student Archery Association

BUCS Outdoor 2018 Finals [04/Jul/18]

BUCS Outdoors 2018 took place, with the competition buffeted by traditional BUCS Outdoors conditions. Despite all this, 3 All Unis records were broken on the Saturday with 1 more perilously close. On the Sunday there were 4 more plus a tie. A 1st class score was required for guaranteed senior qualification, but overall numbers rose for the second year in a row with 260 starters.

In the gents team event, Warwick hit the front early and by close of play had amassed an imposing total of 3549, only 1 point short of the All Unis record and 90 clear of second placed Birmingham's 3459. Loughborough took third spot and bronze medals on 3317. Oxford against Exeter was relatively close for fourth and the Dark Blues made it a BUTTS top 4 with 3218, just ahead of Exeter's 3182. Nottingham just cleared 3000, whilst the last sets of BUCS points headed to Surrey and Imperial.

In the women's team event, the top two teams smashed the previous All Unis record which had been 3343 (Oxford in 2015). Warwick beat the old mark by nearly 100 on 3431, but were themselves nearly 100 behind winners Birmingham who clocked in with 3516. In third place but well behind the top two were Edinburgh on 3269. The Scottish side were 200 points ahead of fourth placed Nottingham's 3061. Only 7 complete senior ladies teams were present, with Central Lancashire, Cambridge and Surrey taking places 5 to 7.

Birmingham have won 4 of the available 6 national team titles, with Warwick picking up men's team gold at both BUCS events and getting the better of their local rivals at BUTTS league level. The 5th place for UCLan's Ladies matches their result at the Indoors this year - and their best ever finish at a national event. Coupled with their runners up spot in a very close NEUAL race, this has unquestionably been the Preston-based club's best ever season. Edinburgh won ladies team bronze at BUCS Indoors and Outdoors, but only fielded two senior gents. Surrey's two 7th placed finishes are their best at a national for a decade.

Loughborough emerged on top of the pile at novice team event. Their tally of 2662 was enough for a winning margin of 86, with a further 125 points covering second down to fifth. A strong finish meant Bradford's novices took home silver on 2576, narrowly seeing off Birmingham's 2552. Warwick pipped Nottingham to 4th spot 2465 to 2451. Edinburgh only fielded two novices and would have needed only 537 for victory. The total number of novices teams - 8 - is a significant drop from 12 (2017), 11 (2016) and 17 (2015).

Tom Hall (Warwick) ran away with the gents recurve title, scoring 1271. Already 29 clear by half way, Hall made sure with a dominant display at 50m building the lead up to an insurmountable 53. The result is Tom Hall's 7th individual BUCS medal and 3rd title (Indoors 2016, Outdoors 2016 and 2018) The competition for silver and bronze however was a proper fight between Conor Hall (Birmingham) and Arthur Coveney (Loughborough). After 1 distance Coveney led the chasing pack by 2, but by lunch Conor Hall was up by 3, with the other archers having fallen back a little. 50m saw Coveney go back a point in front, but at 30m Conor Hall broke clear, a 340 giving him a total of 1210, Arthur Coveney having to settle for 1196 - his third consecutive BUCS Outdoor team and individual medal double. Sherman Ip (Warwick) had held fourth spot most of the day, but his 30m saw him concede a 16 point swing to Jacob Vick (Worcester) at 30m. Vick claimed the last BUCS point on 1167, with Ip on 1155, only just hanging on ahead of Jack Masefield (Derby) and Chris O'Connell (Surrey) who both shot 1154. Jamal Rahman (Birmingham) and William Pike (Warwick) were 8th and 9th on 1143 and 1123. A total of 13 gents broke 1100, with 35 over 1000.

Eleanor Piper (Birmingham) won ladies recurve, with Johanna Meyer (Edinburgh) hanging on for the morning. Piper won all 4 distances but had a lead of a mere 9 over Meyer (a lead of 40 over the rest) by lunch. As in the gents event, the leader made the decisive move at 50m. Piper ended the day on 1262 - for the Ladies WA1440 at BUCS Outdoors only Jenny Jeppsson has scored higher. Meyer ended on 1225 in second. Behind the leading duo, the leaderboard was very active. Collette Webster (Aberystwyth) and Emma Davis (Warwick) were 3rd and 4th after 70m, but both struggled at 60m as BUCS Indoor 2018 champion Pip Taylor (Derby) and BUCS Outdoor 2016 champion Rebekah Tipping (Birmingham) went third and fourth. Taylor and Tipping then struggled at 50m, allowing Davis and team mate Hannah Burnage (Warwick) to climb/climb back to 3rd and 4th after 50m. That was how it stayed, with the Warwick pair collecting BUCS points, Davis on 1189, Burnage on 1184. The second highest ladies 30m of the day pushed Eleanor Brug (Cambridge) clear of Rebekah Tipping, 1177 to 1170. Pip Taylor was seventh on 1148, with Collette Webster eighth on 1131. Evelina D'Arcy (Birmingham) and Elizabeth Kellingley (Brighton) scored 1084 and 1075 to round off the top 10. A total of 8 women broke 1100 with 18 over 1000.

In the novice categories the two runaway winners were Petr Manas and Robin Burton (both Edinburgh) who won by 69 and 84 points respectively. Manas did the damage at 70m (the longest distance of the Metric I) and 30m. The ladies event boiled down to a fascinating 30m. Burton had built up a lead of 112 points with 30m to go, but saw her lead cut by almost a point per arrow by Paula Uusnakki (Liverpool) and Li Sou (Bradford). Uusnakki had endured a torrid longest distance (60m) and sat 8th, but stormed back to eventually claim second place with 967, winning both of the shorter distances. Li Sou (Bradford) also overtook Rebecca Radcliffe (Loughborough) over the course of 30m for bronze, the pair ending on 959 and 933. Huw Thomas (Birmingham) was second in a more straigtforward gents novice leaderboard, finishing on 1006, with Ather Butt (Bradford) taking bronze on 960 and Benjamin Tansell (Nottingham) ten behind.

Sarah Prieels (Edinburgh) won ladies compound with 1353, enough for a 25 point margin, but there was a ding-dong battle for second and third. Izzy Carpenter (Sheffield Hallam) led Sarah Moon (Nottingham Trent) by 10 at lunchtime, only to see Moon secure a 16 point swing at 50m. Carpenter fought back however and took the silver 1328 to 1325, with Lizzie Foster (Durham) fourth on 1302. Sam Rees (Birmingham) picked up the gents title, going 24 ahead by lunch, eventually scoring 1321 to win by 19. Pip Tucknott (Edinburgh) and current BUCS Indoor champion Chris Cassells (Aberystwyth) were very closely matched throughout the day, with Tucknott picking up second spot for the third year in a row on 1302, Cassells on 1294. Last year's winner Andrew Brookes (Staffordshire) was 4th on 1280. Ove Schoeppner (Edinburgh) was the best of the seven novice compounds, on 1276. There were 39 compounds in total.

There was a compound team category, albeit not one that counted towards BUCS points, with Edinburgh on 2655 in first, Birmingham 2565 and Warwick on 2512.

Jessica Nilsson (Edinburgh) totally dominated ladies barebow, winning every distance by at least 40 points, beating the field by nearly 300 and sticking 27 points on the old All Unis record. Nilsson's effort saw her score 1001 - the first barebow to break four digits on the WA1440. Essi Peuhkuri (Nottingham Trent) was second on 710, with Laura Hutchison (Loughborough) claiming bronze on 685. Hutchison had been in second but slid back over 30m and only just finished ahead of Amelia Elgey (Birmingham) with 680 in fourth. A strong 90m gave William Croydon (Loughborough) too big a lead as he finished ahead of Indoor Champion Lonja Selter (Plymouth) a with 832 against 789. Will Armstrong (Bristol) was third on 766, 100 clear of Liam Pattinson (Cambridge). Top barebow novices were Daniel Kilgallon (Central Lancashire) on 682 and Annabel Brunt (Bath) both of whom won convincingly. 59 barebows competed, the same figure as last year.

No BUCS Outdoors review would be complete with an All Unis record from Alex Newnes (Aberystwyth) and once again he dominated the field. Newnes scored 801 to almost double the second placed score and break (his own) All Unis record by 106 points. Helen Woodcock (Central Lancashire) won ladies longbow with 484, winning by 130 points. Isobel Medcroft (Swansea) was the best novice longbow and her effort of 382 missed out on an All Unis record by only 2 points. 11 longbows in all took part, again the same as last year.

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 who managed not to get blown away - and to all those who took part.