St Mary's Athletes Secure Seven Medals at BUCS Championships

Athletes from the Endurance, Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham had a successful weekend after securing seven medals at the BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) Outdoor Championships, which took place in Bedford this weekend (4^th to 6^th May). Alex Dunbar secured Gold in the 10,000m event with a time of 30.51.53, followed by Paul Thompson who finished 5^th in 31:21.54. It was Silver for John McDonnell in the 5,000m race after crossing the finish line in 14.46.40, whilst Frank Bailey also scooped Silver in the 3000m steeplechase, finishing in 9.21.79. Daniel Cheeseman took Bronze in the 800m event with a time of 1.53.32. Finally, Zane Duqemin secured Gold in his two events, shotput (18.87m) and discuss (58.82m). The women also secured a Silver medal for the St Mary’s team in the 4x100m event after finishing in 48.44, whilst Leigh Lattimore came 4^th in the 5,000m event with a time of 16.58.50. St Mary’s Alumnus and London 2012 Olympic finalist Andrew Osagie is also set to compete in the 800m event at the International Association of Athletics Federations Diamond League this Friday 10^th May in Dohar. The competition is being televised on the BBC’s red button. St Mary’s EPACC Coach Craig Winrow said, “Securing seven medals was an excellent performance by our athletes and the team should be very proud of themselves.” St Mary’s has run an endurance programme since 2001, with the London Marathon as the principle sponsor. EPACC was then formed in 2009 by Sport St Mary’s, again in partnership with the Virgin London Marathon, as an England Athletics Coach Development Centre. It provides a world-class endurance environment, and several of Great Britain’s most talented distance runners work out of the centre, including Steph Twell, Andrew Osagie, Charlotte Purdue, Andy Baddeley and Scott Overall.