St Mary's Athletes Lead the Way at BUCS Cross Country Championships

Athletes from the Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) at St Mary’s University, Twickenham returned as champions from the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Cross Country Championships. 80 athletes from St Mary’s took part in the competition hosted in Graves Park, Sheffield. The competition is the leading annual cross-country national student championship. This year Teams from St Mary’s won both the Men’s A and B races, whilst in the Women’s race both the first and second placed finishers were EPACC Athletes. In the Men’s A Race, Sports Scholar Paulos Surafel finished in second place, with Ellis Cross finishing in a close third. Sports Scholars Petros Surafel and Jack Rowe finished in fourth and fourteenth respectively, contributing to a combined team score of 23 points to take the team title. Elsewhere, in the Women’s race, EPACC athlete Rebecca Murray, racing for Brunel University, finished in first place, whilst masters student Emily Hosker-Thornhill came second for St Mary’s. Imogen Wolsey and Lilly Coward finished in 30^th and 40^th respectively. In the Men’s B Race, two St Mary’s teams made it onto the podium, finishing in first and third place. Emile Cairess took the individual title with James Hall claiming third. St Mary’s saw four finishers in the top ten with Ben Bradley, fifth, Tom Hook, seventh, and Bradley Goater, ninth, whilst Luke Prior, Sam Johnson and Liam Burthem also finished in the top 20. In total, 14 St Mary’s athletes made up the top 30 displaying huge strength in numbers. EPACC Centre Coordinator Craig Winrow said, “This was a fantastic day for EPACC and a great demonstration of our athletics excellence. Our athletes’ performances ranked St Mary’s as the top University at the competition, and I can’t wait to see them compete in more championships later in the year. Last year we saw nine EPACC athletes go to the Olympics in Rio, and last weekend’s results clearly demonstrate that our athletes excel at all levels.”