Athletics

2017 / 2018

Co-Captains: Harriette Drew and Rosa Chrystie-Lowe


2016 / 2017

Officers: Captains Harriette Drew, Rosa Chrystie-Lowe


2015 / 2016

Officers: Captains Harriette Drew, Rosa Chrystie-Lowe


2014 / 2015

Officers: Captains Harriette Drew, Rosa Chrystie-Lowe

The highlight this year for the Athletics and Cross Country Club was the Teddy Hall relays in March. The Club fielded an impressive eight teams, the most any college has entered in living memory according to the surprised coach on the registration desk, and had some superb performances. One of the women’s teams came second in the intercollegiate part of the competition, whilst Alex Fraser produced one of the fastest individual men’s times of the day, despite having been drafted in at the last minute. The participants ranged from regular runners to those who had to borrow a pair of trainers at the last minute, but what impressed the runners from other colleges was not Queen’s athletic prowess (although the Club did very well, with no team below tenth in their category), so much as the strength of the Queen’s team spirit, enthusiastic shouts of support and encouragement spurring the runners on to some impressive sprint finishes.

In Michaelmas Term, a group of female runners battled the muddy hills of South Parks to gain third place in cross country Cuppers, a very well deserved result. The women also performed very well in freshers athletics Cuppers and, despite only having three athletes in the team, entered events ranging from long jump, triple jump and the 100m relay to the 800m, 1500m and 3000m. Congratulations must go to Rosa Chrystie-Lowe and Nicola Oldroyd for their brave efforts and good performances which led to Queen’s being awarded second place at the end of the day.

Queen’s has also been well represented in other Oxford races during the year, with an impressive group doing very well in the half marathon in October, and a good number participating in the Town and Gown 10km in May, despite this being the day after some summer balls. The lovely scenic route, which wound through the centre of Oxford and then took the runners around University Parks, was enjoyed by all who took part.

Overall, Queen’s runners have had a successful year, standing out at races for their enthusiasm and enjoyment of running as well as for their strong, determined performances.


2013 / 2014

Officers: Captain: Alfred Burton


2012 / 2013

Captain Alexander Fraser

This has been an admirable year for Queen’s College athletics, the most notable success being that of Alfred Burton, Tom Nichols, Andrew Russell and Tom Sneddon in winning Cuppers aquathlon (200m swim, 2.5km run) in Trinity Term. This is a very competitive event which is hotly contested by many colleges, and Queen’s showed considerable strength in depth in fielding four male athletes all of whom were in the top fifteen finishers. A special mention should go to Russell who won the individual event in a little over fourteen minutes.

In Hilary Term Queen’s fielded two teams in the annual Teddy Hall Relays. These consist of relay teams of four, each person running a four mile course starting and finishing at the Iffley Road track. Team A of Alex Fraser, Burton, Russell and Nichols completed the race in a little over 1hr 25min making them the third fastest men’s team from an Oxford college. The B team of Fred Woodcock, Tom Rushton, David Williams and Yuhao Zhang were also very competitive and somewhat surprisingly were quicker than the A team up to halfway, finishing in a very respectable 1hr 38min for ninth place in the same category.

From the beginning of Michaelmas Term there was unusually large interest in athletics in Queen’s and a good year appeared likely. This was borne out by Queen’s fielding both men’s and women’s teams in cross-country Cuppers. On the undulating course across Port Meadow, Alfred Burton showed his potential by stealing past Queen’s captain and modern pentathlon blue, Alex Fraser, in the final few hundred yards. Top thirty finishes for Fraser and Burton with a top sixty finish by Nichols was not enough to beat the top college teams of St Catherine’s and Somerville. In the women’s team Naomi Aylwin, Ingvild Gudim and Ros Shepherd ran a fiercely competitive race and just managed to hold off a strong challenge from Hertford and Christ Church to finish in the top six.


2011 / 2012

Captain Nor Aizat Ahmad

Unable to build upon last year’s positive showing at track and field Cuppers, Queen’s athletes instead put up a much stronger fight in the cross-country Cuppers. Led by Alexander Fraser, who will take over as athletics captain of Queen’s next year, there were also good showings from Joshua Powell and Emily Motto. Hopefully, this bodes well for the College in making a mark for itself. If the incoming freshers can provide as many runners as this year’s did, there is a lot of hope for Queen’s athletics.


2010 / 2011

Captain Jack McGinn

This has been a quiet year for Queen’s athletics, which, despite past successes, found it difficult to attract enough Queensmen and women to compete consistently given the success and popularity of other college sports and significant numbers of selections for university clubs and teams. Nevertheless, the College did not go unrepresented at Trinity Term Cuppers, and credit goes to Patrick Wills, who came third in the men’s 200m in a time of 23.9, and fresher Aizhat Ahmed, who performed admirably in the 5,000m, recording a time of 20:02.8. Hopefully in the coming years Queen’s can build on these performances and restore Queen’s athletics to its previous heights of popularity and success.


2009 / 2010

Men’s Captain: Jack McGinn


2008 / 2009

Men’s Captain: Kieran O’Donnell

ATHLETICS REPORT

The athletics team has been somewhat reduced by the captain having received a serious injury at the beginning of the season. This led to a somewhat depleted Cuppers squad containing only a small number of athletes. Of these, Patrick Wills took first place in the 200 metres whilst Brett Marshall, who also took part in the 200 metres, managed, after multiple attempts, to record a valid measurement in the javelin. The College hopes that next year’s freshers will include a good supply of athletes.


2007 / 2008

Men’s Captain: Kieran O’Donnell


2006 / 2007

Men’s Captain: James Barrett


2005 / 2006

Men’s Captain: James Barrett


2004 / 2005

Men’s Captain: Nicholas Radford

Women’s Captain: Rebecca Goldie

Cross Country: Adam Cary

Queen’s has been top of the University in Athletics for the past 6 years. This is solely down to the fact that when Cuppers come around everyone gets involved with the college spirit and pitches in. Fresher’s Cuppers is on the 24th of October, that’s Sunday of 3rd week. If you want to help the college win for the 7th year in a row then all you have to do is email me, Nick Radford. You really, honestly, don’t have to be any good, just come down and get involved!


2003 / 2004

Men’s Captain Nicholas Radford; Women’s Captain Sarah Lane

Cross Country: David Tulip

Having won Cuppers for the past four years, this year’s team was faced with the daunting prospect of hoping to repeat its predecessors’ success without the cornerstone of Queen’s athletics, Chris Sleeman. In Freshers’ Cuppers in Michaelmas Term the College finished second, beaten only by a Rhodes Scholars’ team that for some inexplicable reason was allowed to take part. However, in Hilary Term the team produced some superb performances which enabled it to gain a fifth victory in Cuppers, once again leaving traditional rivals Trinity College in second place.


2001 – 2002

Men’s Captain Peter Harding; Women’s Captain Laura Hurley

Cross Country: Jim Hancock