There was only one BUCS champion crowned on day two of the Track & Field Indoor Championships with Nick Cruchley (Birmingham) taking the victory in the men’s pole vault.
Cruchley took his third successive BUCS title with a seasons best clearance of 5.40m, ahead of Daniel Gardner (Loughborough) and Paul Walker (Loughborough).
With 21 finals taking place tomorrow it was a day of heats at Sheffield as the 1500m kicked off the day. The leading times coming from Sarah McDonald (Birmingham) 4.37.80 and in the mens distance Daniel Cheeseman (St Mary’s) 3.56.51 with the retrospective finals at 16.30 and 16.40 tomorrow.
Doubling the distance and in the 3000m, Laura Riches (Birmingham) had the heats leading time of 10.11.90 whilst in the mens race Stephen Mitchell (Cardiff Met), Karl Billington (St Mary’s) and Joshua Bull (Nottingham) will all be vying for medals.
Sticking to middle distance and the 800m semis and final is set to be a close call. As Guy Learmonth (Loughborough) currently ranked second in the country will be looking to emulate his championship record of 1.48.58 tomorrow. He’ll have big competition though with the likes of Paul Bradshaw (Cardiff Met) and Paul Goodall (Loughborough) pushing for medals.
In the womens 800m we’ll have a hotly contest set of semi-finals and again it will be a close race with heat leaders Katy Brown (Cumbria) and Julia Cooke (Birmingham) running 2.11.00 and 2.11.90 expected to be amongst the medals alongside possible favourite Claire Tarplee (Loughborough) who eased through comfortably.
Halving the distance with the 400m womens and again see’s the University of Loughborough favourite for medals. Jessie Knight and Amy Allcock the only athletes to run in the 55 second barrier and will look to go even quicker in the semis and final.
The mens distance looks like it could be anyone’s title as Owen Smith (Cardiff Met) ran the quickest time of 48.60 but you wouldn’t rule out Cameron Dixon (Loughborough) and Alex Bell (Brunel). Also a special mention for Christian Morton (East London) who looked to stroll through his heat, a clear talent having featured at London 2012 for Nigeria.
In the field events and it’s set to be a battle for gold by the Scottish Universities in the mens high jump. Ray Bobrownicki (Edinburgh) and David Smith (Strathclyde) both clearing 1.95 and holding the same personal bests of 2.22m, it will be a case of who performs on the day.
The womens high jump though see’s a clear favourite in Isobel Pooley (Nottingham) one of the countries top jumpers, she eased through to the final with a 1.60m clearance and will look to regain her title of 2012.
Just seven centimetres separating first from fourth in the womens long jump qualifying it’s set to be an exciting final at 14.45 tomorrow! Kitan Eleyae (London) jumping the furthest of 5.92 with Rebecca Chapman (Cardiff Met) and Jade Nimmo (Edinburugh Napier) and Sarah Wild (Bath) all in medal contention.
The mens will also be a tough one to call as Allan Hamilton (Queen Margaret) jumped furthest at 6.95m just ahead of David Guest (Loughborough) and Liam Ramsay (Sheffield Hallam) both jumping 6.85m.
Last but not least in the field events and the mens and womens shot saw Douglas Stark (Loughborough) 13.68 and Jo Rowland (Brunel) 12.79 throw furthest going into their finals at 13.45 and 10.00.
The days most excitement came last in the 4 by 200m relay. With drama of its highest, falls, photo finishes and celebrations as the mens and womens teams reached the final at 16.50 and 17.00 tomorrow.
So to the final day of the 2014 BUCS Track & Field Indoor Championships and with 63 medals set to be handed out, it will be a day of excitement, joy and performances that will make athletes for the future.
