Students from across Britain will compete to win medals for their universities this weekend (Friday 16 – Sunday 18 February) at the BUCS Nationals Indoor Athletics Championships, being held at the English Insitute of Sport in Sheffield.
The event organised by British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS), is also being streamed online and will be free to view on runjumpthrow.com and runnerspace.com in North America, with the action starting at 1pm UK time on Friday.
The competition is often a springboard for international success and this could certainly be the case with IAAF World Indoor Championships, Commonwealth Games and European Athletics Championships all to come in 2018.
WATCH: One of last year’s highlights was the men’s 800m final
Athletes who have entered the competition include:
– European under-23 100m champion Ojie Edoburun (Middlesex University, 60m PB: 6.58s) and Reuben Arthur (Goldsmith’s, 60m PB 6.68s) who picked up a silver medal at the European under-23 championships last year are likely to compete for the 60m title on Friday. In the women’s equivalent, there could be a close battle between defending champion Hannah Brier (Loughborough, 60m PB 7.31s and fomer IAAF World Junior finalist Imani Lansiquot (King’s College London, 60m PB 7.26s)
– In the 60m hurdles, IAAF World Championship London 2017 sprint hurdler and UK junior record holder Alicia Barrett from Chesterfield has entered. The 19-year-old, who competes for Sheffield Hallam University and is coached by Toni Minichello, (formerly with Jessica Ennis-Hill), has a personal best of 8.19s.
– Welsh champion Adele Nicoll will be looking for her sixth BUCS medal this weekend in the shot put (PB: 16.34m). Ahead of competing, the Cardiff Metropolitan University student originally from Shrewsbury but now based in Welshpool says: “Sometimes when you get caught up in high-level competition, you lose the enjoyment because it is so serious. BUCS brings back that fun. This year it clashes with the (British Indoor) Trials but I’ve chosen to compete in BUCS.”
“I’ve been to the European Juniors – an amazing experience because of the size of the event – but the atmosphere is better at BUCS. Your team-mates are there cheering you on. I’m really looking forward to coming back as I was injured last year and had wanted to get the gold medal indoors and outdoors for every year of university.”
Cardiff Metropolitan athletes, including Adele Nicoll (bottom row, fifth from left), celebrate coming second overall at BUCS Outdoors 2017. Photo: Met_Athletics via instagram
High profile winners in recent years include:
– GB international and London 2017 world championship semi-finalist Jessica Judd from Essex, based in Loughborough.
– Commonwealth-bound Welsh sprint hurdler David Omoregie from Durham.
– University of Birmingham student Sarah McDonald from Newcastle, also a London 2017 semi-finalist.
You’ll be able to watch the action live on runjumpthrow.com, where there are team preview articles online.
The BUCS Indoors Athletics Championships are part of a weekend of sporting action involving 6,000 competitors: More information can be found on the BUCS website, including a full list of entries from all competing universities.
