On a manic and very busy weekend at the BUCS Indoor Championships in Sheffield, East London Sport reigned supreme in the sprint events claiming an impressive eight medals across the board.

The Uni’s athletes provided supporters with some super memories and established an excellent platform to build upon for the coming year.

Friday’s Medal Haul

On Friday, it was a four medal haul for UEL, with Mariam Abdul-Rashid sealing gold in the women’s 60m hurdles, while Cheyanne Evans Gray took gold in the women’s 60m, in the process smashing the record and setting a new BUCS Indoor Record of 7.28 seconds. “I’m just in awe, I can’t believe I’m a gold medalist and a record holder”, beamed the UEL student.

In the men’s, Jonathan Ross took bronze in the men’s 60m hurdles, with Jordan Andrew taking the silver medal, in a hotly contested race in the men’s 60m ambulant.

After Andrew exclaimed, “I’m proud to win second place, it was a very close race and the support I’ve been receiving from the university has really spurred me on to be here today and compete to the best of my ability”.

Team Camaraderie 

On Saturday, attention turned to Karate, Judo and Fencing, with Jake Popplewell in Judo, Adam Peters in Karate, and Amy Home in fencing. Popplewell came away with a silver medal in the Judo admitting, “I dealt with most of the competitors well, but sadly I just missed out in the final”.

With Peters aiming high in the Karate ahead of future tournaments, he said “I got silver last year, bronze this year, next year I want gold”. Home exited the fencing in the last 16, and said “I’m pleased with how I performed, but I need to be better next time”.

In the men’s 400m heats, Emmanuel Sosanya and Joe Hubbock both qualified for Sunday’s semi-finals, with the former finishing first, and the latter finishing third in his heat. Sosanya added afterwards “It’s only been the last couple of years we’ve not been seen as underdogs, and we have the smallest team but the biggest heart”. With a team ethos like that, East London Sport were hoping for another successful day on the track on Sunday, and also for future events.

Sunday’s Mixed Bag

In the men’s 200m heats, Jona Efoloko stormed to a winner in his heat, while Enzo Madden took third in his heat. Efoloko made it through to the semi-finals, and set a lightning time of 21.86 to see him into the final. Unfortunately, Jona couldn’t win the final, but his performances across the weekend will fill him and East London Sport with pride, with Efoloko saying “I want to turn this silver into a gold next time round!”

In the shotput action this morning, Amy Holder sadly couldn’t capitalise on a fantastic Friday for her in which she stormed through qualifying, as she went out of the finals at the first hurdle, stating afterwards “I’m always wanting more though.”

Over at Ponds Forge in the Men’s Fencing, Welsh International, Owen Edwards won five out of his six qualifying matches, losing just one, but he was knocked out in the first round of elimination matches bringing an end to his competition.

However it’s been a promising year for the Welshman and, he spoke to us after about the support he’s been receiving and how it’s helped him. “I’ve been working on the psychology side of it all year with James, and it’s now about pushing on as I want to compete at the optimum level”. The Welshman, who is also competing in the British Nationals next summer, added “it’s always strange at BUCS with the different formats and competitions, where I just try to keep doing my thing with my head down”.

Finally, in the Men’s ambulant Long Jump, Jordan Andrews hit a stunning 5.97m score to come second overall and take the silver medal in the competition.

Overall, the weekend in Sheffield yielded eight medals in total for UEL, along with a new BUCS record for Cheyenne Evans – Gray. The athletes will now shift their attention to their respective individual events, followed by the BUCS Outdoor Championships in May.

East London’s Sprinting Statement 

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