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Golf Laurie Potter EUGC Club Captain
ON Wednesday 6 March the University of Exeter Golf first team took on rivals St. Andrews in an England/Scotland semi-final for a coveted spot in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Knockout final; a feat that hadn’t been achieved since the side won the title in 2005. After a mixed morning Exeter led 2-1 going into lunch, with wins from Chris Fleming and Chris Johnson, Nick Wildman and Ben Leigh. With only one spot in the final up for grabs it was set to be a fierce afternoon’s golf. In match one Potter was keen to get revenge for his morning defeat but St. Andrew’s strongest player was not going to roll over without a fight. With five birdies and just two dropped shots St. Andrews’ number one proved too strong for Potter and took the match 3&2 squaring the match 2-2. With wins in match two by Danny Vallis (4&3) and in match three by Nick Wildman Exeter took a 4-2 lead. Only one win needed from the last two games to book a place in the final! Match four got off to an equally impressive start as second year Ben Leigh
Women’s Tennis Kate Lucy Team Member
EXETER WOMEN’S 1STS accomplished a historic win against Durham last week to secure their place in BUCS finals for the first time ever. Durham, who were favourites to win the title, lost out in an epic semi-final which went down to the wire in a seven hour marathon. The team comprised of Yvanna Kurlak, Kate Lucy, Annie Nebojanko, Adelina Lipan and Emily Wicks. Lucy and Wicks played the first doubles and despite having never played together put in a good performance but lost in straight sets. Second pairing Nebojanko and Lipan clawed back a first set deficit in order to set up a 3rd set tie-break, taking it 10-8 with some outrageous netplay. After splitting the doubles rubbers, L u c y quickly demolished Durham’s number two player 6-2, 6-3, whilst Kurlak suffered a tough loss to a strong number one, 4 & 5, despite some fantastic tennis. Nebojanko was soon a
Women’s Rowing
Phillipa Burnham Team Member
FOLLOWING on from the Rowing Club’s superb performance at BUCS Head in mid-February, female club members travelled to London to partake in the biggest Head Race of the calendar year – Women’s Head of the River – which is rowed over the same course as the Boat Race. With a field of 320 boats, Exeter entered three boats; a 1st VIII entered into IM2 and two Novice Crews. The Exeter 1st VIII broke all previous records of Exeter University
19 MARCH 2013 |
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Exeposé
displayed an excellent short game. The Essex man had victory within his sights as he stood on the 15th tee two up with just four holes to play. However, St. Andrews weren’t going to roll over that easily and thanks to a 40 foot putt on 16 won three out of the last four holes to take the game one up and narrow the match to 4-3. Match five saw fresher Chris Johnson take to the course hoping to continue the fine form that had earned him his spot in the side. Nerves were riding high as he fought hard to seal the deal; however Chris channelled these nerves positively, rising to the occasion and producing almost flawless golf that included an eagle two at the 14th. Chris went on to take his match 3&2 and with it secured victory for the University of Exeter, booking a spot in the final for the first time in seven years. Captain Laurie Potter commented: “I was really proud of the guys out there today, they were all so fired up and had only one thing on their mind: going out there and getting the job done.” The hard work will now begin in preparation for the final on 1st May at Formby (near Liverpool) where the University of Exeter will face the University of Central Lancashire who defeated championship favourites Stirling in the other semi-final.
set down and despite digging deep in the second set wasn’t quite able to convert. However Lipan produced some of her best tennis of the year easily taking the final singles rubber 6-2, 6-3 and forcing a shootout. For those unaware of what a shootout involves, two singles tie-breaks are played of which one of the number 1 and 2 pair and one of the 3 and 4 pair must play, if the score is still tied the remaining two players then play one doubles tie-break to ten to determine the winner. Lipan was up first against Durham’s number 3 and her aggressive point play dominated the tie-break winning 10-7. Lucy then stepped up to the plate taking on Durham’s number 1, despite some nervous tennis from both sides Lucy’s volleying clinched the deciding tie-break resulting in a 2-0 win and court invasion from the green machine supporters. Sports scholar Yvanna Kurlak commented “it was an unbelievable day and a fantastic achievement for the team.” The Women’s 1sts will be taking on Bath, their main rivals in the Southern Premier League, in the final at Leeds Metropolitan University on March 27th.
performance at this event, eventually ending up 8th overall and emphatic winners of the IM2 pennant. This, for Senior Women’s Captain Pippa Burnham, stroke Charlotte Dexter and powerhouse Emma Cockcroft, followed up their win in the IM2 pennant at Fours Head of the River, rowed over the same course in November. The girls were just three seconds off of the course record, previously set by Cambridge The two novice boats performed admirably also, with the 2nd VIII coming 3rd in their Novice category and the 3rd VIII coming 211th overall – a massive jump from their 302nd placing at the start of the race.
Double Victory for EUCC ranks Cycling Andrew Ross EUCC Team Member
THE ROAD RACE season kicked off with the Springtime Pursuit race series, held by Mid Devon CC, and EUCC put in a strong showing at all three of the races. The races were handicapped, splitting the races of 80 riders into four groups and the fastest group starting last. The 4th category riders (those
“They worked well with other riders in their group and had caught up with everyone before half distance in the race”
who are new to racing) would race in the morning. Alex Todd and Jonathon Jones both started in the “scratch” group (the last and fastest group) which started five minutes after the first riders. They were put in the faster group after their strong results so far in the series, a 3rd place for Alex and a 4th for Jonny. They worked well with other riders in their group and had caught up with everyone before half distance in the race, forming a peloton of 80 riders to contest the assault up the hill to the finish line. Alex positioned himself at the front, while Jonny relied on the help of Tim Weller to guide him forwards. “Slowly the lead riders dropped off until I was at the front setting a fast pace as Jonny burst through on the right” said Alex, who was hot on Jonny’s heels. “I
“A large crowd had gathered at the finish to witness the first ever University of Exeter 1-2 finish” checked behind to see how much of a lead we had and noticed we had a good margin to the following riders”. Despite the large gap, Jonny wasn’t going to ease up “I kicked with all the effort I could give, ignoring the pain surging through my body. Alex reacted and grabbed onto my wheel. Expecting challenges from other riders I just kept my head down and kept pedalling as smooth as I could.” A large crowd had gathered at the finish to witness the first ever University of Exeter 1-2, with Sam Barker finishing 6th and Arthur Der Weduwen winning an intermediate sprint.