Hat-full of medals

Elise Lovell and Abi Jaques took gold, Joey Watson and Jess Gordon-Brown collected silver, and Holly Turner and Tegan Walsh won bronze.

The university had entries in badminton, swimming, karate, athletics, judo, fencing and trampolining during the events in Sheffield. More than 6,000 students took part.

The university’s Sport Performance and Fitness Officer, Katie Parker, said: “I was left astounded to the level of talent that the University of Brighton’s athletes hold. Their attitude towards their own performance and their team mates is incredible. All disciplines supporting each other.

“We had our very own Super Sunday, with two of our team qualifying for Europeans. The atmosphere was unbeatable and I left my first BUCS tournament as the proudest coach there! I can't wait to see their journeys and how far they can all go! Great effort team!”

In trampolining, the university had strong performances across the categories with the highlight being Abi Jaques winning gold. Danny Hatcher just missed out on the medals coming a respectable 5th. Other members of the team completed solid routines with Hayley Pink and Jordan Gordon both competing in higher categories for the first time.

Elise Lovell Gold medallist

Holly Turner Bronze medallist

David Browning competed for Brighton in the fencing, coming back from a hamstring injury, David unfortunately did not progress to the later stages. In the pool Jade Scott swam well in both her races, coming 18th out of over 100 competitors. Dan Malamud came 11th and reserve into the final on 50m butterfly, 23rd on 50m breaststroke and 25th on 50 freestyle.

The martial arts proved fruitful with both of the university’s entrants winning medals. Jessica Gordon-Brown came away with a silver medal and Tegan Walsh with bronze.

A total of 12 students competed on the indoor athletics track, along with the university’s Panther Pete who took part in the annual mascot race – and finished 4th.

GB heptathlete Elise Lovell won gold in the long jump and Joey Watson, U23 British Champion in 2016, took silver in the shot put.

On the track Holly Turner was entered in the 400m. Gaining the automatic qualification spot in her heat she then went on to secure bronze in the final. Jack Avery ran his fastest first season race to date. Declan Neary missed out on the finals by 0.01 of a second.

Jess, Tegan, Elise, Joey, Holly, Jack and Declan are all members of the University of Brighton Scholarship programme which offers a support package to help performance athletes continue their sporting aspirations while studying.

Joey Watson Silver medallist