STRATFORD-upon-Avon Athletic Club had a record nine athletes in action at the British University and College Sports (BUCS) Championships held over three days of competition in Manchester.
The club’s athletes were representing seven different universities with six competing at the Championships for the first time.
Stratford athlete Emily Madden Forman (Manchester Met) won the high jump event with an effort of 1.75m to take the gold medal.
Forman started the final at a modest height of 1.66m and worked her way through the heights to take gold having needed just a single jump in qualifying to book her place in the final.
And Stratford’s Catherine Reynolds (Sheffield) executed her race plan to perfection as she qualified second from her 400m heat with a composed run in a time of 57.57 seconds.
In the semi-finals, Reynolds produced another perfect run to qualify for the final fourth fastest with a time of 56.59 secs which was just outside her personal best (PB) time.
Up against seasoned junior internationals in the final, Reynolds set a new PB of 55.91 secs as she broke the 56-second barrier for the first time with a sensational run to finish fifth.
Team manager Imogen Sheppard (Birmingham) was drafted into the heats of the 4x400m relay team who comfortably qualified for the final.
And the team clinched silver in the final behind a dominant Loughborough squad to ensure Sheppard went home with a medal having been part of the squad.
Georgie Campbell was also drafted into the Birmingham team, just two days before the event, and produced a dogged run in the 1500m to finish in 4 mins 43.18 secs to qualify for the semi-final.
Campbell placed ninth and 17th overall on times to finish well inside the top half of original starters in the heats.
Stratford’s Will Humphreys (Plymouth) has just returned to the club and clocked 24.27 secs in the 200m which was well inside his PB.
In the triple jump, Nick Butler (Sheffield) set a new PB of 13.23m and finished 14th overall and was just 10 centimetres from reaching the final.
However, in the long jump, a fluctuating tail wind saw Butler manage a single jump of 5.46m whilst Alex Powell (Sheffield Hallam) jumped 5.30m on his return from injury.
Also in the triple jump, Millie Leighton (Loughborough) jumped an impressive 11.32m to finish just outside the qualifying positions for the final.
Lastly, Acelin Smith (Cardiff Met) competed in a high class javelin field and was disappointed with a best throw of 51.29m to finish in 14th place.
