BUCS brilliance from Stirling athletes

Following swimming and triathlon glory at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the University of Stirling’s athletes continue to deliver as its golfers and tennis players claimed British titles over the past week amongst other successes. 

Here are the latest sporting headlines.

Golf

Having won a clean sweep at the Scottish Student Sport championships earlier in the month, Stirling’s leading golfers travelled to the BUCS Tour Finals at Woodhall Spa full of confidence and the athletes didn’t disappoint. Laird Shepherd and Chloe Goadby won the respective men and women’s titles with Gemma Batty finishing a close second to Goadby. The event also saw a Stirling 1-2-3 in the women’s Order of Merit as first-year scholar, Hazel MacGarvie, was rewarded for a consistent season with the overall accolade whilst Batty and Goadby finished second and third respectively. In the men’s overall standings, Shepherd finished third, just ahead of teammate Robert Foley in fourth.

First-year golf scholar, Hazel MacGarvie, was rewarded for a consistent season, winning the year-long BUCS Order of Merit title.

The team then rounded off the student golf season by winning the BUCS Golf Team Championship at Ganton Golf Club in Yorkshire, defeating Scottish rivals, St Andrews, in the final 6.5-2.5. The win means the team, led by High Performance Golf Coach, Dean Robertson, have won the Scottish, British and European team titles in 2017/18 making it one of the most successful seasons in the team's history.

Laird Shepherd and Chloe Goadby won the men's and women's events at the coveted BUCS Tour Finals.

Tennis

The University’s tennis stars continued the British success at the BUCS Individual Tennis Championships in London. Natasha Fourouclas won the women’s singles event, defeating teammate Patricia Skowronski in the final. The duo then teamed up to finish second in the women’s doubles where they lost out to fellow Stirling pair, Rebecca Pedrazzi and Ingrid Vojcinakova.

Natasha Fourouclas claimed the women's singles title at the BUCS Individual Championships.

In the men’s draw, Scott Duncan and Kieran Macarty made it to the final of the men’s double before losing out to Tiarnan Brady and Ben Jones of Team Bath.

Rebecca Pedrazzi and Ingrid Vojcinakova put in an excellent performance to win the BUCS women's doubles title.

Curling

Sport and Exercise Science student, Bobby Lammie, and his Team Mouat teammates returned from the World Men’s Curling Championships in Las Vegas with a bronze medal after defeating South Korea 11-4 in the third/fourth place play-off.

The team made the semi-finals having topped the round-robin stage but narrowly lost out to Canada to move into the bronze medal match.

Football

The men’s 1st XI ended their Scottish Lowland Football League season with an excellent 2-0 victory over East Kilbride who currently sitting second in the table. The team now prepare for a two-tie playoff against Liverpool John Moores University where the winner will secure a place in next season’s BUCS Premier North Division.

Meanwhile, the women’s 1st XI earned a hard-fought point at Spartans, who currently sit one place above the University in the Scottish Women’s Premier League, and the men’s u20s booked a place in the Under 20 Challenge Cup Final after a 4-3 win over Cumbernauld.

Swimming

Having returned from the Gold Coast with no less than eight medals, the University’s high performance swimmers now turn their attention to the BUCS Team Championships at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, this weekend. With a particularly strong squad heading to the meet, Head Performance Swim Coach, Steven Tigg, will be hoping for another positive showing from his charges.

Triathlon

Fourth-year Sport and Exercise Science student, George Goodwin, narrowly missed out on a top-20 finish at the Challenge Roma event in Italy, performing well in the swim and bike stages before fading in the run to finish 21st.