Titles, trophies and national call-ups for Stirling athletes

University of Stirling athletes and coaches have enjoyed a strong spell of positive results and recognition – racking up several impressive victories and awards.

Here are the latest sporting headlines.

Golf

First-year golf scholar, Nicola Slater, made the perfect start to her University career as she broke a course record en route to winning the Stirling International at the Fairmont, St Andrews. Slater’s Stirling teammate, Penelope Brown, finished in second, whilst the pair were joined by Rachel Thompson to win the team event. In the men’s individual event, Scott Macpherson finished tied 3^rd and was part of the men’s team that finished second, behind Maynooth, in the team event.

Fellow scholar, Hazel MacGarvie, then got in on the act as she won the BUCS Northern Tournament at Sherwood Forest Golf Club. MacGarvie finished two shots ahead of Brown as she made an ideal start to defending her BUCS Tour Order of Merit crown.

Further afield, the men’s team competed in the prestigious Macdonald Cup at Yale University with the squad finishing a respectable fourth place in the team event, whilst Robert Foley put in a strong performance to also finish fourth in the individual leaderboard.

The women’s team will now join their male counterparts across the Atlantic, as they aim to defend their team title at the coveted Yale Intercollegiate Invitational this week whilst Psychology and Sports Studies student, Chloe Goadby, aims to retain her individual crown.

Tennis

Following a first-ever ITF Futures Doubles Event in Belarus and reclaiming his world ranking, MSc student, Scott Duncan, enjoyed further success as he won a second doubles event in the ITF Futures tournament in Nottingham with partner Johnny Binding.

Meanwhile, fellow scholar, Ingrid Vojcinakova, won her first pro circuit title as she won the doubles at a Futures event in Hungary.

Closer to home, there was success for coaches Euan McGinn and Nick Rosenzweig as they won the doubles at the Championships of the Highlands before Rosenzweig went on to beat first-year Stirling student, James Mackinlay, in the final of the singles event.

Football

The men’s 1^st XI made it into the second round of the William Hill Scottish Cup after defeating Highland League side, Keith, 2-1. Goals came from Blair Lyons and Kieran Hall and highlights from the game can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0rDNUxf60s.

In a week that saw players Abby Callaghan and Naomi Welch selected for Scotland u19 squad, the women’s 1^st XI secured their top-flight status despite a loss to Hibernian. The team have two games remaining in this year’s Scottish Women’s Premier League against now-relegated Hamilton and third-placed Celtic.

Off the field, American postgraduate scholar, Kendra Bonsall, was nominated for SWPL Player of the Month following several impressive performances since joining the team in August.

Swimming

Six Stirling athletes have been named in the British Swimming World Class Programme for 2018/19. Eligible for training camp and competition opportunities throughout the season, the selected athletes are: Craig Benson, Kathleen Dawson, Craig McLean, Ross Murdoch, Duncan Scott and Cassie Wild.

Out of the pool, and following 12 months of unrivalled success, swimming scholar Scott has received a number of recent accolades, including Team Scotland’s Male Athlete and Scottish Sportsperson of the Year titles, as well as the inaugural National Lottery Athlete of the Year Award and Scottish Swimming’s prestigious Nancy Riach Memorial Medal as the country’s outstanding athlete.

There was similar success for Scott’s coach, and the University’s Head Performance Swimming Coach, Steven Tigg, who took home Coach of the Year awards at both the Team Scotland and Scottish Swimming ceremonies. New swimming scholar, Keanna Macinnes, also received the WG Todd Prize at the Scottish Swimming Awards as young female swimmer of the year.