Maia makes her mark in spell of success for Stirling athletes

Maia Lumsden’s first WTA tour win was a highlight in an impressive series of performances by University of Stirling athletes.

The successes also included further professional titles, British championships, national awards and international selections.

Here are the latest sporting headlines:

Tennis

Maia Lumsden made history at the Nature Valley Open in Nottingham, as she became the first GB university player to win a WTA main draw match.  – She defeated fellow Brit, Tara Moore, in the first round before losing out to world number 28, Caroline Garcia, in her next match. Lumsden’s victory saw her climb to a career-high ranking of 266 in the world and secure a wildcard for a Wimbledon qualifying event.

In Tunisia, Lumsden’s teammates, Natasha Fourouclas and Ingrid Vojcinakova delivered their own impressive performances as they won their maiden professional doubles title at the ITF $15k event in Tunisia.

Golf

Hazel MacGarvie, Chloe Goadby and Nicola Slater became the first Stirling trio to all make the knockout stages of the prestigious Women’s Amateur Championship at Royal County Down.

MacGarvie went on to reach the last 16 at the event and, following a number of strong performances including her recent victory in the St Rule Trophy, has been selected for the GB and Ireland team to compete in the upcoming Vagliano Trophy. Goadby has also been named as a squad reserve for the match against the Continent of Europe at the end of the month.

Scottish Student Sport Awards 

It was a successful evening for University of Stirling Sport at this year’s Scottish Student Sport Awards, as the University took home three of the top awards. Maia Lumsden and Duncan Scott were named Female and Male Athletes of the Year, whilst the women’s tennis squad won the Team of the Year accolade.

Triathlon

There has been double BUCS team gold for the University’s high performance triathlon squad, as the team claimed victory at both Olympic and Sprint distances. Cameron Main, Luca Fanottolli and Tom Hug were successful in the Olympic event, with Main claiming individual bronze, whilst he and Hug were joined by Guy Evans-Haggerty on the podium for the Sprint team event. Evans-Haggerty also took bronze in the Sprint individual.

Triathlon champions: (centre, l-r) Luca Fanottolli, Tom Hug and Cameron Main on top of the podium at the BUCS Triathlon Olympic Championships.

Swimming

University of Stirling swimmers were part of the British Swimming squad that travelled to Canet, France, and Barcelona, Spain, for the Mare Nostrum Swim Series as part of their preparations for the upcoming World Championships in Gwanju.

Attracting some of the world’s top talent, the series proved a useful marker for the Stirling athletes as they fine-tune their racing ahead of the summer showpiece.

Duncan Scott led the way in podium for the Stirling party, claiming bronze in the 200m and gold in the 100m freestyle events in Canet and followed those up with a silver in the 200m medley and a 200m freestyle bronze in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Danielle Huskisson has been the latest Stirling athlete to be named in the British Swimming squad that will compete in Gwanju. Huskisson has been selected as part of the marathon team, competing in the women’s 10km, and will join team-mates Scott McLay, Ross Murdoch, Duncan Scott and Aimee Willmott at the Championships.

Netball

University netball player and scholar athlete, Lauren Tait, has been selected for the Scotland squad that will compete at this summer’s Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

Rowing

Individual scholar athlete, Perri McCluskey, won the Women’s Single Scull (W1x) at the Scottish Rowing Championships in an exciting set of races at Strathclyde Park and also finished second in the Women’s Double Scull (W2x). McCluskey will now wait on potential national selection as she prepares for the famous Henley Women’s Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta.