The British University Championships is the major event in every university sports club's calendar and Edinburgh University's Archery Club is no exception. The month before BUCS was filled with intensive training and strategising for Team Edinburgh with the range busy every day until closing time. However, due to a rule-change five days before the championship that universities are only allowed to bring only fourteen archers, painful decisions had to be made by the club captain. Three rookies and one established senior missed the cut as the club came to terms with losing seven potential winning places.

However, those who travelled down to Cardiff did Edinburgh University proud, as many of them returned with medals in their respective fields.

In the Ladies Compound, Naomi Jones led the way with a record breaking score of 585. This was followed by Lucy O’Sullivan from Nottingham Trent University who carded an admirable 583 and Mary Perrott from the University of Portsmouth with 576. Hope Greenwood from Edinburgh University, last years novice who took up the compound just a couple months before BUCS, scored 561 and came in fourth, earning few more valuable points for the team.

Meanwhile, in the Ladies Recurve event, Migle Petruskeviciute and Jenny Jeppsson came first and second with scores of 578 and 569 respectively, followed by Nicola Turner from the University of Nottingham with a neat score of 566. Despite their valiant efforts the other two EUAC ladies Lizzie Bell (561) and Kyshiea George (549) finished eighth and tenth respectively.

The Gents Recurve event saw Erik Rowbotham come third with 581, losing to the second placed Sam Bird from the University of Southampton by one solitary point.  The gold medal winner George Harding from the University of Nottingham triumphed by four points. Needless to say, the fight for the Gents Champion title this year was a tight one.

In the novice Gents Compound Richie Dunk, a fresh addition to the club, won gold with 558, followed by Adam Mckissock from the University of Abertay with 489.  A resounding victory for an archer with a big future.

The novice Ladies Recurve event saw Edinburgh’s Imola Cseke secure the win by shooting a new personal best of 533, followed by Mickie Green from the University of Birmingham with a score of 513 and Alex Lucas from the University of Cambridge with 501.

Finally, in the novice Gents Recurve competition Douglas Jardine came first with 554 for another Edinburgh victory.  Unfortunately Robbie Crick, regardless of his lovely score of 537, finished fifth, but he ensured others would have to battle hard for their places.

Unfortunately our Experienced Barebow archers missed the medals this time: Alex Gilliland shot 468, coming eighth, and Ian Cairns shot 537 and came 11th. Also our only Experienced Compound representative, Stefan Gies shot a neat 572 and finished sixth.

A quick look at the team’s achievements over the years shows that EUAC have a persistent habit of bringing medals back from BUCS events. So it probably comes as no surprise that once more, Edinburgh won both the Experienced and Novice team trophies in Cardiff and  several gold medals. The Experienced team, comprised of Erik Rowbotham, Migle Petruskeviciute, Jenny Jeppsson and Lizzie Bell, prevailed with a combined score of 2289, followed by the University of Nottingham team with 2268 and the University of Cambridge with 2241. The Novice team was made up by Douglas Jardine, Robbie Crick and Imola Cseke and won with 1624.

After all the hard work Edinburgh put in on the range prior to the BUCS event starting, these efforts have reaped a harvest of medals for the team.  And of course, special recognition must go to team coach Alistair Whittingham, whose tireless preparation work was vital in the team's success at BUCS.