Northumbria Trio Chase Medal Glory

A trio of Northumbria University’s track and field stars chase podium places this weekend as the prestigious Loughborough International event takes centre stage.

Charlie Myers, Jack Roach and Nakita Gray represent BUCS in the star-studded five team tournament.

And all three head to the East Midlands on the back of brilliant showings at the 2018 BUCS outdoor track and field championships.

“They fully deserve to wear their BUCS vests this weekend and all three have enjoyed great starts to the outdoor season,” said Northumbria University’s head of athletics, Nick Ridgeon.

“With another great weather forecast it looks like being another exciting event featuring some top class athletics.”

The BUCS team will take on select sides representing England, Scotland, Wales and GB Juniors.

And Loughborough’s Paula Radcliffe Athletics Stadium is expected to be packed to the rafters for one of the sport’s early-season highlights.

Myers bagged gold with a championship best leap of 5.36m in the pole vault at the BUCS championships.

And Roach claimed a personal best of 7.64m in the long jump at the same event.

A season’s best 1.75m for Gray in the high jump was enough to secure silver as Northumbria’s team claimed 32 BUCS points at the Bedford International Stadium.

Other highlights included a season’s best 14.55secs for Lucy Turner in the 100m hurdles – a time that secured sixth place in a competitive final.

And the multi-sports specialist followed up with another 2018 high as she threw the javelin 35.74m in qualification.

Fraser Wright threw an outdoor personal best of 13.03m in the shot put to secure seventh place in the final.

And Northumbria team-mate Daniel Walsh leapt a personal best distance of 13.88m in the triple jump.

On a day of significant personal triumphs for the Sport Central-based squad, Amy Richards posted a personal best 5.64m in the long jump and Aife McSheffrey impressed on her way to securing a semi-final place in the 800m.

“Everyone is pushing themselves to the limit right now and that’s great to see,” added Ridgeon. “With so many season’s bests and personal bests it’s clear to see that Northumbria’s athletes mean business this summer.”