Here are the end of season reports for Downing sport 2010/2011:
| ATHLETICS and CROSS COUNTRY | 
Downing Captain Chris Bannon in action Although the turnout from the Downing team has been small at the athletics competitions and cross-country races this year, there have been some outstanding performances. Downing runners shone in the Chris Brasher College League (a series of races organised by CUH&H, the University Cross-Country Running Club). Polly Keen and Chris Bannon claimed the ladies’ and men’s individual titles respectively, winning several races on the way. Team wise, Downing took 3rd position in both men’s and women’s leagues. In Cuppers Cross-Country, the star of the show was Lucy Gossage winning the ladies’ race. Several Downing athletes also represented the university in the Cross-Country Varsity Match; Dan Sellman ran in the Men’s 3rds team, Simon Gilbert captained the victorious Men’s 4ths team, Lucy Gossage and Polly Keen were in the Ladies’ Blues Team (achieving half-blues) and Chris Bannon was in the Men’s Blues Team (achieving a full-blue). |
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| BOAT CLUB |
W1 after gaining Lents headship This has been an exceptional term for the women. W2 proved themselves to be one of the best second boats on the Cam. They moved up 3 places in Lent Bumps and have established themselves firmly as a crew to watch come Mays. The commitment from the girls has been superb and they have made huge progress over this term. W1 were victorious in every event entered this term, both on and off Cam, and completed our winning streak by taking the Lents Headship, for only the second time in DCWBC history. It is fair to say that we have been in a league of our own this term, due to both the hard work we put in, and the support we get back from Ian, Craig and the men’s squad. It is a privilege to work with such a dedicated group, who have not been fazed by 5am wake-ups and unexpected goose attacks. We are preparing now to shatter some more illusions next term! Please see http://www.downingboatclub.co.uk/ for more details! |
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| FOOTBALL | Men’s : |
After a slow start to the season a strong campaign saw the first team finish a close second in Division 1 this year; unfortunately our Cuppers campaign was derailed by strong winds in only the second round on a weekend when the top 5 teams in Division 1 all fell to unexpected defeats. The second team achieved significant success this season, a strong cup run saw them lift the Shield for the first time in recent history and in the last game of the season, with a last minute goal, they snatched promotion finishing second in Division 4. A solid season for the third team saw them finish comfortably in mid-table in Division 6. |
| Women’s: | We have had a difficult season, without an experienced goalkeeper and more often than not fielding sides of only 9 or 10 players. We sadly will be relegated to division 3 but some excellent fresher talent has emerged to watch out for next year. | |
| HOCKEY | Women’s: |
Downing Ladies Hockey did well to build on last years performance and finish 5th in division 1, with only a few points separating the top teams. They came up against fierce opposition in the form of St Cats and John’s as in previous years, but particularly came out strong against John’s for what can only be described as our best game of the season. We had a large intake of new team members this year, all of whom have improved immensely and have been valuable members of the club. They were knocked out at the semi final stage of cuppers. The new ladies Captain is Heather Shakerchi, our top goal scorer for the season. Colours were awarded to Hattie O’Nions, Emily Heslop and Helen Picot for an outstanding seasons performance |
| Men’s: | After an unjust relegation from the top division last year, Downing showed their prowess and skill by coming runners up in Johns summer sixes. The men narrowly missed out promotion in Michaelmas and then reached the quarter final of cuppers where they were knocked out to the winning Jesus team. Downing easily gained promotion in Lent with a healthy goal difference and a game in hand. At the annual hockey dinner the following awards were made: Most improved Player=Doug Phethean, Most valued player=Song Eng, Colours=Si Bourne, Ed Charlton and Paul Stanyon. James Hay has been a real asset to the team this year and his brilliant goalkeeping will have helped our goal difference no end! He will take over as Captain for the coming year. This year we will sadly be saying goodbye to James Bradley-Watson a quality player, inspirational captain and general nice guy who will be missed within the club. | |
| MIXED LACROSSE |
Downing mixed lacrosse has had a very successful season this year, missing out on promotion in Michaelmas by 2 points, and remaining undefeated through Lent term resulting in our deserved promotion to Division 1; a great way to end the season. Excellent play and team commitment allowed us to secure some big wins, notably 4-0 against CUVS and 6-0 against Sidney, where practice clearly paid off. We reached the quarter finals in Cuppers but lost a close and difficult game against Newnham, but we did extremely well considering our smaller and much less experienced team! Though our success this season would not have been possible without all members of the team and their hard work, college colours were awarded to Robert Sparkes for his continued commitment and outstanding play, Lucy Gamble and Ronel Talker for exceptional improvement through the year and excellent match play. Now that we’ve reclaimed our place in the top division, I’m sure next year’s team, captained by Sophie Thorpe, will be able to maintain it! |
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| RUGBY |
DCRUFC maintained its record for the most consecutive years in the top division following a solid season, finally settling for third place. The season also saw John’s spell of dominance at the top of the table come to an end. Downing struck the first blow to John’s chances with a dogged 0-0 draw away on the first day of the season, a win which prompted talk of a title challenge. Unfortunately injuries and inconsistency played a large part in a string of poor results; it wasn’t until the new year that the team really clicked – this coincided with a succession of high scoring wins, an encouraging sign of things to come next year under the stewardship of new captain Steve Townend. Colours were awarded to Phil Hammersley, who showed consistency and sturdy ball-carrying in the loose all season, J-P Westgate, who has now scored on John’s pitches twice for Downing, and Dan Addis, who will take up the vice captain role next year. |
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| SQUASH | The Squash team this year had regular coaching for the first time , which was reflected by big improvements in many of the guys’ squash, notably James Hay who has showed constant improvement and enthusiasm since the start of the season. This year’s results were a mixed bag, with some very strong teams in our pool. However we maintained our position in the top half of the 2nd division, and there were some real standout performances. With Cuppers just around the corner, string your rackets and warm up your balls! | |
