Cronton Sixth Form students compete at AoC Sport National Championships

Students from Cronton Sixth Form College and Riverside College competed at the AoC Sport National Championships in Nottingham last weekend, coming home with a gold medal as they helped the North West to finish in third place.

Philippa Birchall, Savannah Sumner, Rachael Porter, KerriAnn Smith competing as part of the women’s rugby team, Robyn Cosgrove and Alex Bowman competing in table tennis, Amy Redman in tennis and Corey Lever as the goalkeeper in the hockey team all travelled to the University of Nottingham where they battled against athletes from colleges across England, Wales and Northern Ireland during the three-day event.

As well as individual glory, teams accumulated points for their region in order to win the prestigious Wilkinson Sword trophy.

Keith Barker, Head of the WellFit team at the college accompanied the students to the competition and said, “All the students competed to the best of their ability throughout the whole weekend, some even competing from Friday afternoon through to Sunday morning.

“Amy was part of the victorious North West Tennis team that won Gold, beating the London region in the final!”

The South East region retained the Wilkinson Sword trophy in a highly competitive weekend.

The region finished nine points clear of second-placed South West, while the North West finished in third place.

More than 1700 college students took part in the National Championships which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, at a variety of venues including the University of Nottingham’s David Ross Sports Village, Nottingham Wildcats Arena, Morley Hayes Golf Club, Nottingham Tennis Centre and Nottingham Hockey Centre.

The athletes competed across 13 different sports, including football, squash, hockey, basketball and cricket.

AoC Sport Managing Director Marcus Kingwell said: “What a fantastic weekend we’ve had at this year’s National Championships.

“Thanks to the hard work of the University of Nottingham, Nottingham Conferences, volunteers, AoC Sport staff and, of course, the competitors, coaches and college staff, the past three days have been a resounding success.

“Congratulations to all who took part, we’re already looking forward to seeing you all again next year.”