211075 Downing Record 07 - Downing College - University of ...

College clubs and societiesAthleticsCaptain: Clare PalmerIt was another strong performance for Downing College in the 2006/07 athleticsseason. The October cuppers saw Downing secure four event wins and eight top threeperformances in total. The girl’s team came away with an impressive 3rd position.In the cross country College league, Downing finished in a respectable 9th position.Special mention should be given to those Downing athletes who represented theUniversity in the striking 3–1 victory over Oxford in this year’s athletics Varsity match.For the Blues teams, Andy Bennett once again gave an impressive performance inthe high jump and Clare Palmer competed in the shot putt, discus and javelin. Forthe Alligators (Women’s second team) Phoebe Bointon won the triple jump whilstKatie Irgin and Kristina Clark secured second place in the 100m hurdles and javelinrespectively. The captaincy team due to take hold next season is bursting withenthusiasm and determined to take our previous successes onto a higher level andto dominate as a Downing force at the October cuppers.Men’s BadmintonBadminton Captain and Coach: Alex SmithIn Michaelmas, our eyes were set on promotion out of the lowly 3rd division. A fewearly narrow defeats put paid to that idea as the new team got used to match play.At times, the pressure got to us and we under-performed, finishing around midtable.Lent term started off, despite our optimism, with a narrow defeat to Girton.So, we got proactive and mixed the team around in an attempt to balance it formore wins. The new system allowed more flexibility in the pairings and, despite stillnot quite being at our best, we came away with a crucial win against Churchill toat least ensure that we can stay in the 3rd division and try for the second next year.Cuppers was not particularly successful with both men’s and mixed teams losingout in the first round. Nevertheless, getting together with the girls for mixed wasan entertaining experience and we hope to integrate the two teams more next year.Therefore, it was a solid year in general, setting us up for some promotionpossibilities next year. The team spirit at Downing has been brilliant; from socialsto training even to the matches themselves. As for the awards: Richard Turnerand Tom Ash attained colours while Jamie Wilson moves to captain us next yearin another bid to bring Downing Badminton back up the league.Thanks to all the team for a great year.79