Anglia Ruskin athletes’ great eight

Students Mateja Glusac and Matt Kavanagh both took home golds in the men’s under-90kg and men’s under-81kg events respectively and qualified for the European University Championships in Reims, France, later this year. Tara Fitzjohn, Lee Carder and Karlo Lackovic won silver, while Andre Rosa, Janaina Magalhaes and Armani Alonso-Young received bronze medals.

Computer Science student Mateja, 21, (pictured), originally from Belgrade, saw off the challenge of Rhys Thompson of Loughborough University in his final. He said: “This event has been a focus of ours for many months so to fight for Anglia Ruskin and get gold feels great.”

Matt Kavanagh, from Hornchurch, triumphed over fellow Anglia Ruskin student Karlo Lackovic in his final, following up his gold medal last year. The 21-year-old Law student and Sports Scholar said: “I’m pleased with my performance and I look forward to competing in the European University Championships in France later this year as a result. It is great that the training is really paying off.”

There was also a notable performance from mascot Ruskin the Rhino, who finished 6th in the colourful mascot race, thanks to an impressive sprint finish. A video clip of the race can be viewed here.

Martin Beaver, Head of Sport and Active Anglia, said: “This was another very successful year for Anglia Ruskin and we believe that our points tally will place us in the top 20 universities at the BUCS National Championships for the second successive year.

“In addition to our impressive judokas, we continue to make good progress in the swimming pool and this year we had fencers competing for us for the first time. We continue to invest in sport at Anglia Ruskin and this is really starting to pay off in competition.”

 
*******

For more press information please contact:
Jon Green on t: 0845 196 4717, e: jon.green@anglia.ac.uk
Jamie Forsyth on t: 0845 196 4716, e: jamie.forsyth@anglia.ac.uk
___________________________________