Sports Round-Up - Summer 2023 | Epsom College
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Sports Round-Up – Summer 2023

The summer holidays saw a run of sporting success locally, nationally and internationally

Athletics

In Athletics George Johnson continued his superb javelin throwing with a 4th placed finish for England Schools in the Home Countries international meeting.

Cricket

In Cricket, as term ended, the U14 girls won their County Cup Final against Alleyn’s and the Boys U15s beat KCS Wimbledon to win the County Cup.

The U15 boys then faced King’s Macclesfield in the National Final in early July. The team had qualified by winning the Surrey County Cup, before beating Tonbridge, The Leys School, Merchant Taylor’s and Marlborough College to reach the National final. A terrific all-round performance saw the boys win comfortably and become national champions. No fewer than three of this U15 team were selected for the prestigious Bunbury Festival side over the summer – Ralphie Albert, Nathan Farmer and Alfie Haxton – it is exceptionally rare for one school to have so many top players recognised.

Football

In Football, Mikel Obeng-John captained the England ISFA team over the summer.

Golf

In Golf, Kris Kim has taken his success to unheralded levels over the summer. He won the Fairhaven Trophy and the MacGregor Trophy. He was part of the England team that won the Home Internationals against the other nations in the UK. He was part of the England team that came third in the European Championships and in the process broke the course record. Even more impressively he won the 2023 R&A Boys Amateur Championship and was selected to represent Europe in the Junior Ryder Cup. He is ranked first in the European ratings and can be considered as the best young golfer in Europe.

Squash

In Squash, Savannah Ingledew competed in the World Junior Championships Individual and Team Events, representing South Africa. She then followed this up by winning the South Africa National title making her the best female squash player in South Africa.

Ronnie Hickling is the U16 World Racketlon Champion after winning the competition in Rotterdam. Racketlon combines performance in Table Tennis, Badminton, Squash and Tennis.

Target Rifle

In Target Rifle, the major competitions come after the break up for Summer. The team had its most successful season in over a decade. The team competed at the Commonwealth Meeting, winning all of the U19 trophies available, with Kenan Kousetta the top U19 shot. This was followed up with a phenomenal performance at the Schools’ Nationals. The First Eight, made up of Alex Key, Josh Dixon, Arthur van Grondelle, Kenan Kousetta, Leo Skingley, Gemma Williams, Theo Maxwell Randeria and Zoe Moir, came second in the country. The Schools Four, of Oli Scott, Janice Leung, Lucy Hughes and Jamie Williams, came top in the country, as did the U16 Four, of Rafi Darwish, Harry Hamlyn, Aaron Patel and Bryce Whitley. This is the first time that both fours have won their competitions since 2009. The U16 First Pair came second to Dollar by a single point, while the Second Pair came top.

16 pupils out of the 19 on the team walked away with at least one medal, an unprecedented breadth of success across the team. Special mentions also go to Mrs Jeens, who came second in the staff match; Zoe Moir, who had the highest U16 score on the same day; and Theo Maxwell Randeria, who won the Cadet Grand Aggregate, meaning that he had the highest score across the four days of the meeting out of the top 600 CCF cadets in the country.
Leo Skingley, Gemma Williams, Lucy Hughes, and Jamie Williams represented Wales at the Cadet International, while Kenan Kousetta and Theo Maxwell Randeria were selected for England Cadets.

Mrs Jeens was selected as Adjutant for the Welsh team in the Home Countries National match, with Leo Skingley (F) and Gemma Williams (Wh) gained full adult caps for Wales. Leo, Gemma, and Kenan also represented the GB U18 Cadet team on tour in Canada in August, while Theo represented the UK Cadets on a tour to Jersey.

Having won the cadet indoor national championships earlier this year, this team achieved remarkable things and thanks go to Mr Nuthall, Mrs Jeens, Mr Emeny, Mr Lothian, Miss Myagkova, Miss Farish, Sgt Reilly, Dr Huxter and all the OE coaches who helped make their success possible.

Hockey

Under the leadership of Epsom’s new Director of Hockey, Brett Garrard, 46 pupils and 5 members of staff visited the home of World and Olympic hockey champions, Holland. The group had an action packed schedule, with 5 training sessions and 3 games against local opposition. The pupils trained at the outstanding facilities of HC Schiedam, boasting 6 astroturf pitches.

The group was split into 3 teams, U15, 2nd and 1st teams. Each team had three very competitive games. The U15s won 1, drew 1 and lost 1. The 2nd team had a great start, by winning the first two games, before falling against a very strong HC Derby U16A team. The team of the tour however, were the 1st XI who won all of their games, scoring 19 goals and conceding just 1.

It was a fantastic preseason tour and the players will move into the season with high hopes.

Rugby

A productive three days was had by the U15 Rugby squad in Swansea at the end of August. 24 players accompanied Mr Buhagiar and Mr Adams headed to Swansea University to make use of their excellent facilities, including a 6 lane 60m indoor sprint track, performance gym, and full-height sports hall. The University men’s rugby programme is a high performance programme with their 1st XV side competing in the BUCS Super Ruby League alongside 9 other elite university programmes. Recent alumni include Welsh internationals Alyn Wynn Jones, Huw Bennett and Rhys Priestland. Epsom’s U15s were able to maximise their time training in preparation for the forthcoming rugby season whilst on tour. The tour provides the team with a platform to launch a successful season.