Cambridge University Modern Pentathlon Club’s (CUMPC) novice athletes put in a superb set of performances in last weekend’s novice Varsity match away against their Oxford counterparts, with a number of new recruits claiming individual prizes to suggest a promising season for CUMPC is to come.

In a competition reduced to just four events – horse riding, one of the typical components of the modern pentathlon, was not included – CUMPC’s 13 rookies dominated the swimming and run-and-shoot events. Indeed, having won the overall men’s team competition, the Light Blues were unfortunate not to claim the overall women’s team prize too, which was narrowly edged by the well-drilled Dark Blues outfit. 

The tournament began with the traditional round-robin épée fencing tournament, with every athlete facing off against each other on the piste in 21 fast-paced bouts each, to try and claim victory by securing just one elusive hit. The men’s competition was an exceptionally tight affair, with four of the five competitors split by just three points. And though Oxford’s Heinrich Garnet won the event with a tally of 17 victories, CUMPC’s Hector Newman ran the Oxonian a close second with 14 victories, while the Light Blues’ Fred Benham-Croswell and Zac Howe tied for third with 11 victories each.

The results in the ladies’ fencing meanwhile were far more disparate, dominated by the Dark Blues. Oxford’s Phoebe Baxter put her prior experience to excellent use to claim a runaway first place with 17 victories – though, notably, not against CUMPC’s Newman, whose gutsy underdog performance saw him pull off an impressive victory. Indeed, after Honor Murison and Rebecca Oates made up to Oxford first, second and third with 14 and 13 victories respectively, came the Light Blues’ most successful fencer, Susannah Bodie, who put in a fine performance on the piste to claim a respectable fourth place thanks to her 12 victories. 

The second event of the day, the combined shoot and run – which consists of four 800-metre runs, split by a shoot at each interval – saw yet more Light Blue success on a greater scale. In the men’s competition, it was CUMPC’s turn to pull out their trump card: Howe, who holds a Blue in the 800 metres with the Cambridge University Athletics Club, stormed to victory in super-quick time. And there was more for the Light Blues to cheer as Benham-Crosswell pulled out all the stops to come in second place, just behind his teammate. 

The women’s event also saw CUMPC top the podium, as Amy Radford’s accurate shooting saw her finish in first place, almost two minutes ahead of her nearest rival. And while Oxford’s Baxter and Murison continued to look strong, taking second and third place respectively, the Light Blues’ Ada Krzak was only five seconds off the pace, coming in a respectable fourth. 

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And as the competition reached its conclusion, all eyes turned to the pool for the final event: a straightforward 200-metre freestyle race. In the men’s race, the race straight from the off became a straight shootout between two CUMPC’s athletes. Racing neck and neck, it was Newman who would prevail over Benham-Crosswell by a mere second.

Meanwhile, in the women’s competition, Dark Blue Baxter continued her domination on the event but shared the swimming victor’s spoils with CUMPC’s Anna Gibbons, who recorded fine time of 2:38:00 to claim tied first place. And while Oxford’s Georgia Mason claimed third place, notable results for Light Blues Hazel Scurr and Eleanor Sealy – who came in fourth and fifth respectively – capped off a successful swim for the CUMPC team.

With all events complete, the aggregated scores made pleasing reading for the CUMPC’s men’s team. As well as winning the team competition, Howe’s incredible performance in the combined event secured the Selwynite first position overall, and he was joined by his teammates Benham-Crosswell in second and Newman in third.

Meanwhile, the quality of the Dark Blues’ all-rounders, with Baxter dominant throughout, had given their team the overall victory but Gibbons’s strong swim and Radford’s superb effort in the combined event saw both claim the final two places on the podium.

There were many positives to take home for CUMPC. Indeed, speaking to Varsity after the event, the CUMPC women’s team captain, Claire Worrall, was in a celebratory mood: “All the novices put in a fantastic effort across all the disciplines and it is great to see how far they’ve come,” she said.

“For many of them, they’ve only started training for some of these events three weeks ago! The results were really promising and we’re really looking forward to seeing how everyone progresses throughout the year and get these exciting prospects involved in the Varsity match next term.”

CUMPC: Benham-Crosswell, Howe, Newman, Bodie, Braithwaite, Bushrod, Cullimore-Pike, Garnett, Gibbons, Krzak, Radford, Scurr, Sealy

Oxford: Oates, Baxter, Murison, Mason, Sharrock, Garnet