Event No. 3: Running
Running. It such a pure sport. Completely without
complication. No chance of any controversy or disputes. The next time someone
tells you such rubbish you should ask them to define a scoring system for a
five-event amateur race day and see what happens.
Each point of scoring was agonisingly mulled over. How
important is the relay? How far down should points go? Should points scale in a
linear distribution or in some form of… hyperbolic function? We did finally
agree, but I won’t mention it here, quite simply because I’m scared of abuse
from online statisticians.
The event began with a supersized 8x100m relay. It was neck
and neck from the start. Well, thinking about it I suppose all races are. But
this stayed neck and neck across 8 legs in the most thrilling race of the day.
A highlight came as Todd and Livesey matched each other step for step in a fast
head to head. Into the final straight Oxford led by a few lengths, but Morgan couldn’t
keep pace and Abingdon took it on the line.
Next came the individual races: 100m, 400m and 1500m.
The 100m. The title of Culham’s fastest graduate on the
line. Oxford’s O’Callaghan stormed out the gates, and never looked back. With Abingdon
in second and Oxford in 3rd, it was a James taking Gold, Silver and
Bronze. It is quite clearly the best of all names.
In the 400m it was Quirk who led powerfully round the bend,
then managed to hold off Fulton and the long-legged Lukenskas. A win for
Abingdon.
For the 1500m Morgan and Moore gave impressive performances
securing a 1-2 finish for Oxford. Ascott put in a solid race but ended a
distant third. The hero of the day though was Litherland-Smith, who in a show
of immense team commitment, ran the entire course in his crisp blue office
wear. Despite this, the 1500m gave Oxford a commanding lead in the scores.
The stage was set for an Abingdon comeback in the 5000m the
following week. But Abingdon were wounded, tired, and frankly shocked at the
distastefulness of running during
lunchtime. An anti-climax, as Abingdon were forced to forfeit.
Litherland-Smith and Bookless on the home straight
Event No. 4: Basketball
Next it was time for the graduates to get their head in the
game for basketball. Abingdon, with the experienced Todd in charge, started as
strong favourites. But the Gradlympics has a habit of throwing up a few
surprises.
Abingdon looked like royals on the court. Decked out in matching
lush green, fresh off the press. And Oxford? Scruffy. A ragtag crew, by comparison.
Abingdon were quickly practicing with professional lay-up
routines. They had confidence, and a three-person advantage. But Oxford had an
ace in the hole, a Gradlympics debutant no less.
Erskine strode out, tall-ly. My, he certainly is tall, a
stranger might have remarked. And not only that, but one skilled in the art of
placing balls into high hoops. With Erskine at the front, Oxford put Abingdon
on the back foot from the start.
It was close, closer than any could have predicted. 2-2,
4-4. Then 8-4 Oxford. Todd came off, had a little moan about technical rule
infringements, then refocused. She led the recovery, with some good finishes by
Ascott, such that at half time the score stood at 12-10 to Abingdon.
The highlight of the match came at 14-10, when Quirk
steadied himself and, almost in slow motion, dropped in the most delicious of
3-pointers. 17-10. Todd dribbled with an appropriate amount of speed. It seemed
that every now and again she would get so bored or frustrated that she would
just dribble through the entire team and score. At the end of a bruising
quarter for Oxford, the score stood at 23-12.
But it wasn’t over. Three quick baskets for Oxford put the
scores just 5 points apart with 5 minutes to go. Erskine was on fire. But Todd
was the firefighter. Abingdon shut it down and the game ended 27-18 to the
bun-throwers.
It had been fast and energetic. Unexpectedly fun, was the
general consensus. Abingdon’s uniforms were dripping in beautiful back sweat. A
perfect time for photos!
Abingdon
Oxford
Event No.5: Softball
Softball is the sport with likely the best claim of being
the Sport of Culham. The grads on arrival had heard legends of softball
tournaments gone by. Alongside the MASCOT manipulators and In-bore cutting and welding tools, a trophy still stands in RACE’s foyer.
Now softball is not that well known in the UK. So if you
haven’t heard, the rules go something like this: If you hit you run. Except
when it’s a foul ball. A foul ball is a strike. Except on the third strike.
Until the fourth no ball, when you can walk instead of run. If you do run,
don’t overrun. Else you’ll risk being run out. Which is bad.
Strikes. What sort of sport names the action of missing the
ball literally a verb which means to make contact?
Anyway, on to the game. First ball, O’Callaghan steps up and
launches Cooper’s pitch like a rocket towards the trees. But only second base. Measures
gets off the mark with a dropped catch. Korzeniowska had some beautiful swings,
and some beautiful leaves. It’s just a shame they were in the wrong order.
The images in our heads beforehand of home runs into the
cheering crowds were quickly replaced by finickity discussions on what
constitutes a valid pitch, and something about stomping. First innings over. A
total of 5 scores. Was that good? Literally no idea.
Abingdon’s turn. It was a good start until Robson came foul
of three strikes, but otherwise Abingdon worked well, with a healthy mixture of
hitting and walking. 7 scored. Advantage Abingdon.
One innings down. Six to go. Jimmy checks his watch. Jimmy
does some maths. One innings to go.
Oxford restart their line-up and get back round to
O’Callaghan. Cooper this time wants payback, and ups the speed of his pitches.
This was effective and Oxford had their backs against the wall with two out. In
the face of Cooper’s fireballs they still got the bases loaded, ready for
Stuart to get them home. But Stuart was struggling – two strikes, two foul
balls. Last chance saloon. He nudges a ball to Quirk who slings it to catcher
Richyal. A chance to run them out on a low score. A chance missed.
The ball sails past Richyal and ends up tucked up against
blue Ford estate. Oxford jog home for 4 extra runs. Every runner past the line
seemed to add a decade to Quirk’s face. Oxford rode their high to the maximum
10 points.
Abingdon had a tough task ahead of them. They had some early
success against Witty’s pitches. Bookless had majestic poise as he watched four
balls drop at his feet. Hawkes was strutting like Beyoncé as he made it home.
But it was not to be. The game ended, fittingly, on a mix up in the running. Victory
for Oxford. They take a 3-2 lead into the Easter break.
Reflecting on another sport over, it was hard not to notice
the lack of exhaustion. A few whispered softly under their breath; Softball is
really… a lot of standing around. Don’t
tell.
The games restart with Badminton. Stay tuned.