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For the third time in the last four years, Cambridge defeated Oxford to win the trampolining varsity match, although they were pushed all the way by a superb Oxford team. The dark blues were fielding their best team ever and were noticeably confident of victory; but Cambridge’s A team of Asha Bayliss and Kate Bramall, both making their varsity debut, Nuala Tumelty, returning to the team after a 2 year absence and last year’s BUSA elite finalist Carol Evans knew an upset was always possible.

Since the winners of the A team are also the winners of the match, we chose to compete the teams in reverse order to maintain the suspense until the end.

Before the C team competition started, the reserve bouncers had their opportunity for a taste of varsity pressure. Our lone level 4 qualifier from BUCS, Gareth Tear, showed some improvement over his qualifying performance, but carelessly stepping on to the flyway after his final skill tarnished an otherwise solid routine. He recovered well to land a good voluntary routine, giving his coach some confidence for BUCS finals. Lucy Loong and Aislinn Brown both bounced strongly, completing more difficult routines than those that took them to 4th and 13th at regionals. Rose Crossgrove completed both routines which should help her recover from the disappointment of crashing at regionals.

Kat Kohler got the C team competition under way with arguably the best set routine she’s performed this year. She followed this up by landing her first voluntary routine of the day when it mattered most. The jubilant response of Kat’s team mates showed just how much that achievement meant. Although the execution scores were only good enough for 6th place, the psychological boost that Kat’s achievement gave the rest of her team was immense. Suzy Tobin, Emma Hunter and Clare Jefferys all performed routines as good as any they’ve done in training. They took the top 3 places in the individual classification and all finished with scores in the 49s.

The Oxford team battled to salvage what points they could, but with falls by Catherine Brown and Charlotte Houldcroft in their set routines and giving away 6.3 DD, Cambridge took the C team title by 29.2 points.

As the B team competition commenced, Oxford reminded the Cambridge team and large crowd that they meant business. Despite giving away a significant amount of difficulty, the Oxford trio of Tom Doey, Richard Holme and Daniel Taylor demonstrated the importance of finishing all ten skills.

Brioney Gee, who qualified for BUCS finals with the same routines, led the Cambridge B team with two top quality routines, finishing first in the B team with a total score of 52.1. Fellow BUCS finalists, Rob McNeil, Sarah Turner and Sarah Pearcey were all troubled by falls or interruptions to their set routines and after the first set routines, Cambridge trailed by 5.2. Importantly for the cup results, all the Cambridge B team were able to recover from their set routine disappointments by finishing their voluntary routines strongly. We outscored Oxford by 4.3 in the voluntary routines, which saw Oxford win the B team by 0.9, but ensured that we stayed in the overall lead by 28.3.

All indications suggested that the A team competition would be close. All competitors performed strongly in the compulsory routines, leaving the teams tied going into the voluntary routines. Bouncing first and showing no effects from the mounting pressure, Carol Evans put down her first 10 skill voluntary routine of the day to start Cambridge on a positive note. Oxford’s Devlin Glasman, competing in his first varsity match, responded with an equally good routine. Next, Nuala Tumelty, with the benefit of a solid season of training, performed near to her best voluntary routine and after a solid routine from Oxford’s Clara Williams, Cambridge held a narrow lead.

Kate Bramall maintained the standard by finishing a well controlled voluntary routine. The next Oxford bouncer, Emma Nicholson, was the first to falter under the mounting pressure as she fell during her routine. This was not fatal to Oxford’s chances however, as only the top 3 scores count towards the team total. With the Oxford captain and veteran, Jenny Crowter, to bounce last, Cambridge was relying on its final bouncer, Great Britain representative, Asha Bayliss. Bayliss completed a strong routine consisting of 5 double somersaults and a total difficulty of 9.1, sparking jubilant scenes amongst the predominantly Cambridge crowd. After 4 strong Cambridge routines, there was little Crowter could do to influence the result. She completed an almost flawless routine to claim the A team individual trophy and finish off the highest standard varsity match in the history of the competition, but the Cambridge team took the A team victory, and the match, by 2.5 points.

Overall, Cambridge retained the Varsity Cup, awarded to the club with the highest total score across all three teams, by 30.8 points.