Student Champs 2010

A first year Sports and Exercise Science student from the University of Worcester, has scooped a silver medal in the British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) downhill mountain biking championships.

Nineteen-year-old Jess Stone from Church Stretton, Shropshire, was just milliseconds away from the gold medal.

She said: “I was only 0.8seconds off the winner Emily Horridge, who is also an Elite World Cup Rider so we were battling it out for 1st place.”

Jess was happy with the result despite not doing as well as she knew she could do. “The race went well, it wasn’t to the normal standard of racing that I know I can achieve so I was quite disappointed with my result. However; for my first race of the season I should be happy with that. To win Gold in the Team and for me to bring back a silver in the DH results and gold in the Boxing (after only doing boxing for 6 months!) is great for the University.”

Jess, who is also a champion boxer, was awarded a £600 scholarship by the University of Worcester’s Scholarship Panel, for competing in downhill mountain biking competitions at an international level.

She will be competing in the Downhill World Cup this May plus a number of other national and regional races this season, including the National Downhill Championships in July and a regional race at Pierce Cycle Series in Bringewood, Ludlow, Shropshire.

She said: “I am feeling really confident and focused; I’ve been training hard so this should be a fun season.”

When she graduates from university, Jess plans to make a career out of downhill mountain biking. She said: “I would like to get as far as I can in the sport.”
The University of Worcester’s Scholarship Panel awards grants of up to £1,000 towards voluntary work or activities, to pursue a particular interest, i.e. music or arts, or towards course-related activities.