#TEAMANU stormed Sydney from the 28th of September to the 3rd of October for the 2014 Australian University Games (AUGs). The annual AUG event is a weeklong multi-sport competition, which has grown to be Australia’s largest annual multi-sport event. In 2014 over 7,000 students from 41 universities competed in 32 sports.

On Sunday the 28th of September the ANU’s largest ever squad made their way up the Hume for the event, with 176 students and 14 team managers representing the ANU in 15 sports. Competition commenced early Monday morning with many ANU teams scheduled for 8am or 8:30am starts. Some of our teams were lucky enough to compete in Olympic Venues used during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Competition ran from Monday to Friday with teams usually playing two games each day and enjoying plenty of entertainment and activities at the venues. RedBull and Ice Break were omnipresent throughout the event.

Throughout the event #TEAMANU had some fantastic results. As usual the ANU Boat Club was prominent on the podiums at the Rowing championships. After heats and repechage rounds the club had qualified for 12 out of a possible 16 A finals at the Australian University Games in Sydney, ANU’s rowers went on to win 6 medals, including 2 gold. The athletes enjoyed ideal racing conditions on the final day at Penrith Lakes to notch up their tally of 2 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.

The gold medals were in the mixed four (Dave Wright, Luke Letcher, Cara Grzeskowiak,Maddy Farrar and Gen Kinoshita) and the women’s double (Maddy Farrar and CaraGrzeskowiak). The silver medals were in the men’s single (Luke Letcher) and women’s single (Cara Grzeskowiak).The bronze medals were in the women’s lightweight quad scull (GeorginaIms, Sabina Bertuzzi, Siobhan Tobin and Anna Peterson) and the men’s lightweight four (Nathan Ryan, Stephen Morris, Mark Dawkins and Will Stoltz). The result placed ANU third of the nineteen participating universities in the overall regatta point score, behind Sydney and Melbourne.

The Women’s Softball had an outstanding tournament. The competition was evenly matched and it took the players a few fixtures to get into their groove. The team faced strong competition early, up against eventual winners Monash, Sydney Uni and UNSW first. Despite losing all three fixtures the team stayed confident, knowing their best was still to come. The team won 4 of their remaining 5 games and only went down to runners up UTS in a nail bitter 6-9. Luckily for the team, results fell their way and their strong finish was enough to get them into the 3rd place playoff where they annihilated UNSW 11-3. To cap off an excellent 3rd place finish pitchers Emma Carlin and Jen Mason won selection in the Green and Gold team.

Down at Maroubra our Beach Volleyball team took the competition by surprise winning Gold in Mixed 4’s Division 2. Few suspected Canberra to produce beach volleyball players, including our own, who were all indoor players. The Team arrived on day 1 and recorded 2 strong victories. On day 2 however the team slipped up dropping both matches. On day 3 the team got back to their winning ways and never looked back, rounding out the pool stages with three straight wins. In the Quarter Final they faced tournament favourites Flinders University, but their winning ways continued downing their opponents 2-1. And the rest is history beating USYD and James Cook University 2-0 each to claim a division 2 gold medal.

The ANU men’s Futsal Team were out for blood at the AUGs after being snubbed from division 1 despite winning silver at EUGs earlier this year. Cross town rivals and EUG gold medallists UC were also seeded into division 2. The boys were out to prove a point in their opening match on day 1 winning 17-0, from there they cruised through the pool stages and stormed into a Semi Final showdown with UC, it was common belief both sides would have made the division 1 final. Unfortunately our boys went down 4-8 after holding an early 3-0 lead. The boys easily claimed the 3rd defeating USYD 6-3.

Uni Games is one of the most uniquely student events available to ANU Students, and many students have said it’s the most enjoyable experience of their university career. From the competition to the social program it’s an event for everyone. ANU will be back at all Uni Games events again in 2015, if you are interested in getting involved check out the ANU Sport website.

Other notable results:

Ultimate Disc – 8th Division 1

Women’s water polo – 4th division 2

Women’s Touch – 5th Division 2

Green and Gold

Riccardo Roccisano – Judo

Adelaide Dennis – Ultimate Disc

David Bennet is the Community Development Coordinator at ANU Sport