Students strike gold at national champs

The nine-strong squad, which consisted of students and those on the university's excellence programme, claimed a total of four gold medals from the competition, held in Sheffield last month, across a range of weights and age groups.

Every entrant from the programme returned home with a medal and a place in the 2016 British squad, with four of the nine being crowned British champions in their category.

The stand-out performer was 16-year-old Kelly Peterson, who won three medals – gold in junior under-70kg, silver in the cadets under-57kg and bronze in the senior women's under-100kg category.

Peterson is part of the university's Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence programme (AASE), which allows young athletes to train on a close to full-time basis while also continuing with their studies.

Fantastic

Student and community club member Sebastian Green also returned home a champion after winning gold in the senior men's under-81kg event, while Jodie Caller, another member of the ASSE scheme, won gold in the junior women under-57kg category.

Rounding off the gold medallists was student Philip Awiti, who won the senior men's under-100kg category.

Dave Elmore, the university's judo development officer, said: "It was a really fantastic set of results.

"To have nine University of Wolverhampton-trained players in the tournament and for every one of them to come away with a medal is fantastic.

"For four of those to win gold and become British champions is simply phenomenal.

"It is what they deserve for all their hard work and demonstrates that the university is building a reputation and a track record of helping produce top class athletes."

In addition to the gold medal haul, there was a silver medal for Tomas Luckus in the under-90kg junior men's event and Bryony Griffiths in the cadets under-57kg, while Paige Wilkes took bronze in the cadets' under-70kg event.

Molly Storey and Isaac Gagin, who claimed bronze in the junior women's under-52kg and senior men's under-60kg events, rounded off the success.

The team of nine were made up of University of Wolverhampton students, University of Wolverhampton Community Club members and participants in the AASE scheme.

Delivered by the university, the scheme enables talented young athletes between the ages 16 and 18 to train part-time in an elite environment, while continuing their studies at sixth form.

They also complete two NVQ Level 3 qualifications in sporting excellence, for which they produce a portfolio of work around technical, tactical, physical, nutrition, lifestyle, and physiological aspects of the sport.

AASE students also continue to train with their own community clubs, where they receive additional coaching from their own personal club coaches.

Once the AASE has been completed they then access the university's Leap Programme and then continue on to a sports-related degree course.

The University of Wolverhampton's Walsall Campus is home to the British Judo Centre of Excellence and the GB World-Class Performance Programme.

Results: Gold medals: Kelly Peterson (junior women's U70kg), Jodie Caller (junior women's U57kg), Seb Green (senior men's U81kg), Philip Awati (senior men's U100kg).

Silver medals: Bryony Griffiths (cadets U57kgs), Kelly Peterson (cadets U70kg), Tomas Luckus (junior men's U90kg).

Bronze medals: Molly Storey (junior women's U52kg), Isaac Gagin (senior men U60kg), Kelly Peterson (senior women U70kg)