St Mary’s Students Nominated for National Awards

Two students from St Mary’s University, Twickenham have been nominated for awards at the annual British Universities and Colleges Sports (BUCS) awards.

Postgraduate student Claudia Burrough has been nominated for the Volunteer of the Year award, whilst first year undergraduate and Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) athlete Anna Møller has been nominated for Sportswoman of the Year.

Claudia has had an impressive year, clocking up over 200 hours of voluntary work for the University’s recreational sports programme SIMMSactive, and served as president to two sports clubs and societies.

With SIMMSactive she has helped to organise sports activities for over 350 students and served as project manager for the annual Simmie Girls Can week to boost sports participation with women. Through her work as president of Ultimate Frisbee and of the No Ordinary Society, Claudia developed innovate new programmes and inspired participation in sport through both clubs.

In her debut season at St Mary’s, Anna meanwhile was crowned national champion at two major BUCS championships whilst continuing her stellar international career with Denmark. Having competed at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the 3000m Steeplechase, Anna has undertaken competing at a range of distances. She won the women’s race at the BUCS Cross Country Championships, and went on to win the 5000m title at the BUCS Outdoor Championships.

Anna continued her international career, setting the Danish 5km women’s record of 15:35 in Monaco, winning the European U23 Cross Country Championships, finishing as the fastest  European in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, and winning five Danish and Nordic Championships.

Speaking of their nominations, Head of Sport at St Mary’s Andrew Reid-Smith said, “We are delighted to see that the excellent work of both Claudia and Anna has been reflected in their nomination for these prestigious awards.  Both Anna and Claudia are outstanding examples of the different ways in which St Mary’s students engage with the student sport programme – we wish them every success.”