Sports highlights (Weeks 1 & 2)

The following highlights from various sports clubs and teams were compiled from recent reports. If any captains or team members have a result that you'd like to feature in the next round-up, please contact comms@caths.cam.ac.uk.

Football

St Catharine’s men’s football team faced our neighbours from King’s College in the quarter-finals of this year’s Cuppers competition. A tremendous 2-1 victory was clinched in extra time and “the fantastic support of the SCCAFC ultras, inc (sic) Sir John Benger (Master), carried us to the final whistle”. The team has been matched against Downing College in their semi-final, which will be played on the weekend of 17–18 February for anyone wanting to cheer on the squad (kick off time to be confirmed). (The Kittbag)

Rowing

St Catharine’s rowers took to the water on 27–28 January to represent Cambridge in the first fixtures of the 2024 season, in preparation for the Boat Races in March. (The Boat Race)

Clare Hole (2020, Natural Sciences; now studying an MPhil in Population Health Studies) was at 3 seat for the openweight women’s A boat who came in only one length behind the Dutch national development squad.

Matt Edge (2018, Natural Sciences; now a Chemistry PhD student) was stroke for the openweight men’s A boat who won with a 2.5 length lead over the Dutch national development squad.

Joe Holey (Maths PhD student) was a last-minute substitution at bow in the openweight men’s B boat which won by about two lengths but ended up disqualified due to clashing against the Thames Rowing Club boat.

The lightweight men’s boat included Lewis Gray (a second-year Geography undergraduate) at stroke and William Liu (a final-year Natural Sciences undergraduate) in the 2 seat, and crossed the finish line half a length ahead of the Thames Rowing Club.

Hockey   

The mixed hockey team won against a team combining Robinson, Lucy Cavendish, Corpus Christi and Peterhouse Colleges. The scoreline (officially 6-1) inspired a poetic match report which notes that our opponents “soon looked miserly”. (The Kittbag)

The second weekend of league hockey presented more challenges in the form of a doubleheader. The match against a combined King’s-Sidney-Homerton side was a 4-2 defeat, but the team “bounced back” for a 6-2 triumph over a combined Selwyn-Trinity Hall side. (The Kittbag)

Lacrosse

The mixed lacrosse team braved a freezing cold Saturday morning and quickly dispatched Robinson College with a 6-4 victory. The match report concluded “this wheely special team remains undefeated”. (The Kittbag)

Sadly, the winning streak came to an end the following weekend: Emmanuel College was able to snatch eight goals to our three. (The Kittbag)

Netball

The mixed netball team’s first match of 2024 was against Hughes Hall and featured “a comeback for the ages”: the first quarter finished 6-2 down but the match ended with a 18-15 win. (The Kittbag)

The team’s next game against Trinity College was “nice run around in the sun” that ended in a 6-21 loss. (The Kittbag)

Meanwhile, the women’s team was started off their Lent Term with a 9-9 draw against St John’s. (The Kittbag)

Their second match against Newnham was “doomed from the start” by a height disadvantage so the team was lucky to scrape 8 goals to the opposition’s 17. (The Kittbag)

Squash

Apologies to the College’s mixed squash team for omitting their promotion from last term’s reports. Our first team started 2024 in Division 2 and the first match was a 4-1 victory over Christ’s College. (University of Cambridge Sport)

Tennis

Another omission from last term’s report was the promotion of the tennis club’s second team after they came top of Division 5. As a result, both the first and second teams are competing in Division 4 this term. (University of Cambridge Sport)