On February 14, Newcastle University Athletics & Cross-Country Club (NUAXC) participated in the BUCS Indoors championship with high chances of taking home some medals.
Two of their athletes, Joy Eze and Etienne Maughan, came home with two medals, and Joy managed to break the BUCS Indoor record for 60m. I had the chance to sit down with them and ask them a few questions, and we talked about expectations and dealing with university while taking part in a performance sport.
The team returned to Sheffield after intense weeks of training and their expectations were high: ‘Going into a championship like BUCS, I expected to medal and execute a race that would put me in contention to do that’, said Etienne to The Courier.
She ended up placing 2nd in 60m hurdles, and when asked about her preparations she focused on three things: Speed, strength, and technique. Her main focus was on the technical points that her coaches thought she could improve, especially when looking at her previous races in the indoor season.
The preparation for BUCS was quite smooth and felt like a continuous building process from the start of indoors.
She states that ‘the preparation for BUCS was quite smooth and felt like a continuous building process from the start of indoors.’ Maughan also confessed that her mental preparation was just as important as her physical one to ‘ensure I gave myself the best possible chance of performing well’.
When asked about how she manages coursework with training, she said that it is one of the hardest aspects of being a student athlete, as it tests her ability to plan and organise. ‘I like to manage it by setting aside time in my day for each aspect and compartmentalizing these, so they don’t get too intertwined… I know when I train, I have the space of a few hours that day to forget about outside pressures, and likewise when I’m doing work, the same level of focus on the present moment is there'.
She admits that it has been a process and it’s been challenging sometimes, but she doesn’t want to stop competing or training whilst at university because it plays a key role in maintaining her mental health and general wellbeing.
With the indoor season finished, her next focus is the preparation for outdoor competitions, which also involves the transition to 100 hurdles. She states that she’s ‘excited to build on indoors and look at what improvements need to be made to help me work towards my aims for the outdoor season’.
Joy Eze, on the other hand, caught the eye of the media when she broke the BUCS 60m Women’s Indoor Record, setting it at 7:19 seconds. When asked about her expectations for the competition, she stated that she wanted to ‘continue to build on the progress I had made so far from my previous indoor races and hopefully set a new personal best, as well as come away with a medal’.
I was more expectant to break it in 2023 based on my form then but in no way did I think I would break it twice this year.
Breaking a BUCS record is a great achievement, but she didn’t expect it to break it this year: ‘To be honest, I was more expectant to break it in 2023 based on my form then but in no way did I think I would break it twice this year… It came as a huge shock to me in the semis and even more-so in the final’.
And what’s her preparation, you may ask. Well, she said to The Courier that it was ‘the same as it always has been’. She explained that she focused more on speed and practising her start rather than continuing with winter training: ‘Thankfully, I haven't had any injuries this season which made life so much easier as I have had injuries in the past which have disrupted my training quite a bit’.
Joy is not new to winning. In 2023, she became the U20 European Champion, but she said that when she crossed the finish line in Sheffield, she felt ‘quite happy because it's not something that is done easily, it's a record for a reason and it stood for 4 years, showing that it was a really quick time’.
She also stated that breaking that record just proved to her that all her work is finally paying off: ‘I am in really good shape, so it was most definitely rewarding’.
When asked about how she manages her coursework with sport, she said that ‘being a student athlete requires a lot of discipline and time management, otherwise it will all fall apart’. As a 3rd year pharmacy student, she stated that she is ‘often playing catch-up due to not having a lot of free time but it's something I have learnt to deal with, and I try my best to get as much done’.
She has recently been selected to represent Team GB at the Senior European Indoor Championships, which marks her first senior vest. Looking ahead, she just hopes to continue on the momentum of good performances, and she wants to get the most out of this experience: ‘This is a very good opportunity for me to experience a major championship and I am just so happy to be here’.
As the Indoor season comes to an end, will we see more success from NUAXC during their outdoor competitions?