A group of 28 Cornish students joined a south west regional team to beat off competitors from around the country and win the Association of Colleges Sport National Championships.

The athletes from Truro and Penwith College travelled to the competition in Newcastle to represent the college and join the South West team, competing in a range of sports with the aim of retaining the organisation's Wilkinson Sword trophy for the third consecutive year.

Last year’s gold medal winner in the squash competition, Jared London from Newquay, was chosen as male team captain and carried the regional flag at the opening ceremony and returned the Wilkinson Sword - an actual four foot sword - hoping that he would be presented with it again at the closing ceremony.

Jared was in great form, winning all his matches over the three days of competition to take the gold medal for the second time.

Five college students took part in the badminton competition: Milo Semonin from Truro fought off stiff competition to win silver in the men's singles, while Amy Polglase from Hayle and Kellen Moore from Camborne won gold in the women's doubles, and Milo’s brother Noah Semonin took fifth place in a very competitive men's doubles competition with partner Duncan Covey from Truro.

In the golf competition, Padstow’s Victoria Pawley finished with a bronze medal in the individual competition, and the South West women's team won gold overall. In the men's competition Niall Hutton from St Austell and Ben Browning from Penryn helped the team earn a bronze medal.

The women’s basketball team were up against fierce competition from regions who regularly play highly competitive basketball, and finished in sixth place.

Bryher Freight from St Stephen, Naomi Rescorla-Brown from Penzance, and Martha Carlisle from Redruth ran in the women’s cross country, with Sam Gibbons and Lewis Pascoe, both from Truro, in the men’s race, while Aran Triggs of Truro and Shannon O'Connell of Penzance were part of the swim team.

Michaella Roberts of Camborne, Caitlin Eddy of Redruth, and Savanna Crocker of Camborne helped the women's rugby team to finish in fourth place.

All students’ overall positions contributed to the Wilkinson Sword points, helping the south west region to reclaim the trophy.

Two students were also selected from a high number of applicants to act as volunteers at the championships. Liskeard’s Letitia Annand-Beanse and Truro’s Charlotte Gilbert were given roles over the weekend that included helping at the opening and closing ceremony, hockey competition and swimming gala.

Academy coordinator Julie Penprase said: "We are delighted that the students from the college were instrumental in helping the south west region to retain the overall trophy. The 10 hour journey was certainly worth it to see so many students pushing themselves both physically and mentally to compete against the best in the country. To bring home a number of gold, silver and bronze medals is credit to their hard work and training and will hopefully inspire them for the future."

The AoC Sport National Championships are now in their 38th year and remain the largest student sporting event in the UK, with nearly 1,800 students taking each year as colleges from across the country compete in 14 different sports over a three-day period.