TWENTY-ONE elite sporting students have qualified to represent their college and the South West at a national competition in April.

The team of students will be competing in a range of sports, from Badminton, Squash and Golf to Swimming, Cross Country and Rugby, at the Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport National Championships next month in Tyne and Wear.

The team, all studying at Truro and Penwith College, will compete against athletes from colleges across England, Wales and Scotland. As well as individual glory, the group will be aiming to accumulate points for the South West region and win the prestigious Wilkinson Sword trophy.

During qualifying, the Badminton team fought off stiff competition from other colleges from the region to win four out of five tournaments. The College also dominated the Golf competition with Emily Toy, from Penryn, winning the Ladies’ group with a course record, with Padstow’s Victoria Pawley in second place. Niall Hutton from St Austell and Ben Browning from Penryn also qualified for the Men’s competition.

Last year’s Gold medal winner Jared London, from Newquay, once again won the Men’s Squash tournament and has subsequently been selected from the whole South West team to be the male team captain.

The Cross Country team is also well represented by students from the College, with Truro’s Yoyo Barnsley winning the Ladies’ competition, and Naomi Rescorla-Brown, from Penzance, and Martha Carlisle, from Redruth, qualifying as top 8 finishers. Plus, in the Men’s race, Looe’s Frankie Aldred finished second with Isaac Parker from Par and Tom Luton from Newquay also qualifying.

In Swimming, Penzance’s Shannon O’Connell won the 100m Breaststroke race to qualify for the team, and in Rugby, the women’s team sees Michaella Roberts (Camborne), Caitlin Eddy (Redruth), Savanna Crocker (Camborne) and Zara Barker (Helston) all successfully make squad selection.

Truro and Penwith College’s Academy Coordinator, Julie Penprase, said: "We are looking forward to experiencing a new-look championship in Tyne and Wear. It is an exciting opportunity for our students to compete on a national stage against the best college teams in the country. Hopefully we can be instrumental in helping the South West region to retain the overall trophy."

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 part last year.