STUDENT VOICE | Page 28

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Sport and Fitness students win at Association of Colleges National Championships badminton doubles. In the latter event – they won a gold medal! Biatrice Gabell, 16 and Emma Cook, 21 took home the gold despite Emma playing through the semi-final and final with an injury to her thumb, picked up in her fifth match, that required a visit to Accident and Emergency. Thirty three students left from the College and arrived in Bath to compete in the Association of Colleges (AoC) Sport National Championships. It was revealed to Emma that she had really bad ligament damage that may require surgery in the future, but this did not stop her playing their final two matches the following day. Incredibly, throughout all seven matches, the girls did not lose a single set. For the sixth year in a row, the College had participants in men’s football, men’s volleyball, Also, Mark Ferguson was women’s volleyball and women’s awarded the Most Valuable 28 Player (MVP) for the men’s volleyball tournament, while Rebecca Johnston was MVP in the women’s game. Ayrshire College’s men’s volleyball team finished 5th in the overall rankings – an impressive achievement considering the top three teams had England internationalists in their squad. Before making the trip to Bath, 16-year-old Biatrice – who is also a Scottish under–18s weightlifting champion in her weight category - said “I think we’ll do well, to be honest. I’ve got Emma by my side – she’s really good! So I can’t wait.” Emma, 21, represented Scotland at her age group before taking a break from the THE STUDENT VOICE: EDITION 4