Photo - Alumna Sophie Lewis pictured in the centre. 

We are very proud of our alumnae who have continued to achieve sporting success at national and international level. During the Easter break, BGS Alumnae Maddie Axford (2021) and Sophie Lewis (2020) achieved exceptional results in hockey and cycling.

Following her trophy winning moment at the recent British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) Championship final, Maddie Axford claimed a historic bronze medal for England at the Junior Women’s World Cup in Potchefstroom, South Africa (1st – 12th April).

The England U21 women, who only came together as a squad two months ago, beat India 3-0 in a shoot-out to claim bronze after the teams were locked at 2-2 after normal time. India were fielding three Tokyo Olympians.

It was player of the match Maddie Axford who scored the winning shootout, and she said after the game: “It’s such an amazing feeling, I can’t believe it! We have put such a shift in, I am genuinely speechless. We’ve worked so hard. Everyone held their own, we never gave up and it all paid off, which is amazing.” You can enjoy watching Maddie’s winning shootout here.

Maddie is studying Criminology in her first year at the University of Nottingham and is playing in the top tier of the British Universities and College Sport Competition (BUCS). She is also representing the university on Saturdays.

GB cycling sensation, Sophie Lewis, won a gold medal at the National Omnium Championships in Derby (2nd April). Sophie put in a powerful performance, scoring in six of the eight sprints on offer and finishing with 143 points in total.

Commenting on her first place finish, Sophie said: ““I didn’t think I’d win today. It was pretty brutal but I feel it got better with each race that went on. The points race was pretty tight at the top end. It was pretty full gas for the whole 60 laps.”

This followed on from Sophie’s incredible performance in the Women’s National Madison Championships, where she claimed a silver medal alongside Maddie Leech in a thrilling race, only losing their lead in the final 20 laps to eventual winners Dame Laura Kenny and Neah Evans.

We also wish good luck to our inspirational alumnae including our very own Mrs Mason-McLeod (née Mason, BHS 2004), who are competing for Bedford Ladies Hockey O35s in the England Hockey Championship Masters O35s Tier 1 Final this Sunday at 2pm. The alumnae competing in the team are: Sarah-Jane McDonald (née Darrington, BHS 2003), Kate Costin (BHS 2003), Katherine Winger (née Wood, DAHS 1996), Hannah Shanahan (née Shires, DAHS 2001) and Natalia Norford Reynolds (née Norford, BHS 2001).