COLEG Menai student Noa Vaughan won bronze in the national college championships endurance run, competing against some of the UK’s best young athletes.

Noa, who studies Level 3 Sport & Exercise Science at the Llangefni campus, was chosen to captain the Wales Colleges Sport team for the AoC (Association of Colleges) Sport National Championships.

Noa, from Y Felinheli, finished the 5.1km multi-terrain race in an impressive 16 minutes four seconds, just eight seconds behind winner Owen Ulfig, and five seconds behind silver medallist Sam Plummer.

Also competing for Wales were Coleg Llandrillo learner Elis Jones, who was 28th in 18:11, and Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor student Tomos Morgan (41st, 18:58). There were 71 finishers in a high-quality field.

Noa said: “It was an honour, as always, to represent Wales - but even more so to have the opportunity of captaining the whole men’s team and walking down the aisle with the Welsh flag. The atmosphere of the opening ceremony was amazing and it really did get me excited towards the race.

“The race itself was very tough. It included a lot of hills throughout, and it felt very warm. It was a very positive result for me because I showed that I could compete with some of the best young athletes in the UK.”

Despite feeling ill on the day of the competition, Noa secured bronze to add to an impressive list of athletic achievements over the past few months.

A member of the Eryri Harriers running club, he won gold at the Welsh Under-20 Cross-Country Championship in Cardiff in January, a few weeks after also winning the North Wales title.

Noa won the Welsh Inter-Regional Cross-Country Championship in November, while back in September he claimed an impressive silver medal while representing Wales in the British and Irish Junior Mountain Running Championships.