QUEEN Mary’s College student Morten Van Der Schee has enjoyed excellent success beyond the classroom this year. Excelling in his sport of target shooting, his 2018 achievements include British champion, bronze world medallist and​ four International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) world tour medals.

At the recent British Shooting Awards, which took place at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre on November 9, Morten also won two awards for his outstanding achievements in the sport this year; Target Sprint Athlete of the Year and ISSF Major Medalist 2018.

Target sprint combines fitness and precision, shooting and running and mixes air rifle shooting and middle distance running. It requires participants to be fast, accurate shooters and to possess excellent physical fitness; skills that Morton demonstrated when breaking a British record in the World Championships in South Korea earlier this year.

 Travelling the world and competing for his country whilst balancing a heavy training and competition schedule with academic studies has been a challenge for Morten but one that he has risen to in order to succeed in both.

He said: “QMC has been very supportive and very understanding of my commitments and have always kept me up-to-date with my work. They were also able to reschedule my end-of-year exams as they clashed with an important competition in Germany. It hasn't been easy juggling my A-Levels and training but the college have certainly helped ease the pressure.”

Mum Tracy added: “Whilst competing internationally this year, Morten has unfortunately missed a number of days of college but QMC have been very understanding and have encouraged him every step of the way. His grades have not been effected and he has applied to university.

"It has been a really exciting, challenging and exhausting year for Morten but with the right support and encouragement from home and from college he has excelled in every way, beyond all of our expectations.”