Box Hill Athletic Club won its First State League Premiership since 1995 and its first female title since 1993 with a commanding 51-point win over Melbourne University, Essendon and Doncaster. The win was particularly pleasing, as several of the clubs star athletes were unavailable for the final. The win is a credit to the hard work and dedication of Team Manger Val Armstrong, who has consistently been able to bring together a strong team throughout the long season.

Box Hill dominated the first night of competition and went into the second night with a 40 point lead thanks largely to victories by Larissa Tourchinskaya in the Shot Put, Kerri Jorgensen in the 1500 and Wendy Muldoon in the walk. But faced a serious challenge from Melbourne University on the second night with 100 Hurdler Georgina Power and several 5000m runners unavailable.

After the win Val said "We were a bit worried coming into the second night of competition, despite the big lead, it looked like we weren’t going to able to cover several events. But many of the girls were able to step up and do extra events, especially Jenny Marshall who won almost one fifth of the teams overall score, and Joclyn Keage who filled in over 5000m at the last minute".

After coming third at the National Club championships several weeks ago in Sydney, the win confirms Box Hill’s place as Victoria’s leading female team.

On what was a tense night for the team managers of the Box Hill men’s State League team, Box Hill Athletic Club survived its first ever State League promotion/relegation match. And in the words of club President Graeme Olden, "We can’t ever let this happen again".

For most of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s Box Hill Athletic Club had such a stranglehold on the State League shield, that when the club finally lost the title one year, Athletics Victoria had to ask the club to give it back. It was unthinkable to many that the club could ever be in a position to drop out of the competition, ever!

But in a reflection of the season, many of the clubs best athletes were unavailable for this important match. The club was forced to ask several young athletes to step up, and in an encouraging sign for future years it was the young athletes who led the team to victory, backed up by many of the clubs most determined and dedicated athletes.

The night started badly for Box Hill when several of the possible qualifiers failed to make the State league standard in the Javelin, Walk and 400Hurdles. Going into the 200 heats the club was last of the three teams, on a night when only two would survive. Veteran Andrew Wilcox placed second in the first heat, followed by 16 year old Lane Harrison who also took second in his heat. In the third heat, 17 year old James Fildes ran near his personal best to win the heat and bring Box Hill level with the two other teams. Another 17 year old Steven Hooker won the Pole Vault, while 22 year old Michael Jones won the 800. Backed up by the 5000 metre runners who finished first second and third, and by the time the last event, the 4 by 400 relay came around, the club had secured its place in State league.

Box Hill had two teams in the Association Finals at Doncaster. The Under 18 Girls and the Division 1 Men (Or B Grade for those of you who still don’t understand the new system).

The U18 Girls were runaway winners in their division with a display even more dominant then that of the State League Girls. But it was in the Division 1 Men where the controversy and drama was.

After Old Haileybury managed to win their venue with only 6 competitors they were looking good to take out the association finals as well until Craig Furber (their entire field event team) strained his hamstring. This threw the door wide open for Box Hill and Waverley who proceeded to fight until the final bell.

While the Box Hill team was severely depleted, with the whereabouts of our entire sprint team a mystery, the athletes who were there set about to score as many points as possible. In the end Waverley overcame us by 9 points, which was one less then the 10 points the Waverly Pole Vaulter scored by clearing 3.00m after he should have been disqualified due to illegal practice jumps in the middle of the competition. A protest was lodged and while even the officials agreed that technically Box Hill was in the right they let it slide. So close, So close.

Next year maybe Rob Stone could get married on a different day and our sprinters could arrange to go missing on a different weekend.

During the recent State League Finals, Box Hill 100 m hurdler, Georgina Power was named State League Athlete of the Year and received a cheque for $1000. This award recognises the outstanding season which Georgina has had, running several world junior qualifiers in State League competition. The award was based on votes received from a panel of judges and lodged after each round of competition throughout the season. Congratulations Georgina on a fantastic season.

Over the past 12 months, Colin Organ has been busy collating information and filling in forms, preparing our application to apply for Active Australia Provider Status. We have recently been notified that our application was successful, and we are now one of the few athletic clubs in Victoria able to display the Active Australia logo and promote ourselves as Active Australia Providers. The Active Australia scheme is a National scheme promoted by the Australian Sports Commission designed to encourage more Australians to lead healthier, more active lives and is fully supported by all levels of government.

The winter season is fast approaching with an especially early start this year due to the Olympic Games in September. The first event for the season is the cross-country relays at Brimbank Park on Saturday 15 April 2000. A winter entry form is enclosed with this newsletter with all the individual events listed for the winter season. If you would like the Club to organise your entry for the winter races, please return your completed from along with payment to:

The Secretary
Box Hill Athletic Club
PO Box 247
Box Hill 3128

Note that you must be registered before you can be entered for winter races, so please also include your completed Club membership form and registration payment.

The Club enters teams in the following three relay races held during the winter season:

15 April ‘00 Cross Country Relays Brimbank Park
3 June ‘00 Coliban Relays Harcourt
22 July ‘00 Road Relays Sandown

Winter team managers have not yet been appointed, so if you are interested in running in the relays, please indicate this on your membership form when you complete it for return.

The Club is urgently in need of a team manager to manage the women's teams during winter as our manager from last year, Dave Bullock is unavailable this year. If you know of anyone that is interested in helping out by handing out tags at the races and recording times, please contact Graeme Olden on 9885 0890.

Registrations are now due for the 2000-2001 season. A Club membership form is attached which you should complete and return to the Club Registrar as soon as possible to make sure that you are registered in time for the winter season.

Note that registration fees have increased slightly from last year due to the fact that GST must be paid on 9 months of the membership which equates to a 7.5% equivalent tax which has been levied on the registration fee charged by Athletics Victoria. In order to minimise the impact on membership fees to our members, we have decided not to register with the ATO to collect GST which means that we do not have to apply the GST to the services which we provide, however the Club does have to pay GST on anything that we purchase so we will have to pass this cost on to the members which means that fees have to rise, but not by the full 7.5%.

The Club is in the process of applying to receive an ABN from the Australian Taxation Office so that users of services that we provide (i.e. ground hirers) will not be required to retain withholding tax. It is likely that in the future we will have to register for GST as our income is close to the $100,000 threshold, however for the present we have chosen to minimise our administrative costs and the cost to our members by not registering.

As mentioned in the last newsletter, this year's presentation night is being held on Saturday 29^th April 2000 at the Hawthorn Football Club Social Club, 37 Linda Crescent, Hawthorn. The evening starts at 6:30pm with the meal being served from 7:00pm.

We are most fortunate to have former member and prominent media personality Dr Peter Larkins as guest speaker so make sure that you get in early to reserve your tickets and help is to celebrate our first State League Premiership for 5 years.

The cost for the evening is $30 for seniors and $25 for juniors which includes a buffet meal and entry to the disco afterwards. Due to the requirement to finalise numbers a week before the night, bookings will not be accepted after 19 April and any payments received after this date will be subject to a $5 late booking fee. Please return the attached booking form with your payment if you wish to attend, or else phone Adam Pepper on 0402 083 469 or Jamie Strudley on 9859 2347.

Anna Thompson has been selected to represent Australia in the World University Cross Country Championships in Jena, Germany on March 25th over a distance of 6km. Also confirmed yesterday was her selection to represent Australia at the 2000 International Ekiden Relay in Seoul, Korea on April 9th. Anna's performance in Zatopek, Australian Cross Country Championships and her 4.22 for 1500m at the National Track and Field were the main basis of selection for both events.

Anna recently phoned from Germany and she has finished 16th out of 63 starters in the World University Cross Country Championships in Jena.

Ruimsig Stadium, Roodepoort, South Africa, Monday 13 March 2000

Brigid Isworth Pole Vault 4.00m 3^rd

Well done Brigid on your first Australian Uniform with many more to come.

OPEN WOMEN

Kerri Jorgensen 1,500m 4:23.80 3^rd
Anna Thompson 5,000m 16:36.57 3^rd
Jennifer Marshall 400 hurdles 61.64 3^rd
Wendy Muldoon 5,000m walk 22:57.51 1^st
Ashlee Hayes Pole Vault 3.55m 1^st
Belinda Tolley Pole Vault 3.00m 3^rd

U20 WOMEN

Elisabeth Bird 400m 57.40 3^rd
                  800m 2:14.91 2^nd
Erica Sigmont 800m 2:14.04 1^st
                        1,500m 4:46.55 2^nd
Alethe West 800m 2:19.23 3^rd
                    1,500m 4:43.41 1^st
Sarah Austin High Jump 1.55m 3^rd
Ashlee Hayes Pole Vault 3.55m 1^st
Fiona Buchanan Pole Vault 3.00m 2^nd
Kym Lawson Pole Vault 2.80m 3^rd
Sheridan Bishop Long Jump 5.24m 3^rd

OPEN MEN

Steven Hooker Pole Vault 4.85m 2^nd

U20 MEN

Tim Williams 100m 11.23 1^st
                    200m 21.85 1^st
Sam Hassett 5,000m 15:44.77 1^st
                    3,000m Steeple 9:30.89 2^nd
David Tyler 5,000m 16:08.24 2^nd
Matthew Spain 5,000m 16:32.07 3^rd
Steven Hooker Pole Vault 4.85m 1^st
Julian Yeoh Triple Jump 13.61m 3^rd

U20 MEN

Tim Williams 100m 10.76 2^nd
                    200m 21.93 1^st

U20 WOMEN

Alethe West 800m 2:16.42 15^th
                  1,500m   4:38.25 8^th
Heidi Riordan 800m 2:21.88 16^th
                     1,500m 4:52.78 11^th
Georgina Power 100m Hurdles 14.08 2^nd
Bridgid Isworth    Pole Vault    4.10 1^st
Ashlee Hayes Pole Vault    3.65    3^rd
Fiona Buchanan Pole Vault    2.80 7^th
Sheridan Bishop Long Jump 4.58 11^th

U16 Women

Charlotte Roberts 800m 2:23.34 9^th

U18 Women

Elisabeth Bird 400m 57.83 7^th
                     800m 2:10.71 2^nd
Heidi Riordan 800m 2:17.51 8^th
                  1500m 4:39.66 5^th
Michelle Fistric 100m Hurdles 15.93 9^th
Sarah Coghill 100m Hurdles 16.54 10^th
Ashlee Hayes Pole Vault    3.55m 1^st

U16 MEN

Michael Saunders 800m 2:03.54 4^th

U18 MEN

Lane Harrison 100m 11.25 7^th
               110m Hurdles 15.60 9^th
Mohamad Zeed 110m Hurdles 14.36 2^nd

On the weekend of the 12^th and 13^th of February the Box Hill pole vaulters made their annual pilgrimage to the small NSW country town of Temora, the home of the "fast grass" for the Temora Golden Gift Handicap Pole Vault Competition. The first car load arrived just in time to hit the pub and to see the street parade: Hey, I have got this car with flowers painted on it. "Your in the parade!" I have a boat on a trailer. "Your in the parade!" I have a combine harvester. "Your in the parade!" (You get the idea.)

With the competition not until the next afternoon the athletes decided a small amount of liquid refreshments was in order. This did however leave a few of the athletes a bit worse for wear the next morning when they awoke in their rooms above a haberdashery shop.

Arriving at the track in the early afternoon we were bitterly disappointed and even angry that the constant rain the day before (it hadn’t rained for 3 months) had turned the "fast grass" into soft moss and that

one of the boys from NSW was handicapped off a height of 2.00m. If you want to know how low this actually is consider the fact that after twenty minutes training Graeme Olden managed to drag his aged and decrepit body over 2.60m in the club decathlon championships, coincidently the height this NSW boy actually jumped, leaving Steven Hooker having to jump a 60cm PB and an Olympic A Qualifier on a muddy grass track.

But the lack of excitement on the track was more then made up for by the nightlife experienced afterwards. As the saying goes: "What happens on the trip, stays on the trip". But some highlights were:

• The AC/DC set played by the band in the Westy
• The look on Leon’s face when he barged into someone’s room unexpected late at night and promptly ran out again
• The taming of Paleface Adios
• And the marvelous call made by Mat to Miss Temora as we were walking along the street

The athletes from Temora 2000 will never forget their weekend away from Melbourne and I doubt that Temora will ever be the same again… at least not until next year.

A date has been set for this esteemed competition. Sunday 30^th April, the day after the Club Presentation Night has been nominated as the day for the real men and women of the Box Hill Athletic Club to show what they are really made of. While some of you may be partying hard the night before, just remember that Tom Waters completed the last club decath with a massive hang over. It can be done. If you are interested please contact Cameron Baker on 9898 4316 so as numbers can be gauged.

BOX HILL ATHLETIC CLUB PRESENTATION NIGHT BOOKING FORM 

Name: __________________________________________

No. of adults at $30 / head ………………………._______

No. of juniors (U18) at $25 / head……………….._______

Please return to Social Coordinator, Box Hill Athletic Club, PO Box 247, Box Hill, 3128

TOTAL AMOUNT of payment enclosed $___________

Signature _____________________________________ Date ___________________