Club News

Volume 34                 August 2001

  FUNDRAISING UPDATE

Following the great success of the recent Trivia Night and a number of generous donations, the total funds raised for the club room upgrade has now reached about $13,000. A summary of funds raised to date follows:

Lolly Drive       $305
Raffle   $1,079
Movie Night     $945
Trivia Night      $5,500
Donations         $4,990

TOTAL           $12,819

Works at the Club are proceeding steadily with the new public toilets, officials room and first aid room due for hand over to the Club some time within the next few weeks and the remainder of the first stage due for completion in mid-September. Progress photos are on display on the Club web site at www.boxhillathleticclub.org. Please note that a major effort and large attendance is required at working bees prior to start of the season to move everything back into the rooms prior to the start of the track season.

Keep your eyes open for news of the Whitehorse Gift Day on October 6^th. Ask how you can help or be involved ...Follow the link to read all about the WHITEHORSE GIFT AND FAIR.

Entry forms are available by clicking on this link.....WHITEHORSE GIFT ENTRY FORMS

 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The BHAC AGM was held on the 4^th July and there was a pitiful response from the members of the club. The Committee were present along with 3 members and 2 observers. Because of the redevelopment we had to hire a venue for the meeting not to mention the time, effort and cost that went into preparing the Annual Report and supper.

As you are aware, the Committee is very small and put in a lot of work in order to run the club for your benefit. We all do this, not because we want recognition or praise, but because we enjoy the sport and wish to see Box Hill AC continue to be a strong and successful club. The very least we can expect from you, the members, is to give us some support by turning up to one meeting a year.

Fortunately the members of last year’s Committee decided to stand again, but what if we didn’t? The Committee is now down to 7 and with Adam Pepper going overseas shortly, that will leave just 6 of us. Please keep that in mind the next time you wish to complain about what the committee should or shouldn’t be doing.

COMMITTEE 2001 - 2002

President:                     Graeme Olden
Vice President:             Adam Pepper
Secretary:                     Julie Milner
Treasurer/Registrar:      Angela Robbie
Committee members:    Joan Hines
                                    Colin Organ
                                    Dale Bickham

WORKING BEE - FURNISHING THE NEW CLUBROOMS

With the first stage of the club room redevelopment approaching, a working bee is required to move everything that was taken out of the club rooms and placed in storage back into position in the rooms prior to the start of the track season.

This is a huge task which will require a large group of people to complete. Your assistance is required on Saturday 22 September 2001 from 11:00 am onwards to help with transport of equipment and re-installing it in the club rooms. As equipment is stored in several different locations around Melbourne, it would be a great help if you could bring along a trailer or van to help with the move.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

Julie Milner our club secretary has recently undergone a change of address and has entered the 21^st century by obtaining an email address which she seems very excited about.

Julie Milner
1/65 Riversdale Road
Hawthorn 3122
Phone: 9818 1278        email: juliem@brd.net.au

TRIVIA NIGHT

With the biggest attendance at a Club function for many years, the Trivia Night held on July 28 at the Canterbury Girls Secondary College was a great success. Over $5,500 was raised towards the club room upgrade. As well as giving our fundraising effort a much needed boost we discovered that Mark Stewart has the most knowledgeable friends and that Dale Bickham can eat dry Salada biscuits faster than anyone else in the club (closely followed by Jonathan Tyler).

Many thanks to Westly Windsor, Bert Tilley and Ian Sloane for all their hard work in organising the evening and to the many people who donated prizes and items for auction on the night. A full list of donors is attached to this newsletter and is posted on the Club web site. Please make sure you support the sponsors that help to support our Club - see attached list TRIVIA NIGHT DONORS.

BUY A BRICK

The Club’s tax deductible Barlow Fund has recently been extended to include a separate building fund. Any donations made to this building fund Within the Barlow Fund will be directed solely towards the club room upgrade. Now is an excellent time to help the Club to fund your new club rooms and minimise your tax bill. Any donation of $100 or more will be recognised with a plaque recording your donation prominently displayed attached to a brick in the new clubrooms. Donation forms are available on the Club Web Site or from Colin Organ on 9813 3597. Follow this link to download a donation form.....BARLOW FUND - BUILDING DONATION FORM

INTERNATIONAL NOTES

World Youth Championships

Box Hill juniors Heidi Riordan and Mohamad Zeed were selected to represent Australia at the 2nd IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary 12-15 July. Unfortunately Heidi was unable to compete due to injury but Mohomad ran very impressively finishing 7^th in the 110m Hurdles in 13.64.

A 7^th best in the world at his first international competition is a great achievement.

Oceania Club Championships

For the dedicated athletes who travel up to Brisbane to compete in the National Club Championships they may be wondering how the Australian team that went to Vanuatu went.

Well the team of five men and five women finished in first place. There is just a little more motivation for anyone thinking of making it up to nationals this year.

World University Games

The Box Hill Athletes selected for the World Student Games have left our shores and have been recently competing in Singapore

While Steve Hooker has had to pull out of the team due to injury, our other athletes have been performing well with Rosanna Ditton equaling her PB in pre departure and Rachael Dacy clearing two Commonwealth Games A qualifiers in the last few weeks. Rachel has also been selected as co team captain for the athletics team. We wish them all the best of luck.

RELAY FOR LIFE

The Box Hill Athletic Club is once again entering a team in this year's Relay for Life - a fund-raising venture organised by the Anti-Cancer Council. Last year we were beaten by a team from a winery that ran more laps than us so we need to put up a better showing this year. The event is held from 12:00 noon on 17th November to 12:00 noon on 18th November.

If you are able to take part at all, please contact Eddie or Sam Hassett on 9808 1673.

Rumor has it that Phil Pelgrim has organized for his basketball mates to keep the baton moving while we are all running around at interclub so we won’t be too far behind.

For those that haven’t been there before it is at Burwood Aths Track and the whole grass gets covered in tents for the partying / sleeping athletes.

CLUB TRACKSUIT

Adam Pepper has organised a good quality club tracksuit top manufactured by Kea. A sneak peak was given at the Movie night but I if you ask nicely Adam may have some left for you.

WINTER TEAM MANAGERS

The winter team managers are:

Women - Chris O'Connor (9882 6108) and Westly Windsor (9890 3653)

Men - Ian Sloane (9549 4486) and Graeme Olden (9885 0890)

REGISTRATIONS

Registration fees are now due. Please keep in mind, if you haven't put in a season entry, individual entries for the winter must be in 10 days prior to the event and you must be registered to enter.

EDITORS NOTE

This issue of the club news was delayed somewhat by the World Athletic Championships. In fact just about everything in my entire life was put on hold as I sat in front of the TV for 10 successive days. There is nothing better then 10 days of aths, on 2 different channels. Except perhaps yelling at Jane Flemming or Nick Bideo whenever they said something dumb, which was quite often. I was also happy that I actually took out first place in one of the three different tipping competitions I was in.

For those of you who didn’t watch TV for 10 days straight here were my highlights:

·         Zelezny in the Javelin

·         Lars Reidel winning yet another World Champs

·         The American woman dropping the baton in the 4x400m because her fingernails were too long

·         Talking about how fast Maurice would have gone if he had not done his leg 20m from the line

·         Developing a crush on the winner of the women’s shot put (that was the point at which I thought I was watching a bit too much aths)

·         Marion Jones’ good sportsmanship after losing

·         Dimitri becoming the 2^nd highest man ever in the pole vault

·         Wondering why Justin Analzark was over in Edmonton and athletes like Andrew Curry, Pat Dywer, Grant Cremer… were not

·         Hearing Yegorova get booed as she accepted her medal

·         Finding out the BBC sacked Cathy Freeman after they found out how bad a commentator she was

August has also seen the worst weather we have had for the whole winter and the only thing bringing me to training is the fact I have to compete in 5 weeks at the Australian University Games. Time to pull out the fast spikes.

To submit articles either see Cameron Baker or el Presidente Graeme Olden down at the track or email Cameron on cbak2@student..monash.edu

Barlow foundation

Box Hill Athletic Club operates the Barlow Foundation as a registered project with the Australian Sports Foundation for the purpose of supporting elite athletes and coaches in state league interclub competition. The project makes grants to athletes and coaches from tax-deductible donations made to the foundation.

Proposed distribution of Barlow Foundation grants for 2001 - 02 season

·         $200 Reimbursement of expenses to the leading Female State League points scorer

·         $200 Reimbursement of expenses to the leading Male State League points scorer

·         $200 Reimbursement of expenses to the coach whose athletes (including both male and female) score the greatest combined total of State League points.

·         Payment of Athletics Victoria membership for the following season for any athlete who scores 100 or more State League points.

All donations are tax deductible.

If you have any questions about the Barlow Foundation, Colin can be contacted on 9813 3597 or via email (colo@bigpond.com)

FROM THE MASSAGE TABLE

It has recently been announced that Box Hill will again hold interclub despite the protests of Doncaster. Many thanks to all those who helped with lobbying the other clubs. In the end it turned out to be a quite decisive decision in our favor with 2/3 of clubs voting for a full season at Box Hill.

With new clubrooms on the way, the largest interclub venue in Melbourne and bends of the right distance I can’t think of a reason why anyone would want to go elsewhere.

FITNESS TESTING

CROSS COUNTRY

CLUB 10 MILE CHAMPIONSHIP

The Box Hill Athletic Club 10 Mile Championship for the Frank Tutchener Shield will be held on Saturday 1 September 2001 on the same course as last year along the bike tracks along the Eastern Freeway. All prospective starters are encouraged to meet at the club at 1:00 pm to jog down to the start together.

The race will start at 1:30 pm near the Station St interchange and includes a 10 km and 6 km loop. Would all athletes interested in running please contact either Graeme Olden or Chris O'Connor. A BBQ lunch will be provided back at the clubrooms after the race.

ALBERT PARK ROAD RACES - 1 JULY 2001

Running conditions in 2001 for the 15km road race around Albert Park were about as favorable as one would ever expect; no rain, still conditions and temperate. There were a number of Box Hill competitors in the early 5km road race, including Andrew White, Nicki Chapple, Hayley Tomlinson, Jess de Bruin and Audra Papworth. All our athletes were prominent in their particular section, with Hayley winning her race, Jess de Bruin placing second and Audra Papworth placing 4th in her division.

The finish of the Open 15km men’s race saw John Meagher lift in the last lap to reach 19th position, in the respectable time of 48:40, 19 seconds in advance of Marcus Tierney, perhaps short of a race. Marcus registered 22nd, unofficially. Graeme Olden held 29th place, just dipping under the 50 minute barrier. Kynan Dawes ran one of his better 15k races finishing 32nd in 50:12, unfortunately by invitation, with Dale Bickham placing 33rd a further 11 seconds in arrears. This was a fine effort from Dale, particularly as he ran evenly and in a measured manner for the full distance, and he had every reason to be well satisfied with the result. Paul Boxshall finished in 76th position in 54:03. Our Section one team was completed when Adam Pepper, unable to match Chris’s finishing lap, finished in 82nd place in 54:52. Tony Bird finished, a further four places behind in 54:05. Patrick Kelly lifted in the last lap to record a time of 55:52. Marion Gamble finished her race in 63:22., ahead of Megan Sloane in 63:52. Steve Murphy battled on to finish in 69:37.

It was pleasing to see a number of Box Hill supporters at the road side including Keith Routley, life member, Julie Milner, Wes Windsor, and Chris O’Connor, all giving strong encouragement to our athletes, with a number of parents of runners. 

BUNDOORA CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS - 14 JULY 2001

As one senior Box Hill supporter commented on the course, conditions were typical at Bundoora this year, freezing with a strong biting wind. This was noticed by the army of Box Hill supporters who traveled to the course to assist with officiating and manning the canteen tent. Box Hill runners competed in almost every race. Haley Tomlinson clearly won the 14 years’ race beating many older competitors running at the same time. Juliet Thornton finished 4th in the 16 years’ section from Georgie McCallum, 5th, in the same race, with Kate Thornton finishing 18th and Sarah Evans managed 23rd. Andrew White ran well in his race to finish 2nd. Jess de Bruin ran well to finish 4th while Audra Papworth finished 8th in the 20 years’ division. Michael Bourne running in the 16 years’ section placed 24th in the 6k. Sam Hassett returned to race after a long layoff due to injury and ran very well indeed in the U/20 race finishing in 8th position ahead of Alan Craigie, who finished 10th. Adrian Vincent ran very impressively in the 18 years’ division to place 6th, with Daniel Clark, just over a minute behind in 18th. It is really pleasing to see the number of Marcellin boys representing Box Hill, thanks to John Meagher’s encouragement.

 Anna Thompson was very prominent in the 8km race, positioned just behind Susie Power, who is running in sensational form at present, after the first lap. Eventually Power drew clear of Anna, who maintained her momentum to place 2nd, well clear of Serena Gibbs who finished 3rd. Nicki Chapple ran a solid race to place 7th and looks to be improving her fitness level, which is a good sign. Megan Sloane completed the Women’s team, and placed 2nd in the 45 years’ age group.

 Box Hill’s leading contenders in the senior men's race were John Meagher, Kynan Dawes and Graeme Olden. Kynan and Graeme had a ding dong battle the whole race with Kynan just getting to the finishing line ahead of Graeme, by a very slender margin, after trading places a number of times throughout the race. Luke Yeatman started off powerfully, but was caught by both Kynan Dawes and Graeme Olden, and was unable to get back on equal terms in the concluding stages of the race. Dale Bickham produced another workmanlike performance, slowing in the second and third laps but lifting again in the final lap. Tony Bird and Adam Pepper ran in close proximity to each other, with Tony drawing clear in the second half. David Ayers demonstrated that the batteries in his alarm clock need replacement, doing his warm-up from the car park to the start line. He offered to run as anybody in his haste to get a running tag, as the starter raised the starting gun. His bag revealed that he does his training by carrying 10 house bricks to the track and competition. Dave Boyd completed our contingent plugging away to finish in 57:33. 

SANDOWN ROAD RELAYS - SATURDAY 21 JULY 2001

Great conditions for Sandown were ordered and received this year.  This was a great change from Bundoora, where our athletes and supporters had nearly thawed out after a week.   No wind, no rain, very slightly overcast – this was the year where if you were in good shape, and there was someone of similar ability nearby to challenge you, you ran a PB.  We were delighted to hear that Julian Dwyer had returned to the country, and was running again.  Not only was that excellent news, but we had four senior men’s teams running and two of our best juniors were chosen to complement these teams. 

Our Section 1 men's team was competitive, and following a last minute change in running order, John Meagher set off in the first leg.  John ran a very fine first lap of 9:21.  He passed over to Julian Dwyer in 9th place. Julian Dwyer flew off at a great pace and gained three positions in his first lap, in which he recorded the very fast time of 9:00.  He picked up another two places in his concluding lap, to bring Box Hill into 4th position, recording a leg time of 18:07, one of the fastest times of the day. In the fourth leg, Graeme Olden held 4th position until later in the second lap when Paul Fenn (Ballarat) ran 17:48 to lift Ballarat to fourth.  The APS runner also ran a smart time lifting their team to third, behind Glen Huntly and Geelong in second, to move our team back into 6^th, 23 seconds behind Doncaster.  Graeme ran very courageously and recorded a leg time of 19:26. In the next leg, Box Hill was ably served by Luke Yeatman’s evenly paced leg where he ran 19:21 to maintain the team in sixth place 32 seconds behind APS in fifth. Scott Jackson held sixth, and our team finished just over 5 minutes behind the winners, 3:10 behind second and 1:39 behind fifth.

Our results in the other men’s teams were faultless, with wins in Section 3, 6 and 7, an outstanding performance.  What was impressive was the number of our athletes who ran very evenly in both laps with less than 20 seconds’ difference between the two times. In Section 3, Dale Bickham’s sub 20 minute first leg was sufficient to get the team of to a winning lead.  Dale managed to record the fast time of 19:56, always a milestone to achieve.  This was bettered by Paul Boxshall who ran seven seconds faster in 19:49.  Sam Hassett, returning to racing after a long lay off following injury, ran a very solid race, recording 20:35.  Andrew White ran exceptionally well, recording 20:03, a very impressive effort for an Under 18 athlete. Michael Jones improved his time from 2000, running 21:05 to anchor the team to a victory with a winning of over 4 minutes. 

Section 6 saw a very strong Box Hill team entered, recording a clear victory. Team Manager, Rob Falkenberg singled out Patrick Kelly for special praise.  Patrick recorded two quick laps and ran the overall time of 21:05, which promises a very impressive future. Tony Bird got the team off to a flying start with a 21:24 beginning.  This put us in a very solid position, with Adam Pepper (22:07), Patrick Kelly, and stalwart Chris O’Connor (21:51) showing how even this team was.  They demolished their opposition early in the race. Our Section 7 team was also successful.  Matt Slater ran a very strong final leg (22:58) to ensure the team’s victory after Jamie Strudley (23:49), Dave Ayers (24:28) and Dave Boyd had taken the team into the lead.  Julian Cosgrove also ran a leg in Box Hill colors recording 24:53 for the 6.2km circuit.

Unfortunately the Sandown relays were not a great day for our women's teams. Due to a number of injuries, athletes being unavailable and a few last minute withdrawals we were not able to field a team in most of the divisions. Those who did run, however, put in some good performances. Our women's open team started strongly with Nikki Chapple running a good first leg, finishing in 5th place against strong opposition in the time of 21:57. She was followed by Marion Gamble running a time of 24:52 and Megan Sloane in 24:37.

The highlight of the day was the wonderful performance of Box Hill's under 16 team. Hayley Tomlinson lead off with a brilliant run of 10:34 for the one lap journey around the Sandown circuit. This brought the team into first place in their age group and also ahead of all the under 18 and under 20 teams. Georgie McCallum ran a strong second leg to finish in a time of 12:10 and extend the teams lead. Juliet Thornton running third, continued her good form and pulled further away from the chasing teams to cross the finish line in first place, running a personal time of 11:32. The under 16 girls won by almost 2 minutes, also finishing ahead of all the under 18 teams. Congratulations to Hayley, Georgie and Juliet.

It is immensely satisfying to have three Senior Men’s teams and the girl's Under 16 team ascendant on the same day.  Thanks to all those club members who officiated or went to the course to support Box Hill, including Val and Les Armstrong, and Julie Milner.  Thanks also to those members who assisted with Team Management duties and to Ian and Megan Sloane for once again providing afternoon tea.

Later, David Ayers revealed that he could have run faster if pressed, by making three or four trips, at near race pace, to the car park to see whether the afternoon tea table had been set up (it hadn’t because there were still Box Hill runners on the course). 

COLIBAN ROAD RELAY - SATURDAY 4 AUGUST 2001

After finishing a very close second to Glenhuntly in the Open men's race last year, the Box Hill team had great hopes of placing again this year however illness and unavailability of some of our key members weakened the team somewhat and we were only able to manage fourth place which we held from the end of the first leg run by Dale Bickham to the end of the race. Graeme Olden lost one place near the start of the climb over Mt Alexander but gained it back further up the hill to hand over to Luke Yeatman just in front of Ballarat. Luke had an epic battle with "Ned Kelly" before gaining control on the final hill to maintain our placing which Paul Boxshall maintained on the "flat" fourth leg. Scott Jackson extended our lead over fifth place on the next leg and despite strong runs by Marcus Tierney and Sam Hassett in the final two legs we were unable to catch the third placed APS.

The Division 3 team had an epic battle with Waverley for the whole race. Tony Bird ran a strong first leg to hand over in a close third place. Patrick Kelly defied the effects of a cold to pass both the runners in front of him along the aqueduct to take the lead which Chris O'Connor extended despite injuring his calf during the run. Adam Pepper ran gamely but was incapacitated by the effects of numerous vaccination injections during the week and lost the lead to Waverley and handed over to Matthew Slater about two minute behind. Matt took full advantage of his local knowledge to reel in the Waverley runner and as he passed his parents place with less than a kilometre to go unleashed a huge finishing sprint which took him to within 12 seconds of catching the Waverley runner at the finish.

Steve Murphy showed great determination and Club spirit to run both the first and second legs for the Division 6 team but unfortunately we were not able to fill the remaining legs.

ALL SCHOOLS CROSS COUNTRY

Also a number of Box Hill athletes had good results at the all schools cross country at Bundoora.

WOMEN

U14     Hayley Tomlinson         1^st
U15     Juliet Thornton              2^nd
U16     Georgie McCallum       4^th
U17     Kate Thornton              10^th
Charlotte Roberts         16^th
U18     Jocelyn Keage              1^st
U20     Jess De Bruin               2^nd

MEN

U16     Michael Bourne                        20^th
Alex De Greenlaw        27^th
U17     Andrew White              1^st
U18     Liam Rourke                20^th
U20     Luke Vipond                22^nd