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Club
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Phone: 9890
3631 http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/ | |
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY |
CONTENTS |
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Sat 14 June '03 - Working Bee - Box Hill | ||
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The Annual General Meeting of the Box Hill Athletic Club will be held at the club rooms on Tuesday 1 July 2003, from 7:30 pm afterwards. All members, friends and supporters of the Club are invited to attend to hear abut the successes of the Club over the past year and plans for the year ahead.
The Annual General Meeting normally only takes less than half an hour to complete so it is important that as many members as possible show their appreciation for the hard work of the committee throughout the year by attending the meeting as a show of support for the committee.
The committee invites all members to join them afterwards for pizza in the club rooms.
Please click on the attached link to view the agenda for the AGM as well as download nomination forms to join the committee: AGM AGENDA
A working bee is being held at the track on Saturday 14 June 2003 from 12:00 midday until 5:00 pm to carry out numerous small maintenance and cleaning tasks to commence preparing the facilities and equipment for next season. It is essential that we have a good attendance at this working bee so that equipment can be cleaned and stored away for the winter months and urgent maintenance tasks can be attended to.
As there is a requirement to clean the track and re-paint some of the lines on the track, the track will be closed for training during this period so please plan your training to be completed prior to this time so that you can assist at the working bee afterwards.
TRAINING FEES AND NEW GROUND MANAGER
With the retirement of a number of long-serving and hard-working volunteer Club administrators over the past few years, the committee of the Box Hill Athletic Club is finding it increasingly difficult to find members to assist with the multitude of administrative and maintenance tasks necessary to maintain the track and facilities at Hagenauers Reserve in good condition and to host interclub competition at the venue.
Club stalwarts such as Reg and Allan Barlow, Martha Fraser, Fred Cron, Jack Hamilton, Val and Les Armstrong, Stewart Livingston and Alan Cross have left a huge hole which it is becoming increasingly difficult to plug. The committee has been unable to find sufficient volunteers to adequately perform the workload that these people carried between them. As a result, the Club has been forced into the position of having to employ people to carry out certain essential duties including cleaning of the toilets and clubrooms, opening and closing the ground for school hirings and general track, facility and equipment maintenance tasks. This process commenced a couple of years ago when the Club employed a Ground Hire Manager to open the grounds for school hirings and more recently when Peter Robbie was employed to clean the Club change rooms and toilets. From 2 June 2003, Peter Robbie’s duties will be extended to include general track, facility and equipment maintenance tasks to help cover the loss of Stewart Livingston and Alan Cross who have both retired in the last few months after many years of service to the Club.
It is essential that ALL users of the track and associated facilities contribute towards the cost of maintenance of the facilities and equipment. To help ensure that this is the case, Peter’s duties will also include collection of training fees from non-members using the track. Commencing on Monday 2 June 2003, Peter will be at the track from 4:30 pm to 7:00 pm, Monday to Thursday, and will collect a $5 training fee at the gate from anyone that is not a financial member of the Box Hill Athletic Club at that time and wishes to enter the ground to train. Note that payment of this $5 training fee does not give the person access to use the weights room. Access to the weights room is to be restricted to financial members of the Box Hill Athletic Club.
A list of financial members and those who have paid an annual training fee will be displayed on the noticeboard at the entrance to the club rooms. This list will be regularly updated and will be used as the basis for determining who can train at the track without paying an additional training fee. Note that former Club members who have not yet re-joined the Club for the current season will also be subject to the same conditions so you are strongly encouraged to get registered before 2nd June.
The Club has invested over $250,000 in upgrading the facilities over the past four years, all of which has been raised by the committee and members of the Box Hill Athletic Club. The Club has only collected very small amounts from non-members in training fees over this period, despite a large number of non-members using the facilities during this time. The Club has had in place a policy of charging non-members training fees for many years, however in recent times we have not had the resources to enforce the policy and many people have used the facilities without paying any fees. We hope that these new arrangements may assist with helping to distribute this financial burden across all users of the facility and we request your support and assistance with its implementation.
After 18 months of promises and no action, it appears that the City of Whitehorse has finally started on the process of updating the locks to the gate and club rooms. We anticipate that at some time in June, all the locks on the club rooms and the front gate will be replaced with a new bi-lock system and new keys will be issued to us. This will mean that existing keys to the gate and club rooms will become redundant and new keys will need to be issued to those that need them.
It will not be possible for members to cut their own copies of the new keys as there will only be one locksmith in Box Hill able to cut the new keys and this will only be done on production of a letter of request from the City of Whitehorse. The committee is happy to issue keys to any member who applies in writing to the committee for a key, however there will be a $30 deposit (fully refundable on return of the key) to cover the cost of producing the keys and to encourage members to look after them. Keys will not be issued to non-members.
Should you require a key to the track and change rooms, could you please make a written request to the committee so that we can arrange to have a key produced for you.
After many years of dedicated service to the Box Hill Athletic Club as a committee member, team manager, ground manager and technical official, Alan Cross has decided that it is time to hand over to others so that he can spend more time with his wife, Laurel and their family. His enthusiasm, loyalty and dedication will be sorely missed by the Club. He has made an enormous contribution to the Club over many years so he fully deserves a chance to slow down a bit and enjoy his years in the seventies.
Alan became involved in the Box Hill Athletic Club when his son, David took up the sport many years ago. He served as a committee member for many years as well as being senior men’s team manager. However, it is in the last eight years following his retirement from full-time work and the retirement of Fred Cron from the Club due to ill health that he has made his greatest contribution. For several years, Alan coordinated all the ground hirings at Hagenauer’s Reserve including taking of bookings, opening the ground, setting up equipment and then packing away again afterwards. The income earned from ground hire during this period has enabled the Club to carry out significant improvements at the ground in recent years and greatly assisted us with being able to afford to proceed with the major club room upgrade.
Throughout this time, Alan has also spent countless hours repairing equipment and preparing the ground for competition each week during the summer months. Alan would spend several hours every Friday afternoon moving hurdles into neat stacks at their correct locations, putting up barrier ropes around the throws area and generally preparing equipment for competition the next day. I am sure that most of our members have no idea how much work goes into making sure that the venue and equipment is in the best possible condition for competition each week.
While Alan will no longer have such a large role at the Club in the future, he is sure to retain a keen interest in the Club and will no doubt still be around to cheer on Box Hill and in particular David and hopefully his grandchildren in years to come.
With the roof over the grandstand now completed and providing much needed shade and shelter for spectators, athletes and officials, the Club now needs to start focusing on raising funds to complete the external walls and fitout of the upstairs rooms. Time and funds not available to complete any more work on the upstairs facilities this year, however it is hoped that they can be completed next winter. The Club still needs to raise a significant amount of money to enable this to happen so all Club members are urged to support the upcoming fundraising events and provide donation to the tax-deductible building fund set up for this project to enable it to happen. The outlook from the upstairs rooms will be most impressive, however there is still a lot of work to be done until we can take advantage of it.
Congratulations to the following Box Hill members who have gained selection to represent Australia in international competitions in coming months.
World Youth Championships
Box Hill is providing half of the Victorian contingent in the World Youth Championships team to compete at Sherbrooke, Canada in July with Hayley Tomlinson (1500) and Ronnie Buckley (discus) both selected in the team. Hayley is has only recently turned 15 years old so it is a wonderful effort to gain selection in an Under 18 international team.
World Championships
Box Hill marathon runner, Andrew Letherby will be hoping to repeat his success of the Manchester Commonwealth Games in Paris in August where he has been selected to represent Australia at the World Championships. Andrew is currently living and training at Boulder, Colorado in the USA but has indicated that he will be returning to Australia next summer to compete.
World University Games
The pole vault team to represent Australia at the World University Games in Daegu, Korea in August is dominated by Box Hill members. Steven Hooker, Rosanna Ditton and Bridgid Isworth form three-quarters of the pole vault team, while Mark Stewart has been selected as one of the team coaches.
Congratulations to these members on their selection. We wish them luck with their preparations over the coming months and for their competitions overseas.
The Box Hill Athletic Club is once again holding a Trivia Night this winter to assist with raising funds for the club room upgrade.
The Trivia Night is to be held on Saturday 30 August 2003 at the St Peters Anglican Church Hall, 1020 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill from 7:00 pm. The cost of the evening will be $10 per head, with tea and coffee provided, however you will need to provide your own food and cold drinks.
Please put the date in your diary now and start organising your friends to form a table to challenge the domination of the pole vaulters in this event over the past few years. We also require donations of items for auctioning or prizes on the night so now is the time to start collecting these items and handing them on to Leana Tilley or any member of the committee.
For more information, download a flyer by clicking on the following link: TRIVIA NIGHT FLYER
The annual Box Hill Athletic Club 10 Mile Championship for the Frank Tutchener Shield is being held on Sunday 29 June 2003 on the same course used for the last few years along the bike paths along the Eastern Freeway. The race starts at 9:00 am so athletes wishing to run should meet at the club rooms at 8:30 am.
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. These grants have played a significant part in the success of the State League teams over the past few seasons and the Club is committed to continuing to provide these opportunities for our State League athletes.
The distribution of Barlow Foundation grants made at the presentation night for the 2002/03 season was:
To help ensure the continued success of our State League teams, we are requesting donations to help fund these grants. All donations are tax deductible. If you would like to obtain a donation form to send in a donation, or have any questions about the Barlow Foundation, please contact Colin Organ on 9813 3597 or via email (colo@bigpond.com). Alternatively you may wish to download a form directly from the Club’s web site at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/.
We are seeking a suitable person/persons to manage the canteen. Duties will include stocking, food preparation and organising a roster of helpers. Preference will be given to applicant available to open weekdays as required by hirers of the track. Salary $15 hour.
Enquiries : Angela Robbie 9898 3052
BUY A BRICK
The Club’s tax deductible Barlow Fund also includes a separate building fund. With additional funds needed to be able to fund the Stage II Pavilion Upgrade (upstairs extension), donations to this fund are urgently required. Any donations made to this building 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 reduce your tax bill. Any donation of $100 or more will be recognised with a plaque recording your donation prominently displayed on a brick in the new clubrooms. Donation forms can be downloaded from the Club’s web site - file:///C:/Program%20Files/AboutClub/BarlowFund/barlowbuildupgrade.PDF - or obtained from Colin Organ – phone 9813 3597 or email at colo@bigpond.com.
CLUB MERCHANDISE
For a limited time there are some "State League" Long Sleeve Training Tops now available for only $20. Also a new order of Club Tracksuit tops has just arrived so get in early before they all go for $85. For either of the above or uniforms please contact Julie Milner 9818 1278 or email mailto:juliem@brd.net.au/t1.
New email for Editor
Would everyone please note that the Club News editor Cameron Baker has a new email address as Monash Uni finally caught up with the fact that he is no longer enrolled there. You can now contact him at vaultcam@hotmail.com.
Keep off the New Grass
The council's request that people stay out of the area next to the longjump pits and runup that has been reseeded for a few months. The entire area has been topsoiled and seeded and the next couple of months are a good opportunity to get some grass growing in the area.
Uniforms
Unfortunately, due to an increase in the manufacturing costs, the price of club singlets and women's bodysuit tops will be increased to $30.
Cleaning of Toilets
Your co-operation is required to ensure all toilets are cleaned on a regular basis. From time to time toilet doors, in particular, the Ladies have been left snibbed when not in use. Unless the doors remain open when not in use, they will not be cleaned and replenished with toilet paper.
Why is it that going out partying with athletes is so much more fun than going out with regular people? You only need go to a nationals, Stawell or Australian University Games and you will experience this. I have developed this theory over the years but have yet to settle on a reason why.
It could be because generally athletes don’t go out much so when they do, they have a really good time. It could be the lack of cigarette smell because basically no one who does athletics smokes. It could be because we are fitter and can dance all night. But I think it is because athletes are generally confident and extroverted in nature (you would have to be to run around outside in nothing but lycra) and so you just plain old have more fun around them. You never know where the night is going to end up (sometimes at 4:00am at an athletics track for a refreshing run) and I suppose it can’t hurt that they are all hot.
To submit articles either see Cameron Baker or el Presidente Graeme Olden down at the track or email Cameron on vaultcam@hotmail.com.
Saturday 17 May 2003 was the date for the gala event of the year - the Box Hill Athletic Club Presentation Night.
This years Presentation Night was again at the Box Hill Community Art Centre and was once again a night to remember. Tim Williams was there with his balloon antics again and there was an encore performance of the video shown at the 70th anniversary dinner.
But the highlight of the night was Bert Tilley’s video. Bert had been secretly filming various athletes throughout the year and his efforts with some very suspect editing and commentary were on show. "He’s giving him a real head to head job." "And that was Lane Harrison crossing the line." And who could forget those magical moments when the whole room was cheering on Beth Bird to a new PB in the 800m.
But the real reason for Presentation night is to recognize the efforts of our athletes. Congratulations go to all the winners, especially to Steve and Rosie who both managed to collect their awards without falling over.
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Open Women |
Open Men |
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1st Elissa Ward |
1st Liam Rourke |
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2nd Elisabeth Bird |
2nd Cameron Baker |
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2nd Michelle Fistric |
3rd David Featherston |
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3rd Leana Tilley |
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Under 18 |
Under 18 |
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1st Vivienne Lee |
1st Ben Stahr |
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2nd Tania Adderley |
2nd Paul Fernee |
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3rd Sarah Stewart |
3rd Greg Heinrich |
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Under 16 |
Under 16 |
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1st Sarah Quinn |
1st Grant Hodges |
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2nd Sarah Cant |
2nd Imran Zeed |
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3rd Alexandra Knight |
3rd Dion Pocklington |
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Under 14 |
Under 14 |
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1st Rebecca Thompson |
1st Mitchell Goodwin |
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2nd Alice Zagato |
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3rd Kate Winckworth |
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Allan Barlow Shield (Outstanding male athlete) Steven Hooker
Martha Fraser Shield (Outstanding female athlete) Rosanna Ditton
Reg Barlow Cup (Outstanding Junior Male) Mohamad Zeed
Armstrong Trophy (Outstanding Junior Female) Hayley Tomlinson
Hansen Trophy (Outstanding Winter Male) Luke Yeatman
Megan Sloane Cup (Outstanding Winter Female) Nikki Chapple
Grant Taggart Shield (Most Determined Winter Junior) Emily Smith
Frank Tutchener Shield (10 Mile Champion) Graeme Olden
Andrew Stewart Trophy (Pole Vault) Steven Hooker and Rosanna Ditton
Ross Haywood Trophy (Race Walking) Wendy Muldoon
Vladimir Slavnic Trophy (Outstanding Thrower) Ronnie Buckley
Outstanding Finals Athlete Mohamad Zeed
Outstanding Clubman Chris O’Connor
State League Top Points Ronnie Buckley and Cecilia Azcurra
Coach – most State League points Bert Tilley
For more photos from the night, please click on the following link: PRESENTATION NIGHT PHOTOS
For full reports on the winter races, please check the Box Hill web page at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/. For space reasons, only abridged versions are included below.
The annual Box Hill 5000 m Handicap race was
run on Saturday April 26 at our usual Bennetswood course adjacent to Gardiner’s
Creek. This year’s field of 31 starters was the largest for many years,
bolstered by a large contingent of pole-vaulters. It was great to have the vaulters join
us, although the distance runners eyed the marks given to the vaulters very
suspiciously at the start.
Dion Pocklington crossed the finishing line
at the end of the first lap well ahead of his rivals with brother Joel in second
place and no sign of the coach Mark. The second lap saw Dion and Joel
Pocklington maintain their positions in first and second place. Dave Featherston claimed third place
late in the second circuit, in breaking 20 minutes for the distance. Chris O’Connor unleashed a powerful
finishing burst but narrowly failed to catch fourth-placed Westly Windsor. Promising junior, Chris Hamer showed he
has great potential in recording the very impressive time of 17 m. 25 for the
journey. There is no doubt that he
will run extremely well in the Winter season.
Andrew White recorded the fastest time of
the day and looks to have a great Winter season in front of him, after his
second placing in the 5000 m. in the Nationals.
Thanks to Ian Sloane for setting the handicap marks and recording times, Graeme Olden for setting up the course, Julie Milner for providing the post-race BBQ supplies, and Doug Bourne for cooking the BBQ.
The Cross Country Relay meeting at the
National Equestrian Centre at Werribee was the first event on the 2003 Winter
calendar and the first time that these races had been held at this venue. The course was relatively flat with a
number of obstacles including sandy rises and jumps. Box Hill made a pleasing start to the
Winter season, with some fine team performances by male and female teams. It was particularly pleasing to see such
a large number of senior female athletes representing the club.
Marcus Tierney led the Section 1 team off
and running our fastest leg, completing the two lap course in 5th
position, within striking distance of our Section 1 rivals. John Meagher showed that he is still a
force to be reckoned with in running a solid second leg, bringing us up into the
silver medal position at the end of his second lap.
Graeme Olden was our third leg runner, and
conceded a small margin to the Ballarat YCW runner. Barry Lynch took over, after
turning up to run the already allocated third leg. He ran a strong first lap, but
unfortunately he was unable to sustain the effort in the second lap and Box Hill
conceded another place to be fifth, 1:24 behind Ballarat YCW.
Recently joined member Hamish McElwee,
working on secondment in Melbourne from Perth, was our fifth leg runner and
turned up trumps, running a time very similar to John Meagher’s time. Chris
O’Connor held fifth place to the end, ensuring that St Kevin’s, APS and
Peninsula were unable to pass us.
The depth of our Section 3 team has been
very great over the last ten years in the relay events, but this year we had a
very diminished number of available runners, which was disappointing. Liam
Rourke got the team off to a splendid start recording the fastest Section 3 Box
Hill time of the day. Sam Hassett
on the comeback trail ran a sensible leg, followed by evergreen Tony Bird. Luke Vipond ran fourth handing over to
John Vaitkunas who brought the team home in third place.
Our Section 6 team, consisting of Dave
Featherston, Dave Boyd and Adam Pepper ran notably, but, unfortunately, we
lacked a fourth runner on the day to complete their team, despite being in a
leading position when Adam finished his leg. It is to be hoped that more athletes
will make themselves available in forthcoming weeks so that we don’t finish up
one runner short of a team again.
The best news from our male competitors came
from our underage runners. Our junior athletes performed exceptionally well with
two Gold medals and a sixth place, a fantastic result.
Our Under 20 men were victorious following a
great run from Andrew White who positioned the team beautifully, passing to
Lachlan Aspinall and Adrian Vincent in turn. All ran mightily well and secured first
place.
The Under 18 team placed sixth after a fine
runs from Alex de Greenlaw, Michael Bourne (recording the fastest lap time for
Box Hill) and Nick Bourke.
Our Under 16 team also secured the Gold
medal in a thrilling performance.
Chris Hamer led off passing to Navin Arunasalam, with Matthew Coloe
running even faster than his teammates to anchor Box Hill to another
well-deserved win. Many readers
might not be aware that many of our junior competitors had run earlier in the
day in the APS or the AGS cross country races, and their second race for the day
brought great credit on themselves and their club. Well done, boys – a tremendous effort
from all of you!!
The Box Hill
women’s teams were weakened by the absence of Fiona Turner and the last minute
withdrawal of Nikki Chapple, due to a foot injury. This meant some late changes
to the teams, with the selectors making a few mistakes (!) as some of our
division 3 runners out-performed some of those in division 1.
Alison Stokes ran
the first leg against some very tough opposition. Glenhuntly with a team that
included Susie Power, Anna Thompson and Emma Carney cleared out from the start
to win the event. Knox, Malvern and Peninsula Road Runners also had very fast
first leg runners and battled for the minor medals, while Box Hill, Ringwood,
Geelong and Melbourne Uni fought out places 5 to 8 with the other teams trailing
further behind. Alison was still recovering from running a half marathon the
previous week, but despite a dislike for the obstacles on the course, ran the
second fastest Box Hill time for the day of 26:55.
George Connell
took off in 7th place and ran an outstanding second leg in 25:41 to
bring the team up to 5th position. This was George’s first serious
race in over a year and her strong performance is a great sign for the future.
Emily Smith held on to 5th place with three other teams close behind.
Megan Sloane battled on well against some very fast last leg runners but slipped
back to 8th place.
Our two division 3 teams performed well
finishing in 3rd and 4th placings. Jessica De Bruin ran
the fastest time of our division 3 runners in 27:11, closely followed by Rachel
Johnson in 27:17 and Melinda Missen in 27:23, while Amanda Harper, Audra
Papworth and Beth Bird were not far behind, running 28:10, 28:12 and
28:43.
The 8 km cross country returned to Geelong’s
Eastern Park venue on May 10th. Marcus Tierney was the best-placed Box Hill
Athlete after 1000 metres of the senior men’s race had elapsed, in
22nd place. John Meagher was not much further back, with a small
margin between him and Hamish McElwee.
Graeme Olden was next, closely followed by Sam Hassett, who had started
quickly with Chris O’Connor a further 20 places to the rear. Adam Pepper, Tony Bird, John Vaitkunas
and Dave Boyd constituted our remaining competitors.
Marcus Tierney was unable to maintain his
fast early pace and slipped back through the field, but Hamish McElwee, having
run conservatively in the first lap, moved forward passing numerous opponents,
including club mate, John Meagher. John had made up significant ground on Marcus
Tierney himself, and was staging his own battle with the characters running
around him. Graeme Olden was
running a steady race, whilst Sam Hassett was slowly losing ground paying the
price for an ambitiously fast early pace.
Chris O’Connor was improving his position throughout the first lap and
beyond, and passed Sam Hassett, who completed the Section 1 team in
83rd place.
Tony Bird ran a strong second leg to be the
7th Box Hill athlete over the line, having improved his position in
the second lap. Adam Pepper was
next over the line in a little under 31 minutes, with John Vaitkunas 20 seconds
behind Adam. Dave Boyd completed
the course a little under 6 minutes later to be our final senior athlete across
the finishing line.
Chris O’Connor was placed 4th in
the 40+ age group and Tony Bird placed 2nd in the 50+ age
group.
Box Hill had three competitors in the men’s
U/20 race, held over 4 km. Andrew
White was our leading performer again, placing eighth overall and 4th
in the Under 20 race. Andrew was
further back in this race early than he wanted to be but finished off well,
passing several opponents in the concluding stages of the race. Not far behind him was Adrian Vincent
who finished very strongly. Alex de
Greenlaw completed the team, finishing 12 places further back in the
field.
Running in the same race, but in the Under
18 division was Michael Bourne, fronting up for the second time following the
morning AGS Cross Country. Michael
was 36 seconds astern of Alex de Greenlaw and finished a creditable
15th in the U/18 division.
Box Hill had a good representation in the
women’s Open 6km cross country race. In a strong field with 117 finishers,
George Connell headed the Box Hill charge. After losing some ground in the
middle stages, George finished strongly to take out 16th place.
Jessica De Bruin is regaining fitness after a year away overseas and in her
first senior cross country event finished a creditable 33rd. Rachel
Johnson changed her usual tactics and went out hard in this race. She managed to
hang on to place 39th and be the 3rd Box Hill finisher in
this event. Making up the division 1 team was Emily Smith. Close behind Emily
were Amanda Harper and Megan Sloane, with Megan taking out 3rd place
in the 45+ age group. Beth Bird finished in 66th place filling our
division 3 team with Amanda and Megan. Kerry Putt had some difficulties just
after half way but battled on to finish the event in a respectable
88th position.
Although official team results are not
available it appears that Box Hill has finished 5th in Division 1 and
1st in Division 3. With Nikki
Chapple, Fiona Turner, Alison Stokes and Melinda Missen all missing from the
team, this is a great effort and promises some good results in the
future.
Box Hill had some great results in the
junior women’s events. The highlight was Sarah Cant winning the under 16 3km
event in 10:48. Sarah not only won the under 16 event but also finished in front
of all the under 18 girls as well. Alice Baquie finished fourth in the under 18
event in a time of 11:39, just a few seconds outside of the medals.
In the under 20s Jocelyn Keage won the
silver medal running 15:19 for the 4km journey.
Box Hill had 8 registered participants well
down on the 14 starters who ran in 2002. Sandown is better known for the Road
Relay Championships and vile weather with screaming gales and driving rain. The gods smiled on competitors this year
with the most outstanding and favourable conditions ever experienced in thirty
years at this venue. There was
barely a breath of wind and fine temperate air conditions, which encouraged good
performances from athletes of all standards.
Recent recruit, Hamish McElwee, who has
demonstrated great improvement since commencing, and John Meagher were the
standout Box Hill competitors in the early part of the race.
Steve Moneghetti completed an excellent victory in the time of 29 m. 03, to win yet another Victorian title, seven seconds clear of Simon Field, with David Ruschena, third, nine seconds behind. Steve Moneghetti is a freakish talent, with outstanding personal qualities, as he demonstrated when he gave assistance to the shorthanded officials assisting athletes to keep moving through the finishing chute immediately after he had completed the race.
Box Hill runners soon showed up in the finishing chute with Hamish McElwee first of our senior men to cross the line in 19th place having surrendered two places in the final lap. John Meagher placed 28th, also passed by two runners in the concluding stages. Graeme Olden picked up five places in the last part of the race to place 39th. Chris O’Connor, 96th, continued his forward momentum, drawing away from Sam Hassett, 108th, by a small margin in the last lap. These athletes both ran away in the last lap from Kynan Dawes, who looked very pleased, to finish (128th). Tony Bird placed 136th, 30 places ahead of Adam Pepper. David Boyd, 308th completed the Box Hill contingent.
Official team placings have not yet been posted, but it appears that Box Hill was in 7th place, behind Glen Huntly, Doncaster and Ballarat YCW which took the first three team placings.
Adrian Vincent and Lachlan Aspinall
were prominent in the Under 20 10 kilometre road race finishing 5th
and 9th respectively.
Michael Bourne ran a solid U/18 race after competing in a school cross
country race in the morning.
In excellent conditions, there were some good performances in the women’s 10km road race at Sandown. Despite a number of absences, there was still a big group of Box Hill women running close together and placing well in this event.
The first Box Hill woman across the
line was Jocelyn Keage who placed 21st overall in a strong women’s
field and won a gold medal in the under 20 competition with a time of
39:28. Jessica De Bruin ran with
Jocelyn much of the way before slowing slightly on the third lap. George
Connell, who started more conservatively, came through strongly at the finish to
catch Jessica on the line. Jess and George finished 26th and
27th in times of 40:01 and 40:02 respectively. After running the
docklands half-marathon the previous weekend, Melinda Missen, also started conservatively, but she
made up many places in the second half of the race to finish in 29th
position with a time of 40:14, just ahead of Alice Baquie who ran 40:24 to take
out the silver medal in the under 18 division. Megan Sloane ran 40:50 to make up
our division 1 team and to take a bronze medal in the 45+ competition. Right
Behind Megan were Fiona Turner (40:53) and Emily Smith (41:10). Audra Papworth
found the going tough in the latter stages of the race, but held on well to
record a time of 42:27 to complete our division 3 team and Beth Bird continued
to put in the over-distance work running a very respectable 43:42. Alice Martin
having her first AV race for the winter ran well to record a time of 45:20 and
finish 5th in the under 18s.
