Box Hill’s Year of Success

2004 was a very successful year for the Box Hill Athletics Club.

This year the Box Hill Men won:

• State League
• Division 1 Association Final
• Division 2 Association Final
• Under 18 Association Final
• Silver Medal at National Club Championships

 Box Hill Women:

• 2^nd in State League
• 2^nd Division 1 Association Final
• 4^th National Club Championships

 Box Hill also has athletes competing in:

• 2004 Olympic Games
• 2004 World Cross Country Championships
• 2004 World Junior Championships
• 2004 World Schools Cross-Country Championships

 Not since 1986 when Box Hill made a clean sweep of both Men’s and Women’s State League have we had a year as successful.

 Now we just need all our athletes to get behind Box Hill as we attack the 2004 Cross Country season and the 2004-2005 athletics season.

National Club Championships

The Box Hill teams finished off a most successful season for the Club at the Australian Club Championships held in Canberra on Saturday 27 March 2004, with the men’s team finishing in second place and the women’s team improving significantly from last year to finish in fourth place. 

This was the first time that the Box Hill men’s team has won a medal at the Australian Club Championships after many attempts and several fourth places. After winning State League, Division 1, Division 2 and Under 18 premierships this season, the men were not quite able to complete a clean sweep of victories, finishing just 18 points behind the Queensland University team who have won the Australian Club Championship for about 5 years in a row.

 There were some great individual performances from our team members. David Featherston won his heat of the triple jump, the shot put, was second in the discus and then ran a great first let of the medley relay. Steven Hooker again showed his outstanding all-round talent by winning the his heats of both the 200 m and 400 m and finishing second in the high jump, while Mohamad Zeed won the second heat of the 200 m, won the first heat of the 200 m hurdles and ran two strong relay legs. Wonderful club spirit was shown by young athlete Patrick Oughtred, who stepped into the second heat of the 800 m at very short notice, ran gamely for third place in his heat and collected a silver medal as a member of the team.

 While the women’s team did not have as many stars, there was also great team spirit amongst the competitors which meant that we were able to fill all the events and although the team was 21 points behind third place, we were only 28 points from winning the competition. Highlights included Rosie Ditton competing strongly against Tatiana Grigorieva in the pole vault (and winning the competition), Kate Winckworth discovering a hidden talent in the 800 m to win the second heat and young athletes Jennifer Chan and Veronica Kirby agreeing to throw the javelin to score valuable points for the team. Sarah Quinn showed great club spirit to compete in several events despite just having discovered that she was required to take part in a re-run of the Under 18 400 m hurdles final at the National Youth Championships the following morning.

 Many thanks to Julie Milner and Chris O’Connor who travelled to Canberra to manage the teams. It was also great to have the support of so many parents and junior athletes in Canberra for the National Youth Championships.

 While the results from this year were fantastic, the challenge has been set for next year to improve on these performances and show that we really are the best club in Australia. We look forward with anticipation to the next Australian Club Championships in March 2005.

Team Results

Men

1           University of Qld           321
2           Box Hill                       303
3          North Launceston           261
4          Sydney University          261
5          Western Districts           258
6          Illawong                         209 

Women

1           University of Qld           299
2          Bankstown                     294
3          Hills District                   290
4           Box Hill                       269
5          North Launceston           218
6          Illawong                         191
7          Tea Tree Gully               190

 With the Box Hill Men winning their first medal at National Club Champs, following in the footsteps of the Women who won the silver medal at the 2001 National Championships, there was due course to celebrate. The chosen venue was “In Blue” which defied the local Canberra trend of lame nightlife and actually was not too bad.

 Matt looked after everyone’s C₂H₅OH needs, Juliet picked on her northern friend John Gray, Julie Milner tore up the dance floor (getting hit on by young local lads), Graeme was by far and away the smoothest dressed man in the club, Steve met a man who had won a gold medal (though we never did find out what for) and Kylie picked up a few presents for her roommates.

 At 3am it was time to turn the clocks back, which meant that the previous hour didn’t actually exist. What happened? “Let us never speak of it again.”

Venue and Association Finals

On a day of exciting competition and some controversy, the Venue Final proved to be most successful for Box Hill, winning venue premierships in men’s Division 1 and 2, men’s Under 18 and women’s Division 1. The women’s Under 16 team was most unlucky not to also win, being beaten by Doncaster in a very close competition. 

These four teams continued on to the Association Final the following week at Doncaster where all three men’s teams were again successful, with the women’s Division 1 team being just beaten by Melbourne University in a close competition. 

These victories completed a most dominant season by the Box Hill men’s teams, being undefeated in State League competition, winning Division 1 by 113 points, clearly winning Division 2 despite the country clubs ignoring the eligibility rules without penalty and then also comfortably winning the men’s Under 18 premiership. 

Congratulations to all involved in these wonderful successes. 

Association Final Team Results 

Men

Division 1

Box Hill                    256.5
Glenhuntly                   143
Knox                          141.5
Essendon                    114 

Division 2

Box Hill                    358
Geelong Guild              347.5
Preston                       311
Sth Bendigo                253.5
Knox                          184
Glenhuntly                   158

Under 18

Box Hill                    298
Knox                          247
Western A’s               245
Glenhuntly                   215 

Women

Division 1

Melbourne Uni            217
Box Hill                    183
Knox                          176
Glenhuntly                   86

Building Works Update

After many months of chasing builders for prices and a very long fundraising process, the Club is very close to signing a contract with a builder to complete the upstairs extensions on the clubrooms. A start time for the works has not yet been finalised, however it is hoped that work will be able to commence by the end of April and be completed in a couple of months. 

While the building works should not impact greatly on users of the ground during this period, there will probably be times that the grandstand is barricaded to prevent usage. All members are requested to keep clear of the building works and any building materials which are stored near the club rooms. 

While it will be great to finally have our club rooms finished, the final stage will place a significant financial burden on the Club so it is imperative that all members support the fundraising events held later in the year to ensure that debts incurred can be erased as quickly as possible. 

Steven Hooker – Olympian

After an outstanding season in which he continued to raise the Club Open pole vault record and then broke the State Open Pole Vault record, Steven Hooker topped this with a magnificent performance at an interclub meeting in Perth where he jumped an Olympic A qualifier of 5.65 m, and then repeated the performance in Sydney at the National Championships to finish second and become one of the first athletes selected in the Australian athletics team to the Athens Olympics. 

Steven is our first athlete selected in an Olympic team since 1988 and is a wonderful result for Steve and his coach Mark Stewart who have spent many years working towards this goal. Congratulations to both Steve and Mark and best wishes for the coming months of training and competition in preparation for Athens. 

Ronnie Buckley - Australian Record Holder, World Junior Championships Representative.

 Congratulations to Ronnie Buckley, Club member and World Youth discus Champion on his selection in the Australian team to compete at the World Junior Championships in Italy later this year. Ronnie has continued to improve his Australian Under 20 discus record throughout the season so thoroughly deserves his selection. He will unfortunately be competing against many athletes a year older than he is, however with his wonderful competitive spirit he will no doubt acquit himself well and represent Australia with distinction. 

Presentation Night

After another successful season, all members, friends and relatives are invited to celebrate these successes and attend this year’s Presentation Night, to be held on Saturday 8^th May at the Box Hill Community Arts Centre. 

As well as presentations to individual athletes and members of the successful teams from this season, there will be audio-visual presentations of highlights from the season. 

The evening will commence at 7:00 pm, with formal proceedings starting at 7:30 pm. 

The cost of the evening is $15 for Under 18’s and $20 for all others. Please fill out the attached reply slip and return to the Club by Saturday 1st May 2004 to secure your seat.

Club Merchandise

Barlow Foundation

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/.

Registrations Due

Registrations for the coming season are now due. Unfortunately, Athletics Victoria have increased their fees across the board in all age categories by $15. Due to increases in maintenance costs, Club affiliation fees and relay entry fees which are paid by the Club, the Club will also need to increase the Club component of the membership fee by $5. As a result, we are disappointed to have to advise that all membership fees will rise by $20 for the coming season.

All members are reminded that they are not permitted to train at Hagenauer’s Reserve if they are not current financial members of the Box Hill Athletic Club. Apart from the requirement to cover the costs of running the Club, only financial members are covered under the Club’s insurance policy and hence non-financial members will not be permitted to train at the ground until they have paid their membership fees. Please download a membership form and return it to the Club as soon as possible.

Editor's Note

Trivia Night

The Club is once again holding a Trivia Night on Saturday 19^th June 2004. The venue for the night has not yet been finalised, however the format for the evening will be similar to previous years which means that we will require a large range of items for auction on the night. Chris O’Connor will once again be presenting a range of challenging questions to test our general knowledge. Please note this date in your diary and start chasing friends and family members to put this night aside to join you on a table.

 If you are able to assist in any way with donating auction items, helping with organising the night, or would like to reserve a table, please contact Leana Tilley on 8802 1223 (h) or by email on Leana_Tilley@bigpond.com.

Club 5km Handicap

 If you are interested in running, please contact either Ian Sloane (phone 9459 4486, e-mail iansloane@optusnet.com.au), Chris O’Connor (phone 9882 6108, e-mail coconnor@swin.edu.au) or Graeme Olden (phone 9885 0890, e-mail golden@sprint.net.au) to let them know that you are planning to run, along with a recent time for 3000 m or 5000 m. Alternatively, you may wish to return the attached entry form to the Club.

 General Notices

Uniforms

Buy a Brick

World Schools Cross Country Championships

Congratulations to the following Box Hill members from Marcellin College who have been selected to represent Australia at the ISF World Schools Cross-Country Championships, to be held at La Tour de Salvagny in Lyon, France from April 2 - 7, 2004:

• Matthew Coloe
• Steve Kelly
• Narvin Arunasalam
• Dominic Aloisio
• Damian Nugent
• Rubin Arunasalam

 Club member John Meagher is travelling with the team to France as coach. Good luck to them all. Based on their performances for Box Hill over the past year, they are sure to represent their school, Club and country with distinction. 

World Cross Country Championship

Well done to Club member Andrew Letherby who came 45^th at the recent World Cross Country Championships completing the 12km course in 38:28.

Following on from this, Andrew is planning to run the Boston Marathon with the aim of posting a fast time to push his name forward for Olympic selection.