bhlogo.gif Club News
Volume 63                    April, 2006
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BOX HILL ATHLETIC CLUB INCORPORATED
Hagenauer's Reserve, Barwon Street, Box Hill, Victoria
Postal Address: PO Box 247, Box Hill VIC 3128
Email: info@boxhillathleticclub.org
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Dates for
Your Diary

Contents

 
Sat  22 Apr   5 km Handicap, Gardiners Creek
Sat  29 Apr   Cross Country Relays, Yarra Bend
Sun   7 May   Presentation Night, Box Hill RSL
Sat  13 May   10 km Road Race, Sandown
Tues 16 May   Special General Meeting, Club Rooms
Sat  20 May   Working Bee
Sat   3 Jun   16 km Cross Country, Frankston
Fri  16 Jun   Club Room Opening
Sat  24 Jun   Coliban Relay, Harcourt - Bendigo
Sat   8 Jul   Road Relays, Sandown
Tues 11 Jul   Annual General Meeting, Club Rooms
Sat  22 Jul   12 km Cross Country, Jells Park
Sat  29 Jul   Trivia Night, Ashburton Primary School
Sat   5 Aug   8 km Cross Country, Ballarat
Sun  20 Aug   Club 10 Mile Championship, Box Hill
Sun   3 Sep   Half Marathon, Burnley
Sat  16 Sep   Tan Relays

Steve Hooker Wins Gold
Australian Club Championships
Club Room Upgrade Update
Presentation Night
Association Final
Athlete of the Week
Trivia Night
Special General Meeting
Annual General Meeting
Working Bee - 20 May 2006
Winter Bulletins
Security Concerns

Steve Hooker Wins GoldSteve Hooker Wins Gold


Steve Hooker Steve Hooker



In a brilliant performance, Steve Hooker dominated the Commonwealth Games pole vault competition at the MCG to win the gold medal with a Games record height of 5.80m on Friday 24 March 2006.

Steve has been in great form this season setting a Victorian Record of 5.91m and when the pressure was on in the Commonwealth Games in front of 80,000 people, including a huge contingent of Box Hill members, Steve looked in best ever form, clearing 5.60, 5.70 and 5.80 m all at his first attempt. He then had a very close miss at 6.01 m.


Steve has also been a great club man and a great example of dedication and hard work over many years.

Congratulations to Steve and his coach Mark Stewart on this well earned victory.

Congratulations also to club member Andrew Letherby who ran a very creditable fifth place in the Commonwealth Games marathon. Andrew was well placed in the early stages of the race, had a dificult patch in the second half of the race but battled on gamely over the last section of the race to place fifth in a time of 2:17:11.

We are all most disappointed that Steve will be leaving us soon to move to Perth to train with Alex Parnov. Steve joined the Club as a 15 year old over 8 years ago and has been one of our most dedicated and loyal athletes over that time so he will be greatly missed by us all. His coach for most of this time, Mark Stewart wrote the following brief statement summarising the reasons for Steve's move to Perth:

Dear All,

I would like to thank you all for the support and the many many messages of congratulations after Steve's great win at the Commonwealth Games.

In terms of Steve's move to Perth, I am sure we will all miss him very much, but I think the time is right for him to do something different. 2006 is a year without another major championship for Australia, so the timing could not be better.

This decision was taken prior to the World Championships in Helsinki (more than 6 months ago), and although we did not keep it a secret, we did not really go around telling people, as we wanted to keep the focus on the Commonwealth Games.

At the level Steve is at now he will be spending a great deal of time overseas and clearly I cannot travel with him for much of this time; also Alex Parnov is one of the world's great pole vault coaches.

From my point of view, in some senses, the job is done. Steve started vaulting with me eight and a half years ago as a skinny 15 year old who had never touched a pole vaulting pole, he leaves as one of the very best pole vaulters in the world. I am completely satisfied with what we have achieved together.

Also, it is hard to think of a more fitting finale to our partnership than that marvellous Friday night at the MCG a few weeks ago.

Regards,
Mark
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Australian Club ChampionshipsAustralian Club Championships

Men's Team The Box Hill men's team was unfortunately not able to defend the title which we won last year at this year's Australian Club Championships in Adelaide at 2 April 2006. However, the team put up a great fight to finish second behind the University of Technology, Sydney, pushing the strong team of the University of Queensland into third place. The women's team battled gamely with just eight team members but were unable to match the depth of the other teams, finishing in 8th position.

Highlights from the meet included:

  • A brilliant run by Andrew White to win the 3000 m, just a couple of hours after winning the Under 23 1500 m title.
  • A big finish by Mohamad Zeed to win the 200 m hurdles in his fourth race for the day.
  • A gutsy effort by Vivienne Lee to win her heat of the 200 m hurdles in her fourth event for the day.
  • PB's by Andrew Haddow in the 200 m and Kristine Hopkins in the 400 m.

    • Many thanks to the athletes who made the trip to Adelaide especially to compete for the Club, and to Julie Milner, Cameron Baker, Rob Falkenberg and Cathy Tilley who travelled to Adelaide to support the team. Special thanks to Cameron Baker who coordinated the travel and accommodation arrangements for the team.

    Stadium Sports

    While it was great to have a full team of 14 athletes available for the men's team (we actually had 16 fit athletes in Adelaide ready to compete plus 2 late withdrawals with injury), it was most disappointing that we had only 8 girls available to fill the team, and particularly disappointing that we were not able to fill either of the two women's pole vault positions. The AUstralian Club Championships is the most important meet that the Club enters each year so it is expected that all members make themselves available to compete for the Club at these championships.

    The Box Hill Athletic Club has a long and proud history of great Club spirit and members performing heroic deeds to ensure that the Club is successful in team based competitions - interclub, Shield and State League. Unfortunately, we have not been able to reproduce this success at the Australian Club Championships with just one victory by the men's team in 10 years of trying. It is time that this was rectified and we ask all athletes to aim to be part of a winning Australian Club Championships team next season.

    For a full set of results and more photos, please click on the following link...Results.
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    Club Room Upgrade UpdateClub Room Upgrade Update

    Firm Solutions Visitors to the track in the last month will have noticed that work has finally commenced on construction of the disabled access ramp to the first floor. The original schedule which we were given by the builder planned to have the work completed by the middle of March 2006, however they have struck a number of problems and the completion date now looks like being some time in May.

    In any case, it appears that the end might finally be in sight and we are tentatively planning to hold a function to celebrate the completion of the club rooms and officially open the upstairs section on Friday 16 June 2006. Further details will be provided closer to the date, but please keep this date free.
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    Presentation NightPresentation Night

    With the delays to completion of the disabled ramp to the upstairs section of the club rooms, we have been forced to once again find an alternative venue for Presentation Night.

    This year, Presentation Night is being held on a Sunday evening for the first time, at the Box Hill RSL, 26 Nelson Road Box Hill. The function will commence at 7:00 pm with the first round of presentations commencing at 7:30 pm.

    The cost of the evening is $15 which includes finger food, tea, coffee and cake. Please join us at the RSL to help celebrate another successful season and share memories from the year just finished. A reply slip is attached which should be completed and returned to the club by Monday 1 May 2006.... Presentation Night Reply Slip.
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    Association FinalAssociation Final

    Bensons EPS

    Box Hill Athletic Club won two premierships at the Association Finals held at Knox on Saturday 11 March 2006, with an overwhelming victory in the men’s division 1 competition and an exciting close fought win by the under 16 girls.

    Box Hill finished second to the strong Melbourne University team in the women’s division 1, fourth in men’s division 2 and sixth in the under 18s.

    Many thanks to our team managers, Rob Falkenberg, Colin Goodwin, Cathy Tilley and Elissa Ward for their work through out the season.

    A list of results for the Box Hill teams and athletes can be downloaded by clicking on the following link.... Results.
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    Athlete of the WeekAthlete of the Week

    Throughout the track season there was an award made each week of Shield competition for the Athlete of the Week as voted by the team managers. Winners of the award were issued with vouchers presented by our supporters and sponsors.

    Congratulations to the following athletes who have won the awards throughout the season:

                Senior                    Junior
Week 1    David Ayers             Emily De Luca
Week 2    Rhett Medford           Brendan Booth
Week 3    Lauren Burns            Cassandra Raselli
Week 4    Heidi Riordan           Alicia Neylan
Week 5    Brett Nuske             Dion Pocklington
Week 6    Sam Sherma              Natalia Kremenchutskaya
Week 7    Elissa Ward             Yiota Carabourniotis
Week 8    Sarah Hewitt            Elvis Kafrouni
Week 9    Tim Williams            Heath Bachli
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    Trivia NightTrivia Night

    Ethertech Internet Services The Box Hill Athletic Club is once again planning to hold a Trivia Night this winter as our major fundraising and social event for the year. With last year being one of our most successful nights yet, we are hoping to do even better this year so start getting your friends or training squad organised now.

    The date for Trivia Night is Saturday 29 July 2006 venue for the event will once again be the Ashburton Primary School. The success of the night is largley dependant on the generosity of our members and thier friends and families in donating items for prizes and auction so we are once again asking all members to ask everyone that they know for donation of suitable items.

    If you can assist in any way or have an item that you would like to donate, please contact Leana Tilley at leana@bambooblinds.com.au or Cameron Joyce at camjoyce@bigpond.com.
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    Special General MeetingSpecial General Meeting

    Banksia Sports Clinic As discussed at some length in the last newsletter, it is planned to hold a Special General Meeting later in the year to discuss plans for handing over the executive positions on the committee to new members.

    A date has now been set for this meeting - it will be held on Tuesday 16th May 2006 at the club rooms, commencing at 7:30 pm. The main purpose of the meeting is to explain the role of the committee to Club members and to identify people that could possibly take on some of these roles to spread the load and ensure that the Club can take advantage of its wonderful history and great facilities and be successful into the future.

    This meeting is most critical for the future success of the Club, so if you have any interest at all in the future success of the Club then you must attend this meeting to assist in putting in place a committee structure to develop a new long term plan and take the Club to the next level of success.
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    Annual General MeetingAnnual General Meeting

    The Annual General Meeting for the Box Hill Athletic Club will be held on Tuesday 11th July 2006 at the Club rooms, commencing at 7:30 pm. Pizzas will be served immediately following the meeting and we invite all members to come along to find out more about the running of the club over the past year and discuss any issues with the committee.

    Further details regarding the Annual General Meeting will be distributed closer to the date.

    ...return to Table of Contents

    Working Bee - 20 May 2006Working Bee - 20 May 2006

    With the track season now finished and access almost available to the upstairs sections of the club rooms, there are a number of maintenance tasks that need to be attended to in preparation for the opening of the club rooms and to repair and pack away equipment for the winter.

    A working Bee has been scheduled for Saturday 20 May 2006 from 12:00 noon until 5:00 pm to undertake tasks such as:

  • Painting the floors on the new club rooms.
  • Staining the timber framing around the internal windows on the new upstairs rooms.
  • Painting of new hurdle tops, repair of broken hurdles and stacking away hurdles in the shed.
  • Painting and repair of throwing implements
  • Installing covers over long jump pits
  • General clean-up of the track and rooms and disposal of rubbish.

    • A BBQ lunch will be provided at about 2:00 pm for those who assist at the working bee.

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    Winter BulletinsWinter Bulletins

    Chris O'Connor has kindly agreed to again distribute weekly email bulletins to all members interesting in hearing news about the winter season to keep up with all the latest results and latest news about upcoming events.

    If you have not been receiving weekly winter bulletins from Chris and would like to, please email him at coconnor@swin.edu.au to get your name added to the distribution list.

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    Security ConcernsSecurity Concerns

    Over the past couple of months, there have been several occasions when the club room doors have been left wide open when the last person has left for the night. There has also been a large number of training throwing implements that have not been returned to the box in the store room and have disappeared.

    All Club members have a duty to make sure that you leave the rooms in a secure manner - turn off all the lights and lock the doors and main gate behind you if you are the last to leave. Would you walk out of your house in the evening and leave your front door wide open?

    It is especially important for club members with keys to the building to ensure that when they leave that they make sure that there is someone still at the ground that has a key to lock up. If members do not take more care with the facilities then we will be forced to greatly restrict the number of keys that are issued and if necessary the hours which the club rooms are open for members to use.

    As a first step in increasing security, a padlock will be installed on the throwing implements box in the store room in the next couple of weeks. If you need a key to access these implements, please contact Graeme Olden at golden@sprint.net.au. Keys will only be issued to members who undertake to look after the equipment in the box and keep it locked at all times except when removing and returning equipment.

    ...return to Table of Contents