Dates for
Your Diary

Sat  14 Oct   Working Bee - Box Hill
Sat  21 Oct   Come & Try It Day, Box Hill
Thu   2 Nov   VMC Meet - Box Hill
Sat  11 Nov   Shield P1 - Doncaster
Sat  18 Nov   Shield P2 - Box Hill
Sat  25 Nov   Shield P3 - Box Hill
Sat   2 Dec   Shield P1 - Nunawading
Thu   7 Dec   VMC Meet - Box Hill
Sat   9 Dec   Shield P2 - Doncaster
Sat  16 Dec   Shield P3 - Box Hill
sat   6 Jan   Shield P1 - Doncaster
Sat  13 Jan   Shield P2 & Premier League - Box Hill
Thu  18 Jan   VMC Meet - Box Hill
Tues 23 Jan   Shield P3 - Doncaster
Sat  10 Feb   Shield P1 - Nunawading
Fri  16 Feb   Shield P2 & Premier League - Olympic Park
Tues  6 Mar   Shield P3 - Box Hill
Sat  24 Mar   Shield Final - P1 - Nunawading

Come and Try It Day
Working Bee - Saturday 14 October 2006
SummerSeasonProgram
Registration Fees
Steve Hooker
Training Etiquette
Gym Manager
Winter Results
Editor's Rant
Ballarat Cross Country - 4 August 2006
Club 10 Mile Championship - 20 August 2006
Burnley Half Marathon - 3 September 2006
World Junior Championships
Tan Relays - 16 September 2006
National Cross Country Championships
Cassandra Raselli
Fridge Required
Australian University Games

On Saturday 21 October Box Hill track will be hosting a “Come and Try it Day”. This meet will run from 1pm until about 4pm and is designed both for current athletes and any people who are not a member of a club that would like to come along. Track events on this day are 100 m, 400 m 1500 m and 3000 m along with a limited field program of Shot Put, Discus, High Jump, Long Jump and Pole vault.

Athletes enter the events on the day but entries are due 1 hour before competition. This is a great chance for you to show your friends what athletics is all about and race your mates. The timetable for this event is in your handbook.

With the track season commencing again on Saturday 21 October with a Come and Try It meet at Box Hill, there are a number of cleaning and maintenance tasks which need to be completed prior to the start of competition. A working bee is being held at the ground from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm on Saturday 14th October to complete these tasks so that everything is ready for the start of competition.

Some of the tasks which need to be completed are included below. Your support in helping at the Working Bee is most important, if even for an hour or two. A BBQ lunch will be provided for those who help from about 2:00 pm onwards.

Athletics Victoria has released the Summer Season Program and a timetable is available on their website http://www.athsvic.org.au/. Summer Handbooks are available to those of you who have paid your registration fees, with James Filshie getting a starring role in this year’s handbook.

The first round of competition at Box Hill is a Come and Try it Day on 21 October followed by the first round of interclub proper on 11 November 2006 which continues every Saturday until 16 December. Please note that certain aspects of the timetable have changed this year as we have moved to a 3 program timetable and only 5 of the 12 rounds are at Box Hill. For further information, quiz your coach or pay your fees and pick up a handbook.

Races this year will be graded in the much the same way as last year so if you are fast, get there early. In regards to the throws and hurdles, athletes may compete at any weight or height but the athletes who use the largest implements will be graded higher than those that use lower implements no matter their result. If that is confusing, blame Athletics Victoria and ask your team manger for a better explanation.

For those of you that are not registered, fees are due and registration forms are on the website at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/downloads/MemberForm.pdf.

Membership forms need to be returned to:
THE REGISTRAR, BOX HILL ATHLETIC CLUB, PO BOX 247, BOX HILL 3128.

Any queries should be directed to the Club Registrar, Mrs Angela Robbie, on 9878 4123.

Former Box Hill athlete Steven Hooker has had a brilliant season and finished the year ranked number 1 in the world by the IAAF in the pole vault. While technically no longer a Box Hill athlete after his recent move to live in Perth, we still claim that his rise to the top in World Athletics is due to training at Box Hill.

His season started with a new PB and Victorian Record of 5.91m at interclub. Then after a 2nd place at the National Championships behind new training partner and World Number 2, Paul Burgess, he won the Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games and broke the Championship Record along the way.

But from there his season only got better. Steve spent the majority of our winter competing in the European summer season. After a withdrawal from the Athens Super Grand Prix due to injury, he never looked back. A second place in the Rome Golden League with 5.77m was followed by his inaugural European Victory in Helsinki with a clearance of 5.83m. After a brief trip back to Australia while the European Championships were on, Steve returned to Europe with a 2nd place in the Golden League meet in Zurich with 5.85m followed by a new PB of 5.96m and the first of what will be many Golden League victories in his career at Berlin.

On a side note, in Berlin the athletes (including Steve) all requested to pass 5.96m and for the bar to be raised to 6.01m. However the officials made a mistake and set the bar to 5.96m for Steve. After clearing the bar Steve was under the impression that he had jumped the magical 6m barrier, and when the officials mistake was realised he was in the strange predicament of having jumped a personal best, winning the competition, but feeling disappointed.

Next competition was the World Athletics Final where Steve entered the competition at the Bubka-ish height of 5.75m. Unfortunately luck was not with Steve on this day and he finished 5th after only clearing his opening height. Then at the final competition of the year, the World Cup, Steve won again with a height of 5.80m, which was enough to propel him to top place in the World Rankings.

Well done to Steve on a great year’s results.

The committee is pleased to announce that Leigh Miller has agreed to take on the role of Gym Manager to manage and coordinate the use and upgrade of the weights room / gymnasium at the Club.

Over the past few years there have been a number of requests to the committee for new equipment and changes to be made to the layout of the gym. Some of the changes that have been implemented have not met with universal approval of all users of the gym.

All such requests for new equipment or changes in layout should now be addressed directly to Leigh who will be responsible for developing and overall plan for management and upgrade of facilities within the gym after consulting with users. He will then make recommendations to the committee regarding their implementation.

Please give Leigh you full support in this new role.

Some strong showings in the latter half of the season (particularly the Tan Relays) have helped Box Hill climb the ladder in some winter divisions.

Final winter ladders are listed below:

Women    U18       12th
Women    U20       1st
Women Division 1   5th
Women Division 2   8th
Men      U18       9th
Men      U20       2nd
Men Over 40        5th
Men Division 1     4th
Men Division 3     4th
Men Division 5     9th

Full ladders are available at http://www.athsvic.org.au/cache/MeetFile/269Ladders%20as%20at%2025-9-06.pdf. It is obvious from the full ladders that once Box Hill actually gets enough athletes to form teams we are very competitive. Hopefully next year we can expand our winter teams and do even better.

I was at University for 7 years and during that time I went to 7 Australian University Games. Now discount the two that were in Melbourne, and out of the five that remain, these were some of the best weeks of my life. Not only did having a national championships in September motivate me to train throughout winter, the off field activities were amazing fun and before they had under 23 Championships, it was the one place an average open age athlete could go and have a chance of snaring a national medal.

But Unigames is not the same these days, and it is not just cos I am old and not there any more. Voluntary Student Unionism has forced Universities to stop subsidising the trips which their athletes make to Unigames. This has the affect of forcing the price up so high that people can not justify the cost of going, or are forced to make the travel and accommodation arrangements themselves. This deprives the athletes of the team building experience that you so rarely get in athletics these days which Unigames used to provide.

Now I am not going to go on about how the Howard Government is killing our Tertiary Education system, but it saddens me to think that the next generation of athletes may not have the opportunity to participate in an Australian University Games. If anyone wants to know about how good a Unigames can be, then consider the fact that at one stage, Cameron Baker, James Filshie, Fiona Buchanan, Rosanna Ditton, Kate Ackland, Tim Renowden, Lauren Burns and Tim Williams were all on the same Monash Athletics team at one stage. Add in Mohammad Zeed, Steven Hooker and several more Box Hill athletes who competed for other universities against us and you can see that not only is Unigames a lot of fun, but helps us retain our open age athletes. It saddens me to think that in the near future, Unigames may not exist at all.

Eight senior male and three senior female athletes journeyed to Ballarat, together with a number of juniors in various age groups, competing on the undulating grassed course which was soft and muddy in various parts and very cold I am sure.

In the women’s race Rachel Johnson and Amanda Harper both placed well, in 25th and 29th positions respectively in a small field. Megan Sloane placed 53rd and was one of the leading overage athletes. Kate Wall also impressed in her race, the U20 women’s, placing fourth with a very steady run.

The Under 20 Box Hill Men’s team was successful in winning the team’s event. The team consisting of Duayne Christou, Navin Arunasalam and Ruben Arunasalam defeated rivals Knox by one point in a very tight contest. Duayne won the individual silver medal and Navin won the bronze medal in a very pleasing result.

In the Open Men Andrew White finished in 6th place, which was one of his best winter placings. The other Box Hill athletes performed well and Box Hill’s Division 1 team placed third (and the 40+ contingent was 4th).

Full results and photos are available at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/Results/Winter06/BallaratCC.htm.

On Sunday 20th August a large group of athletes and supporters assembled at the Frank Sedgeman Reserve to run the club’s 10 mile championship or to opt for the shorter 8 Kilometre distance. In sunny, cool conditions 17 runners started out at just after 9:00 running on the path which runs next to the Freeway. Andrew White and Chris Hamer quickly established a lead over other runners, with Graeme Olden, Bill Dyer and David Jimenez holding the next positions. At the halfway point Andrew White and Chris Hamer were running stride for stride and held a 1:10 break over Graeme Olden in third place.

Later in the race Chris Hamer stretched the tempo to gain a break over Andrew White and Chris gradually increased the pace after opening up the initial break. Crossing the line in 54:40, Chris won the 2006 Frank Tutchener 10 mile championship and joined many illustrious predecessors in winning the trophy. Andrew White completed the course in 56:51 to place second, and Graeme Olden recorded the time of 59:18 to finish third. Bill Dyer and Dave Featherston were next over the line, followed by Chris Wall and Westly Windsor.

Megan Sloane was the first female to complete the course running 74:20 in her Sunday morning training run. Davis Jimenez completed one lap of the course and was first over the line in the shorter race, followed by Jess de Bruin and Kate Wall.

Thanks to Julie Milner for assisting with officiating, photography and providing breakfast and to Ian Sloane for recording times.

Photos and official times are available at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/Results/Winter06/10MileChampionship.htm.

Dale Bickham, Andrew White, Paul Boxshall and Amanda Harper all put in good performances in wet conditions in the Victorian half marathon championships at Burnley On Sunday 3 September 2006. Long time club member, Dale Bickham, now living in Queensland, returned to Melbourne for the weekend and ran a brave race before fading slightly towards the end to finish 6th, while Andrew White and Paul Boxshall also finished in the top 25. In the women’s race Amanda Harper ran a PB to finish in 16th place and Kate Wall in her debut over this distance finished an impressive 43rd.

A full report, photos and results can be found at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/Results/Winter06/BurnleyHalfMarathon.htm.

Recently joined Club member Sarah Grahame travelled in August to the 2008 Olympic city of Beijing to compete in this year’s World Junior Championships. Sarah was competing in the new event of the 300m Steeple for Women and placed 9th out of 18 in her heat with the time of 10:42.08, just outside her personal best time.

Sarah was one of the youngest in the field, recently turning 17, which means she is eligible for the World Junior again in 2008 where she will be up there in contention for the medals.

Sarah competes in everything from aquathons to duathlons, triathlons and track, road and cross-country races. Some of her recent achievements include winning at the 2004 Zatopek and Australian U18 3000m steeplechase, the 2005 Melbourne Rialto run and competing in the Australian team for the World Junior XC as well as the World Junior Track & Field Team in the 3000m steeplechase.

In another fantastic conclusion to the Winter Season, Box Hill came away with wonderful results, probably the equal of the sensational performance recorded in 2005, on Saturday 16th September at the second Tan Relay competition.

Box Hill men performed remarkably winning the Silver medal in Section 1, winning the Section 3 and the Section 5 relay events, and placing second in Section 7. The Under 20 men won the silver medal in a very fine even team performance and the Under 18 won the state title, winning the Gold medal in a tremendous race. Congratulations to all members of the team. First or second in every event is a tremendous result.

The Women’s Section 1 team finished sixth, whilst the Section 2 team placed 10th. Congratulations to the Under 20 women’s team won the state title, winning the Gold medal. Our second Under 20 women’s team placed sixth. What a day!!

Full results, report and photos available at http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/Results/Winter06/TanRelays.htm.

Congratulations to Chris Hamer who won the national under 20 cross country championship in Tasmania on 26 August. Box Hill took the quinella in this event, with Steve Kelly running a great race to take the silver medal, just 4 seconds behind Chris. This is a fantastic result, with Chris and Steve both still eligible to run under 20 again next year.

In the women’s under 20 race, Sarah Grahame, just back from the world junior championships in Beijing, also put in an outstanding performance to win a bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Box Hill took out 3rd place in the Open Men’s Club competition.

MEN OPEN 12km
24. Steve Dineen
28. Andrew White
33. John Meagher
36. Daniel Clark
49. Adrian Vincent
MEN UNDER 20, 8km
1. Chris Hamer
2. Steve Kelly
32. Matt Coloe
37. Duayne Christou
47. Navin Arunasalam
53. Ruben Arunasalam
MEN UNDER 18, 6km
12. Damian Nugent
23. Mark Poli
WOMEN UNDER 20, 6km
3. Sarah Grahame
WOMEN UNDER 18, 4km
27. Ali Wilson

Well done to all those who competed and I apologise if I got anything wrong or missed anyone but the results page is strangely hard to read. Anyway, for full results see http://www.athletics.org.au/content/meets/docs/results/2006%20XC%20Results.pdf.

A quick note on club member Cassandra Raselli who has been taking no prisoners this year in the underage walks. So far this winter she won the 2006 U14 Victorian Schools Championships 3000m walk on 2 July at Albert Park in the very respectable time of 15:50.

And if that wasn’t enough, on 11 June she travelled to Canberra to take on Australia’s best and won the U12 2000m Lake Burley Griffin Carnival in a photo finish. For those who don’t know, the Lake Burley Griffin Race Walking Carnival, known as the 'LBG', has been conducted by the ACT Race & Fitness Walking Club on behalf of the Australian Federation of Race Walking Clubs since 1967. Since then, it has grown to be Australia's premier race walking event.

But her season’s highlight so far is probably the Bronze Medal she won on 27 August down in Tasmania in the Australian U14 3000m Race Walking Championships. Well done on your great results this winter and keep up the good work.

If anyone has a refrigerator which they no longer require, the Club is looking for one to use upstairs in our clubrooms to keep our beverages cool. Contact Graeme Olden on 9885 0890 or Cameron Baker on 0438 737 908.

Several Box Hill athletes recently competed at this years Australian University Games. Now while I am sure that there are many tales of debauchery to be told, all I am going to do is provide you with results, so you will have to ask them yourselves!

Sarah Coghill    100H   17.13   2nd
                 400H   68.49   2nd
                 LJ     4.76m   5th
                 TJ    10.58m   5th
Vivienne Lee     100H  17.96    3rd
Mohammad Zeed    100m  11.47(-1.6)  2nd
                 110H  14.62        2nd
Andrew Haddow    200m  22.68        9th
Lachlan Aspinall 800m  1:58.28      5th
                 1500m 4:12.09      11th
Alan Craigie     5000m 15:10.18     7th

Apologies to those whose names I didn’t recognise or overlooked. Well done to all who competed.