Dates for
Your Diary

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
Sun  11 Feb   National Club Championships -Hobart
Fri  16 Feb   Shield P2 & Premier League - Olympic Park
Sat  17 Feb   Club Room Official Opening - Box Hill
Tues  6 Mar   Shield P3 - Box Hill
Sat  24 Mar   Shield Final - P1 - Nunawading

Official Club Room Opening
Track Resurfacing
Strategic Plan Development
Shield Competition
Whitehorse Coach of the Year - Mark Stewart
National Club Championships
World Double Decathlon Championships
Miler's Club Meets
Training Etiquette
Melbourne Marathon
Power with Age
Victorian All School Championships
Happy Birthday Rob
Homeless Invade Box Hill

After many years of hard work, fundraising and frustration, we have finally gained a Certificate of Occupancy for the upstairs section of the Club rooms and pending completion of a Privacy Screen behind the building early in the new year, we will then be able to gain full access to use the upstairs rooms.

To celebrate this milestone, we are holding an official opening ceremony at the Club rooms on Saturday 17th February 2007, commencing at 5:30 pm.

The formal section of the evening should not last more than about half an hour after which you are invited to join the committee for drinks and nibbles. Further details regarding this function will be available in the new year, however please mark this date in your diary to make sure that you are able to join in this big celebration.

The Club recently received notification that we were successful with our grant application to the State Government to assist with funding to resurface the track. The department of Sport and Recreation, Victoria has committed $127,000 towards the project through their Community Support Fund – Major Facilities Grants program, with the funds to be spent during the 2007-2008 financial year.

The expected total project cost is about $500,000 of which the Club will be required to contribute about $120,000, while the City of Whitehorse will provide the balance of the funds, subject to approval by the Council.

The planned scope of work for the project includes removal of the existing track surface, including the jumps runups and javelin runup, repair of the base where necessary, resurfacing of the track and runups, widening the front straight to 10 lanes, construction of a new dual long jump / triple jump runup and pits and extension of the high jump runup.

Raising our share of the funds is clearly going to be a major challenge for the Club on top of our commitments to pay of our debts for the club room upgrade and disabled ramp, however it is imperative that we proceed with redevelopment of the track next year as the current surface is very worn and the extensions proposed will provide great benefits for relieving crowding during training and provide for more efficient competition scheduling.

The Club is currently in the process of developing a new long-term strategic plan. Club Vice-President, Colin Organ is leading a sub-committee responsible for preparing this plan.

Thank you to the dedicated club members who turned out to on Tuesday 29th November to discuss and plan the future of the club. Among the areas discussed on the night included membership growth and retention, competition, junior development, social functions, coaching, volunteering, facility and equipment improvements and of course fundraising. If you weren't able to make it but have some good ideas or thoughts on our future direction, please e-mail Colin Organ at colin.organ@aanet.com.au to make your contribution.

Interclub started a few weeks ago and after round 1 at Doncaster things settled back into their normal rhythm with rounds 2 and 3 at Box Hill. As stated in last months club news, there are no grades or qualifying standards at interclub this year. That means that the only way for us to fill our lower grade teams is to fill our Division 1 team first. Thus I encourage all athletes to compete in an extra event or two each weekend to help fill the empty spots in the team. Why not throw a shot put after you run your 100m. Who knows, you might even like it.

Athletes will have noticed that electronic timing has been running at interclub this season. While only hand times are available on the day, electronic times are posted on Athletics Victoria’s web site www.athsvic.org.au within a few days of the competition.

Also please be aware that Box Hill will be required to field approximately 8 officials per week so if you have family or friends that can help out for only one or two rounds then please let us know as we would be most appreciative.

If we don't get enough volunteers then the club will roster athletes to be responsible for providing an official for a designated shield round.

Remember you must compete in at least four rounds of shield competition to be eligible for the finals and you cannot compete in an event in the finals that you have not done at least once throughout the season. There are still eight rounds of competition before the finals next March, but don’t leave it too late!

If you have any enquiries about shield competition, please contact:

Rob Falkenberg - Robert.Falkenberg@se1.bp.com
or Chris O'Connor - coconnor@swin.edu.au

Box Hill’s own Mark Stewart was named Coach of the year at the Whitehorse Sports Awards at the Box Hill Town Hall on Friday 17 November. Mark has been a long time supporter of Box Hill Athletics Club and an ambassador for pole vaulting both in Australia and Internationally.

The City of Whitehorse had this to say about Mark:

“Regarded as one of the world’s leading pole vault coaches, Mark Stewart was one of Australia’s top 10 pole-vaulters before becoming a coach. He coached Emma George from 1994 to 1997 by which time she had set 10 world records and won a silver medal at the 1997 World Indoor Championships.

“He also coached Steven Hooker to a Commonwealth Games gold medal and championship record this year which also saw him achieve an IAAF World Ranking of sixth. Mark has also coached athletes that have taken part in the World Junior Championships, Commonwealth Games, East Asian Games and World University Games.”

I thought they paraphrased my words quite well didn’t they Mark (Ed)? Congratulations on a much deserved reward and recognition of your contribution towards the sport.

The World Double Decathlon Championships were held on 14 & 15 October 2006 in Bendigo. What is a double decathlon (or Icosathlon for those in the know) you ask? It is 20 events in 2 days. An entire Olympic track and field program plus the 200m hurdles and a 3000m. The first event of the first day is the 100m and it finishes with a 10km run round the track.

Congratulations go to Box Hill athlete David Featherston who finished fourth in the World double decathlon championships less than 70 points from a medal. Brett Nuske also competed in this gruelling event and finished 13th. Truly an Ironman performance!

The Victorian Miler’s Club has again this year been putting on some very well attended meets at Box Hill. These competitions draw the best 800m and 1500m runners from all over the state and are an excellent place to run some very fast times. Next meet is on Thursday 7 December with their 3rd meet on Thursday 18 January.

A number of Box Hill athletes performed well at the opening milers club competition of the season.

Men 800m
Navin Arunasalam  1:55.1
Tim Cherry        2:01.4
Matthew Taylor    2:18.9
Danny Krause      2:20.1

Women 800m	
Liz Dobson        2:27.7 PB
Ollie Turnbull    2:29.4
Suzanne Andrews   2:30.8 PB

Men 1500m
Daniel Clark      3:53.2
Stephen Dineen    3:59.1
Barry Lynch       3:59.6
Stephen Kelly     4:00.5

Women 1500m	
Kate Wall         4:45.0 PB
Sarah Grahame     4:51.7
Priscilla Barrington 5:31.0 PB  

The committee has received a number of complaints recently about the lack of etiquette shown by many members training at the ground.

The Club has a number of rules to ensure the safe and enjoyable use of the facilities by all members. All members are asked to observe the following rules when training at the ground:

Note that these rules are in place for the benefit of all users of the track. If you notice someone not complying with these rules, please ask them politely to change their behaviour. Most users of the track are probably simply ignorant of the rules or else not aware of the problems that they are causing others.

Box Hill had several athletes taking part in the Melbourne Marathon on 8 October 2006.

Congratulations to Tim Heron (3:15:12), Bill Dyer (3:24:22), Amanda Harper (3:29:33) who completed there first marathons and to Neville Gardner (4:12:52) who completed his 29th Melbourne Marathon!

Congratulations also to Andrew White who finished 4th in the half marathon in the time of 1:08:29 and to Jessica De Bruin who ran a PB of 1:27:52.

Power with Age is a book that is inspiring and motivational. It provides real life examples of older athletes who defy their age by decades and show us it's never too late to really experience the joy of activity. Also included are simple step by step instructions on how to begin the journey towards living a more vibrant and energetic life. It's a must for anyone who values their health. And this is what Michael Henry, Editor in Chief from Ultra -Fit Magazine, Australia has to say about Power with Age.

"A truly inspiring book that I could not put down. Each story brings with it a new perspective on how not just to stay active, but how to turn the tide on age. The individuals featured in this nicely written book blew me away with their success. If they can do it, so can you......start by reading this book then ask yourself, why can these people succeed where so many others fail? The answer is that they would not accept that age should be a set back in regards to health. They understood that they were responsible to steering their lives towards long term activity and health."

"We cannot stay young forever, and we will not live forever, but we can be fit for the time that we have! Just by reading this book you will be on your way!"

Dawn Hartigan is offering her book 'Power with Age' to Box Hill Club members, friends and associates as a fundraiser for the club. Club members will purchase the book directly from Dawn at the usual retail price of $29.95 and will receive a personally signed copy. For each book sold the club will receive $11.98. This is an opportunity to make a difference to the health and wellbeing of friends and loved ones and at the same time support the development of our club.

This is a limited offer so don't miss out. Contact Dawn Hartigan on 9439 2672 or email dawnicanrosco@optusnet.com.au and mention this add to help raise money for your club. Payment can be by cheque, money order or cash.

The Victorian All Schools were conducted over two weekends in October. Box Hill has had many athletes taking part. (Apologies to anyone whose results we may have missed – but understandably the results are listed in schools and not clubs!).

WOMEN

UNDER 20
Morgan Deane     100m  2nd   12.63 
                 200m  2nd   26.37
Veronica Kirby    HJ   2nd   1.66m 
                  TJ   3rd   9.89m 
                  LJ   3rd   4.31m
Melanie Adams     LJ   1st   4.88m
                  HJ   3rd   1.59m
                  SP   2nd   8.36m
Jacqui Williams   PV   1st   3.40m

UNDER 18
Sarah Grahame    800m  6th   2:40.0
                 1500m 1st   5:11.9
                 2k ST 1st   7:09.1
                 3000m 3rd   10:48.8
Ali Wilson       400m  2nd   58.7
Jennifer Chan    PV    1st   3.10m
Hannah Turnball  TJ    3rd   10.85m
                 LJ    6th   4.94m	
                 100m  11th  13.36
Lavina Fernandez 100m  10th  13.25

UNDER 17
Harriet Hodgkinson       1500m  8th  5:16.4
Panayiota Carabourniatis  HJ    4th  1.40m
                          DT    4th  21.56m
Natalia Kremenchutskaya   TJ    2nd  11.16m
Breanne Cross             PV    3rd  2.30m

UNDER 16
Breanne Cross             PV   2nd   2.50m
Oliva Mills               PV   3rd   2.50m

UNDER 14
Cassandra Raselli       1500m W  1st  7:15.6
Chelsea Dyer            Discus   3rd  24.95m
                        Shot     2nd  9.39m
                        Javelin  1st  34.19m

MEN

UNDER 20
Chris Hamer             5000m    1st  15:33.4
                        1500m    4th  4:03.6
Matt Coloe               800m    2nd  1:55.9
                        1500m    2nd  4:00.4
Alistair McLean          800m    3rd  1:56.8
                        1500m    6th  4:09.9
Rahul Barmanray          200m    8th  24.05
Andrew Nagle             400m         55.16

UNDER 18
Josh Ross                100m    1st  11.18
Andrew Hogan             400m    2nd  50.9
Damian Nugent           1500m    5th  4:09.9



UNDER 17
Mark Poli               3000m    7th  9:53.2  
Tim Maginn               100m         11.70
                         LJ      12th 5.32m 

UNDER 14
Brodie Cross             PV      3rd  2.50m

Happy Birthday to Rob Falkenberg on 28 November 2006 for achieving a great birthday milestone. He made us promise to not say how old he is, but we are happy to say he is not as old as he looks! Just joking Rob. All that running behind sprinters holding them back must be keeping you looking young.

Everyone needs to keep their eyes out for local homeless people who have been scavenging around the track looking for food scraps to eat or cardboard to sleep in. While we at Box Hill Athletic Club sympathise with their predicament we feel it is unsafe to have them around. This is a photo of one we caught in the act:

If anyone spots this man loitering around the track again, please contact your nearest committee member.