News articles

Three Box Hill athletes in World Championships team

September 12, 2019

Box Hill athletes Nana Owusu-Afriyie (4x100m relay), Harry Summers (10,000m), and Georgia Griffith (1500m) have been selected to represent Australia at the World Athletics Championships in Doha later this month.

It is a huge honour to be selected to represent your country and Box Hill is very proud.  A big shout out to our Box Hill coaches Tony ‘as fast as a leopard’ Marsh (Nana) and Steve ‘not sure about that’ Ellinghaus (Georgia).

The Championships will be televised on Foxtel (Eurosport).

The selections followed a successful weekend last month at the National Cross Country Championships in Wollongong, NSW, where several Box Hill athletes represented Victoria.

Courtney Powell came a very impressive 4th in the Open Women’s 10k, and Andre Waring 8th in the Open Mens. Congratulations to both.

In the Womens U18, Ashlee Treagus finished an impressive 7th. In the Women’s Under 20 6k, Holly Hart, who stepped up from the 800m, finished 39th, while Amy Atkinson (also a 800m runner) unfortunately was injured at the 4 kilometre mark and had to withdraw.

In the Men’s Under 20s, Josh Mcleod finished 13th, while in the Under 18s Doug Buckeridge placed 15th (4th in the Under 17 age group) and Dharma Deal 49th. Unfortunately, Mac Anderson (son of legendary distance runner Darren) was forced to withdraw due to injury a few weeks back.

XCR Round 9 – Burnley Half Marathon

September 8, 2019

By Ian Sloane

Congratulations to all those who participated in the Burnley Half Marathon on Sunday. There were good individual results and Box Hill was 3rd in the women’s division 2 and 40+. The men’s 50+ team also scored a 3rd place.

We were greeted with blue skies and chilly temperatures.  The Burnley course is flat and fast.  There were 140 female finishers in the open race and 402 male finishers.  More started, but withdrew during the race. 

Box Hill had fewer representatives in the half marathon than we have had in previous winter races this year, with a number of our best performers out with injury or unavailable.  When the race started just after 8am, the runners had to complete multiple laps to finish the 21.1 kilometre course. A group of five or six athletes led out after a couple of kilometres.  Dave Ridley (Doncaster), Ryan Geard (Western), Liam Adams (Essendon) and Matthew Hudson were some of the prominent athletes.  Leading Box Hill runners at this early stage were Klarie McIntyre, 19^th, Nick Baggott, 24^th, Alex Ritchie, 35^th, John Meagher, 45^th and Josh De Stefanis, 50^th. John Dutton was obscured when he ran through, and he was in the top 10% as was seen the next time the runners ran past the finish point. Steph Kondogonis was the leading female athlete, with Pia Hunter, June Petrie, Kat Foley and Kaman Ip making up the rest if the team. 

Geard, and Adams were running in close proximity to Ridley and Hudson, and Matthew Johnsen (Doncaster) had moved into fifth position and was moving well. Klarie McIntyre was in 16^th position, Nick Baggott was in 21^st position, John Dutton was in 32^nd position, Alex Ritchie was in 42^nd place, Josh De Stefanis was 54^th and John Meagher was 57^th.  Steph Kondogonis was he best placed female Box Hill athlete, so way ahead of Pia Hunter, June Petrie and Kaman Ip.

The next time the leaders appeared, Geard and Adams put the foot down on the accelerator and broke up the pack, with Ridley, Hudson and Johnsen the next three competitors. Klarie McIntyre was 17^th, Nick Baggott 22^nd, John Dutton held 31^st, Alex Ritchie was 40^th with John Meagher 62nd, Jos De Stefanis, around 65^th and Russell Clowes about 95^th.  The race becomes difficult to follow in the concluding laps, because slower runners are being lapped by the quicker runners.  There is a constant stream of human traffic and it is easy to miss runners buried within a larger group. 

Adams and Geard remained in front, with Ridley and Johnsen the next to to pass where the finish would be.  Klarie Mcintyre improved his place two positions and was 15^th, Nick Baggott was 23^rd, John Dutton was 36^th, Alex Ritchie was 40^th, Jos De Stefanis was around 65^th and John Meagher was around 68^th.  Russell Clowes, Dylan Perera, Michael Vaughan, Jackson Deane, Shane Holt, Tony Langelaan, Steph Kondogonis, and Jack Hill were the next Box Hill runners to pass by, before the writer had to move to the finishing chute when the leaders emerged in the distance.

Geard put in a surge and Adams didn’t respond, so Geard won the race by 14 seconds from Adams, with Ridley coming back at Adams, seven seconds further back.  Johnsen too fourth with Hudson fifth.  Klarie McIntyre’s strong finish carried him past two more competitors, so he finished 13^th, with a two minute PB, no mean feat. Nick Baggott picked up more places as well to finish 20^th.  John Dutton also finished strongly and came 33^rd, with Alex Ritchie placing 47^th. Jos De Stefanis, 64^th, John Meagher, 72^nd and Russell Clowes, 100^th, made the top 100 as well.  Tony Langelaan ran well in his age group0 and time wise to finish159th.  Simon St Hill saw the benefit of his relatively new running shoes to knock six minutes off his PB, finishing 298^th. Anna Kelly (Invitation) won the women’s race from Kiah Fry (Frankston) and Fasika Metafriya (Essemdon) was third. Steph Kondogonis placed 23^rd, Pia Hunter was 60^th, June Petrie was 69^th and Kaman Ip was 77^th. 

Post-race analysis showed that St Stephens won the men’s team race from Western Athletics and Geelong were third.  Box Hill recorded its leanest placing of the season and finished fourth in the Premier Division.  SSH have now secured the Premier Division Premiership, their first overall victory since 1966 when they won both Cross Country and Road pennants.  They won the VAAA Cross Country Championship in 1967 (when there were separate Cross Country and Road Championships). Box Hill’s Women’s Division 2 team finished third. 

Kushi Deol came 13^th in the under 14 Women’s race.  

Jack Ewison was 5^th in the under 14 Men’s race.

Kennedy Chenplaced 21^st in the under 20 Men’s race. 

Male Individual placings

1 Ryan Geard Western Aths 64:59

2 Liam Adams Aths Essendon 65:13

3 Dave Ridley Doncaster 65:20

13 Klarie McIntyre Box Hill 66:45

20 Nick Baggott Box Hill 67:50

33 John Dutton Box Hill 70:22

47 Alex Ritchie Box Hill 72:24

64 Josh De Stefanis Box Hill 74:11

72 John Meagher Box Hill 74:51

100 Russell Clowes Box Hill 76:43

107 Dylan Perera Box Hill 77:17

113 Michael Vaughan Box Hill 77:38

118 Jackson Deane Box Hill 78:18

148 Shane Holt Box Hill 80:22

159 Tony Langelaan Box Hill 80:46

234 Jack Hill Box Hill 87:17

298 Simon St Hill Box Hill 93:21

331 Chris O’Connor Box Hill 98:48

392 Andrew Tunne Box Hill 119:20

Female Individual placings

1 Anna Kelly Invitation 74:22

2 Kia Fry Frankston 85:44

3 Fasika Metafriya Aths Essendon 76:35

23 Steph Kondogonis Box Hill 85:44

60 Pia Hunter Box Hill 93:07

69 June Petrie Box Hill 95:56

77 Kaman Ip Box Hill 97:31

Junior races

Under 14 Women

13 Kushi Deol Box Hill 22:58

Under 14 Men

5 Jack Ewison Box Hill 18:00

Under 20 Men

21 Kennedy Chen Box Hill 20:01

Division 1 Team Scores

1 St Stephens Harriers 91 

2 Western Athletics 104 

3 Geelong Region 127 

4 Box Hill 165 

5 Melbourne University 210 

Division 2 Team Scores

1 Frankston 173 

2 Bendigo Region 220 

3 APS United 263 

4 Mentone 402 

5 Box Hill 406 

Division 3 Team Scores

1 Victorian Cross Country League 336 

2 Athletics Waverley 421 

3 Malvern Harriers 484 

7 Box Hill 626 

Men 40+ Team Score

9 Box Hill 106

Men 50+ Team Scores 

1 Old Xaverians 33 

2 APS United 36 

3 Box Hill 38 

Women

Division 2 Team Scores 

1 Glenhuntly 65 

2 Mentone 94 

3 Box Hill 135 

Women 40+ Team Scores

1 APS United 26 

2 Mentone 36 

3 Box Hill 50

XCR ’19 Round 7 – Lake Wendouree

July 27, 2019

Box Hill’s Andre Waring took home a silver medal and stepped on to the podium for the first time at the 15km road championship in Ballarat on 27 July. It was another great day for the club, with our women winning Division 2, Division 4 and the 50+ Division. Our mens 50+ team also claimed gold.

By Ian Sloane

What a miraculous day in Ballarat!  Although chilly, it was not freezing and there was practically no wind.  These were the most perfect conditions that longer-term members could recall since 1982, a hot year when the race was contested at Fisherman’s Bend. Box Hill life member, Brian Lewry, a Ballarat resident, who came to watch the race, noted the rarity of an absence of wind, the glass-like conditions on Lake Wendouree and the lack of snow and ice on competitors. 

Many of the competitors were slowed up en route by roadworks at Rockbank where two lanes of the highway were reduced to one lane with a traffic snarl that took up to 30 minutes to clear.   Fortunately most, if not all, travelling to the Lake Wendouree course arrived in time to compete. 

There were fewer competitors than is usual for AV races, and there were 142 female finishers and 366 male finishers in the 15 kilometre road championship, which was well down on the number of contestants racing in the 10 k road race and the 10 k cross country race.   

The junior races involved one circuit of Lake Wendouree, and preceded the open events. Box Hill was represented by Kennedy Chen in the under 20 6 k road race.  He placed 21^st. 

The senior race consisted an out-and-back loop of three kilometres and two clockwise loops of Lake Wendouree. Box Hill had 20 male competitors and nine female competitors.  The men’s and women’s races were run simultaneously. 

The race commenced at 2.30pm and the runners set off running in an anti-clockwise direction on the out-and-back 3km loop. When the leaders came into view there was a pack of 11 or 12 runners. This pack included Andy Buchanan, the eventual winner, Ryan Geard (Western Aths), Liam Cashin (Western Aths), Jack Davies (SSH), Tom Fawthorpe (Knox), Andre Waring (Box Hill) and Julian Spence (Ballarat). Andre held 9^th position at this stage.  Nick Baggott (about 20^th), Steve Dinneen Klarie McIntyre (both in the top thirty), John Dutton, about 27^th, and Alex Ritchie around 32^nd made up the Division 1 team  A second pack formed and it included Joshua Maisey (Doncaster), Tom Thorpe (SSH), Jack Holden (St Kevins), Jamie Wagstaff (SSH) and Callum Drake (Western Aths). 

At the completion of the first of the two full laps of the lake Andy Buchanan had developed an extremely wide gap over the rest of the field.  The pursuing group had been whittled away to six runners, including Spence, Davies who was 4^th, Andre Waring 5^th (and looking extremely fluent and strong) and Thorpe.  Nick Baggott passed the 9km point in 23^rd, with Steve Dinneen, 26^th, Klarie McIntyre, 27^th Alex Ritchie 37^th and John Dutton 40^th, completing the Box Hill Premier Division team. St Stephens Harriers had six athletes in the top 25, so it was clear that they were in the lead in the team’s race.  Western Aths had a strong showing with five runners through before our last Division 1 team member. Their sixth team member was approximately 50^th, so it was evident that we would be struggling to win the team’s race. 

Zac Hunter crossed in 67^th place, John Meagher was 70^th, Ross Thomas was 72^nd, supported by Russell Clowes, Michael Vaughan, and Dylan Perera in the Division 2 team.  Following these athletes were Jackson Deane, Paul Prentice, Tony Langenaan, Shane Holt, and Jack Hill our Division 3 team. Chris O’Connor, Simon St Hill and Andrew Tunne completed our list of competitors.

Andrew Buchanan held on strongly to win the race in the extremely fast time of 44:17.  Andre Waring absolutely stormed home to run away from Spence, who was third and Davies and Thorpe who were fourth and fifth respectively. Andre’s time was 44:57, an extraordinarily fast time.  The 15km road championship is normally won in 46 to 47 minutes.  The times run by the leading athletes were reflective of the benign conditions. 

Box Hill Division 1 team members were Nick Baggott, 22^rd, Steve Dinneen, 23^rd, Alex Ritchie (who passed a number of other clubs’ runners in the final lap) placed 27^th, and John Dutton improved his position to 36^th. The Box Hill Premier Division team finished third.  

Box Hill’s Division 2 team comprised Zac Hunter, 65^th, Ross Thomas, 66^th, Russell Clowes 80^th, John Meagher (second in his age division behind Steve Moneghetti), 82^nd, Michael Vaughan, 86^th, and Dylan Perera, who was 88^th.  The team was second in their division.

The Division 3 team was made up of Jackson Deane, 96^th, Paul Prentice (third in his age division), 101^st, Tony Langelaan (second in his age division), 121^st, Shane Holt, 171^st, and Jack Hill, 189^th.  The team placed third. Chris O’Connor was 270^th, Simon St Hill was 264^th and Andrew Tunne was 357^th. Our 40+ team was 3^rd.  Our 50+ team had another win, its fifth for the season.  More importantly, they regained the season’s lead on the premiership ladder from APS, which finished fourth at Ballarat.

The women’s race, like the 10 k road race, was harder to follow because the female athletes were interspersed among the generally larger male runners, which made it more difficult to count and identify them.  Gemma Maini (Frankston) led early from Kiah Fry (Frankston), with Tamara Quinn (Collingwood) third.  Later, Fry surged and Maini slowed marginally, to be overtaken by Quinn.  Fry won the race easily and has been very successful in the winter races this year. Steph Kondogonis got off to one of her best starts this year and was clearly in the top 15.  She lifted her position to 13^th in the last lap, which was a very solid effort.  Julie Norney is running brilliantly at the moment and she won her age division by over two-and-a-half minutes, which was a magnificent achievement. She placed 27^th in the race overall. Kat Foley has been running very well this year and has improved each time she has raced.  I stand to be corrected, but I believe this was her best winter placing.  If it wasn’t it was still a great effort to make the top 30.  Just two places behind Kat Foley was Lucinda Buckley who was 32^nd, running to a sensible race plan, not leaving all it all on the road in the first part of the race.  Running similarly was Jess Muirden who placed 34^th.  Together these five leading performances were good enough to eclipse all the other Division 2 teams for the fourth time in seven races.  They now lead the Division 2 premiership race by a substantial margin.  

The Division 4 team also won their division. Pia Hunter ran well to record 63^rd, placing 4^th in her age division.  The same can be said of June Petrie who placed 69^th, winning the gold medal in her age division by over nine minutes, a notable feat.  Rachel Johnson placed 82^nd (and 10^th in her age group) and Kamen Ip was 102^nd (she was 13^th in her age division). 

The 40+ team placed third and Box Hill is second on the ladder.  The 50+ women’s team had their seventh win for the season and are head and shoulders above the other clubs in this competition. 

Men’s 15 K road race results

Open

1. Andrew Buchanan Bendigo 44:17

2 Andre Waring Box Hill 44:57

3 Julian Spence Ballarat 45:05

4 Ryan Geard Western Athletics 45;12

5 Jack Davies St Stephens Harriers 45:20

6 Tom Thorpe St Stephens Harriers 45:32

22 Nicholas Baggott Box Hill 47:49

23 Steve Dinneen Box Hill 47:56

27 Alexander Ritchie Box Hill 48:04

32 Klarie McIntyre Box Hill 48:41

36 Peter Dutton Box Hill 49:04

65 Zac Hunter Box Hill 51:13

66 Ross Thomas Box Hill 51:15

80 Russell Clowes Box Hill 52:36

82 John Meagher Box Hill 52:42 (2^nd 54 – 59)

86 Michael Vaughan Box Hill 52:49

88 Dylan Perera Box Hill 53:10

96 Jackson Deane Box Hill 53:48

101 Paul Prentice Box Hill 53:58 (3^rd 45 – 49) 

121 Tony Langelaan Box Hill 55:10 (3^rd 50 – 54) 

171 Shane Holt Box Hill 58:29

189 Jack Hill Box Hill 59:32

207 Chris O’Connor Box Hill 60:30 (11^th 55 – 59) 

264 Simon St Hill Box Hill 64:08 (15^th 50-54) 

357 Andrew Tunne Box Hill 82:48 (24^th 60-99)

Team Placings

Division 1

1 SSH 98

2 Western Athletics 123

3 Box Hill 142

Division 2 

1 APS 445

2 Box Hill 446

3 Bendigo 501

Division 3 

1 VCCL 247

2 South Melbourne 620

3 Aths Waverley 640

4 Box Hill 671

40+

1 Geelong 28

2 Old Xavierians 37

3 Box Hill 42

4 Ballarat 42

50+

1 Box Hill 27

2 Bendigo 46

3 Ballarat 46

4 APS 68

Under 20 6 K road race 

21 Kennedy Chen Box Hill 23:49

Women’s 15 K road race results

Open

1 Kiah Fry Frankston 51:42

2 Tamara Quinn Collingwood 52:47

3 Gemma Maini Frankston 53:02

13 Steph Kondogonis Box Hill 56:19

27 Julie Norney Box Hill 58:33 (1^st 50 – 54)

30 Katherine Foley Box Hill 59:25

32 Lucinda Buckley Box Hill 59:39

34 Jessie Muirden Box Hill 60:00

63 Pia Hunter Box Hill 64:00 (4^th 50 – 54)

69 June Petrie Box Hill 64:55 (1^st 55 – 59) 

82 Rachel Johnson Box Hill 67:12 (10^th 40 – 44)

102 Kaman Ip Box Hill 71:14 (13^th 40 – 44)

Team Placings

Division 2

1 Box Hill 162

2 Glen Huntly 213

3 Malvern 222

Division 4

1 Box Hill 164

2 Ballarat 268

3 Traralgon 277

40+

1 Mentone 34

2 APS 34

3 Box Hill 37

50+

1 Box Hill 10

2 Waverley 46

3 Doncaster 71

XCR ’19 Round 6 – Albert Park Lake

July 14, 2019

Harry Summers and Ashlee Treagus shone at the Victorian Road Championships held at Albert Park on 14 July, with Courtney Powell, Liz Doueal, Andre Waring, Jack Ewison, Izak Bibile and Roxy Phipps also performing well to claim top 10 finishes. By Ian Sloane It was a cold and windy day for the sixth race on the 2019 AV XCR calendar, with the wind building up on the second return section of the looped course.   Rain threatened, then the sun shone.  There were junior 3 kilometre races and under 20 and senior 10 kilometre races scheduled. The junior races were scheduled first with “waves” at the start and the 10 kilometre races started all at the same time, thirty minutes later.   The junior races saw a number of Box Hill athletes excel.  In particular, Ashlee Treagus ran brilliantly, winning the under 18 3km road race, which was some accomplishment.  She had real competition from Ebony Dodemaide (Western Athletics) and Bianca Puglisi (Essendon), and it was only in the final stages of the race that she dropped Puglisi first and then Dodemaide to win by a little over four seconds.  Other Box Hill junior athletes to compete included Jack Ewison, who finished fourth in the under 14 men’s 3km race which was a fine effort.  Roxy Phipps placed seventh in the under 16 Women’s race, also a very good effort. Izak Bibile ran competitively to finish 10thin the under 16 men’s competition. Murray Lovass completed the under 18 10km race in 22ndposition. Tamsyn Lovass placed 11thin the under 20 women’s 10km race. Kennedy Chen was 22ndin the under 20 men’s race.  There were 198 finishers in the open female race and 469 finishers in the male 10km races.  However, these figures may be revised upwards as athletes who were omitted from the results are included. The race commences outside the Lakeside Stadium, in Albert Rd Drive, taking a right hand turn up Lakeside Drive to run two loops of this part of the course.  When the runners were sent on their way by the starter, a small group of elite athletes ranged up to the front to take control of the race.  This group included Jack Davies (SSH), Andrew Buchanan (Bendigo), Charlie Park (Melbourne University), Nick Earl (Melbourne University), Ben Buckingham (SSH), David McNeill (OX), Harry Summers (BH), Jack Holden (Old St Kevins), Liam Adams (Essendon), Tim Logan (Diamond Valley) and Tom Fawthorpe (Knox).  There was a second large group not much further behind which included Andre Waring.   Box Hill athletes Will Potter and Nick Baggott were close together and Alex Ritchie was in the top 30 or so.  Other athletes who were in the top 100 included Klarie McIntyre, Steve Dinneen, Michael Dowel, Josh De Stefanis and Zac Hunter.  Also representing the club in this AV men’s 10km road championship were Ross Thomas, Michael Vaughan, Russell Clowes, Jackson Deane, Paul Prentice, Tony Langelaan, Jack Hill, Dino Crivelli, Simon St Hill andAndrew Tunne.   When the runners returned on the first loop of the Lakeside Drive part of the course, after about four kilometres, Harry Summers had surged to the lead and held a commanding lead over Andy Buchanan, David McNeill, Ben Buckingham, Jack Davies, Charlie Park, Tom Fawthorpe and Liam Adams. At the five kilometre mark, Harry ran 14:15 in first place with a lead of around 70 to 80 metres.  Buchanan and McNeill held second and third place respectively, with Bucking ham and Davies not far away and Liam Adams was nearby and looking untroubled. Andre Waring was 18th(14:49), Will Potterwas 25th(15:11) and Nick Baggott was 27th(15:13).  Alex Ritchie had started very fast and was in 35th position (15:20), Klarie McIntyre was in the first 50 and passed the 5km mark in 15:43, Steve Dinneen was obscured and no time was taken, Michael Dowel passed the 5km mark in 16:13, Josh De Stafanis recorded 16:34, Zac Hunter passed the 5km point in 17:01, with Ross Thomas and Michael Vaughan in the mid 17 minute range.   On entering the stadium to finish, Harry had an enormous 40 second lead over Buchanan who had shaken off all the other elite athletes, except Liam Adams  who was hanging on grimly after his most recent Marathon in which he missed the Olympic Qualifying standard by the bare margin of six seconds.  Adams couldn’t make up the slender gap which Buchanan had over him.   Davies and Buckingham were next over the line.  Andre Waring ran a really strong second half have improving his position by eight places.  At the pointy end of the field that is quite a noteworthy effort.  Will Potter held his position steadily throughout the race and just held off Nick Baggott who finished a couple of seconds behind him (in 24th and 25th positions respectively).  Prior to Will crossing the line four SSH runners had crossed the line, with three Melbourne University runners already in and three Western Athletics athletes finished as well.  This made the team’s race very tight. SSH’s fifth runner (Wagstaff, 28th) crossed before Alex Ritchie arrived in 34thposition. Steve Dinneen placed 41stafter a cautious beginning ensuring he didn’t get a recurrence of his leg issue, passing a number of athletes in the concluding stages. In the meantime, Conway (Melb. Uni) finished 31stand Pearce (Wes) finished 26th, with his teammate Drake completing the course in 37thplace. Quirk (46th) completed the SSH Division 1 team. Tonge (Wes) finished 38thto complete Western Athletics team. It was going to be very tight indeed. Unfortunately, final positions were not available until Tuesday, because a number of failures occurred with the timing system, so the video footage of the finish had to be reviewed.  This affected at least three of our male runners.  Therefore, we couldn’t do the arithmetic to discover what the team’s race outcome was.   I suspected that SSH had beaten us.  However, I was only able to record the first 35 places, when around 9 runners crossed the finish within a ten second period. It wasn’t possible to calculate Western Athletics final numbers either. It turned out that SSH did win the Division 1 team’s race when the position alterations occurred.  Box Hill placed second and Western Athletics was third.  The Division 2 race was won by Bendigo, with Knox second and Box Hill third.  The team was comprised of Michael Dowel, 49th, Josh De Stefanis, 71st, Zac Hunter, 91st, Ross Thomas, 95th, Michael Vaughan, 108thand Russell Clowes, 112th. The Division 3 team, comprised of Dylan Perera, 121st, Jackson Deane, 135th, Paul Prentice, 149thand fourth in his age category), Tony Langelaan, 173rd (also fourth in his age category) and Jack Hill, 243rd, finished third, behind Mornington, the winners, and VCCL was second. Full results are listed below. The 40+ team was 10thand the 50+ team was sixth.  The women’s race was a lot harder to follow, as all the women were intermingled with the men, and the women were sometimes surrounded by a dozen or more male competitors, which impeded a clear view. The eventual winner said that this gave her a big advantage as she was able to run in a way that would not have been possible if it was a head-to-head contest amongst the women.   Box Hill had 11 runners representing the club.   Charlotte Wilson (Athletics Essendon) took the lead in the early part of the race, from Whitney Sharpe (SSH) and Kiah Fry (Frankston), third.   It was a real thrill to see two Box Hill women, Courtney Powell and Liz Doueal, in the leading part of the women’s race, in around eighth to tenth positions (some of the leading women were missed due to the congested nature of where they were running). Wilson dropped back after about three kilometres and Fry took the lead with a surge that dropped all pursuing athletes other than Whitney Sharpe. At the five kilometre mark, Sharpe had taken over and led the race from second-placed Fry with Wilson third.   Courtney Powell, the leading Box Hill runner was in around eighth position and went through the 5km mark in 17:13. Liz Doueal, in her second run for the club, was not far behind.  Courtney eventually finished eighth, another very solid performance and Liz was one place further back in ninth position. This was an excellent effort from both our leading females.   Box Hill’s other female athletes running the race were Julie Norney, who finished 36thand won her age category, Jess Muirden, 46th, Katherine Foley, 52nd, Lucinda Buckley, 56th, Pia Hunter, 89th (and fifth in her age category) June Petrie, 94th(and was first in her age category), Rachel Johnson 101st, Kaman Ip 115thand Kerry Putt, 159th. Box Hill therefore won the Women’s Division 2 team’s race, placed second the Division 4 team’s race and won the Division 5 team’s race, which was a very impressive outcome. The 40+ team was second and the 50+ team won its age category.   Men’s 10 K results Open 1       Harry Summers       Box Hill                        28:34 2.      Andrew Buchanan     Bendigo                         29:14 3       Liam Adams             Essendon                       29:15 4       Jack Davies               St Stephens Harriers       29:32 5       Ben Buckingham       St Stephens Harriers       29:35 10     Andre Waring          Box Hill                        29:49 24     William Potter         Box Hill                        30:57  25     Nicholas Baggott      Box Hill                        30:59 34     Alexander Ritchie    Box Hill                        31:29                   41     Steve Dinneen           Box Hill                        31:47 49     Michael Dowel          Box Hill                        32:11 71     Joshua De Stefanis   Box Hill                        33:24 91     Zac Hunter               Box Hill                        34:00 95     Ross Thomas            Box Hill                        34:12 108   Michael Vaughan     Box Hill                        34:35 112   Russell Clowes          Box Hill                        34:52 121   Dylan Perera            Box Hill                        34:57 135   Jackson Deane         Box Hill                        35:35 149   Paul Prentice            Box Hill                        35:57 (4th45 – 49)  173   Tony Langelaan       Box Hill                        36:39 (4th50 – 54)  243   Jack Hill                   Box Hill                        38:54 272   Chris O’Connor       Box Hill                        39:34 (10th55 – 59)  287   Bert Pelgrim             Box Hill                        40:03 310   Dino Crivelli             Box Hill                        40:58 (21st45-49) 366   Simon St Hill            Box Hill                        43:24 (24th50-54)  453   Andrew Tunne          Box Hill                        53:20(25th60-99)   Team Placings Division 1 1       SSH                           120 2       Box Hill                    133 3       Western Athletics       138   Division 2  (Provisional scores but inaccurate for Box Hill because Michael Dowel is not listed in the team and should be) 1       Bendigo                   346 2       Knox                         378 3       Box Hill                    488   Division 3  1       Mornington               418 2       VCCL                        518 3       Box Hill                    729   40+ 1       Geelong                    20 2       Collingwood             29 3       APS                           36 10     Box Hill                    167   50+ 1       APS                           27 2       Old Xavierians          45 3       Collingwood             52 6       Box Hill                    75   Under 14 4       Jack Ewison             Box Hill                        10:30   Under 16 10     Izak Bibile                Box Hill                        9:38   Under 18 22     Murray Lovass         Box Hill                        41:19 Under 20 22     Kennedy Chen          Box Hill                        37:28     Women’s 10 K results Open 1       Whitney Sharpe         St Stephens Harriers       33:18 2       Kiah Fry                    Frankston                      33:26 3       Charlotte Wilson        Essendon                       34:16 8       Courtney Powell      Box Hill                        35:10 9       Elizabeth Doueal      Box Hill                        35:19 36     Julie Norney             Box Hill                        38:27 (1st50 – 54) 46     Jessie Muirden          Box Hill                        38:57 52     Katherine Foley       Box Hill                        39:18 56     Lucinda Buckley       Box Hill                        39:32 89     Pia Hunter               Box Hill                        42:37 (5th 50 – 54) 94     June Petrie               Box Hill                        43:19 (1st55 – 59)  101   Rachel Johnson        Box Hill                        44:09 (11th40 – 44) 115   Kaman Ip                 Box Hill                        45:23 (14th40 – 44) 159   Kerry Putt               Box Hill                        50:00 (11th45 – 49)   Team Placings Division 2 1       Box Hill                    95 2       Diamond Valley        263 3       Mentone                    281   Division 4 1       SSH                           132 2       Box Hill                    182 3       Bendigo                    264   Division 5 1       Box Hill                    274 2       Frankston                  315 3       Doncaster                  440   40+ 1       APS                           20 2       Box Hill                    44 3       Collingwood             45   50+ 1       Box Hill                    12 2       Malvern                    42 3       Waverley                   55   Under 16 7       Roxy Phipps             Box Hill                        11:29   Under 18 1       Ashlee Treagus         Box Hill                        10:02   Under 20  11     Tamsyn Lovass         Box Hill                        45:14

Sandown Relay Meeting July 6Box Hill had some notable successes at Sandown winning Men’s Premier Division, Women’s Division 2, Women’s Division 4 and Women’s 50+ Division.Harry Summers and Courtney Powell run sizzling legs for their teams.Great effort by the under 18 men’s team to win silver, with a brilliant last leg by Douglas Buckeridge.Facebook photo album link (85 photos) Weather conditions, by Sandown Relay standards, were rather benign on Saturday 6 July.  The sun was shining, the air temperature was 18º C, and the wind ameliorated to a breeze, not a gale, during the afternoon, with absolutely no hint of rain, which is normally a factor. This year Athletics Victoria introduced timing chips for every team in all races.  The chip was secured by a piece of elastic which could be worn around the wrist.  It was then to be passed to the next runner. A number of runners dropped the timing chip at the changeover point before passing it over to the next runner, enabling the following runner to commence, so, according to a number of athletes and bystanders, it showed up a deficiency in the methodology.   These commentators argued that each team should have been provided with two timing chips, on the assumption the technology could cope with the replication of timing chips, so that the first runner could pass the timing chip to the third runner after completing their leg, the second runner could pass the chip to the fourth runner after they had completed their leg and so forth, eliminating the possibility of a dropped tag.  There was a staged start, described as waves by the course commentator, and this was repeated a number of times.  There were four finishing lines, each with dual wires across the tarmac, which recorded the pulse provided by the finishing chip.  When Division 1 and 2 runners were dispatched by starter, Pam Noden, Box Hill’s first runner, Harry Summers, set out extremely fast.  His first lap of 8:33 was close to the fastest ever individual lap recorded at Sandown.  He left every other runner in his wake and he completed his leg in 17:52, according to the provisional results. Behind him, Ben Buckingham (SSH) ran 18:08 with Western Athletics’ Liam Cashin in third place (18:42) just ahead of Glen Huntly. Doncaster was fifth.  Harry recorded the fastest time of the day.  Nick Baggott ran second for Box Hill and the provisional results credited him with 19:08.  St Stephens athlete Jack Davies ran a very fast ap of 18:04 and he ran past Nick to lead the relay race in 18:04, the second fastest time of the day. Box Hill held second position, 48 seconds down on SSH and 38 seconds in advance of Western, with Glen Huntly a further six seconds behind in fourth position.  Alex Ritchie was next and he ran his Sandown PB of 19:12. Box Hill held second position 49 seconds down on SSH.  Rhydian Cowley (GH) ran a very fast leg to move his team into third place, with Western Athletics nearly a minute and a half behind in fourth place.  Michael Dowel ran fourth for Box Hill’s Division 1 team.  He ran a very solid leg and kept Box Hill within touch of first placed SSH, although he conceded a few seconds to Sean Guiney his SSH opponent. Glen Huntly had been in third place after on circuit of this leg, but Cody Shanahan (WES) ran a very smart leg and pushed Western Athletics into third position, not far behind Box Hill.  Klarie McIntyre returned to competition and was our fifth leg athlete. He ran a very serviceable lag, staying ahead of Western Athletics and Glen Huntly.  Even better for our team was the fact that SSH’s athlete had a bad day, possibly running the first lap too hard.  Whatever the reason, Klarie handed over to Will Potter our final leg runner in clearly in first place but by a narrow margin. Western Athletics was about eight seconds behind our team with SSH another five or six seconds further back. It was extremely tight.  Glen Huntly had fallen further behind and was not now a threat for a medal, assuming that no-one in front of them blew up.  Will had an important job to do and he did it with distinction.   Jamie Wagstaff was pursuing both Western Athletics and Box Hill athletes.  After the completion of the first lap of the final leg, Will Potter still led the field with Jamie Wagstaff in hot pursuit. Wagstaff caught the Western Athletics runner but could not make up the fifty metres of distance that Will was holding on to.  Will ran an extremely determined leg, and enabled Box Hill to be victorious.  It is much more difficult to defend a lead that it is to chase a leader, especially if the pursuing runner thinks they are gaining ground.  The Box Hill Division 2 team toiled gamely for fifth place. They were up against Knox which would have finished fifth in Division 1 with four superfast legs.  Josh de Stefanis was the fastest runner running 20:27, and there was no more than just over a minute separating the times run by Ross Thomas , Dylan Perera, Michael Vaughan , Jackson Deane and Zac Hunter, all bar one in the 21 minute range.  Our Division 3 men’s team placed 15th. The men’s under 16 team combined well to finish fourth, with legs of 10:07 for Jordan Abbott, 11:10 for Jack Ewison and 10:23 for Izak Bibile. These were all good efforts.  The under 18 men’s team performed extremely well with each athlete acquitting themselves very capably.  Lachlan Doehmann ran a very solid first leg, recording 10:16. This placed Box Hill in sixth position, close behind Diamond Valley, Mornington and Yarra Ranges.  Dharam Deol, our second runner, ran even quicker, recording the very smart time of 9:40 for his leg and he brought his team into third position, passing the Diamond Valley, Mornington and Yarra Ranges runners.   The best was yet to come, with Douglas Buckeridge anchoring the team. He ran the third fastest under 18 time for the day, passing the Western Athletics runner, and nearly catching Ballarat who won.  This very competitive performance brought the team into second position, just 13 seconds behind the winners.  Well done to all the team members on this effort.  The men’s 50 plus team was without John Meagher. Michael Eury ran a very fast lap (22:27), leading the field in at the end of his leg.  Tony Langelaan is in very good form, and he recorded 22:42, with Box Hill still in the lead.  Chris O’Connor came up against a much younger APS runner, who overtook him in the back straight meaning that the Box Hill team won the silver medal. Our Division 2 women’s team ran brilliantly to win their race, and had we have been in Division 1, with the next fastest time run by Kat Foley, the team would have won the Division 1 race.  Jess Muirden ran her leg in 23:52 which was in fourth position behind Malvern (Tracey Austin), Diamond Valley (Jess Mayne) and Geelong (Sarah Walker).  She handed the timing chip to Marli Campton, who strode off confidently.   Marli recorded the fast time of 22:54 for the second leg.  She ran past the Diamond Valley runner to put Box Hill into second position.  She had the second fastest time of the Division 2 runners in this leg. Liz Doueal was having her first outing for Box Hill and she performed very impressively indeed, recording the very smart time of 22:30. This was by far the quickest run in this leg by a Division 2 runner.  She also brought Box Hill past Geelong into first place.   Liz handed over to Courtney Powell, who is having an excellent winter season. Courtney ran the fastest leg of any Division 2 female, 21:28, and was only eclipsed by Whitney Sharpe (SSH) who ran 20:42 in Division 4.  Courtney moved Box Hill to be 3 minutes 40 ahead of second-placed Geelong. Our Division 4 team won their race by nearly nine minutes from SSH.  Holly Hart ran the first leg in 24:24, in second place.  Kat Foley took the timing chip and ran down her SSH opponent in the very good time of 23:37. When the chip was handed over to Amy Carig, Box Hill was over a minute clear.  Amy extended the lead, running 25:46 for the third and final leg. We had two 40+ female teams.  Team 1 won the bronze medal behind APS and Mentone (Rachel Johnson, 26:07, Amanda Harper, 27:27 and Kaman Ip, 27:47). Team 2 (Caitlin Harrison, 30:33, Talitha Crawford, 32:20 and Kerry Putt, 29:49) finished fourth.  The Box Hill 50+ women absolutely smashed their race, winning by the huge margin of seven minutes and seven seconds.  Julie Norney is in extremely good form at present and she ran the remarkable time of 23:38, which would have been good enough to get her a run in any of the women’s Premier Division teams, a phenomenal effort. She was backed up effectively by June Petrie, 26:45, and Pia Hunter, 25:49 winning the gold medal, which was the icing on the cake on what was a very successful day for our club.  N.B. I have used the provisional times published by AV on the web site.  The men’s Division 1 and 2 times I recorded were marginally different and I was taking the times when the runner crossed the timing mechanism, not when the athlete received the chip.  Men’s results Premier Division Box Hill                       1:54:22SSH                              1:54:33Western                        1:54:53Glen Huntly                  1:57:42Doncaster                     2:03:28  Individual times Harry Summers                  17:52 Nick Baggott                      19:08 Alex Ritchie                        19:12 Michael Dowel                   19:26 Klarie McIntyre                  19:58 Will Potter                          18:43   Division 2Knox                            1:58:39APS                              2:01:47Frankston                     2:04:53Glen Huntly                  2:06:48Box Hill                       2:07:24       Individual times Josh de Stefanis                  20:26 Ross Thomas                      21:21 Dylan Perera                       21:41 Michael Vaughan               21:05 Jackson Deane                    22:06 Zac Hunter                         21:15   Division 3 15        Box Hill                  2:05:00   Individual times Russell Clowes                    21:12 Jack Hill                             23:21 Shane Holt                          22:47 Kennedy Chen                    23:31 Andrew Tunne                   34:07   Under 16 MenGlen Huntly                  30:22Knox                            30:29Ballarat                         31:05Box Hill                       31:42  Individual times Jordan Abbott                     10:07 Jack Ewison                        11:10 Izak Bibile                          10:23   Under 18 MenBallarat                         29:08Box Hill                       29:21Western Athletics          29:50          Individual times Lachlan Doehmann            10:16 Dharam Deol                      9:40 Douglas Buckeridge           9:24   50+MenAPS                              1:08:30Box Hill                       1:09:30Waverley                      1:12:50Individual times Michael Eury                      22:27 Tony Langelaan                 22:42 Chris O’Connor                  24:21   Women’s results Division 2Box Hill                  1:30:46Geelong                  1:34:26Malvern                  1:46:26  Individual times Jess Muirden                       23:52 Marli Campton                   22:54 Liz Doueal                          22:30 Courtney Powell                 21:28   Division 4Box Hill                       1:13:49SSH                              1:22:47Doncaster                     1:23:33  Individual times Holly Hart                          24:24 Kat Foley                            23:37 Amy Carrig                        25:56   40+ WomenAPS                              1:14:56Mentone                       1:8:32Box Hill 1                    1:21:21Box Hill 2                    1:32:43  Individual times Team 1 Rachel Johnson                   26:01 Amanda Harper                  27:27 Kaman Ip                           27:47 Team 2 Caitlin Harrison                  30:33 Talitha Crawford                32:20 Kerry Putt                           29:49   50+ WomenBox Hill                       1:16:13Malvern                        1:23:30Waverley                      1:28:10  Individual times Julie Norney                       23:38 June Petrie                          26:45 Pia Hunter                          25:49

XCR ’19 Round 5 – Sandown

July 6, 2019

Box Hill won four divisions at the Sundown Relays on 6 July, led by star performers Harry Summers, Courtney Powell and Doug Buckeridge.

By Ian Sloane

By Sandown Relay standards, weather conditions were rather benign.  The sun was shining, the air temperature was 18º C, and the wind ameliorated to a breeze, not a gale, during the afternoon, with absolutely no hint of rain, which is normally a factor. 

This year Athletics Victoria introduced timing chips for every team in all races.  The chip was secured by a piece of elastic that could be worn around the wrist.  It was then to be passed to the next runner.  A number of runners dropped the timing chip at the changeover point before passing it over to the next runner, enabling the following runner to commence, so, according to a number of athletes and bystanders, it showed up a deficiency in the methodology.  These commentators argued that each team should have been provided with two timing chips, on the assumption the technology could cope with the replication of timing chips, so that the first runner could pass the timing chip to the third runner after completing their leg, the second runner could pass the chip to the fourth runner after they had completed their leg and so forth, eliminating the possibility of a dropped tag. 

There was a staged start, described as waves by the course commentator, and this was repeated a number of times.  There were four finishing lines, each with dual wires across the tarmac, which recorded the pulse provided by the finishing chip. 

When Division 1 and 2 runners were dispatched by starter, Pam Noden, Box Hill’s first runner, Harry Summers, set out extremely fast.  His first lap of 8:33 was close to the fastest ever individual lap recorded at Sandown.  He left every other runner in his wake and he completed his leg in 17:52, according to the provisional results. Behind him, Ben Buckingham (SSH) ran 18:08 with Western Athletics’ Liam Cashin in third place (18:42) just ahead of Glen Huntly. Doncaster was fifth.  Harry recorded the fastest time of the day. 

Nick Baggott ran second for Box Hill and the provisional results credited him with 19:08.  St Stephens athlete Jack Davies ran a very fast lap of 18:04 and he ran past Nick to lead the relay race in 18:04, the second fastest time of the day. Box Hill held second position, 48 seconds down on SSH and 38 seconds in advance of Western, with Glen Huntly a further six seconds behind in fourth position. 

Alex Ritchie was next and he ran his Sandown PB of 19:12. Box Hill held second position 49 seconds down on SSH.  Rhydian Cowley (GH) ran a very fast leg to move his team into third place, with Western Athletics nearly a minute and a half behind in fourth place. 

Michael Dowel ran fourth for Box Hill’s Division 1 team.  He ran a very solid leg and kept Box Hill within touch of first placed SSH, although he conceded a few seconds to Sean Guiney his SSH opponent. Glen Huntly had been in third place, but Cody Shanahan (WES) ran a very smart leg and pushed Western Athletics into third position, not far behind Box Hill. 

Klarie McIntyre returned to competition and was our fifth leg athlete. He ran a very serviceable lag, staying ahead of Western Athletics and Glen Huntly.  Even better for our team was the fact that SSH’s athlete had a bad day, possibly running the first lap too hard.  Whatever the reason, Klarie handed over to Will Potter our final leg runner in clearly in first place but by a narrow margin. Western Athletics was about eight seconds behind our team with SSH another five or six seconds further back.  It was extremely tight.  Glen Huntly had fallen further behind and was now not a threat for a medal, assuming that no-one in front of them blew up. 

Will had an important job to do and he did it with distinction.  Jamie Wagstaff was pursuing both Western Athletics and Box Hill athletes.  After the completion of the first lap of the final leg, Will Potter still led the field with Jamie Wagstaff in hot pursuit.  Wagstaff caught the Western Athletics runner but could not make up the fifty metres of distance that Will was holding on to.  Will ran an extremely determined leg, and enabled Box Hill to be victorious.  It is much more difficult to defend a lead that it is to chase a leader, especially if the pursuing runner thinks they are gaining ground. 

The Box Hill Division 2 team toiled gamely for fifth place. They were up against Knox which would have finished fifth in Division 1 with four superfast legs.  Josh de Stefanis was the fastest runner running 20:27, and there was no more than just over a minute separating the times run by Ross Thomas , Dylan Perera, Michael Vaughan , Jackson Deane and Zac Hunter, all bar one in the 21 minute range. 

Our Division 3 men’s team placed 15^th.

The men’s under 16 team combined well to finish fourth, with legs of 10:07 for Jordan Abbott, 11:10 for Jack Ewison and 10:23 for Izak Bibile. These were all good efforts. 

The under 18 men’s team performed extremely well with each athlete acquitting themselves very capably.  Lachlan Doehmann ran a very solid first leg, recording 10:16.  This placed Box Hill in sixth position, close behind Diamond Valley, Mornington and Yarra Ranges.  Dharam Deol, our second runner, ran even quicker, recording the very smart time of 9:40 for his leg and he brought his team into third position, passing the Diamond Valley, Mornington and Yarra Ranges runners.  The best was yet to come, with Douglas Buckeridge anchoring the team. He ran the third fastest under 18 time for the day, passing the Western Athletics runner, and nearly catching Ballarat, which went on to win.  This very competitive performance brought the team into second position, just 13 seconds behind the winners.  Well done to all the team members on this effort. 

The men’s 50 plus team was without John Meagher.  Michael Eury ran a very fast lap (22:27), leading the field in at the end of his leg.  Tony Langelaan is in very good form, and he recorded 22:42, with Box Hill still in the lead.  Chris O’Connor came up against a much younger APS runner who overtook him in the back straight and relegated Box Hill to silver.

Our Division 2 women’s team ran brilliantly to win their race, and had we have been in Division 1, with the next fastest time run by Kat Foley, the team would have won the Division 1 race. 

Jess Muirden ran her leg in 23:52 which was in fourth position behind Malvern (Tracey Austin), Diamond Valley (Jess Mayne) and Geelong (Sarah Walker).  She handed the timing chip to Marli Campton, who strode off confidently.  Marli recorded the fast time of 22:54 for the second leg.  She ran past the Diamond Valley runner to put Box Hill into second position.  She had the second fastest time of the Division 2 runners in this leg. Liz Doueal was having her first outing for Box Hill and she performed very impressively indeed, recording the very smart time of 22:30. This was by far the quickest run in this leg by a Division 2 runner.  She also brought Box Hill past Geelong into first place.  Liz handed over to Courtney Powell, who is having an excellent winter season.  Courtney ran the fastest leg of any Division 2 female, 21:28, and was only eclipsed by Whitney Sharpe (SSH) who ran 20:42 in Division 4.  Courtney moved Box Hill to 3:40 ahead of second-placed Geelong.

Our Division 4 team won their race by nearly nine minutes from SSH.  Holly Hart ran the first leg in 24:24, in second place.  Kat Foley took the timing chip and ran down her SSH opponent in the very good time of 23:37. When the chip was handed over to Amy Carig, Box Hill was over a minute clear.  Amy extended the lead, running 25:46 for the third and final leg.

We had two 40+ female teams.  Team 1 won the bronze medal behind APS and Mentone (Rachel Johnson, 26:07, Amanda Harper, 27:27 and Kaman Ip, 27:47). Team 2 (Caitlin Harrison, 30:33, Talitha Crawford, 32:20 and Kerry Putt, 29:49) finished fourth. 

The Box Hill 50+ women absolutely smashed their race, winning by the huge margin of seven minutes and seven seconds.  Julie Norney is in extremely good form at present and she ran the remarkable time of 23:38, which would have been good enough to get her a run in any of the women’s Premier Division teams, a phenomenal effort. She was backed up effectively by June Petrie, 26:45, and Pia Hunter, 25:49 winning the gold medal, which was the icing on the cake on what was a very successful day for our club. 

N.B. I have used the provisional times published by AV on the web site.  The men’s Division 1 and 2 times I recorded were marginally different and I was taking the times when the runner crossed the timing mechanism, not when the athlete received the chip. 

Men’s results

Premier Division 

1. Box Hill 1:54:22
2. SSH 1:54:33
3. Western 1:54:53
4. Glen Huntly 1:57:42
5. Doncaster 2:03:28

Individual times

Harry Summers 17:52

Nick Baggott 19:08

Alex Ritchie 19:12

Michael Dowel 19:26

Klarie McIntyre 19:58

Will Potter 18:43

Division 2

1. Knox 1:58:39
2. APS 2:01:47
3. Frankston 2:04:53
4. Glen Huntly 2:06:48
5. Box Hill 2:07:24

Individual times

Josh de Stefanis 20:26

Ross Thomas 21:21

Dylan Perera 21:41

Michael Vaughan 21:05

Jackson Deane 22:06

Zac Hunter 21:15

Division 3

15 Box Hill 2:05:00

Individual times

Russell Clowes 21:12

Jack Hill 23:21

Shane Holt 22:47

Kennedy Chen 23:31

Andrew Tunne 34:07

Under 16 Men

1. Glen Huntly 30:22
2. Knox 30:29
3. Ballarat 31:05
4. Box Hill 31:42

Individual times

Jordan Abbott 10:07

Jack Ewison 11:10

Izak Bibile 10:23

Under 18 Men

1. Ballarat 29:08
2. Box Hill 29:21
3. Western Athletics 29:50

Individual times

Lachlan Doehmann 10:16

Dharam Deol 9:40

Douglas Buckeridge 9:24

50+Men

1. APS 1:08:30
2. Box Hill 1:09:30
3. Waverley 1:12:50

Individual times

Michael Eury 22:27

Tony Langelaan 22:42

Chris O’Connor 24:21

Women’s results

Division 2

1. Box Hill 1:30:46
2. Geelong 1:34:26
3. Malvern 1:46:26

Individual times

Jess Muirden 23:52

Marli Campton 22:54

Liz Doueal 22:30

Courtney Powell 21:28

Division 4

1. Box Hill 1:13:49
2. SSH 1:22:47
3. Doncaster 1:23:33

Individual times

Holly Hart 24:24

Kat Foley 23:37

Amy Carrig 25:56

40+ Women

1. APS 1:14:56
2. Mentone 1:8:32
3. Box Hill 1 1:21:21
4. Box Hill 2 1:32:43

Individual times

Team 1

Rachel Johnson 26:01

Amanda Harper 27:27

Kaman Ip 27:47

Team 2

Caitlin Harrison 30:33

Talitha Crawford 32:20

Kerry Putt 29:49

50+ Women

1. Box Hill 1:16:13
2. Malvern 1:23:30
3. Waverley 1:28:10

Individual times

Julie Norney 23:38

June Petrie 26:45

Pia Hunter 25:49

XCR ’19 Round 4 – Anglesea

June 22, 2019

Box Hill’s senior runners were in top form at the Anglesea Ekiden relays on 22 June, with our men and women over 50 teams both claiming first place. Our division 1 men, division 2 men and women over 40 teams were placed third.

By Ian Sloane

Wintry conditions greeted all competitors, officials and supporters at Anglesea on Saturday 22 June, with several bursts of rain that fortunately abated as the afternoon wore on.  The course was in poor condition, not particularly well signposted, according to our runners, and extremely muddy.  Many athletes finished plastered in mud after slipping or falling over, many head-first.  A number of competitors commented on how dangerous it was, particularly the downhill sections. This is not a spectator friendly course and the only way clubs can encourage and cheer on their team members is by going out on the course, which is not ideal because the track is very narrow, both out and back.  The alternative is to stand at or near the finish.
The Ekiden is a Japanese invention, with the total elapsed distance equaling that of a marathon.  The first ekiden was held in Japan in 1917 as a 3-day, 23-stage run over 508 kilometres from Kyoto to Tokyo.  Later, the distance was rationalised to 42.195 kilometres. The Victorian version has six stages (for Premier Division and Division 2, with a reduction in the number of legs to be run for other grades and the female races) and has a large off-road component.

After the brilliant showing at Bundoora, the Box Hill Men’s Premier Division team was in a buoyant mood prior to the start.  Pam Noden, the starter, sent the field on its way commencing with Men’s Division 2 and Division 3 teams commencing the staggered start which extended over nearly an hour so that there was a reduced chance of falls and collisions in the starting area as well as to minimise congestion on the course.  There are parts of the course where it is extremely difficult to overtake an opponent.
The Box Hill Premier Division team was headed by Harry Summers.  Harry ran out of sight of the other Premier Division teams according to the other club runners after he started the ascent.  Unfortunately, a course marshal directed him the wrong way and what should have been a race-winning lead was turned into a desperate attempt to find the course again.  To his great credit, Harry didn’t throw in the towel and did his best to retrieve the situation, and nearly caught the Collingwood runner in front of him as he tried to recover lost time.  There was a deficit of 4 minutes 30 seconds, behind Doncaster (Joel Tobin-White), the leaders at the end of the first circuit, with SSH a further 28 seconds behind in second and Essendon, third, 55 seconds in arrears. Harry was not the only athlete given inadequate directions, with a number of athletes having to double back after a wrong turn. The course signposting and appropriate briefing of officials clearly needs attention.

Andre Waring ran a really fine race in last week’s Victorian 10 k Cross Country, and he knew what he had to do in his leg as he set off. He ran a great leg, recording the third fastest time of the day in this leg, eclipsed only by Jamie Wagstaff (SSH) and Ben Kelly (GH).  This brought the team into eighth place, within two minutes 31 second of third. This gave us a strong chance of getting our team placing back up the order.  SSH led the race, with Doncaster second and Western Athletics third.
Will Potter also ran a very impressive race at Bundoora and he set out in a very resolute manner.  Will is always at the front end of the field and he has been performing impressively each time the spikes or racing flats have been pulled on this year.  Saturday was no exception and he gave it everything for the team.  He pulled Box Hill into fifth position (86:16), a remarkable effort. He was the fastest runner on the day over this leg, 17 seconds faster than anyone else, a brilliant effort for himself and his teammates.  Even better, we were now just 70 seconds down on third.  SSH led (81:57), followed by Doncaster (83:39) with Western Athletics third (85:06).  This gave the team strong hope for a higher placing.

Nick Baggott was our fourth runner.  He gave his best and recorded the fourth fastest time on the day for this fourth leg.  It was apparent that no club was going to overtake SSH, but Box Hill still had a chance with improving its fifth position being 45 seconds down on Melbourne University (fourth) and one minute 52 seconds down on Western Athletics (third).  Doncaster was in second position, behind SSH, but their best runners were in the tent and they had two female runners running the fifth and sixth legs (with respect, not elite athletes) which suggested that there was a chance that other teams could possibly overtake their team.
Box Hill’s fifth leg was run by Alex Ritchie.  Readers of previous race reports will be aware that Alex is improving at every outing this year and last week placed 20^th in the 10 k Victorian Cross Country Championship, his best ever effort. 

This week was no different and he ran the second fastest leg over this distance on the day in 18:31 eclipsed only by Cody Shanahan (Wes) who ran 18:01 for the circuit. Only four runners in this leg bettered 19:00.  Alex took time from the SSH runner (Guiney).  He passed the Melbourne University runner, the Doncaster runner and extended Box Hill’s lead over Geelong and Glen Huntly, meaning that at the end of the leg, he had brought the team into third position. This was a tremendous effort which made Steve Dinneen’s position a lot less difficult to defend, because Alex gave the team a 47 second buffer over fourth-placed Geelong and a 61 second gap over fifth-placed Melbourne University.

Steve Dinneen, our final runner, has not raced this year after suffering an injury.  He was extremely determined to anchor the team to a medal, after the earlier drama involving the official misdirecting the first runner.  There were only four athletes who broke 16:00 for this leg including the APS Division 2 final runner.
Steve was one of these three Premier Division runner, running the second fastest time on the day of 15:10 for the last leg. Only Lachlan Aspinall (SSH) was quicker, recording 15:09. This meant that Steve took a big chunk out of Western Athletics’ lead over Box Hill and he ran away from all the other teams behind Box Hill to bring our team home for a bronze medal, a remarkable achievement.  We estimate that the wrong direction cost the team at least six minutes.  SSH won the race by three minutes and 15 seconds from Western Athletics, with Box Hill a further one minute 46 seconds behind in third. SSH were five minutes one second ahead of our team.  It was an unfortunate outcome but one we now have to take into our stride as we attempt to reclaim the Premier Division lead in the premiership race.

Our Division 2 team also placed third.  Josh de Stefanis opened up and struck a number of Division 2 athletes in top form.  Josh brought the team into eighth place with a time of 33:34, with Brady Threlfall pushing his team (Bendigo) into the lead, where it stayed for the rest of the race. Mentone and Old Xavierians were tied for second.  Keilor St Bernards was fourth and Western Athletics was fifth. Frankston was sixth and Richmond seventh.  Our team was close enough to chase a higher position. 
Zac Hunter was the second runner for our team and he recorded 32:32 for the next circuit. Bendigo maintained its lead over APS and Frankston moved from sixth to third. KSB jumped to fourth.  Zac lifted the position to seventh, 6:26 behind the leaders.  Bendigo and APS had opened up a very large gap on the field, and only the Frankston team looked like they might bridge the gap briefly.

Dylan Perera was next on the tarmac for Box Hill. He recorded a respectable time of 27:34 maintaining our team in seventh position. The first three teams, Bendigo, APS and Frankston, remained unchanged in this leg.  There were no other changes of position.
The fourth leg was run by Ross Thomas, and there were some interesting things happen in this circuit of the course.  Bendigo and APS maintained their ascendancy at the front of the field.  Frankston dropped from third to eighth. Western Athletics moved from sixth to third and Box Hill advanced through Ross’s strong effort to fourth, just 21 seconds in arrears of Western Aths.  Box Hill was 37 seconds ahead of fifth-placed Mentone.

Michael Vaughan ran off in pursuit of the three teams in advance of us. He ran a solid leg reducing Western Athletics team’s lead for third place to just seven seconds, an excellent outcome. Bendigo and APS held first and second places – no change there.  He also stretched our lead over Mentone to 3:10, so there was no likelihood of them getting onto level terms with Box Hill in the last lap. 
Our final runner was Russell Clowes and he ran 65 seconds faster than hos Western Athletics opponent to lift Box Hill into third position, behind Bendigo and APS in that order.  His leg time was 17:02, the third fastest in Division 2. WES was fourth, KSB, fifth, Mentone sixth, Richmond seventh and Frankston was eighth.

Our Division 3 team was three runners short of a team, so Shane Holt (37;06) and Kennedy Chen (37:07) were unable to complete the race.
Our men’s 50 + team got to the lead in the first seconds of the race and did not surrender it for the entire race. John Meagher ran the fastest time for the leg being One minute 39 seconds quicker than any other 50+ runner.  Tony Langelaan followed up this faultless start by maintaining the lead and running the second quickest time for the second leg in his age division. Chris O’Connor anchored the team to victory, completing the third leg in the third quickest time of the day in this age division.  Together, these athletes make a formidable combination, and, on the day, our team crossed the line two minutes clear of APS, second and 10 minutes 45 seconds ahead of Ballarat, third. 

There were only four Box Hill women available to run the relay (other than age division competitors), so we fielded a Division 2 team which finished fifth.  The times in the provisional results showed that Jess Muirden ran 39:37, Rachel Johnson completed the second leg in 34:37, Amy Carrig (on her return to competition) ran 29:40 and the fourth runner, Freya Henricksen was timed at 19:53.  The winning team in this division was Yarra Ranges, which won  from Geelong, with Malvern third.

Our 40 + team won the bronze medal, with Kaman Ip being directed the wrong way near the finish in the third leg.  Talitha Crawford and Caitlin Harrison were the first and second leg runners. There were no times in the provisional results.

Our 50 + women’s team ran as impressively as the 50 + men did.
They won their race by nearly 13 minutes!  Julie Norney, who is in slashing form at the moment, led the division in, in first place, running the fastest time of the day (35:30).  June Petrie was off second and extended the lead in running 29:50. And Pia Hunter completed the team with an excellent leg taking 25:14 for her leg of the Ekiden, bringing Box Hill the gold medal, an admirable achievement.

Men’s team results 
Men’s Premier Division

1. SSH                               137:35
2. Western Athletics         140:50
3. Box Hill                        142:36
4. Geelong                        144:50
5. Melbourne University   145:10

Premier Division individual times
Harry Summers                   33:30 (NB, directed off-course)
Andre Waring                     29:00
Will Potter                         23:46
Nick Baggott                      22:39
Alex Ritchie                       18:31
Steve Dinneen                    15:10

Men’s Division 2

1. Bendigo                        146:58
2. APS                              147:17
3. Box Hill                        154:30

Men’s Division 2 individual times
Josh de Stefanis                   33:34
Zac Hunter                         32:32
Dylan Perera                      27:34
Ross Thomas                      23:07
Michael Vaughan                20:51
Russell Clowes                     17:02

Men’s Division 3 individual times
Shane Holt                          37;06
Kennedy Chen                    37:07

Men’s 50 + Team Results

1. Box Hill                        87:42
2. APS                              89:42
3. Ballarat                         98:27

50+ men’s individual times 
John Meagher                     34:13
Tony Langelaan                 29:28
Chris O’Connor                  24:01

Women’s results 
Women’s Division 2 results

1. Yarra Ranges                111:38
2. Geelong                        116:08
3. Malvern                        116:53
4. Glen Huntly                  120:08
5. Box Hill                        123:47

Women’s Division 2 individual times
Jess Muirden                       39:37
Rachel Johnson                   34:37
Amy Carrig                         29:40
Freya Henriksen                 19:53

Women’s 40+ team results

1. APS                              89:34
2. Mentone                       99:43
3. Box Hill                        104:07

Women’s 40+ individual times 
Talitha Crawford                TBC
Caitlin Harrison                  TBC
Kaman Ip                           TBC

Women’s 50+ team results

1. Box Hill                        90:34
2. Malvern                        103:30
3. Waverley                      105:03     

Women’s 50+ individual times 
Julie Norney                       35:30
June Petrie                          29:50
Pia Hunter                          25:14

XCR ’19 Round 3 – Bundoora

June 15, 2019

Congratulations to Box Hill’s Harry Summers and Ashlee Treagus, who won gold at the Victorian Cross Country Championships at Bundoora Park on 15 June.

Results

Men Premier Division (Team: 1^st)

1 Harry Summers           30:04

5 Adrian Potter               31:06

6 Andre Waring              31:08

8 William Potter             31:18

12 Nicholas Baggott       31:32

20 Alexander Ritchie     32:08

Men Division 2 (Team: 1^st)

37 Rhys Jones                 33:02

38 Michael Dowel          33:04

57 Scott McKenzie         33:51

82 Joshua De Stefanis    35:22

85 Ross Thomas             35:32

86 John Meagher            35:32    (2^nd 55-59 years)

Men Division 3 (Team: 4^th)

104 Dylan Perera            36:17

113 Michael Vaughan    36:37

132 Zac Hunter               37:26

138 Jackson Deane         37:37

152 Tony Langelaan      38:08    (4^th 50-54 years)

Men Division 5 (Team: 2^nd)

158 Michael Petridis      38:12

183 Shane Holt               39:32

225 Jack Hill                   41:18

227 Chris O’Connor       41:30    (8^th 55-59 years)

275 Dino Crivelli            43:33    (26^th 45-49 years)

343 Simon St Hill           47:04    (36^th 50-54 years)

Kennedy Chen                39:56    (entered in U20s)

Men Over 50 (Team: 1^st)

2 John Meagher              35:32

7 Tony Langelaan           38:08

22 Chris O’Connor         41:30

Women Division 2 (Team: 2^nd)

4 Courtney Powell          36:11

27 Marlie Campton        39:34

38 Julie Norney              40:29    (1^st 50-54 years)

45 Steph Kondogonis     40:56

Women Division 4 (Team: 1^st)

53 Jessie Muirden           41:48

62 Katherine Foley         42:56

77 June Petrie                 44:20    (1^st 55-59 years)

Women Division 5 (Team: 1^st)

5 78 Pia Hunter               44:30    (4^th 50-54 years)

87 Rachel Johnson         45:52    (10^th 40-44 years)

111 Kaman Ip                 48:55    (13^th 40-44 years)

Women Division 5-2 (Team: 2^nd)

112 Talitha Crawford     49:02    (8^th 45-49 years)

130 Kerry Lyn Putt        51:08    (9^th 45-49 years)

135 Caitlin Harrison       52:35    (20^th 40-44 years)

Women Over 50 (Team: 1^st)

1 Julie Norney                40:29    

4 June Petrie                   44:20    

5 Pia Hunter                    44:30    

Women Under 20 (6km)

6 Holly Hart                    22:59 

Top ten Box Hill athletes in the Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championships

Men U20 8km

3 Joshua Mcleod             26:20

5 Kieran Hesse               26:37

Women U20 6km

7 Amy Atkinson             23:56

Men U18 6km

7 Joshua Macken            19:47

10 Dharam Deol             20:15

Women U18 4km

7 Molly McCarthy          14:56

Men U17 6km

2 Douglas Buckeridge    19:23

3 Jack Armstrong           19:51

Women U17 4km

1 Ashlee Treagus            14:03

Men U16 4km

6 Jordan Abbott              12:55

Men U15 4km

8 Izak Bibile Mount       13:49

XCR ’19 Round 2 – St Anne’s Winery

June 1, 2019

By Ian Sloane

After a third placing in the Cross Country Relays at Jells Park in the opening event of the winter calendar, Box Hill’s Premier Division team was determined to hit back and improve its placing in the first individual Cross Country event of the winter.  St Anne’s Winery at Myrniong was the location for Round 2 of the winter season.

It was chilly and windy, but there was no rain.  The courses were set based on a two-kilometre loop, with another one kilometre loop for those running a three kilometre distance. The open Men’s and Women’s courses were run over eight kilometres.  The courses were undulating and muddy with tight turns, which caused a few slips and falls. 

The junior races were held before the open men’s and women’s races.  Box Hill had two representatives in the Under 16 race, Izak Bibile who ran very well to place 8^th and Thomas Diamond who also gave a good account of himself finishing 13^th. Their race was contested over three kilometres.  Freya Henricksen placed 12^th in the Under 18 women’s race.  Darcy Powne competed in the Under 20 race over four kilometres and finished 19^th.  

The open Men’s race (as well as other races) were delayed slightly because of the crush of vehicles trying to get into the venue via a single road.

After Brendan Ferrari despatched the Men’s field, a pack of around 10 runners took the lead.  Included in this pack, after one kilometre were Harry Summers (BH), Joel Tobin-White (Don) who was the eventual winner, recent recruit Dejen Gebraselassie, third, Nick Earl (M Uni), David MacNeill (OXA), Andrew Buchanan (Ben), Tom Thorpe (SSH) and Andre Waring (BH) holding 8^th position, Also to the fore were Will Potter (BH) holding 9^th position and Callen Goldsmith (Morn).  A little further back was Nick Baggott in 12^thposition, also running strongly. Alex Ritchie got off to an excellent start and was in the low thirties.  Michael Dowel was maybe 30 seconds behind Alex, probably in the first 50.  Others in the top hundred were Zac Hunter, John Meagher and Josh de Stefanis.  Box Hill had 26 starters, enough to finish five teams, which was excellent.

After the first lap, Harry Summers had applied great pressure to the field and only Joel Tobin-White was able to hang on, although Dejen Gebrasealassie (third) was close by, with Earl, Buchanan and Thorpe also leading the rest of the field.  Andre Waring held 9^th position, Will Potter was 10^th and Nick Baggott was 17^th.  Alex Ritchie was making progress passing other athletes and Michael Dowel was also prominent.  

Tobin-White passed Harry Summers in the next kilometre and Dejen Gebraselassie dropped on position to 4^th.  Will Potter and Andre Waring were still in prominent positions.

At the half way point, Tobin-White was leading followed by Summers, Buchanan, Gebraselassie, McNeill and Earl. Potter was 10^th, Waring 11^th and Baggott was 17^th.  

At the conclusion of the third two kilometre lap, Tobin-White had been joined by Buchanan who had put in a big surge.  Harry Summers held 3^rd place ahead of McNeill, with Gebraselassie, 5^th.  Earl was 6^th , Thorpe was 7^th, with Will Potter back to 8^th. Nick Baggott ran an excellent third lap, moving up to 13^th.  Andre Waring found the hard early pace took the sting out of his legs and he ran through in 17^th.  The sixth member of the Box Hill Division 1 team, Alex Ritchie, was in the first 30 and it appeared that our team was leading the team’s race from SSH. 

In the last lap, Tobin-White steadied and got away from Buchanan again to win the race, with McNeill surging home to place 3^rd.  Dejen Gebraselassie held on for 4^th, passing Harry Summers, 5^th, in the last lap.  Earl was 6^th, from Thorpe, 7^th.  Will Potter ran a splendid last lap, passing two opponents to finish 8^th, a fine effort. Nick Baggott also surged home past five opponents in the last circuit and finished 12^th.  Andre Waring hung on for 17^th position.  Alex Ritchie ran well the whole way passing opponents to finish 26^th, to complete the Premier Division team

Our Division 2 team was made up of Michael Dowel, 42^nd, Zac Hunter, 71^st, John Meagher, 75^th, Josh De Stefanis, 92^nd, Dylan Perera, 110^th and Michael Vaughan 118^th. The team finished 4^th.

Other results were Division 3, 5^th, Division 5, 1^st and Division 7, 2^nd.  The 40+ team was 8^th and the 50+ team was 1^st. 

The Women’s race saw 187 finishers complete the course. Box Hill had its best turnout for many years with 12 competitors and the teams achieved excellent results.  The lead was contested by Charlotte Wilson (Ess), Alexandra Patterson (OXA), Kia Fry (Fra), Makda Haji Harun (Ess) and former National Cross Country Champion, Courtney Powell (BH), returning to compete after a long period interrupted by injury.  Wilson led for quite a way, with Patterson on her shoulder and Haji Harun also close up.  Mid race, Fry slipped back, with Courtney Powell running a prudent race in 5^th position. 

In the concluding stages, Patterson surged past Wilson, with Fry passing Haji Harun who placed 4^th, and Courtney Powell finishing 5^th.  Marlie Campton was right at the front of the field in the early stages and this probably was the reason that she finished 22^nd, albeit a good result for her and the team. Steph Kondogonis ran steadily and competitively to finish 27^th and Jessie Muirden ran very well indeed to finish 39th, probably her best Cross Country race to date.

Julie Norney ran exceptionally well to place 50^th and win her age division, with Kat Foley finishing 62^nd, with Pia Hunter, 79^th, making up the winning Division 4 team. June Petrie, 90^th, Rachel Johnson, 97^th, Kaman Ip, 131^st and Kerry Putt, 133^rd, combined to win Division 5.  It is a long time since we have seen results like these. 

Our Women’s 40+ team place second and the Women’s 50+ team won the gold medal, reinforcing what a great day it was for our female teams.

The next event will be the 10 K championships for men and women at Bundoora on June 15.

 Individual Results

Open Men

1.      Joel Tobin-White                    Don 24:22

2.      Andrew Buchanan                  Ben 24:31

3.      David McNeill                         OXA 24:34

4      Dejen Gebraselassie             BH        25:06

5      Harry Summers                   BH        25:16

8      Will Potter                             BH        25:28

12    Nick Baggott                         BH        25:48

16    Andre Waring                      BH        25:56

26    Alex Ritchie                           BH        26:31

42    Michael Dowel                      BH        27:15

71    Zac Hunter                            BH        28:31

75    John Meagher                       BH        28:46

92    Josh De Stefanis                   BH        29:17

110  Dylan Perera                         BH        29:49

118  Michael Vaughan                 BH        30:01

128  Ross Thomas                         BH        30:33

139  Russel Clowes                       BH        30:56

151  Jackson Deane                      BH        31:12

169 Tony Langelaan                   BH        31:38

174  Kennedy Chen                      BH        31:55

188  Shane Holt                             BH        32:20

224  Peter Stefanos                       BH        33:27

229  Chris O’Connor                   BH        33:42

253  Jack Hill                                BH        34:36

269  Andrew Searle                      BH        35:24

281  Dino Crivelli                         BH        35:50

330  Simon St Hill                         BH        38:18

341  Dave Dougan                        BH        38:56

Under 20 4 k

19    Darcy Powne                         BH        14:46

Under 16 3 k

8      Izak Bibile                             BH        10:02

13    Thomas Diamond                 BH        10:12

Men’s Team Results

Premier Division Team Score 

1 Box Hill 71 

2 St Stephens Harriers 114 

3 Western Athletics 220 

4 Melbourne University 224 

5 Glenhuntly 244 

6 Doncaster 275 

Division 2 Team Score 

1 APS United 458 

2 Frankston 461 

3 Bendigo Region 473 

4 Box Hill #2 508 

Division 3 Team Score 

1 Mornington Peninsula 326 

2 Victorian Cross Country League 387 

3 Athletics Waverley 582 

4 St Stephens Harriers #2 625 

5 Box Hill #3 759 

Division 5 Team Score 

1 Box Hill #4 889 

2 Bendigo Region #2 907 

3 Richmond Harriers #2 954 

Division 7 Team Score 

1 APS United 1099 

2 Box Hill 1206 

3 Williamstown 1387 

Men 40 – 49 Team Score 

1 APS United 26 

2 Geelong Region 30 

3 Collingwood Harriers 44 

4 Athletics Essendon 45 

5 Old Xaverians 46

6 Athletics Waverley 47 

7 APS United #2 79

8 Box Hill 89 

Men 50 – 59 Team Score 

1 Box Hill 27 

2 APS United 31 

3 Old Xavierians 57 

Women’s Individual Results

1.      Alex Patterson                         OXA 28:39

2.      Charlotte Wilson                     Ess 28;41

3.      Kia Fry                                     Fra 28:44

5      Courtney Powell                   BH        29:12

22    Marlie Campton                   BH        31:38

27    Steph Kondogonis                BH        32:06

39    Jessie Muirden                      BH        33:12

50    Julie Norney                          BH        33:52 (Winner 50-54 age group)

62    Kat Foley                               BH        34:30

79    Pia Hunter                             BH        36:21  (Fourth 50 – 54 age group)

90    June Petrie                            BH        36:27 (Winner 55 – 59 age group)

97    Rachel Johnson                    BH        37:20 (10^th 40 – 44 age group)

131  Kaman Ip                              BH        40:40                                       

133 Kerry Putt                             BH        40:56

174  Samantha Culbert                BH        48:15

Under 18 female 3 k

12    Freya Henriksen                   BH        12:14

Women’s Team Results

Division 2 Team Score 

1 Box Hill 93 

2 Geelong Region 121 

3 Diamond Valley 237 

Division 4 Team Score 

1 Box Hill #2 186 

2 Bendigo Region 269 

3 Collingwood Harriers #3 326 

Division 5 Team Score 

1 Box Hill 306 

2 Collingwood Harriers 419 

Women 40 – 49 Team Score 

1 Ballarat Region 31 

2 Box Hill 42  

3 Collingwood Harriers 49 

8 Box Hill  #2 104 

Women 50+ Team Score 

1 Box Hill 10 

2 Bendigo Region 22 

3 Athletics Waverley 54

Jeremy Griffith elected BHAC president

May 12, 2019

Congratulations to Jeremy Griffith, who is the new president of Box Hill Athletic Club following our AGM in May. Jeremy takes over from Chris O’Connor, who has worked tirelessly for the club since becoming president in 2011.

Jeremy is no stranger to the Box Hill athletics scene, pioneering the bar at track events held at Hagenaeur Reserve in recent times, and cooking up a storm on the club’s successful barbecues. He is the father of Commonwealth Games athlete and Box Hill member Georgia Griffith.

Jeremy will be supported by a committee of 18 others, including six new faces – Ian Sloane, Megan Sloane, Simon Watson, Adelaid Hawkins, Peter McDonald and Sam McDonald. The club is delighted to welcome new committee members and we wish Jeremy all the best as he starts his important job.

Nearly a hundred people attended the AGM and heard club life member Graeme Olden recount Chris O’Connor’s contribution to the club over several decades. The club owes a great deal of its success to Chris, and we hope he can now spend a bit more time with his young family.

XCR ’19 Round 1 – Jells Park Relays

May 4, 2019

In wet and windy conditions, Box Hill teams picked up six medals and two fourth placings in the opening round of the XCR’19 season. Our men’s and women’s Over 50 teams both had big wins, while our Men’s Premier Division, Women’s Division 2, Women’s Over 40 and Women’s Under 20 also finished on the podium.

Andre Waring and Will Potter put in great performances in the men’s Premier Division to be our fastest men on the day. In a welcome return to competition, Courtney Powell was our fastest woman, leading our Division 2 women’s team to a 2^nd place finish. 

Also a big welcome to our new members who competed for the club for the first time. Dylan Perera, Ross Thomas, Shane Holt, Andy Searles, Jack Ewison, Kaman Ip, Camille Ouellet and Sophie Moore all competed for the club for the first time and we wish them all the best on their athletic journey with Box Hill. Also welcome back to June Petrie and Courtney Powell.

Thank you to Dan Boulton, Karen Treagus, Jay Bern and Steve Dinneen who signed up as club helpers and to all of our timekeepers and supporters. 

Men Premier Division Team place: 3^rd

1. Andre Waring             17:49

2. Nick Baggott              18:41

3. Alex Ritchie               18:55

4. Michael Dowel           20:37

5. Zac Hunter                  20:02

6. Will Potter                  18:24

Men Division 2 Team place: 11^th

1. Darcy Powne              21:55

2. Jackson Deane            21:15

3. Dylan Perera               21:00

4. Ross Thomas              20:55

5. Josh De Stefanis         20:18

6. Russell Clowes           21:56

Men Division 3 Team place: 14^th

1. Kennedy Chen            22:20

2. Dino Crivelli               25:02

3. Shane Holt                  22:22

4. Andy Searles              23:29

5. Chris O’Connor          24:28

Men Over 50 (1)            Team place: 1^st

1. Tony Langelaan         21:57

2. Peter Stefanos            23:31

3. John Meagher            20:27

Men Over 50 (2)            Team place: 13^th

1. Andrew Tunne            31:00

2. David Dougan             27:00

3. Simon St. Hill             27:35

Men Under 16               Team place: 4^th

1. Izak Bibile                   9:57

2. Jack Ewinson              11:24

3. Thomas Diamond        9:38

Women Division 2        Team place: 2nd

1. Marlie Campton         22:22

2. Courtney Powell         21:10

3. Katherine Foley          25:20

4. Steph Kondogonis      23:11

Women Over 40 (1)      Team place: 3^rd

1. Amanda Harper          27:31

2. Kaman Ip                    28:12

3. Rachel Johnson           25:53

Women Over 40 (2)      Team place: 4^th

1. Caitlin Harrison          29:55

2. Kerry Putt                   28:57

3. Talitha Crawford        27:41

Women Over 50            Team place: 1^st

1. Pia Hunter                   25:07

2. June Petrie                  26:06

3. Julie Norney               23:12

Women Under 20         Team place: 3^rd

1. Ashlee Treagus           10:25

2. Camille Ouellet          11:44

3. Sophie Moore             11:10