June 22, 2017
Box Hill had another successful day at the Victorian Cross Country Championships at Bundoora Park on 17 June.
The highlights of the day included a great win by Georgia Hansen in the U20 6km event, another triumph by our Premier Division men’s team, a silver medal to Mac Anderson in the boys U15 All Schools event and a bronze to Nicola Hogg in the U15 girls race.
See below for Ian Sloane’s report
Results:
Under 14 Girls All Schools 3km Cross Country
17. Beanna Croall 12:00
34. Rox Phipps 12:41
35. Aimee Traverso 12:49
101. Mia Wilson 15:26
Under 14 Boys All Schools 3km Cross Country
4. Tom Diamond 10:24
33. Jonathan Harper 11:19
56. Rupert Clemenger 11:59
U15 Girls All Schools 4km Cross Country
3. Nicola Hogg 14:42
5. Ashlee Treagus 14:51
7. Mia Pope 15:36
28. Thalia Worsam 16:55
U16 Girls All Schools 4km Cross Country
9. Georgia Durham 15:09
U15 Boys All Schools 4km Cross Country
2. Mac Anderson 13:16
8. Doug Buckeridge 13:50
16. Lachlan Doehmann14:13
28. Murray Lovass 14:53
73. Connor Ogilvie 16:44
U16 Boys All Schools 4km Cross Country
10. Josh Macken 13:17
U17 Girls All Schools 4km Cross Country
14. Sophie Westcott 14:45
22. Tamsyn Lovass 16:17
34. Carly Atkinson 16:36
68. Sophie Tadgell 20:08
U18 Girls All Schools 4km Cross Country
5. Molly McCarthy 14:38
11. Amy Atkinson 15:06
12. Amy Rives 15:10
26. Hayley McGoldrick 16:12
32. Jess Hepworth 16:50
53. Meredith Rule 19:26
U17 Boys All Schools 6km Cross Country
25. Isaac Holberton 22:43
U18 Boys All Schools 6km Cross Country
5. Tom Selwood 19:58
10. Darcy Powne 20:24
29. Kieren Hesse 21:31
31. Finn Macken 21:42
36. Austin Hunter 22:00
37. Sam Port 22:27
53. Kyle Winkler 24:15
U20 Women AV and All Schools 6km Cross Country
1. Georgia Hansen 21:24 (AV)
6. Louise Ton 25:23 (All Schools)
13. Hannah Wilson 27:28 (All Schools)
U20 Men AV and All Schools 8km Cross Country
5. Alex Ritchie 27:13 (AV)
5. Sam Rattray 27:39 (All Schools)
6. Scott McKenzie 27:48 (All Schools)
Women Open 10km Cross Country
Premier Division (Team place: 6th)
21. Steph Kondogonis 40:10
26. Rhiannon Snipe 41:00
50. Pia Hunter 43:12 (1st 50-54 years)
100. Chloe Rosenberg 47:04
101. Rachel Hohnson 47:11
Division 4 (Team place: 6th)
136. Caitlin Harrison 51:14
154. Carolyn Fox 54:12
182. Beck Mitchell 61:07
Men Open 10km Cross Country
Premier Division (Team place: 1st)
7. Will Potter 32:08
10. Steve Dineen 32:18
16. Nick Baggott 32:37
25. Mitch Dyer 33:08
28. James O’Connell 33:14
32. Andre Waring 33:25
Division 2 (Team place: 2nd)
45. Oscar Robinson 33:55
46. Daniel Clark 33:59
47. Peter Green 34:01
48. Klarie McIntyre 34:08
65. Michael Dowel 35:16
86. John Meagher 36:15 (1st 50-54 years)
Division 4 (Team place: 1st)
91. Tom Snibson 36:26
126. Michael Petridis 38:17
148. Jackson Deane 39:00
151. Josh de Stefanis 39:04
169. Aaron Shorter 39:47
Division 6 (Team place: 1st)
187. Zac Hunter 40:23
188. Peter Stefanos 40:24
252. Chris O’Connor 42:42
268. Tony Langelaan 43:20
Division 7 (Team place: 3rd)
282. Anthony Whitby 43:57
290. Nick Harper 44:17
332. Jack Hill 47:03
392. Andrew Tunne 54:20
By Ian Sloane
Bundoora Park 10 Kilometre Cross Country 17 June 2017
Box Hill AC is performing exceptionally well in the Division 1 men’s competition in 2017 recording three victories in the first four events of the year. The Division 1 team extended its winning streak by winning the major Cross Country race (provisionally) on the winter competition in the Victorian team selection race for the national championship inn Wollongong. Weather conditions were very benign, with an air temperature around 17?C and bright sunny conditions. Oddly, however, many runners recorded times 30 seconds or more slower than they had recorded the previous year.
The Bundoora cross country race is the fifth race of the 2017 Athletics Victoria XCR season, and is regarded as the premier cross country event on the AV calendar. Until last year, it was run over the traditional 12 kilometre distance for men and 8 kilometres for women. Last year the winter XCR committee decided to run the event over 10 kilometres, the new international distance. It was therefore the second iteration of this distance at Bundoora.
The junior races preceded the senior women’s and men’s races and all the underage races were combined SSV and AV races, starting with the youngest age groups and concluding with the under 20 races. At the time of writing the junior combined races’ results were not available. Box Hill had some top performances. Georgia Hanson had a standout run in the women’s under 20 race. Prominent early, she surged and broke the spirit of all other competitors in a dominant fashion. Once she got to the lead she continued to put distance between her and her pursuers. In the men’s under 20 race, there were three Box Hill athletes. Alex Ritchie was running in club uniform and Scott McKenzie and Sam Rattray were running in a Marcellin College uniform. All performed extremely meritoriously. Sam and Scott started off hard, whereas Alex was more cautious in the early stages. All were in the top 10 after the race was started. Sam was vying for the top three positions with Scott a little further back in the top six. Alex was content to start off more conservatively. As the race unfolded, Cody Shanahan (WES), Haftu Strintzos (GH) and another athlete running in a school outfit dislodged all other competitors. Cassidy Shaw (Geel.) was a little way back. Sam and Scott drifted a little off the pace, but maintained their form, and Alex started overtaking runners who had commenced too energetically.
Alex ran what could be arguably his best ever effort in a Victorian Cross Country race by finishing 6th, and excellent effort. He would have every right to be proud of this accomplishment. Sam and Scott held their position in the concluding stages to finish 9th and 10th respectively, also a fine effort for both.
The senior women’s race looked likely to see a contest between Virginia Moloney (Collingwood), Cassie Little (formerly Higham) (Glen Huntly), Gemma Maini (Frankston), Alexandra Patterson (OX) and Anna Kelly (South Melbourne). There were a number of the better-performing female athletes not competing. There a few surprises when the race started over the three lap course (which consisted of a two kilometre loop, followed by two four kilometre laps). The course was a bit muddy having been churned up by the thousands of feet of under age group athletes in the previous races. Moloney, Patterson and Sarah Waters (Geelong burst to the lead and opened up a fair-sized gap on the other competitors, although Henrietta Lawrence (Frankston), Cassie Little, and Sophie Ryan all looked like they could pounce if someone dropped off. Emilie Guy (Essendon) was also prominent. About three kilometres into the race our Box Hill leading performers were Steph Kondogonis about 26th, Rhiannon Snipe Rhiannon Snipe, 29th and Pia Hunter around 55th. Chloe Rosenberg and Rachel Johnson were quite close to each other further back. Other Box Hill athletes contesting the race were Caitlin Harrison and Carolyn Fox
The lead did not change hands once Moloney put in a long surge which Patterson and Waters could not respond to and Waters started to fade a little. Patterson was a clear second. Sophie Ryan and Henrietta Lawrence were improving their position in the field.
Moloney ran over the line well clear of the second placed athlete to improve on the silver medal she won the year before in this race. Patterson maintained her form, although 51 seconds behind the winner. This was her best Cross Country performance. Ryan held 3rd position until very close to the end, when Henrietta Lawrence put in a huge finishing sprint and headed Ryan, relegating her to fourth and claiming the bronze medal for herself.
Steph Kondogonis ran a very fine race and passed many athletes by running sensibly and finished 21st, in an impressive outing with a strong back end of the race. Rhiannon Snape also looked in excellent shape, greeting the finishing line in 26th position, also a fine effort. Pia Hunter was 50th, an outstanding effort, and she would have every reason to be delighted with her form, winning her age group by a solid margin. Chloe Rosenberg persisted to the line to claim 100th position. Rachel Johnson completed her race in 101st, one position behind Chloe. Caitlin Harrison finished 135th which was an improvement on her 2016 result and Carolyn Fox was 152nd. Beck Mitchell finished 180th.
The senior men’s race was the final race on the program and, like last year, the same course was deployed as for the women’s race. Box Hill had a very good representation and we were hopeful of as top place result. Last year, Daniel Clark was on the course lending strong support to his club mates after recuperating from surgery. It was great to see him running competitively in this major championship race this year representing our club.
When the starter sent the field on its way for the first two kilometre leg we had a sea of grey, white and black in prominent positions. Quite a large group separated from the body of the field, so after a little over a kilometre after the start, Will Potter was 3rd, Andre Waring was 9th, Steve Dinneen was about 14th near Nick Baggott. Mitch Dyer and James O’Connell were a bit further back. Peter Green and Daniel Clark were a few places behind James and Mitch, with Oscar Robinson coming through after a conservative start. Klarie McIntyre was in a similar position, running past competitors who had gone out too quickly. The leading group of male athletes included Andrew Buchanan (Bendigo), Matthew Clarke (Old Xavier) and Harry Smithers (Geelong) all looked strong at the front of the field. Tom Fawthorpe (Ringwood), Matthew Johnsen (Doncaster) and Martin Mashford (Melbourne University) were also prominent and Will Potter was tucked in, in 6th position. Toby Rayner (GH) also looked like he was making forward progress, Andre Waring held 8th position, but there was a suspicion that he might have expended energy getting into a strong position so early in the race.
During the first of the two four kilometre laps three athletes had pushed the pace and started to move away from the other leaders. Box Hill athletes held 6th, 11th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 26th and 36th positions at around the five k mark.
About seven kilometres into the race, Buchanan broke clear of Smithers and Clarke. Toby Rayner was roaring through the field, making up ground on the three leaders. Will Potter held 7th position, Steve Dinneen was placed 13th, James O’Connell was 15th, Nick Baggott was 17th, Mitch Dyer was 19th and Andre Waring was 23rd,, slowly losing a little bit of ground to other athletes who had been more conservative early.
In the concluding stages, Buchanan extended his lead to 180 metres and Clarke briefly challenged Smithers, but Smithers found a bit extra in the last kilometre and pulled ahead of Clarke by 11 seconds Toby Rayner finished fourth after a stellar last lap. Will Potter finished 7th, which was a very good effort. Passing athletes in the concluding stages, Steve Dinneen put in a great performance to claim 10th place. This was a gritty and determined effort for the team, typical of Steve’s character. Nick Baggott ran a fine race to finish 16th. Mitch Dyer will compete in five races this year, whilst he is here from America and he clearly adds another dimension with a strong performance like this one. James O’Connell ran 28th. Andre Waring placed 32nd ensuring that Box Hill won the Premier division team’s race. Others to make the top 100 were Oscar Robinson, 45th, who passed many athletes during the race, Daniel Clark, 46th, Peter Green, 47th, Klarie McIntyre, 48th, Michael Dowel, 65th, John Meagher 85th, and Tom Snibson, 90th.
We are confident that we have won the Men’s Premier division team’s race from SSH and Melbourne University.