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 8th and Thomas Diamond who also gave a good account of himself finishing 13th. Their race was contested over three kilometres. Freya Henricksen placed 12th in the Under 18 women’s race. Darcy Powne competed in the Under 20 race over four kilometres and finished 19th.
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 8th position, Also to the fore were Will Potter (BH) holding 9th position and Callen Goldsmith (Morn). A little further back was Nick Baggott in 12thposition, 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 9th position, Will Potter was 10th and Nick Baggott was 17th. 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 4th. 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 10th, Waring 11th and Baggott was 17th.
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 3rd place ahead of McNeill, with Gebraselassie, 5th. Earl was 6th , Thorpe was 7th, with Will Potter back to 8th. Nick Baggott ran an excellent third lap, moving up to 13th. Andre Waring found the hard early pace took the sting out of his legs and he ran through in 17th. 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 3rd. Dejen Gebraselassie held on for 4th, passing Harry Summers, 5th, in the last lap. Earl was 6th, from Thorpe, 7th. Will Potter ran a splendid last lap, passing two opponents to finish 8th, a fine effort. Nick Baggott also surged home past five opponents in the last circuit and finished 12th. Andre Waring hung on for 17th position. Alex Ritchie ran well the whole way passing opponents to finish 26th, to complete the Premier Division team
Our Division 2 team was made up of Michael Dowel, 42nd, Zac Hunter, 71st, John Meagher, 75th, Josh De Stefanis, 92nd, Dylan Perera, 110th and Michael Vaughan 118th. The team finished 4th.
Other results were Division 3, 5th, Division 5, 1st and Division 7, 2nd. The 40+ team was 8th and the 50+ team was 1st.
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 5th position.
In the concluding stages, Patterson surged past Wilson, with Fry passing Haji Harun who placed 4th, and Courtney Powell finishing 5th. Marlie Campton was right at the front of the field in the early stages and this probably was the reason that she finished 22nd, albeit a good result for her and the team. Steph Kondogonis ran steadily and competitively to finish 27th 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 50th and win her age division, with Kat Foley finishing 62nd, with Pia Hunter, 79th, making up the winning Division 4 team. June Petrie, 90th, Rachel Johnson, 97th, Kaman Ip, 131st and Kerry Putt, 133rd, 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 (10th 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