DIVISION 1 MEN’S TEAM VERY CLOSE TO THE ACTION – FOURTH
DIVISION 1 WOMEN’S TEAM – FOURTH
DIVISION 3 MEN’S TEAM FIRST
DIVISION 6 MEN’S TEAM FIRST
U/20 MEN’S TEAM FIRST
U/18 MEN’S TEAM THIRD
U/18 WOMEN’S TEAMS FIRST AND SECOND
U/16 WOMEN’S TEAM SECOND
U/14 WOMEN’S TEAM FIRST
LETHERBY RUNS OUTSTANDING FINAL LEG
Box Hill had generally excellent results at the 2000 Road Relay Championships at Sandown Race Course on Saturday, 22 July. Our runners competed with the traditional gale-strength wind, which this year was extremely cold. We had planned carefully this year, knowing that it was an open race, with 5 teams having a good chance of victory – Glen Huntly, Doncaster, Ballarat YCW, Geelong and Box Hill being likely to vie for the medals. This was an accurate assessment of the race which unfolded. The lead swapped seven times during the race, with only Geelong not holding the lead at some stage during the race.
Our Section 1 team was sent off to brilliant start with Marcus Tierney positioning himself intelligently at the end of his first lap. He had caused a few butterflies by moving into the lead running into the exceptionally strong wind up the back straight, but had allowed others to move past him later in the lap. Surging with a powerful finishing burst which carried him past Nankervis (Ballarat YCW), he opened up a three second gap at the conclusion of his leg. This was a memorable effort, as it is extremely competitive in the first leg at Sandown every year. Scott Jackson, recovering from a troubling calf injury, took off and conceded a few places in his first lap. After Scott had run his second lap Box Hill held sixth place but only 48 seconds behind Doncaster, then in the lead. We were 34 seconds behind Ballarat YCW in third place.
Julian Dwyer took over to run the third leg and started aggressively. He regained fourth place at the conclusion of his first circuit, 31 seconds down on Gleisner running for Ballarat YCW. Finishing with a grinding sprint for the entire length of the home straight, he drew his opponent in metre by metre, crossing the line equal third. This was a tremendous effort, typical of Julian’s determination and courage. Glen Tooze took off moderately in his first lap. Ballarat YCW drew away from us in this leg, and Glen had the misfortune to be matched with Steve Moneghetti and Lee Troop, both in awesome form. These two athletes recorded the fastest and second fastest times of the day (18 m. 01 and 18 m. 03 respectively). Lee Troop overhauled Glen in the second lap, and he handed over to Graeme Olden in 5th place, 11 seconds in arrears of 4th placed Geelong, 2 m. 12 s. behind Ballarat YCW. Graeme set off aiming to reel in the teams ahead if possible. He managed to run three seconds quicker than he had in 1999, which was a noteworthy effort, but Box Hill still held 5th position, at the conclusion of this fifth leg. We were 26 seconds behind Geelong, fourth, with Glen Huntly, which had taken over the lead from Ballarat YCW, 2 m. 28 s. ahead. Graeme passed over to Andrew Letherby, who came third in the recent Victorian 12 k. cross country.
Andrew Letherby surged off with a look of determination on his face. He passed the changeover point 9 minutes later, in 4th place, having overtaken the Geelong runner, and 1 m. 20 s. behind Prendergast (Ball. YCW), holding 3rd place. Andrew continued to demonstrate blistering pace in his second leg, taking slightly under 9 m. 15 s for a most impressive leg of 18 m. 15 s. He finished only 28 seconds behind the third-placed Ballarat YCW, having shaved a staggering 1 m. 23 seconds off their lead over us. Andrew also converted a 26s. deficit into a 1 m. 14 lead over Geelong, and brought us to within 1 m. 37 of the winning Glen Huntly team. In anyone’s language this was a gem of an effort.
Section 1
| Leg | Runner | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Total | Position | Leader’s time | BH time |
|
1 |
Marcus Tierney |
9:24 |
9:32 |
18:56 |
1 |
18:56 |
18:56 |
|
2 |
Scott Jackson |
9:49 |
10:05 |
19:49 |
6 |
38:02 |
38:50 |
|
3 |
Julian Dwyer |
9:21 |
9:32 |
18:53 |
=3 |
57:20 |
57:43 |
|
4 |
Glenn Tooze |
9:51 |
10:22 |
20:13 |
5 |
75:44 |
77:56 |
|
5 |
Graeme Olden |
9:41 |
9:53 |
19:34 |
5 |
95:02 |
97:30 |
|
6 |
Andrew Letherby |
9:00 |
9:15 |
18:15 |
4 |
114:08 |
115:45 |
| Placings | Fastest Legs | ||
| 1. Glen Huntly | 114 m. 08 | S. Moneghetti | 18 m. 01 |
| 2. Doncaster | 114 m. 33 | L. Troop | 18 m. 03 |
| 3. Ballarat YCW | 115 m. 17 | A. Letherby | 18 m. 15 |
| 4. Box Hill | 115 m. 45 | ||
|
5. Geelong A.P.S. |
116 m. 49 |
Our Section 3 team again performed really well, following the second place recorded in 1999, this year going one better. Phil Pelgrim opened up with a respectable first leg passing over to Graham Crouch. Team manager noted that the team maintained its lead throughout the race. Adam Pepper continued in the third leg, passing to Michael Jones, making a welcome return to Winter racing. The Section 3 team was anchored home to win by Barry Lynch, who recorded the smartest time for the day in our Section 3 team.
Section 3
| Leg | Runner | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Total |
| 1 | Phil Pelgrim |
10:15 |
10:50 |
21:05 |
| 2 | Graeme Crouch |
10:39 |
10:30 |
21:09 |
| 3 | Adam Pepper |
10:54 |
11:26 |
22:20 |
| 4 | Michael Jones |
10:34 |
10:44 |
21:18 |
| 5 | Barry Lynch |
10:05 |
10:44 |
20:49 |
Team Result: 1st
The Section 6 team won again this year, which was extremely pleasing, following a fine start from Dale Bickham. Dale ran a quicker time than recorded by all of the Section 3 athletes, responding well to the opportunity provided in the first leg to get a speedy time. Tim Renowden extended the team’s lead with a solid leg, with Jonathon Tyler and David Ayers holding on to win Section 6 by a lengthy margin.
Section 6
| Leg | Runner | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Total |
| 1 | Dale Bickham | 10:05 | 10:38 | 20:43 |
| 2 | Tim Renowden | 10:53 | 11:02 | 21:55 |
| 3 | Jonathon Tyler | 11:23 | 11:40 | 23:02 |
| 4 | David Ayers | 11:55 | 11:51 | 23:46 |
Team Result: 1st
Our Under 20 team was in a prominent position for the whole race, and enjoyed better fortune than last year when Simon Bromley was unable to finish just short of the line in second place. This year the team of Matt Spain. Ben Bissett and David Tyler were very determined to perform well and did just than. The team finished first in a very exciting race. Well done to all of you on a fantastic effort for yourselves and for Box Hill.
Under 20
| Leg | Runner | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Total |
| 1 | Matt Spain | 10:48 | 10:53 | 21:41 |
| 2 | Ben Bissett | 10:02 | 10:19 | 20:21 |
| 3 | David Tyler | 11:21 | 11:52 | 23:13 |
Team Result: 1st
Our Under 18 team placed third in their event, a very encouraging effort, with Andrew White, new member Andrew Lanaruss and Simon McGuinness combining well to finish in third place for Box Hill. Congratulations to all team members on this effort.
Under 18
| Leg | Runner | Lap |
| 1 | Andrew White | 10:09 |
| 2 | Andrew Lanaruss | 10:55 |
| 3 | Simon McGuinness | 10:35 |
Team result: 3rd
WOMEN’S RESULTS
Division 1
With several runners unavailable this team was not as strong as it could be. Marion Gamble, just returned from holidays, came into the team and due to work commitments later in the afternoon ran the first leg.
Many of the other teams had chosen to run their best runners first, so despite a solid performance and a strong finish Marion finished well back in the field. Megan Sloane ran well to hold the teams position on
the second leg and then Erica Sigmont, having her first run for the winter, gained some placings on the third leg. George Connell, running last, ran the teams fastest leg and continued to improve her position to bring the team into a very creditable 4th position.
| Marion Gamble | 26:20 |
| Megan Sloane | 25:31 |
| Erica Sigmont | 24:32 |
| George Connell | 24:18 |
Team Result: 4th
Under 18
Box Hill has dominated the women’s under 18 competition all season and the Sandown relays were to prove no exception. We entered 2 teams in this age group and the fiercest competition was always going to be to
get into the first Box Hill team. Based on the results from Bundoora, Prue Healy ran the first leg for the first team, while Jessica De Bruin ran for the second team. This time Jess turned the tables on Prue, to bring the second team into the changeover 17 seconds ahead. Jenita Dunner set off in the lead and despite running well was passed by Jocelyn Keage. Jocelyn has been in outstanding form this winter and went on to record the fastest time for this age group on the day. Emily Smith ran a strong final leg to extend the teams lead and finish well ahead of all opposition, while Annabel Hosken ran the final leg for the second team to take out a Box Hill quinella.
Team 1 – 1st
| Prue Healy | 11:46 |
| Jocelyn Keage | 10:55 |
| Emily Smith | 11:48 |
Team 2 – 2nd.
| Jess De Bruin | 11:29 |
| Jenita Dunner | 12:35 |
| Annabel Hosken | 12:43 |
Under 16
Georgie McCallum, Charlotte Roberts and Kate Thornton all ran well in very difficult conditions to finish a very close second.
| Georgie McCallum | 12:41 |
| Charlotte Roberts | 12:19 |
| Kate Thornton | 12:21 |
Team Result: 2nd
Under 14
Juliet Thornton ran very well to come into the first changeover with a good lead. Sarah Evans ran a good leg to hold on to the lead and give Hayley Thomlinson, unbeaten in her age group this year, a clear gap on her rivals. Hayley pulled further ahead to give the team an emphatic victory.
| Juliet Thornton | 11:58 |
| Sarah Evans | 13:57 |
| Hayley Thomlinson | 11:06 |
Team Result: 1st
Thanks to Ian Sloane, Tom Waters, Chris O’Connor, Rob Falkenberg, Andrew Dunner and others who assisted with the management of teams and to Julie Milner, David Boyd and Kim Coltman who assisted with officiating.
It was very pleasing to see the large number of Box Hill athletes who made their way to afternoon tea in the car park to celebrate the successes and good performances recorded on the day. Many thanks once again to Ian and Megan Sloane for providing a wonderful spread for afternoon tea.