Great Day for Box Hill Women
Strong team effort from Senior Men
Nikki Chapple dominates to win Women’s 10 k. with new Member Hanny Allston third
Brilliant run from Michael Dowel in Under 18 10 k. to win Silver
The premier road race in Victorian Athletics was held at Sandown on Saturday 30th May. The 10 k road race attracts prize money and interstate competitors. Box Hill AC assembled very strong men’s and women’s fields, although there were several withdrawals on the day due to injury and illness.
The men’s and women’s race is a combined race and is three laps of the 3.1 k. circuit plus the length of the straight. Weather conditions were much better this year than last year, but it was cold and windy, nevertheless.
The race started at 2.30 p.m. with the women’s and men’s starts separated but commencing simultaneously and merging after about 500 metres. Immediately a big group of runners blasted out at the head of the field, including Chris Hamer and Andrew White, hunting up close. Jeff Hunt (NSW), Mark Tucker (Geelong), Jason Woolhouse (Geelong), Harry Summers (NSW), Liam Adams (Essendon), Duer Yoa (Eureka) and the ageless and amazing Steve Moneghetti (Ballarat YCW) were all at the front end of the field along with aspirants who could not sustain the pace which was fast.
At the conclusion of the first circuit Andrew White and Chris Hamer were both extremely well-placed. Mark Tucker, in the lead, put in a surge which was not decisive, as it turned out, but showed that he wanted to break the will and resolve of his competitors. Matt Coloe and Barry Lynch were up the front end as well. There was a gap back to Steve Kelly, who was holding around 30th position but with a gap in front of him. Stuart Watson, recovered from injury, ran past the finish line in a large group with Nikki Chapple and Michael Dowel. Adrian Vincent and Josh de Stefanis were next in view. Navin Arunasalam had been forced to pull out with an injury and Chaai Kathhirasan also withdrew. We had a large number of competitors and they were all trying to do their best.
Nikki Chapple was clearly in front in the women’s race, and looking extremely strong, accompanied by Stuart Watson. Tara Palm (Invitation) and Cassandra Fien (Wellington) followed Nikki across the line with Melissa Vernon (Invitation) next placed in the women’s race. Newly joined club member, Hanny Allston, was prominent as well in the female race, less than 30 seconds behind Nikki Chapple, with Mai Tagami, in 10th position and Rachel Johnson right in the mix at the front end as well.
At the completion of the second lap, the leading pack had split up and Hunt, Tucker, still testing the leading runners by varying the pace, Woolhouse, Summers, Adams, Yoa and Moneghetti were clear of the others. Chris Hamer was holding his form, 10th, close to Kane Willie and Ben Toomey, both representing Knox. Andrew White was four seconds behind in 11th position, with Barry Lynch, 19th, and Steve Kelly 20th, also doing well. A little further back was Matt Coloe. Then followed Nikki Chapple, holding 50th place overall, in a commanding lead in the women’s race with Stuart Watson, 51st, still running alongside her. Michael Dowel was 10 seconds in arrears of these two, a great effort for an Under 18 athlete. Adrian Vincent and Josh
de Stefanis were plugging away around half a minute behind. In the Women’s race, Hanny Allston was still in proximity to the placegetters but a small gap was opening up. Hanny was being chased by Susie Michelsson (Collingwood), 6th, with Rachel Johnson, running very strongly having overtaken Mai Tagami, leading Mai by three seconds. Julie Norney was also doing well and was the next Box Hill athlete just over 80 seconds down on Mai Tagami. She was followed by June Petrie and Kate Ackland, who made up the Division 3 team.
Mark Tucker finally broke clear of the other athletes in the final lap although Jeff Hunt persevered and stuck with him as long as he could. Mark Tucker’s winning time was not particularly fast, and conditions probably influenced this. Jeff Hunt was 13 seconds down in second place with Jason Woolhouse unable to bridge the gap finishing third, five seconds further back. Chris Hamer edged ahead of Ben Toomey in the concluding stages to place 10th. Andrew White placed 14th, 14 seconds behind his club mate, Chris. Barry Lynch performed brilliantly, in one of his best ever races, to claim 15th position. Steve Kelly had a close tussle with a number of athletes in the last lap and placed 25th, 26 seconds down on Barry, with Matt Coloe finishing a further 30 seconds later in 31stposition. Adrian Vincent, 68th, completed our Division 1 team. Our Division 2 team was made up of Stuart Watson, 81st, Josh de Stefanis, 87th, Daniel Clarke, 133rd, Bert Pelgrim, 145th, and Chris O’Connor, 148th.
Nikki Chapple maintained her momentum to the finish, winning the championship by 30 seconds from Tara Palm in a very quick time (32:38). Hanny Allston placed fifth, but because two of the athletes ahead of her were invitees, she won the Bronze medal in the championship, a great result for her and Box Hill. Rachel Johnson, who is in great form at the moment, recorded a PB, 36:11 in placing 14th, and Mai Tagami, 15th, 36:17, also a smart time, completed the Division 1 team.
Julie Norney, who recorded 38 m. 07, ran a Personal Best time in placing 28th, with June Petrie, 44th and Kate Ackland, 57th making up the Division 3 team.
The men’s Division 1 team performed well, but was weakened slightly by illness, and finished second behind Geelong. Nevertheless, this was a solid second and we are now clearly in first place in the Division 1 competition. We are determined to repeat the brilliant success of last year when for the first time in 30 years we were the ascendant club in the Winter competition. We claimed second place in Men’s Division 2 and believe that we won Men’s Division 5 section and probably also won Men’s Division 7.
The Women’s race produced the best ever effort and placing for our team in a brilliant performance. We won the Women’s Division 1 competition in an outstanding effort. Long time members Doug Bourne, Chris O’Connor, Graeme Olden, and Ian and Megan Sloane cannot recall a first placing by the Women’s team in previous years. It appears that the Box Hill women also won Division 3 and Division 4, such was the depth of the athletes and the quality of their performance. Box Hill sits in third place, two points behind Knox and one point behind APS in the Women’s competition in Division 1. In winning the women’s race, Nikki Chapple produced an international class time, which will surely lead to better things in the future.
We had a raft of excellent performances in the Masters’ age categories. Julie Norney claimed the Bronze medal in her age group. June Petrie claimed the Silver in her age group and Megan Sloane won the Silver medal in her age category.
Chris O’Connor placed 5th in his age category and Bert Pelgrim won the Silver medal
in his age category. This would clearly be the best ever effort from our more experienced runners.
Michael Dowel showed what great potential he has in claiming the Silver medal in the Under 18 race. Not only did he record an excellent time (32:51) but he defeated a number of his competitors who have been racing well this year. We believe that the Under 18 team finished in second place behind Knox.
Thanks to the hardy club members and supporters Dave Boyd, Gary Dowel, Doug Bourne and Mrs Griffin who acted as officials and to Kate Beever for assisting distribute entries and the electronic devices that all athletes has to wear during the race. Their efforts were greatly appreciated by the athletes and team managers.
Please note that these placings are unofficial and have not yet been published in their entirety on the AV Web site.
| Place | Name | Club | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Final Time |
| 1 | Mark Tucker | Geelong | 29:25 | ||
| 2 | Jeff Hunt | NSW | 29:38 | ||
| 3 | Jason Woolhouse | Geelong | 29:43 | ||
| 4 | Harry Summers | Inv | 29:58 | ||
| 5 | Liam Adams | Essendon | 30:03 | ||
| 6 | Duer Yoa | Eureka | 30:04 | ||
| 7 | Steve Moneghetti | BYCW | 30:05 | ||
| 8 | Courtney Carter | Inv | 30:18 | ||
| 9 | Kane Willie | Knox | 30:27 | ||
| 10 | Chris Hamer | Box Hill | 11:25 | 20:50 | 30:32 |
| 14 | Andrew White | BH | 11:25 | 20:54 | 31:43 |
| 15 | Barry Lynch | BH | 11:35 | 21:21 | 31:03 |
| 24 | Steve Kelly | BH | 11:57 | 21:24 | 31:29 |
| 31 | Matt Coloe | BH | 11:35 | 21:54 | 31:57 |
| 48 1 W | Nikki Chapple | BH | 12:15 | 22:30 | 32:38 |
| 55 (U18 2nd) | Michael Dowel | BH | 12:15 | 22:40 | 32:51 |
| 80 | Adrian Vincent | BH | 12:32 | 23:04 | 33:26 |
| 93 | Stuart Watson | BH | 12:15 | 22:30 | 33:46 |
| 100 | Josh de Stefanis | BH | 12:32 | 23:17 | 33:51 |
| 112 5 W | Hanny Allston | BH | 12:42 | 24:25? | 34:03 |
| 130 | Chris Papadakis? | BH | 13:22? | ? | 34:26 |
| 155 | Daniel Clarke | BH | 13:15 | 24:30 | 35:02 |
| 167 | Bert Pelgrim | BH | 13:06 | 24:12 | 35:16 |
| 173 | Chris O’Connor | BH | 13:20 | ? | 35:22 |
| 195 | Steve Griffin | BH | ? | 24:37 | 35:51 |
| 208 14 W | Rachel Johnson | BH | 12:40 | 24:56 | 36:11 |
| 215 | Andrew Nagel | BH | 13:48 | 25:22 | 36:14 |
| 219 15 W | Mai Tagami | BH | 12:35? | 24:59 | 36:17 |
| 222 | Chris Bradford | BH | 12:38 | 25:12 | 36:19 |
| 322 | Stewart Downs | BH | 14:11 | ? | 38:04 |
| 324 28 W | Julie Norney | BH | 14:17 | 26:21 | 38:07 |
| 385 15 (U18) | Jonathon Tree | BH | 14:48 | 27:02 | 39:15 |
| 406 | Graeme Olden | BH | 15:04 | 27:20 | 39:40 |
| 414 44 W | June Petrie | BH | 14:36 | 27:20 | 39:47 |
| 417 | Bill Dyer | BH | 14:45 | 27:05 | 39:49 |
| 451 | Dave Ayers | BH | 15:12 | 28:17 | 40:30 |
| 478 57 W | Kate Ackland | BH | ? | 28:20? | 40:56 |
| 505 | Peter Stefanos | BH | 15:47 | 28:58 | 41:36 |
| 540 71 W | Talitha Crawford | BH | 15:54 | 29:07 | 42:15 |
| 563 82 W | Tracey Taylor | BH | 15:54 | 29:30? | 42:53 |
| 588 92 W | Megan Sloane | BH | 16:27 | ? | 43:23 |
| 591 | Dave Stevens | BH | 16:21 | ? | 43:24 |
| 635 | Andrew Tunne | BH | 16:43 | ? | 44:43 |
| 663 | Simon Evans | BH | ? | ? | 45:22 |
| 672 26 (U18) | James McNiece | BH | 16:34 | ? | 45:40 |
| 1. | Geelong | 108 |
| 2. | Box Hill | 160 |
| =3 | Glenhuntly | 275 |
| =3 | Essendon | 275 |
| 5. | Ballarat YCW | 316 |
| 6. | APS | 377 |
| 1. | Eureka | 395 |
| 2. | Box Hill | 798 |
| 3. | Glenhuntly | 867 |
| 1. | Box Hill | 972 |
| 1. | Knox | 19 |
| 2. | Box Hill | 43 |
| 1. | Box Hill | 35 |
| 2. | Knox | 100 |
| 3. | APS | 114 |
| 4. | Melbourne Uni | 129 |
| 5. | Traralgon | 183 |
| 6. | Geelong | 228 |
| 7. | Collingwood | 230 |
| 8. | Glenhuntly | 233 |
| 1. | Box Hill | 129 |
| 2. | SSH | 229 |
| 3. | Collingwood | 298 |
| 1. | Box Hill | 245 |