In very cool, moist conditions, Box Hill AC again had a strong contingent of runners competing in the 15 K. road race around the La Trobe University perimeter. The Men’s Division 1 team performed brilliantly to outclass all other Division 1 teams. Our Division 3 team won their division by over 180 points, and our Division 5 team placed fourth. The Box Hill 40+ team was eclipsed by APS but finished second. And our Under 20 men had yet another win as well.
Our Division 1 Women’s team performed competitively with a fifth placing, their best effort in 2008.
This year has been an exceptional year for our senior men’s team, with outstanding performances from our team in each race of 2008. As competitors lined up for the start, a large group of Box Hill runners congregated together at the front of the field. Daniel Clark was unable to start, having sustained a calf strain during the week but nearly all our other top performers were there.
Steve Moneghetti made the trip down from Ballarat with a strong team which included Shane Nankervis an Australian representative. Geelong were missing their best credentialed runners and Doncaster were lacking depth as well. APS had a fairly strong team on the line, whilst Glenhuntly was missing its top athletes.
The race commenced slightly after 10.00 a.m. and a large group of more than 20 runners immediately forged their way to the front. Four Box Hill runners were in this pack: Steve Dinneen very prominent, Steve Kelly, Matt Coloe and Andrew White all there in the mix too. Shane Nankervis, Ben Toomey, Nathan Hartigan, Clint Perrett, Steve Moneghetti, Magnus Michelsson, Grant Morgan and Ryan Jackson were also showing out.
Steve Dinneen put in a long early surge which dissipated the large pack and four runners found themselves clear of the pack. Steve Dinneen probably paid for this later, for when Steve Moneghetti put in a surge at the 6 km mark Steve Dinneen dropped marginally behind. Matt Coloe was running just behind Steve Kelly in the top 10 with Andrew White about 20 seconds down. John Meagher was running another amazing race, with great cadence and measuring his pace carefully. Two athletes who would have been expected to be prominent early started off easily: Chris Hamer slowly moved through the field, and was nearing race pace by the end of the second lap, picking up thirty or more places, and even more in the third lap. Liam Adams (Essendon) also started off easily, but did not run through over the top of the field like Chris Hamer. A little further back, Luke Yeatman, a welcome returnee to our team, was running a sensible race, and looked comfortable in the way he approached his race. He appeared to be in around 40th to 45th place after 2 laps.
Other members of the Division 3 team were Adrian Vincent who seems to be getting better each week after a layoff with injury, about 65th, with Steve Griffin, a little further back, performing well. Chris O’Connor not much further behind him in the first 90. Antony Van Eeten was just adrift of Chris and also running a strong race. Graeme Olden was the next athlete to appear, probably about 125th, followed by Rachel Johnson and Bill Dyer. Others following included Hayley Tomlinson, Emma Steer, Megan Sloane, Barry Whittle, Talitha Crawford and Andrew Tunne. The leading women were Renate Wyss (Melb Uni), Susie Michelsson (Coll) and Isabella de Castella (APS). Clint Perrett (San.) broke clear of Steve Moneghetti (BYCW) in the third lap and maintained an advantage over him to the finish line. Shane Nankervis (BYCW) held onto third spot, despite Steve Dinneen’s bold attempt to reel him in. Nathan Hartigan (Ballarat Harriers) was next to finish, with Ben Toomey (Knox) in sixth. Steve Kelly capped off a great race for him placing seventh. Not long after Matt Coloe streamed across the line for an excellent 10th placing. Other Box Hill Division 1 team members were Chris Hamer 16th, John Meagher, 25th and Andrew White, 28th.
This strong showing secured another win for Box Hill’s Division 1 team, the third for the season. Also impressive was the Division 3 team’s performance, winning the team race by a huge margin in the competitive Division 3 team’s race.
Rachel Johnson has been running well this year and her performance in coming 15th was clearly one of her best ever. She looked in good form for the whole race and finished off extremely well. The other team members ran consistently and had a season’s best placing, fifth. Our Under 20 men excelled themselves again. In a very even and pleasing result, Joshua de Stefanis, 6th, Mark Poli, 8th, and Stuart Watson, 9th, combined superbly to carry off the Under 20 team title. Well done boys – a mighty team performance.
Michael Dowel also ran very well in the Under 18 division. It was pleasing to see Cameron Nagle and Jonathon Tree out on the road doing their best as well.
Leading performers Open Men 1. Clint Perrett Sand 46:08 2. Steve Moneghetti Ball. YCW 46:27 3. Shane Nankervis Ball. YCW 46:41 4. Steve Dinneen Box Hill 47:00 5. Nathan Hartigan Ballarat 47:40 6. Ben Toomey Knox 47:54 7. Steve Kelly Box Hill 47:59 8. Magnus Michelsson C'wood 48:13 9. Tyson Popplestone Ballarat 48:19 10. Matt Coloe Box Hill 48:22 16 Chris Hamer Box Hill 49:00 25 John Meagher Box Hill 49:44 28 Andrew White Box Hill 50:15 42 Luke Yeatman Box Hill 51:28 64 Adrian Vincent Box Hill 53:13 79 Steve Griffin Box Hill 53:57 83 Chris O'Connor Box Hill 54:24 86 Antony Van Eeten Box Hill 54:31 119 Graeme Olden Box Hill 56:19 193 Bill Dyer Box Hill 60:24 288 Barry Whittle Box Hill 68:32 306 Andrew Tunne Box Hill 71:26 Under 20 Men 5 km Road 6 Joshua de Stefanis Box Hill 16:15 8 Mark Poli Box Hill 16:37 9 Stuart Watson Box Hill 17:03 Under 18 Men 7 Michael Dowel Box Hill 16:43 19 Cameron Nagle Box Hill 21:15 Under 16 Men 9 Jonathon Tree Box Hill 18:51 Team Results Division 1 1. Box Hill 90 2. Ballarat YCW 142 3. Geelong 206 Division 3 1. Box Hill 351 2. APS 537 3. Western Athletics 567 Division 5 1 Oakleigh 678 2 Western Athletics 776 3 Melbourne Uni 904 4.Box Hill 906 Over 40 Men 1.APS 19 2.Box Hill 29 3.Traralgon 44 Under 20 Men 1.Box Hill 23 2.Western Athletics 37 Open Women's Results 1. Renate Wyss Melb Uni 53:20 2. Susie Michelsson Coll. 53:24 3. Isabella de Castella APS 54:35 15 Rachel Johnson Box Hill 58:51 31 Hayley Tomlinson Box Hill 63:00 48 Emma Steer Box Hill 67:10 54 Megan Sloane Box Hill 68:05 60 Talitha Crawford Box Hill 68:53 Women's Division 1 Team Results 1. APS 43 2. Glenhuntly 73 3. Melbourne University 78 4. Richmond 131 5. Box Hill 148
