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2015 Winter Bulletin No. 17

July 20, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 7 AT BRIMBANK PARK ON AUGUST 1

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the Brimbank Park cross country on Saturday, August 1. If you do not have a series ticket you must enter for this event online, via the AV website. Entries close at noon on Wednesday, July 29. After the first six rounds of XCR’15, Box Hill in position to win up to four premierships this season, with our men’s premier division, division 2, Over 50s and women over 40 either on top or close to the top of the ladder. Let’s hope we can have another great team performance at the Brimbank Park cross country event.

  

TRACK BOOKED ON TUESDAY

Please be aware that there are a number of school track bookings over the next few weeks. In particular the track is booked from 4:00pm to 6:30pm this Tuesday, July 21 as well as on Friday, July 24 and next Tuesday, July 28. Unfortunately the track will not be open to training at these times. Apologies for any inconvenience.

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 16

July 15, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 7 AT BRIMBANK PARK ON AUGUST 1

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the Brimbank Park cross country on Saturday, August 1.

 

BOX HILL SUCCESS AT THE SANDOWN ROAD RELAYS

Box Hill won a swag of medals at the Sandown road relays on Saturday. While the Geelong team led by Craig Mottram was too strong in the men’s Premier Division, our team performed well to take the silver medal. Our women’s premier division team, led by Courtney Powell, medalled for the first time this season taking the bronze. Box Hill won gold in the men’s over 50 competition and silver in the men’s under 20, men’s under 18 and women’s under 16 races. We also picked up a bronze medal in the women’s under 18 event. Our women’s division 5 team also did well to finish 3rd in their division.

See below for Ian Sloane’s report.

A big thank you to Rachel Johnson, Katherine Foley and Francis Pamminger who volunteered to act as officials and to Ian Sloane, Michael Vaughan, Kelly Ulf, Simone Lovass and Michelle Atkinson who helped as timekeepers.

Results:

Men Premier Division (2nd)

  1. Will Potter            18:53
  2. Klarie McIntyre     20:08
  3. Steve Dinneen      18:48
  4. Peter Green         19:10
  5. James O’Connell    19:34
  6. Steve Kelly          18:37

Men Division 2          (5th)

  1. Nick Baggott        19:51
  2. Michael Dowel       19:19
  3. David Jiminez       21:07
  4. Raymond Chan     22:12
  5. Welday Mebrahtu  21:26
  6. Michael Vaughan   21:34

Men Division 3  (11th)

  1. Trent Collins         21:28
  2. Carlos Norman     22:18
  3. Jack Hill               26:15
  4. Graeme Olden      24:28
  5. Russell Clowes      24:34

Men 40+   (9th)

  1. Tony Langelaan     23:18
  2. Simon St. Hill        28:40
  3. Chris O’Connor     24:27

Men 50+   (1st)

  1. John Meagher       20:37
  2. Andrew Egginton   22:37
  3. Peter Stefanos     23:35

Men Under 20 (2nd)

  1. Ben Cox               20:09
  2. Vaughan Smith     20:17
  3. Zac Hunter           20:25

Men Under 18 (team 1 – 2nd)

  1. Alex Ritchie          9:49
  2. Scott McKenzie     9:30
  3. Tom Selwood       10:13

Men Under 18 (team 2 – 8th)

  1. Lucas Pamminger  10:40
  2. James Bernstein   11:12
  3. Aidan McCormack  10:03

Women Premier Division (3rd)

  1. Courtney Powell    20:41
  2. Sarah Cant          24:17
  3. Grace Kalac         24:44
  4. Georgia Hansen    23:01
  5. Julie Norney         22:29

Women Division 2 (10th)

  1. Liza Henshall        26:43
  2. Megan Sloane       29:01
  3. Amelia Savige       28:01
  4. Caitlin Harrison     29:28

Women Division 5  (3rd)

  1. Kelly Ulf              30:07
  2. Nicole Smith         31:55
  3. Pia Hunter            28:14

Women 40+  (4th)

  1. June Petrie           25:55
  2. Meagan Harvey     24:41
  3. Amanda Harper    25:32

Women Under 20 (6th)

  1. Chloe Metzeling     12:26
  2. Lucy Steele          12:01
  3. Imogen Purcell      13:45

Women Under 18 (3rd)

  1. Paris Powell          11:02
  2. Holly Pedersen      11:55
  3. Louise Ton           11:47

Women Under 16 (2nd)

  1. Tamsyn Lovass     11:20
  2. Amy Atkinson       11:34
  3. Molly McCarthy     11:44

 

 

 

TRAIL CHAMPIONSHIPS

In conjunction with Athletics Victoria, Trailsplus are hosting the AV trail championships this Sunday. The event is held at the You Yangs this Sunday July 19th. AV members are invited to attend and have had a special reduced entry fee set.

For more information please visit www.trailsplus.com.au/you-yangs

REGSTER HERE

info@trailsplus.com.au

Brett Saxon

Trailsplus

P.O.Box 119, Keilor, VIC 3036

Mob: 0418 557 052

Email: brett@trailsplus.com.au

Web: www.trailsplus.com.au

WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE STUDIED?

Deakin University in Burwood are currently conducting a research project looking at how individuals of different training backgrounds (sprinters and long distance runners) respond to a new type of weight training called blood flow restriction exercise (BFR).

They are looking for males 18-40 years of age that have been training competitively in endurance sports (eg long distance running, cycling, mtb) or sprint sports (100-400 metres, sprint cyclists, etc) for at least the past 6 months (the longer the better).

One of the major benefits of participating will having a VO2 max test taken which can be quite valuable for athletes as it may aid in training prescription etc, and usually costs around $200-300. Another reason to participate would be to learn about this novel training technique and how it may be used in training to potentially increase performance.

If there is anyone at the club that may be interested please get in contact with Nelson Lay at 0432691445 or email nelson@deakin.edu.au.

Nelson Lay
BExSS/Sport Mgmt
?Honours Student
Deakin University, Burwood?
0432691445
nelson@deakin.edu.au

XCR15 – Round 6 – Sandown Road Relays – 11 July 2015

July 13, 2015

BOX HILL SUCCESS AT THE SANDOWN ROAD RELAYS

Box Hill won a swag of medals at the Sandown road relays on Saturday. While the Geelong team led by Craig Mottram was too strong in the men’s Premier Division, our team performed well to take the silver medal. Our women’s premier division team, led by Courtney Powell, medalled for the first time this season taking the bronze. Box Hill won gold in the men’s over 50 competition and silver in the men’s under 20, men’s under 18 and women’s under 16 races. We also picked up a bronze medal in the women’s under 18 event. Our women’s division 5 team also did well to finish 3rd in their division.

A big thank you to Rachel Johnson, Katherine Foley and Francis Pamminger who volunteered to act as officials and to Ian Sloane, Michael Vaughan, Kelly Ulf, Simone Lovass and Michelle Atkinson who helped as timekeepers.

See below for Ian Sloane’s report:

Weather conditions were atrocious for the Sandown relay meeting this year. It was windy, cold, with a forecast temperature of 12 C, and rain fell a number of times throughout the afternoon.  This was the 38th time that your correspondent has attended the Road Relay Championships, which have always been held at Sandown, apart from one year (1984 from memory) when the Sandown circuit was being re-laid and the races were held at La Trobe University. That year, Box Hill great and Olympian, Bill Scott, competed after a period of semi-retirement. There was much argument, when the race returned to Sandown the following year about whether the course was longer, shorter or about the same, and observers held strong opinions until, over a period of time, times resembling those run on the old layout were much the same as those run on the new course.  Conditions this year were equal to the worst that can be thrown up, leading to very soggy recording sheets and holes in the paper when writing down performances and elapsed times, a nightmare for Team Managers and Recorders. Umbrellas were essential for a good part of the race.

Little Athletics were also conducting their road relay championships at the same time as the first group were dispatched.  All the senior races, overage races and the under 20 men’s race commenced at the same time. Thirty minutes later, the remaining underage races, in which Box Hill had strong representation, commenced.

The Box Hill men’s Premier Division team looked strong on paper, but we have all learned not to count our chickens before they have hatched.  This year AV decided for the first time to run the course backwards in a clockwise direction. It was not clear what the rationale was for this, but many athletes were unhappy with the change.

Our lead-off Division 1 athlete, Will Potter, set out with the leaders after the starter fired the gun and ran through the first lap of two in the smart time of 9:26.  Craig Mottram (Geelong) had broken clear of the field and went through first in the time of 9:18.  He was followed by Toby Rayner (Glenhuntly) in 9:22 and Jordan Nelson (Knox) was third through in 9:23.  Will was running with two other athletes from Melbourne University (Nick Earl) and APS and they all crossed the line at the same time.  Mottram extended his lead over the field completing his leg in 18:26, from Toby Rayner, 18:43, with Nick Earl (Melbourne University) narrowly edging out Will Potter for third with times of 18:52 and 18:53 respectively.  Knox were 10 seconds behind in fifth and APS sixth in 19:17.  This performance was a major breakthrough for Will.  Any time under 19:00 is very respectable and it appears that this is the first time that Will has dipped under that barrier.

Klarie McIntyre took off next and ran his first lap in 9:59, holding fourth place, with Geelong ahead by 36 seconds, Knox second 14 seconds further back with Melbourne University third, 10 seconds behind and holding a 12 second advantage over Box Hill.  Klarie conceded one position to APS in the second lap.  At the front, Knox took over from Geelong, with Craig Appleby running a fast leg of 18:36. Zac Newman from University maintained third position nearly half a minute further back with a 28 second lead over the APS athlete, Mark de Luca, and our team, fifth, a further 10 seconds behind.  The other teams were falling out of contention after two legs.

Steve Dinneen was our third team member, and is a proven performer at Sandown.  He set about his business in a very determined manner and left the Melbourne University runner and the APS athlete in his wake in recording 9:23 for the first of his two laps. Geelong got past Knox to lead them by 16 seconds.  Steve was 40 seconds behind Knox in third place, five seconds clear of Melbourne University, and APS were 39 seconds in arrears of University in fifth. This dashing effort put Box l in with a very strong chance of a medal. Steve’s time was very fast (18:48).

Peter Green acquitted himself really well in the fourth leg for Box Hill having a real ding-dong battle with his Knox opponent, Mark Richards.  He turned a 12 second deficit into a one second advantage at the end of the first lap, in second position, 49 seconds adrift of Geelong who were still first. Melbourne University and Glenhuntly had dropped further back and it appeared that the first three clubs were running for the medals. Even though Peter ran his second lap faster than his first lap, his Knox opponent had kept something in reserve, and reclaimed a 12 second lead.  Peter, nevertheless, ran nine seconds faster than his Knox opponent and he also ran his best ever time at Sandown, 19:10, an excellent effort. Box Hill was third at the end of the fourth leg.

James O’Connell was our fifth runner and tackled his work with fortitude, running 9:32 for his first circuit, making up ground on second placed Knox runner, Adam Pyke, to cross the line four seconds adrift.  However, his Knox opponent also had something in reserve and James was not able to close the gap any further, but, importantly, held a clear third place of two minutes 22 over fourth place.  When James handed over to Steve Kelly to run the last leg, we were one minute 14 down on Geelong and 33 seconds down on Knox.  His time of 19:34 was respectable, and ensured that Box Hill was to be a medallist.

Steve Kelly rose to the challenge in commanding fashion and had closed the 33 second gap behind Sam Crowther (Knox) down to four seconds at the conclusion of his first lap.  Meanwhile Geelong had consolidated their lead and was 77 seconds ahead of Box Hill.  Steve quickly accelerated past Sam Crowther, running 18:37, our fastest time for the day (18:37) , to cross the line second, 31 seconds ahead of Crowther, with Geelong winning the race, anchored by in-form athlete Nick Wightman (who ran 18:29) reaching the finish 81 seconds in advance of Box Hill. So it was a silver medal today for Box Hill, after four wins in a row.

Box Hill’s Division 2 team was comprised of Nick Baggott, who ran extremely well, to crack the 20 minute barrier for the first time (19:51), Michael Dowel, who ran the fastest Division 2 time (19:19), David Jimenez (21:07), Raymond Chan (22:12), Welday Mebrahtu (21:40) and Michael Vaughan (21:20).  Two Essendon athletes excelled in Division 2, with Mitch Brown recording 18:10, only to be exceeded by Liam Adams, who ran the incredible time of 17:41 in very poor conditions. Not unexpectedly, Essendon won Division 2 by a long way.

We believe that Box Hill finished in 6th position in Division 2, with Essendon winning from Doncaster, second, and Western Athletics placing third.

Premier Division Box Hill male performances

Athlete First lap Second lap Total Elapsed time Position
Will Potter 9:26 9:27 18:53 18:53 4
Klarie McIntyre 9:59 10:09 20:08 39:01 5
Steve Dinneen 9:23 9:25 18:48 57:49 3
Peter Green 9:36 9:34 19:10 75:59 3
James O’Connell 9:32 10:02 19:32 96:33 3
Steve Kelly 9:15 9:22 18:37 115:10 2

 

Team places

  1. Geelong 113:49
  2. Box Hill 115:10
  3. Knox 115:41
  4. Uni. 118:41

 

Division 2 male performances

Athlete First lap Second lap Total
Nick Baggott 9:53 9:58 19:51
Michael Dowel 9:40 9:39 19:19
David Jimenez 10:46 10:21 21:07
Raymond Chan 11:00 11:17 22:12
Welday Mebrahtu 10:51 10:49 21:40
Michael Vaughan 10:35 10:45 21:20

Team places

  1. Essendon
  2. Doncaster
  3. Western Athletics
  4. Box Hill

Fastest times (Provisional)

Liam Adams (Ess.)                  17:41

Mitch Brown (Ess.)                 18:10

Craig Mottram (Geel.)             18:26

Nick Wightman (Geel.)           18:29

Craig Appleby (Knox)            18:36

Steve Kelly (BH)                    18:37

Toby Rayner (GH)                  18:43

Steve Dinneen (BH)               18:48

Nick Earl (Melb. Uni.)            18:52

Will Potter (BH)         18:53

 

Men Division 3  (11th)

  1. Trent Collins         21:28
  2. Carlos Norman     22:18
  3. Jack Hill               26:15
  4. Graeme Olden      24:28
  5. Russell Clowes      24:34

Men 40+   (9th)

  1. Tony Langelaan     23:18
  2. Simon St. Hill        28:40
  3. Chris O’Connor     24:27

Men 50+   (1st)

  1. John Meagher       20:37
  2. Andrew Egginton   22:37
  3. Peter Stefanos     23:35

Men Under 20 (2nd)

  1. Ben Cox               20:09
  2. Vaughan Smith     20:17
  3. Zac Hunter           20:25

Men Under 18 (team 1 – 2nd)

  1. Alex Ritchie          9:49
  2. Scott McKenzie     9:30
  3. Tom Selwood       10:13

Men Under 18 (team 2 – 8th)

  1. Lucas Pamminger  10:40
  2. James Bernstein   11:12
  3. Aidan McCormack  10:03

Women Premier Division (3rd)

  1. Courtney Powell    20:41
  2. Sarah Cant          24:17
  3. Grace Kalac         24:44
  4. Georgia Hansen    23:01
  5. Julie Norney         22:29

Women Division 2 (10th)

  1. Liza Henshall        26:43
  2. Megan Sloane       29:01
  3. Amelia Savige       28:01
  4. Caitlin Harrison     29:28

Women Division 5  (3rd)

  1. Kelly Ulf              30:07
  2. Nicole Smith         31:55
  3. Pia Hunter            28:14

Women 40+  (4th)

  1. June Petrie           25:55
  2. Meagan Harvey     24:41
  3. Amanda Harper    25:32

Women Under 20 (6th)

  1. Chloe Metzeling     12:26
  2. Lucy Steele          12:01
  3. Imogen Purcell      13:45

Women Under 18 (3rd)

  1. Paris Powell          11:02
  2. Holly Pedersen      11:55
  3. Louise Ton           11:47

Women Under 16 (2nd)

  1. Tamsyn Lovass     11:20
  2. Amy Atkinson       11:34
  3. Molly McCarthy     11:44

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 15

July 7, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 6 – SANDOWN ROAD RELAYS ON THIS SATURDAY

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the Sandown Road Relays on this Saturday, July 11. Enter the Sandown Racecourse via Racecourse Drive off the Princes Highway.

The open and overage (and under 20 men) ran 2 laps each of the motor racing circuit (6.2km), while all other junior age groups run 1 lap each (3.1km).

Draft teams are listed below, but some people have not yet confirmed their availability, so there are likely to be changes made.

All open and overage (and under 20 men) races start at 12:45pm. So please arrive by noon. Junior races start at 1:15pm and again, please try to arrive at least 45 minutes before your race just in case any changes need to be made.

If anyone listed below is unable to run, please let us know as soon as possible. Likewise, if your name is not listed but you want to compete, please let us know.

HELP NEEDED: WE ALSO NEED PEOPLE TO HELP AS TIMEKEEPERS AND VOLUNTEER OFFICIALS. If you can help please let us know as soon as possible.

Likely teams:

Men Premier Division

  1. Will Potter
  2. Michael Dowel
  3. Steve Dinneen
  4. Peter Green
  5. James O’Connell
  6. Steve Kelly

Men Division 2

  1. Nick Baggott
  2. Klarie McIntyre
  3. David Jiminez
  4. Michael Vaughan
  5. Oscar Robinson
  6. Dion Finocchiaro

Men Division 3

  1. Raymond Chan
  2. Trent Collins
  3. Luke Crozier
  4. Jack Prendergast
  5. Welday Mebrahtu

Men Division 6

  1. Carlos Norman
  2. Russell Clowes
  3. Jack Hill
  4. Simon St. Hill

Men 40+

  1. Tony Langelaan
  2. Dino Crivelli
  3. Graeme Olden

Men 50+

  1. John Meagher
  2. Andrew Egginton
  3. Peter Stefanos

Men Under 20

  1. Ben Cox
  2. Zac Hunter
  3. Vaughan Smith

Men Under 18 (team 1)

  1. Alex Ritchie
  2. Scott McKenzie
  3. Tom Selwood

Men Under 18 (team 2)

  1. Lucas Pamminger
  2. James Bernstein
  3. Aidan McCormack?

Women Premier Division

  1. Sarah Cant
  2. Julie Norney
  3. Grace Kalac
  4. Hayley Tomlinson
  5. Courtney Powell

Women Division 2

  1. Liza Henshall
  2. Megan Sloane
  3. Amelia Savige
  4. Caitlin Harrison

Women Division 5

  1. Kelly Ulf
  2. Nicole Smith
  3. Pia Hunter

Women 40+

  1. June Petrie
  2. Meagan Harvey
  3. Amanda Harper

Women Under 20

  1. Chloe Metzeling
  2. Lucy Steele
  3. One More

Women Under 18

  1. Georgia Hansen
  2. Paris Powell
  3. Holly Pedersen (Genevieve Wah?)

Women Under 16

  1. Tamsyn Lovass
  2. Amy Atkinson
  3. Molly McCarthy

 

XCR’15 SEASON

Winter Calendar

July 11, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 6, Sandown Road Relays

August 1, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 7, Brimbank Park Cross Country

August 15, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 8, Ekiden Relay, Angelsea

August 29, Saturday, National Cross Country Championships, Melbourne

September 6, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 9, Burnley half-marathon

September 19, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 10, Tan Relays

 

CONGRATULATIONS JULIE

Congratulations to Julie Norney who won her age group at the Gold Coast half marathon running the distance in 79:48

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 14

July 1, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 6 – SANDOWN ROAD RELAYS ON SATURDAY WEEK

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the Sandown Road Relays. The open and overage and under 20 men ran 2 laps each of the motor racing circuit (6.2km), while all other junior age groups run 1 lap each (3.1km).

We will be entering teams in most age groups and divisions, so please let us know as soon as possible whether or not you are available to compete.

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR BIG V MEMBERS

Congratulations to Steve Kelly, Will Potter, Courtney Powell, Spencer Anderson, Tom Selwood (emergency), Georgia Hansen, Molly McCarthy, Tamsyn Lovass, Genevieve Wah, Laura Powell, Paris Powell, Ben Cox, Scott McKenzie, Aidan McCormack and Sebastian Failla who will all represent Victoria at the national cross country championships at the end of August.

 

 

COURTNEY DOMINATES AND THE BOX HILL MEN WIN AGAIN AT ALBERT PARK

Courtney Powell dominated the state 10km road championships at Albert Park on the weekend. In near perfect conditions, Courtney ran a huge PB of 32:33 to win by well over a minute. In the men’s race Steve Kelly placed 3rd, Will Potter 8th, Steve Dinneen 10 and James O’Connell 13th to lead Box Hill to another win in the men’s Premier Division team competition.

Please click here for Ian Sloane’s full report.

Results

Men Premier Division (Team place: 1st)

3. Steve Kelly                 30:10

8. Will Potter                  30:30

10. Steve Dinneen          30:55

13. James O’Connell       31:08

24. Klarie McIntyre         31:43

25. Dion Finocchiaro       31:44

Men Division 2

27. Daniel Clark              31:48

28. Peter Green              31:48

29. Nick Baggott             31:49

50. Michael Dowel           32:29

56. John Meagher           32:47

78. David Jiminez           33:52

Men Division 3

80. Michael Vaughan      33:53

92. Welday Mebrahtu      34:18

147. Trent Collins           35:52

154. Andrew Hester        36:02

170. Luke Crozier            36:32

Men Division 6

225. Tony Langelaan      37:58

226. Peter Stefanos        37:59

269. Chris O’Connor       39:21

334. Dino Crivelli            41:15

Men Division 7

314. Russell Clowes        42:31

425. Simon St. Hill          45:35

Men Under 20

15. Zac Hunter                33:57

18. Vaughan Smith          34:04

21. Raymond Chan          34:43

28. Carlos Norman          37:41

Men Under 18

10. Alex Ritchie               35:22

21. Lucas Pamminger      37:29

Women Premier Division

1. Courtney Powell          32:33

10. Julie Norney              35:58

37. Grace Kalac               39:07

52. June Petrie                39:48

55. Meagan Harvey          40:05

Women Division 2

66. Amanda Harper         40:51

99. Liza Henshall             42:35

155. Megan Sloane          47:03

157. Amelia Savige          47:14

Women Division 5

188. Kelly Ulf                  51:34

202. Nicole Smith            53:49

Women Under 20 (3km)

12. Chloe Metzeling        11:21

Women Under 16 (3km)

4. Tamsyn Lovass           10:23

Men Under 14 (3km)

10. Connor Olgilvie          10:34

11. Murray Lovass           10:36

 

 

DION WINS THE TRARALGON MARATHON

Congratulations to Dion Finocchiaro, who won the Traralgon marathon on June 21 in the time of 2:31:19. Even more impressive was the fact that Dion was back racing for Box Hill the following weekend and running a 10km PB!

 

 

XCR’15 SEASON

Winter Calendar

July 11, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 6, Sandown Road Relays

August 1, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 7, Brimbank Park Cross Country

August 15, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 8, Ekiden Relay, Angelsea

August 29, Saturday, National Cross Country Championships, Melbourne 

September 6, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 9, Burnley half-marathon

September 19, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 10, Tan Relays 

 

 

BODYKNOTS STUDIO

Tom Chuang from Body Knots Studio is still offering great discounts on massage and kinesio taping to Box Hill members. Call Tom on 0430 179 168 for more information.

 

XCR15 – Round 5 – Albert Park Road Races – 28 June 2015

June 29, 2015

Albert Park 10 K Road Championship for Men and Women 28 June 2015

Weather conditions were absolutely brilliant for the running of the premier road championship of the AV Calendar, calm, temperate, high cloud, but bright; exceptional really compared with conditions in some recent years. There was a massive number of people at the course to compete or watch the athletes. There were 467 open age group male finishers and 218 female finishers.  With 25 under 18 finishers and 30 under 30 finishers, this meant that there were at least 740 athletes on the starting line.  Fortunately, there did not appear to be any falls at the start, which is always a risk with an enormous field like this one.

The first race was the underage 3 K road race, commencing at 8.30. Box Hill had a modest number of competitors.  In the Under 14 boys’ race both our boys ran particularly well, finishing one after the other.  Connor Ogilvie was seventh in 10:44 and Murray Lovass was eighth in10:46.4.  This was an excellent effort from both of them.

In the under 16 girls’ race Tamsyn Lovass placed fourth in 10:23, just four seconds behind the girl who claimed the bronze medal. This was an excellent effort.  Well done, Tamsyn.

In the under 20 women’s race Chloe Metzeling finished 12th in 11:31.

The Open men’s and women’s races were combined and the under 18 and under 20 men also started at the same time.  Division 1 and 2 runners (men and women) were afforded a priority start.  The gun was fired by Brendan Ferrari, and a huge field got underway.

The halfway point was in Lakeside drive close  to Albert Road on the return lap of the two out and back parts of the course. When the leaders reached the five kilometre mark, there was a leading pack of around nine runners.  Steve Kelly was marginally in the lead at this point.  Will Potter was holding sixth position.  The leading group recorded 15:04 to 15:05 as they passed through.  Other athletes prominent in this lead pack were Nick Wightman (Geelong), Nick Earl (Melb. Uni), Ryan Geard (Ess.), Josh Harris (Fra.) and Tim Norton (Ringwood). Ten to fifteen metres behind was a second pack of athletes, and there were four Box Hill athletes in or near this group, including Steve Dinneen, about 10th, Daniel Clark, perhaps 11th or 12th, James O’Connell 14th (15:11). Nick Baggott passed the 5 K mark in 15:24.  Peter Green was approximately 20th and Klarie McIntyre was around 21st, just ahead of Dion Finocchiaro, about 24th.  Others who were prominent were John Meagher,15:54, Michael Dowel, 16:33, Michael Vaughan, 16:46, Welday Mebrahtu, 16:56, and David Jimenez, recording a split of 16:58.  Courtenay Powell had opened up a very sizeable gap over Gemma Maini (Fra), with Karina Fyfe (GH) up in the field.  Julie Norney was running well and went through the halfway point 17:49. Grace Kalac also looked to running strongly, a little further back in the field recording a halfway time of 18:53.

By the time the leading runners reached the stadium, where they had about 250 metres to run, Nick Wightman was holding a lead of 10 metres of Mitch Brown, with Steve Kelly a further 20 metres behind in third place.  Steve was being shadowed by Nick Earl. Brown unleashed what could only be described as a withering finishing burst, with in twenty metres of unleashing this mighty sprint, he had caught and passed Wightman.  Wightman didn’t flinch and continued trying to cover all the way to the line, but Brown’s momentum was phenomenal.  Meanwhile, Earl momentarily closed the gap on Steve Kelly, who found extra which propelled him to the line to take yet another bronze medal.

Shortly after Will Potter raced into the stadium, with Josh Harris (Fra.) edging past him.  Will is having a brilliant season, and he raced to the line as fast as he possibly could, placing 8th, another really splendid effort.  The provisional results were inaccurate after fourth because the Ringwood runner, Tim Norton had a chip failure when crossing in 5th place.  There were at least five other athletes whose chip did not operate correctly on the finishing scanning device. Steve Dinneen was our next competitor to finish.  He was in tenth place.  James O’Connell emerged as our next finisher, sprinting flat out to defeat Zac Newman (Melb. Uni), a very accomplished athlete.  James has had a magnificent season to date, and is now an established member of the core of our Premier Division team. He has got himself so fit that we are now always on the lookout for a top 15 finish at each outing from him.  A short gap occurred before Klarie McIntyre reached the track and powered home strongly in 25th place. Dion Finocchiara was breathing right down Klarie’s neck in 26th place and missed catching him by a metre\ or so, with half a second or so separating them.

Almost immediately after these two finished, Daniel Clark came into the finish, 28th, followed by Peter Green, 29th and Nick Baggott, 30th. Michael Dowel was the next Box Hill athlete home in 49th place.  John Meagher was in 54th position, winning his age group title. David Jimenez, who is having a renaissance this season and running really well placed 74th.  Michael Vaughan was two places further back in 76th position. Welday Mebrahtu also made the top 100, placing 88th.

Just before John Meagher completed the course, Courtney Powell raced to the finish with a massive lead.  Courtnery ran a time that was of international quality, stopping the clock at 32:36.  This was an excellent performance.  Julie Norney also out did herself, placing 10th, and running a really fast time (35:58). This may well have been a PD for her. She had a massive win in her age group.  Grace Kalac placed 37th. Other Premier Division team members were June Petrie, 51st, and Meagan Harvey, who joined the club recently, 54th.

Box Hill had two representatives in the male under 18 race and three in the male under 20 race.  In the under 18 race, Alexander Ritchie ran well to place 9th in 35:22.  Lucan Pamminger recorded 37:29 in placing 20th. There were three Box Hill representatives in the under 20 event: Zac Hunter who ran well to claim 14th position in 33:57, Raymond Chan, 18th in 34:43 and Carlos Norman, 24th in 37:41.  It appears that Box Hill might have claimed the bronze medal in the teams’ race behind Western Suburbs, first, and Knox, second.

 

 

 

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 13

June 24, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 5 AT ALBERT PARK ON THIS SUNDAY

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the 10km road race (3km for women U14, U16, U18, U20 and men U14, U16). This event will be held on this Sunday morning, June 28. The 3km race will start at 8:30am and the 10km race for open men and women and U18 and U20 men will start at 9:00am.

Please arrive early and allow time for parking.

The Box Hill table will be located in the back straight stand inside Lakeside stadium.

Box Hill entries for Albert Park road race

8:30am 3km road race:

Murray Lovass

Connor Ogilvie

Chloe Metzeling

Zoe Schwerkolt

Tamsyn Lovass

Amy Rives

9:00am 10km road race:

Men Open and Overage

Steve Kelly

Steve Dinneen

Will Potter

Daniel Clark

Michael Dowel

Dion Finocchiaro

Klarie McIntyre

Peter Green

James O’Connell

Nick Baggott

John Meagher

Welday Mebrahtu

Michael Vaughan

David Jiminez

Andrew Hester

Trent Collins

Luke Crozier

Simon Watson

Tony Langelaan

Peter Stefanos

Chris O’Connor

Dino Crivelli

Graeme Olden

Jack Hill

Simon St. Hill

Andrew Tunne

Oscar Robinson

Men Under 20

Vaughan Smith

Zac Hunter

Raymond Chan

Jack Prendergast

Carlos Norman

Men Under 18

Alex Ritchie

Lucas Pamminger

Women Open and Overage

Julie Norney

Hayley Tomlinson

Grace Kalac

June Petrie

Amanda Harper

Pia Hunter

Liza Henshall

Amelia Savige

Kelly Ulf

Megan Sloane

Meagan Harvey

Nicole Smith

 

 

 

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO BHAC?

If you wish to make a tax deductible donation to the Barlow Foundation, money that can be used by the Club for capital works or for athlete support, go to the Box Hill Athletic Club website, click on the link to the Australian Sports Foundation website page which will allow you to donate to the Barlow Foundation online.

Or you can follow this link:  http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/about-the-club/tax-deductible-donations/barlow-foundation/ .

 

AV AWARDS NIGHT

Box Hill and Box Hill athletes picked up a number of awards at the Athletics Victoria Award Night held last week.

Congratulations to Courtney Powell who won the outstanding female athlete award for the XCR’14 season. Other award winners were Julie Norney who was the XCR’14 45+ champion, Molly Tilbrook who was the XCR’14 under 20 champion and Nikki Chapple who was the 2014 Victorian marathon champion. Box Hill also picked up the premiership pennants for the XCR’14 men’s premier division, men’s division 2, men under 20 and women over 40.

Congratulations also to Stephen Ellinghaus, who through his work with Box Hill and Ruyton, was given the Service to Coaching award for the outstanding achievements of his athletes.

 

ATHLETICS AUSTRALIA UNDER 19 TALENT SQUAD

Congratulations to Kathryn Brooks and Tayla-Paige Billington who are among the 11 Victorians named in the Athletics Australia Under 19 Talent Squad. It should also be noted that two of the other athletes in the squad, Ruyton athletes Phillipa Hajdasz and Sarah Billings, are coached by Box Hill coaches, Mark Stewart and Tony Marsh.

 

XCR’15 SEASON

Winter Calendar

June 28, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 5, Albert Park Road Race

July 11, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 6, Sandown Road Relays

August 1, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 7, Brimbank Park Cross Country

August 15, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 8, Ekiden Relay, Angelsea

August 29, Saturday, National Cross Country Championships, Melbourne

September 6, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 9, Burnley half-marathon

September 19, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 10, Tan Relays

 

 

BODYKNOTS STUDIO – SPECIAL OFFER!

Until June 30 only, a limited number of $30 per hour, session vouchers are available, maximum purchase of 3 vouchers per athlete to be used by December 31. Contact Tom for all the details.

Tom Chuang from Body Knots Studio is also still offering great discounts on massage and kinesio taping to Box Hill members. Call Tom on 0430 179 168 for more information.

 

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 12

June 16, 2015

 

XCR’15 ROUND 5 AT ALBERT PARK ON SUNDAY WEEK

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be the 10km road race (3km for women U14, U16, U18, U20 and men U14, U16). This event will be held on Sunday morning, June 28. The 3km race will start at 8:30am and the 10km race for open men and women and U18 and U20 men will start at 9:00am.

If you do not have a series ticket, you must enter online via the AV website.

 

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO BHAC?

If you wish to make a tax deductible donation to the Barlow Foundation, money that can be used by the Club for capital works or for athlete support, go to the Box Hill Athletic Club website, click on the link to the Australian Sports Foundation website page which will allow you to donate to the Barlow Foundation online.

Or you can follow this link:  http://www.boxhillathleticclub.org/about-the-club/tax-deductible-donations/barlow-foundation/ .

 

COURTNEY ON THE PODIUM AT LAUNCESTON 10

Congratulations to Courtney Powell and Julie Norney who performed brilliantly at the Launceston 10 in Tasmania on the weekend. This event, which also doubled as the Oceania road race championships, always attracts a strong field. Courtney finished 3rd in a time of 33:56 (behind Olympians Eloise Wellings and Jess Trengove). Julie finished 9th in 36:16

 

NEW POLE VAULT PIT – THANKS STEVE!

Thank you to Steve Hooker who has donated a state of the art pole vault landing pit. The pit has been delivered to the track and this generous gesture is greatly appreciated.

 

RYLA – ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARD
RYLA is a Rotary funded, week long Youth Leadership and Personal Development Seminar that offers an experience of a lifetime for participants aged 18-30. There is one fully funded position available, all you need to do is make yourself available from the 6-12th July. If you are interested in applying (applications have officially closed, so be quick) or would like to know more, please contact Steve Cain at cainie@hotmail.com or 0407 230 748.

 

ANOTHER WIN FOR BOX HILL MEN PREMIER DIVISION AT BUNDOORA

Box Hill had another successful day at the cross country championships at Bundoora Park on Saturday. Our men premier division team dominated with three runners in the top six finishers and six runners in the top twenty.

Rhys Jones (2nd), Steve Kelly (4th) and Will Potter (6th) were our top performers.

Our women’s team were not as successful with a number of our top runners missing. June Petrie was our best performer, finishing in 39th place overall but easily winning the 50-54 years age category.

Box Hill also had a number of runners competing in the U20 event and in the All Schools Championships.

Outstanding results included a gold medal winning performance by Molly McCarthy in the U14 event, 6th place by Tamsyn Lovass and 10th place by Amy Atkinson in the U15 race and 3rd place to Laura Powell in the U17s. In the U18 race Georgia Hansen was 3rd and Paris Powell 4th. Ben Cox finished 6th in the U20 All Schools event.

See below for Ian Sloane’s full report.

Results Men 12km cross country

Premier Division

  1. Rhys Jones             37:43
  2. Steve Kelly             38:16
  3. Will Potter               38:42
  4. Daniel Clark          39:57
  5. Michael Dowel       40:01
  6. James O’Connell   40:29

Division 2

  1. Nick Baggott         40:35
  2. Oscar Robinson     41:51
  3. Steve Dinneen      42:11
  4. John Meagher       42:20
  5. Klarie McIntyre      42:39
  6. Welday Mehbrahtu 44:04

Division 3

  1. David Jimenez      44:30
  2. Michael Vaughan  44:56

108.Andrew Hester     45:45

147.Trent Collins        47:12

168.Luke Crozier        48:03

Division 6

192.Peter Stefanos     49:26

215.Chris O’Connor    50:47

305.Dino Crivelli         55:52

333.Simon St Hill        60:14

385.Andrew Tunne     71:58

Results Women’s 8km cross country

Premier Division

  1. June Petrie            32:56
  2. Amanda Harper     35:28
  3. Liza Henshall         36:56

103.Pia Hunter           37:27

107.Talitha Crawford  37:51

Women Division 2

143.Megan Sloane      40:29

  1. Amelia Savige     41:49

161.Caitlin Harrison    42:41

172.Kelly Ulf               44:37

179.Nicole Smith        46:12

Men U20 8km cross country

  1. Ben Cox               27:54
  2. Zac Hunter           28:02
  3. Tom Selwood        28:23
  4. Raymond Chan     29:51
  5. Jack Prendergast  33:14
  6. Carlos Norman      34:15

All Schools Results

  1. Ben Cox                 27:54
  2. Vaughan Smith     30:20
  3. Jack Prendergast  33:14

Women U20 6km cross country

  1. Lucy Steele           25:12

All Schools Results

  1. Georgia Chester   25:24

Men U18 6km cross country

  1. Scott McKenzie     20:23
  2. Aidan McCormack 21:26
  3. Alex Ritchie          21:38

Men U17 6km cross country

  1. Lucas Pamminger 22:48

Women U18 4km cross country

  1. Georgia Hansen      14:04
  2. Paris Powell            14:41
  3. Holly Pedersen      16:09

Women U17 4km cross country

  1. Laura Powell           14:19
  2. Genevieve Wah    15:08
  3. Louise Ton            15:36
  4. Ally Rose Ogden   15:41
  5. Sophie Schwerkolt 16:29

Men U16 4km cross country

  1. Austin Hunter       13:42

Women U15 4km cross country

  1. Tamsyn Lovass       14:34
  2. Amy Atkinson       14:56
  3. Sophie Westcott   15:57
  4. Claire Boulter        18:46

Women U14 3km cross country

  1. Molly McCarthy       11:00

 

 

XCR’15 SEASON

Winter Calendar

June 13, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 4, Bundoora Cross Country Champs

June 28, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 5, Albert Park Road Race

July 11, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 6, Sandown Road Relays

August 1, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 7, Brimbank Park Cross Country

August 15, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 8, Ekiden Relay, Angelsea

August 29, Saturday, National Cross Country Championships, Melbourne

September 6, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 9, Burnley half-marathon

September 19, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 10, Tan Relays

 

Victorian Cross Country Championship races at Bundoora 13.June 2015

This event and the Sandown Relays are the most fiercely contested events on the AV Winter calendar.  This year we had an incredibly good day with blue skies, temperate and only a breeze, rather than the strong winds earlier in the week. The day is combined with the school cross country events which occurred earlier in the day.

The AV Races started with the Under 20 women’s race, where Box Hill had one entrant, Lucy Steele, who performed creditably to finish 18th in25:07 for the 6 kilometre course.

The Under 20 men’s 8 k race followed and Box Hill had five representatives. Zac Hunter ran a great race and finished full of running in 17th place (27:47). He seemed to accelerate in the second lap and passed others near him. Any time under 28 minutes on this testing course is a good effort.  In 20th place was Thomas Sellwood who ran brilliantly to finish 20th, recording 28:03.  Thomas had to run two divisions outside his correct age group because his school failed to enter any of their students. He should actually have been running in the Under 16 race, so this mighty effort was extremely impressive.  He clearly has a great future in our sport. Raymond Chan ran the two lap course which was a great deal further than the 800 metre races he has been performing so well in recently.  He finished 34th in 29:31.  Jack Prendergast was 41st (32:54) and Carlos Norman was 42nd (33:55).

The senior women’s race was the next event and Box Hill had ten competitors in the 8 kilometre event.  Gemma Maini (Frankston) secured her first Victorian title winning in the time of 28:55 from Karina Fyfe (Glenhuntly) in 29:00, with Sarah Waters (Geelong) third in 29:15.  June Petrie was our first athlete listed in the provisional results, finishing 39th (32:56), winning the gold medal in her age group.  June picked up 10 places in the second lap, a most impressive effort. Second across the line for Box Hill in 72nd place was Amanda Harper (35:28).  Amanda held 88th place midway through the first lap so she also came home with a wet sail. Liza Henshall, 95th recorded 36:55, followed by 103rd-placed Pia Hunter (37:27) and 109th-placed Talitha Crawford (37:51).  Others to compete were Megan Sloane who finished 143rd, Amelia Savige, 152nd, Caitlin Harrison, 161st, Kelly Ulf, 172nd and Nicole Smith, 179th.

Our senior men’s teams were very strong and we had 22 athletes finish the course, and four complete Box Hill teams finished, which was a very pleasing outcome. The race started uphill with a redesigned course that many athletes said they preferred over previous iterations of the course, which could be quite brutal.

There were 392 finishers, so it was a large field despatched by the starter at 2.30 p.m. Immediately after the start, a sea of grey surged to prominent positions and by the halfway point in the first lap, two Box Hill athletes were well clear of the rest of the field.  Rhys Jones, who has run a number of times for Box Hill previously, is based in South Australia and flew over to test his fitness against the best that Victoria could offer. Rhys took the lead within 500 metres of the start and opened up an eighty metre break in the first lap.  Will Potter also ran clear of the pursuing field to hold second position about thirty metres clear of the pursuing pack.  Steve Kelly held equal third position, running with Nick Wightman (Geelong), Doug Hamerlok (Frankston), Toby Rayner (Glenhuntly)and Nick Van Raaphorst (Ballarat).  Daniel Clark held 9th position, James O’Connell was in 14th position and Nick Baggott was 18th, just ahead of Michael Dowel, 20th. Steve Dinneen realised just before the start his timing chip was not secured to his shoe, as is required and, whilst he was attending to this, the starter had despatched the field, so he went off nearly 600 metres behind the field, not an ideal situation.  He also had the misfortune to have been ill over the last fortnight, curtailing his training completely, so today was not his day.

By the middle of the second lap, Rhys Jones had maintained his lead over all pursuers.  Ninety metres separated him from the rest of the field.  Toby Rayner and Nick Wightman had ranged up into second and third places with five centimetres separating them. Hamerlok was next, a miniscule distance in front of Steve Kelly.  Will Potter had paid a bit of a price for his early exuberance, but was running with excellent cadence not far behind, and best of all for the club, holding his form and not conceding ground to the athlete behind him. Legend Steve Moneghetti suddenly appeared out of nowhere, in 16th place, having overtaken James O’Connell, 17th, Daniel Clark, 18th, Nick Baggott, 21st and Michael Dowel, 22nd.  Oscar Robinson held 34th position, John Meagher, 37th place, with Klarie McIntyre in 41st position.  Steve Dinneen had made up incredible ground to have lifted to 54th place, just ahead of Welday Mebrahtu, 55th.  Michael Vaughan was 65th and Dave Jimenez was running powerfully in 85th place.

At the 9 k mark, Rhys Jones was still holding a substantial lead over Toby Rayner who had a marginal lead of 10 to 20 centimetres over Nick Wightman. Steve Kelly was in fourth position and running so well it appeared that he might breach the gap between the runners ahead of him, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.  Hamerlok was a little distance behind Steve, with Will Potter still displaying grit and determination in holding 6th place ahead of Nick van Raaphorst (Ballarat). It was then time for your correspondent to make his way back to the finish.

The final lap saw more action at the front of the field with Nick Wightman getting away from Toby Rayner, in pursuit of race leader, Rhys Jones.  Wightman put in a withering finishing burst and began to make significant ground on Rhys Jones.  Perhaps 600 metres from the finish he claimed first place, leaving Rhys in his wake.  Rhys held his form and did not allow Rayner to pass him.  Rayner won the bronze ahead of the fast finishing Steve Kelly, who crossed the line in 4th place (although claiming the bronze medal).  Steve had no intention of allowing Hamerlok to beat him in the concluding stages of the race.  Steve is surely reclaiming the great form he demonstrated in 2012 and 2013 and it seems reasonable to assume that before the end of the season he will improve his position on the dais. Not long after, Will Potter, who had run very courageously, crossed the finish in 6th position, another excellent effort.  Will is having his best ever season and is performing very consistently at each outing. Then we saw a procession of well-placed Box Hill athletes, starting with Daniel Clark, 16th, who had fought back tenaciously from the middle of the race, with Michael Dowel next across the line in 17th.  Michael ran a fine last lap, overtaking five athletes, thereby demonstrating he is on the rise. Shortly after, James O’Connell ran through the heavily taped finish structure in 20th position, in yet another impressive performance.  James has kept a very high standard after numerous breakthroughs in the summer. (The inflatable AV finish line had sprung a leak and the western side of the base was covered in gaffer tape to prevent it from complete collapse.)

Nick Baggott also ran particularly well to place 23rd and was unlucky not to make the Division 1 team.  Like James, he has had a marvellous Winter season to date and has become a fixture at the top end of the field this year, attaining heights that may have been thought of as improbable just a year or two ago.  It is worth noting that he would have been the highest scoring or one of the highest-scoring athletes in many of the other Division 1 teams, and he would have been a scoring member of the top team in every other Division 1 team. Oscar Robinson came 40th, mentioning he had not been feeling at the top of his form.  All his other 2015 races have demonstrated he would normally have placed at least 10 to fifteen places ahead of where he was on the day. Steve Dinneen picked up another 10 places in the third lap of Bundoora Park to cross in 44th position.  John Meagher was 48th and second in his age division, behind Steve Moneghetti, which was an excellent accomplishment.  Klarie McIntyre placed 53rd, Welday Mehbrahtu was 76th, David Jimenez ran through in 83rd position and Michael Vaughan also secured a top 100 position completing the course in 90th place.

Box Hill has unofficially won the Premier Division title in this race and we believe has claimed second place in Division 2 behind Athletics Essendon. Therefore this was a very good day for our men’s teams and cements us in first place at the head of Division 1 and in a very competitive place in Division 2, with six more races on the calendar.

Men’s Placings in the 12 k Victorian Cross Country Championship

  1. Nick Wightman           Geelong       37:32
  2. Rhys Jones                  Box Hill        37:43
  3. Toby Rayner                Glenhuntly  37:46
  4. Steve Kelly                  Box Hill        38:16
  5. Doug Hamerlok           Frankston    38:29
  6. Will Potter                             Box Hill        38:42
  7. Nick van Raaphorst     Ballarat        39:08
  8. Ryan Geard                 Essendon    39:19

16.Daniel Clark               Box Hill        39:57

17.Michael Dowel            Box Hill        40:01

  1. James O’Connell    Box Hill        40:29
  2.     Nick Baggott                   Box Hill        40:35
  3.     Oscar Robinson     Box Hill        41:51
  4.     Steve Dinneen      Box Hill        42:11
  5.     John Meagher       Box Hill        42:20
  6. Klarie McIntyre      Box Hill        42:39
  7. Welday Mehbrahtu Box Hill        44:04
  8. David Jimenez       Box Hill        44:30
  9. Michael Vaughan   Box Hill        44:56
  10. Andrew Hester       Box Hill        45:45
  11. Trent Collins           Box Hill        47:12
  12.   Luke Crozier                    Box Hill        48:03
  13. Peter Stefanos       Box Hill        49:26
  14. Chris O’Connor      Box Hill        50:47
  15. Dino Crivelli           Box Hill        55:52
  16. Simon St Hill                    Box Hill        60:14
  17. Andrew Tunne       Box Hill        71:58

 

Women’s Placings in the 8 k Victorian Cross Country Championship

  1. June Petrie           Box Hill        32:56
  2.     Amanda Harper     Box Hill        35:28
  3. Liza Henshall         Box Hill        36:56
  4. Pia Hunter             Box Hill        37:27
  5. Talitha Crawford    Box Hill        37:51
  6. Megan Sloane       Box Hill        40:29
  7. Caitlin Harrison      Box Hill        42:41
  8. Kelly Ulf                 Box Hill        44:37
  9. Nicole Smith          Box Hill        46:12

 

XCR15 – Round 4 – Bundoora Cross Country – 13 June 2015

June 15, 2015

Victorian Cross Country Championship races at Bundoora 13th June 2015

This event and the Sandown Relays are the most fiercely contested events on the AV Winter calendar.  This year we had an incredibly good day with blue skies, temperate and only a breeze, rather than the strong winds earlier in the week. The day is combined with the school cross country events which occurred earlier in the day.

The AV Races started with the Under 20 women’s race, where Box Hill had one entrant, Lucy Steele, who performed creditably to finish 18th in25:07 for the 6 kilometre course.

The Under 20 men’s 8 k race followed and Box Hill had five representatives. Zac Hunter ran a great race and finished full of running in 17th place (27:47). He seemed to accelerate in the second lap and passed others near him. Any time under 28 minutes on this testing course is a good effort.  In 20th place was Thomas Sellwood who ran brilliantly to finish 20th, recording 28:03.  Thomas had to run two divisions outside his correct age group because his school failed to enter any of their students. He should actually have been running in the Under 16 race, so this mighty effort was extremely impressive.  He clearly has a great future in our sport. Raymond Chan ran the two lap course which was a great deal further than the 800 metre races he has been performing so well in recently.  He finished 34th in 29:31.  Jack Prendergast was 41st (32:54) and Carlos Norman was 42nd (33:55).

The senior women’s race was the next event and Box Hill had ten competitors in the 8 kilometre event.  Gemma Maini (Frankston) secured her first Victorian title winning in the time of 28:55 from Karina Fyfe (Glenhuntly) in 29:00, with Sarah Waters (Geelong) third in 29:15.  June Petrie was our first athlete listed in the provisional results, finishing 39th (32:56), winning the gold medal in her age group.  June picked up 10 places in the second lap, a most impressive effort. Second across the line for Box Hill in 72nd place was Amanda Harper (35:28).  Amanda held 88th place midway through the first lap so she also came home with a wet sail. Liza Henshall, 95th recorded 36:55, followed by 103rd-placed Pia Hunter (37:27) and 109th-placed Talitha Crawford (37:51).  Others to compete were Megan Sloane who finished 143rd, Amelia Savige, 152nd, Caitlin Harrison, 161st, Kelly Ulf, 172nd and Nicole Smith, 179th.

Our senior men’s teams were very strong and we had 22 athletes finish the course, and four complete Box Hill teams finished, which was a very pleasing outcome. The race started uphill with a redesigned course that many athletes said they preferred over previous iterations of the course, which could be quite brutal.

There were 392 finishers, so it was a large field despatched by the starter at 2.30 p.m. Immediately after the start, a sea of grey surged to prominent positions and by the halfway point in the first lap, two Box Hill athletes were well clear of the rest of the field.  Rhys Jones, who has run a number of times for Box Hill previously, is based in South Australia and flew over to test his fitness against the best that Victoria could offer. Rhys took the lead within 500 metres of the start and opened up an eighty metre break in the first lap.  Will Potter also ran clear of the pursuing field to hold second position about thirty metres clear of the pursuing pack.  Steve Kelly held equal third position, running with Nick Wightman (Geelong), Doug Hamerlok (Frankston), Toby Rayner (Glenhuntly)and Nick Van Raaphorst (Ballarat).  Daniel Clark held 9th position, James O’Connell was in 14th position and Nick Baggott was 18th, just ahead of Michael Dowel, 20th. Steve Dinneen realised just before the start his timing chip was not secured to his shoe, as is required and, whilst he was attending to this, the starter had despatched the field, so he went off nearly 600 metres behind the field, not an ideal situation.  He also had the misfortune to have been ill over the last fortnight, curtailing his training completely, so today was not his day.

By the middle of the second lap, Rhys Jones had maintained his lead over all pursuers.  Ninety metres separated him from the rest of the field.  Toby Rayner and Nick Wightman had ranged up into second and third places with five centimetres separating them. Hamerlok was next, a miniscule distance in front of Steve Kelly.  Will Potter had paid a bit of a price for his early exuberance, but was running with excellent cadence not far behind, and best of all for the club, holding his form and not conceding ground to the athlete behind him. Legend Steve Moneghetti suddenly appeared out of nowhere, in 16th place, having overtaken James O’Connell, 17th, Daniel Clark, 18th, Nick Baggott, 21st and Michael Dowel, 22nd.  Oscar Robinson held 34th position, John Meagher, 37th place, with Klarie McIntyre in 41st position.  Steve Dinneen had made up incredible ground to have lifted to 54th place, just ahead of Welday Mebrahtu, 55th.  Michael Vaughan was 65th and Dave Jimenez was running powerfully in 85th place.

At the 9 k mark, Rhys Jones was still holding a substantial lead over Toby Rayner who had a marginal lead of 10 to 20 centimetres over Nick Wightman. Steve Kelly was in fourth position and running so well it appeared that he might breach the gap between the runners ahead of him, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.  Hamerlok was a little distance behind Steve, with Will Potter still displaying grit and determination in holding 6th place ahead of Nick van Raaphorst (Ballarat). It was then time for your correspondent to make his way back to the finish.

The final lap saw more action at the front of the field with Nick Wightman getting away from Toby Rayner, in pursuit of race leader, Rhys Jones.  Wightman put in a withering finishing burst and began to make significant ground on Rhys Jones.  Perhaps 600 metres from the finish he claimed first place, leaving Rhys in his wake.  Rhys held his form and did not allow Rayner to pass him.  Rayner won the bronze ahead of the fast finishing Steve Kelly, who crossed the line in 4th place (although claiming the bronze medal).  Steve had no intention of allowing Hamerlok to beat him in the concluding stages of the race.  Steve is surely reclaiming the great form he demonstrated in 2012 and 2013 and it seems reasonable to assume that before the end of the season he will improve his position on the dais. Not long after, Will Potter, who had run very courageously, crossed the finish in 6th position, another excellent effort.  Will is having his best ever season and is performing very consistently at each outing. Then we saw a procession of well-placed Box Hill athletes, starting with Daniel Clark, 16th, who had fought back tenaciously from the middle of the race, with Michael Dowel next across the line in 17th.  Michael ran a fine last lap, overtaking five athletes, thereby demonstrating he is on the rise. Shortly after, James O’Connell ran through the heavily taped finish structure in 20th position, in yet another impressive performance.  James has kept a very high standard after numerous breakthroughs in the summer. (The inflatable AV finish line had sprung a leak and the western side of the base was covered in gaffer tape to prevent it from complete collapse.)

Nick Baggott also ran particularly well to place 23rd and was unlucky not to make the Division 1 team.  Like James, he has had a marvellous Winter season to date and has become a fixture at the top end of the field this year, attaining heights that may have been thought of as improbable just a year or two ago.  It is worth noting that he would have been the highest scoring or one of the highest-scoring athletes in many of the other Division 1 teams, and he would have been a scoring member of the top team in every other Division 1 team. Oscar Robinson came 40th, mentioning he had not been feeling at the top of his form.  All his other 2015 races have demonstrated he would normally have placed at least 10 to fifteen places ahead of where he was on the day. Steve Dinneen picked up another 10 places in the third lap of Bundoora Park to cross in 44th position.  John Meagher was 48th and second in his age division, behind Steve Moneghetti, which was an excellent accomplishment.  Klarie McIntyre placed 53rd, Welday Mehbrahtu was 76th, David Jimenez ran through in 83rd position and Michael Vaughan also secured a top 100 position completing the course in 90th place.

Box Hill has unofficially won the Premier Division title in this race and we believe has claimed second place in Division 2 behind Athletics Essendon. Therefore this was a very good day for our men’s teams and cements us in first place at the head of Division 1 and in a very competitive place in Division 2, with six more races on the calendar.

Men’s Placings in the 12 k Victorian Cross Country Championship

  1. Nick Wightman Geelong                         37:32
  2. Rhys Jones Box Hill                        37:43
  3. Toby Rayner Glenhuntly                    37:46
  4. Steve Kelly Box Hill                        38:16
  5. Doug Hamerlok Frankston                      38:29
  6. Will Potter Box Hill                        38:42
  7. Nick van Raaphorst Ballarat                          39:08
  8. Ryan Geard Essendon                       39:19
  9. Daniel Clark Box Hill                        39:57
  10. Michael Dowel Box Hill                        40:01
  11. James O’Connell Box Hill                        40:29
  12. Nick Baggott Box Hill 40:35
  13. Oscar Robinson Box Hill 41:51
  14. Steve Dinneen Box Hill 42:11
  15. John Meagher Box Hill 42:20
  16. Klarie McIntyre Box Hill                        42:39
  17. Welday Mehbrahtu Box Hill                        44:04
  18. David Jimenez Box Hill                        44:30
  19. Michael Vaughan Box Hill                        44:56
  20. Andrew Hester Box Hill  45:45
  21. Trent Collins Box Hill  47:12
  22. Luke Crozier Box Hill 48:03
  23. Peter Stefanos Box Hill  49:26
  24. Chris O’Connor Box Hill  50:47
  25. Dino Crivelli Box Hill  55:52
  26. Simon St Hill Box Hill  60:14
  27. Andrew Tunne Box Hill  71:58

 

Women’s Placings in the 8 k Victorian Cross Country Championship

  1. June Petrie Box Hill                        32:56
  2. Amanda Harper Box Hill 35:28
  3. Liza Henshall Box Hill                        36:56
  4. Pia Hunter Box Hill  37:27
  5. Talitha Crawford Box Hill  37:51
  6. Megan Sloane Box Hill  40:29
  7. Caitlin Harrison Box Hill  42:41
  8. Kelly Ulf Box Hill  44:37
  9. Nicole Smith Box Hill  46:12

2015 Winter Bulletin No. 11

June 10, 2015

XCR’15 ROUND 4 AT BUNDOORA ON THIS SATURDAY

The next round of the XCR’15 season will be held at Bundoora Park, on this Saturday, June 13.

This event also incorporates the Victorian All Schools Championships and will be the selection trial for the national cross country championships to be held in Melbourne in August.

Box Hill must provide three officials for the morning session at Bundoora, please let us know as soon as possible if you can help.

 

Box Hill Entries:

Men Open and Overage

Nick Baggott

Daniel Clark

Trent Collins

Dino Crivelli

Luke Crozier

Steve Dinneen

Michael Dowel

Peter Green

Andrew Hester

Jack Hill

David Jiminez

Rhys Jones

Steve Kelly

Tony Langelaan

Klarie McIntyre

John Meagher

Welday Mebrahtu

James O’Connell

Chris O’Connor

Graeme Olden

Will Potter

Oscar Robinson

Simon St. Hill

Peter Stefanos

Andrew Tunne

Michael Vaughan

Simon Watson

Men Under 20

Raymond Chan

Zac Hunter

Carlos Norman

Jack Prendergast

Tom Sellwood

Women Open and Overage

Grace Brown

Talitha Crawford

Amanda Harper

Caitlin Harrison

Meagan Harvey

Liza Henshall

Pia Hunter

Julie Norney

June Petrie

Megan Sloane

Nicole Smith

Hayley Tomlinson

Kelly Ulf

Women Under 20

Amelia Savige

Lucy Steele

 

CAN YOU HELP?

We need three volunteers to help at the Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championships at Bundoora Park on Saturday morning from 9am. If you can help, please let us know as soon as possible.

 

XCR’15 SEASON

Winter Calendar

June 13, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 4, Bundoora Cross Country Champs

June 28, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 5, Albert Park Road Race

August 1, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 7, Brimbank Park Cross Country

August 15, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 8, Ekiden Relay, Angelsea

August 29, Saturday, National Cross Country Championships, Melbourne

September 6, Sunday, XCR’15 Round 9, Burnley half-marathon

September 19, Saturday, XCR’15 Round 10, Tan Relays