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XCR Round 7 – Lake Wendouree

August 4, 2018

By Ian Sloane

Ballarat is not the preferred location on the running calendar in the middle of winter.  The expectation is that it will either be raining, freezing, windy or all three.  One year, a Ballarat race at Victoria Park was held with a backdrop of falling snow. These anticipated conditions, and the distance from Melbourne were no doubt factors influencing the low number of starters, both in junior and senior races.  There were only 146 finishers in the open women’s race and 337 finishers in the open men’s race.

Clubs trying to erect shelter for their runners were handicapped by the local Council prohibiting the use of pegs to secure tarpaulins and shade structures, meaning that if the usual gusty winds eventuated, the shelters would be blown over or blown away.  The reasons for this condition imposed by the Council were not explained to clubs, and many opted not to erect their club tent, so runners huddled under any available tree. Athletics Victoria were required to comply with this condition outlined by the local authority.

Once our tent had been erected, we awaited the arrival of our athletes hoping that we would be able to field at least three senior men’s teams and one senior women’s team, which was unfortunately not the eventual outcome.

The race started and finished in a different position this year, and although piercingly cold, the wind was muted at the start, as starter, Gayle Anderson, sent the field on its way.  The race consists of an initial out and back loop, followed by two complete laps of Lake Wendouree.  Two athletes opened up an astonishing gap after the first 3000 m.  Harry Summers, Box Hill, set off at a tremendous pace and led the race, with Collis Birmingham in very close attendance.  When they had doubled back on the opening section, they had an extensive lead, described above, over the second pack of around 10 or 11 seconds. The second pack comprised around twelve runners, Andre Waring, 5^th or 6^th, James O’Connell, running 9^th or 10^th, Steve Dinneen, 10^th or 11^th, and other top line athletes including Andy Buchanan (Bendigo), Brady Threlfall (Bendigo), Liam Adams (Essendon) and former Box Hill athlete, Anthony Aloisio (Richmond).

About 60 metres behind this second pack Will Potter and Matt O’Donnell were running side by side.  Alexander Ritchie was only a little way further back and was putting in a good performance.  Also running really well was Josh de Stefanis clearly in the top sixty.

When the leaders appeared in the distance to complete the first of two laps of the lake, Birmingham had eased away from Harry Summers and held a seven second lead, with Harry maintaining excellent cadence and looking smooth as he pursued the Ballarat runner.   Well over forty seconds later, the remnants of the second pack arrived with Threlfall, Buchanan, Adams and Aloisio prominent. Andre Waring was in 12^th position ahead of Steve Dinneen.  James O’Connell was running his best race in a very long time and held 19^th position.  Twenty-two seconds behind James were Will Potter and Matt O’Donnell still running side by side.  Alexander Ritchie was 64 seconds behind Will and Matt, perhaps holding 50^th position.  Josh de Stefanis was a further 29 seconds behind Alex.  Other Box Hill athletes to cross this point whose times were recorded were Michael Vaughan (32:21), Garth Calder (32:39), Michael Petridis (34:03), Russell Clowes (34:07), Julie Norney (34:08?) Chris O’Connor (34:13) and Peter Stefanos (34:14).

The team place dynamics were extremely tight.  There were five SSH athletes in the first 35, Western Athletics had four in the top 30, Melbourne University also had four in the top 30, and Box Hill had five in the top 30.  It looked like Box Hill was holding a narrow advantage over the other clubs, but it was tight, as it has been every winter race.

At the conclusion of the second lap of Lake Wendouree, Collis Birmingham ran over a relatively easy winner in the smart time of 45:41.  Harry Summers (46:28) maintained his tempo to win the silver medal with Brady Threlfall (Bendigo) claiming the bronze medal (47:01), a result which was a surprise leading in five runners who finished in close succession.  Anthony Aloisio (47:05) was fourth, Andree Waring was fifth (47:06), Andy Buchanan (47:08) was sixth and Liam Adams (47:08) was seventh. Andre picked up seven places in the final lap, a notable effort.

Will Potter also kept passing athletes in the concluding stage of the race and finished 14^th.  Steve Dinneen had been ill during the week and he displayed gritty determination to record 17^th place, whilst James O’Connell ran an excellent race to place 21^st, definitely his best effort for the whole season and reminding onlookers of his true ability.  Matt O’Donnell found the 15 k distance a little longer than he would have liked.  However, his determination to finish enabled our division 1 team to win the teams’ race., from Melbourne University, Western Athletics, with SSH fourth.  We believe we now have a margin of 9 points over SSH, with whom we were tied after the first four races

Alex Ritchie (46^th) and Josh de Stefanis (50^th) both had excellent outings and would have made the Premier Division team of every other club, except for Melbourne University. Michael Vaughan also made the top hundred, completing the course in 95^th position.

Our Division 2 team finished fourth and our 50+ team won the division with Garth Calder winning the gold medal for his age group.  Chris O’Connor and Peter Stefanos both finished 4^th in their respective age division.

Julie Norney performed exceptionally well, winning her age group category and placing 14^th.  She is a fantastic competitor, and there would appear to be further improvement in store in forthcoming races.  Belinda Dutton completed the course in 124^th position in a determined display of running.

No junior runners presented themselves to compete in the underage race.

Provisional team results

Division 1

1. Box Hill 101
2. Melbourne University 160
3. Western Athletics 190
4. SSH 247
5. Glen Huntly 253

Division 2

1. Ballarat 295
2. Richmond332
3. Frankston537
4. Box Hill 545

50+

1. Box Hill 17
2. Athletics Waverley 51
3. APS 57

Individual results

1. Collis BirminghamBallarat 45:41
2. Harry Summers Box Hill 46:28
3. Brady ThrelfallBendigo 47:01
4. Anthony AloisioRichmond 47:05
5. Andre Waring Box Hill 47:06
6. Andy BuchananBendigo 47:08
7. Liam AdamsEssendon 47:08
8. Dane VerweyFrankston 47:20
9. Will Potter Box Hill        48:10
10. Steve Dinneen Box Hill        48:27
11. James O’Connell Box Hill        48:47
12. Matt O’Donnell Box Hill        51:05
13. Alex Ritchie Box Hill        51:21
14. Josh de Stefanis Box Hill        51:52
15. Michael Vaughan Box Hill        55:28
16. Garth Calder Box Hill 56:29
17. Michael Petridis Box Hill 57:29
18. Russell Clowes Box Hill 57:36
19. Chris O’Connor Box Hill 58:14
20. Peter Stefanos Box Hill 58:53
21. Simon St Hill Box Hill 73:42
22. Andrew Tunne Box Hill 81:12

Women’s results

1. Sarah KleinFrankston 53:27
2. Kiah FryFrankston 53:33
3. Charlotte WilsonEssendon 53:57
4. Julie Norney Box Hill        58:22

124  Belinda Dutton                   Box Hill        81:17

Results

Men Premier Division (Team 1^st)

2 Harry Summers           46:28.7

5 Andre Waring              47:06.7

14 Will Potter                  48:10.5

17 Stephen Dinneen       48:27.9

21 James O’Connell        48:47.2

42 Matthew O’Donnell   51:05.1

Men Division 2 (Team 4^th)

46 Alex Ritchie               51:21.1

50 Josh De Stefanis        51:52.3

93 Michael Vaughan      55:28.0

111 Garth Calder            56:29.2               (1^st, 55-59 years)

122 Michael Petridis      57:29.2

123 Russell Clowes        57:36.5

Men Division 3

142 Chris O’Connor       58:14.1

146 Kennedy Chen         58:45.0

148 Peter Stefanos          58:53.4

303 Simon St Hill           73:42.5

325 Andrew Tunne        81:21.8

Men 50 +

3 Garth Calder                 56:29.2

6 Chris  O’Connor           58:14.1

8 Peter Stefanos              58:53.4

Women Premier Division

14. Julie Norney 58:22.5 (1^st, 45-49 years)
15. Belinda Dutton 81:17.6

XCR Round 6 – Albert Park

July 21, 2018

Full race report by Ian Sloane

On Sunday 22 July, the Victorian 10 kilometre road race was held at the Albert Park course selected by AV in very cool conditions.  It was very still, thirty minutes before the race, however, the wind started whistling across the waters of Albert Park Lake in time for the start of the race.

The junior race preceded the main event and Box Hill was represented in some of the age divisions and our younger athletes performed very creditably.

Carla Dreyer placed 18^th in the under 16 female 3000 m race in 11:43.  Stella Crawford-Rust was 19^th in the under 18 female 3000 m. race in 11:42.

In the junior male races, we had three competitors. Lachlan Doehmann ran superbly to take out the under 16 male race.  He ran strongly the whole way and ran the extremely fast time of 9:11, to win by just over as second in a tightly contested race.  This points to a very promising future in the sport.  Thomas Diamond, running in the same age group, also performed very creditably, to place 7^th in the very respectable time of 9:38.

Kennedy Chen contested the under 18 male 10,000 m, coming 17^th in 38:07.

Once the junior races were complete, the large field gathered at the start line awaiting the starter’s instructions.  Box Hill had a large male contingent and we finished five senior men’s teams (Division 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7) and three age divisions.  Athletics Victoria had offered some time incentives, with substantial prize money and the leaders looked like they wanted to have a crack at liberating this prize money.  There were 226 female finishers and 509 male finishers in the open division.

Very quickly after the runners were despatched, a group of around eight athletes broke clear from the field and it was quite apparent that the pace was on.

Eventual winner, Jack Rayner (WES), Nick Earl (MUNI), Matthew Clark (OXA), Charlie Park (MUNI), Collis Birmingham (EKA), Liam Adams (ESS) and Harry Summers (BH) were amongst the leading athletes at the five kilometre mark.  Harry had become slightly detached from the leaders but recovered his tempo to rejoin the group, which went through in 14:35.  There was a second larger pack which formed with about 24 athletes perhaps 25 to 30 seconds behind the leaders, and we had four athletes in this group: Andre Waring, Nick Baggott, Matt O’Donnell and Will Potter.  This group ran through the half way mark in around 15:13.  Just a little way behind these runners was Steve Dinneen who ran through the 5000 m mark in approximately 15:26.

We had a number of other runners who looked strong as well, up in the front end of the field.  Klarie McIntyre was running really strongly in about 35^th position, closely followed by James O’Connell, who is starting to get back in to very competitive form, and Michael Dowel was perhaps 10 to 15 seconds behind them, in around 40^th position. Barry Lynch was having a good hit-out too, There appeared to be only one other athlete in Barry’s age category ahead of him, which underscores how well he was going.  Josh de Stefanis and John Meagher were also in the top 100.  This promised well for strong team results in Division 1 and 2. However, in the top 20, there were two SSH athletes, three athletes from Melbourne University, two Western Athletics runners, two Geelong runners and three Box Hill Athletes.  This looked like it could be problematic for our team.

Julie Norney was the first placed Box Hill female athlete in the women’s race, where Sinead Diver had a commanding lead.  Rachel Johnson was also in the top hundred. We finished a female team placing 9^th in the teams’ race.

The second half of the race saw the leading athletes dropped off, one by one, with Nick Earl being the first casualty, as Rayner cranked up the pace in running a negative split for the second half.  Rayner established a winning break near the end and claimed a time bonus award of $2,500 for breaking 29:00, crossing the finishing line in 28:52.  This was the fastest time on this course that the writer can recall. Matt Clarke ran an excellent race and finished second 15 seconds behind.  Liam Adams finished strongly to secure the bronze medal, some six seconds behind Clarke.  Collis Birmingham placed fourth a further eight second in arrears.  Harry Summers, our leading athlete in the race, exerted himself in the concluding stages, but, although narrowing the gap, was unable to overhaul Birmingham and placed fifth, just three seconds behind his opponent. Harry’s time of 29:24 was very slick and demonstrates that he is getting faster with every race.  This was an excellent result in a high quality field, and he was amongst multiple Australian team representatives, including Australian Olympic representatives.

There were four teams in contention for the teams’ race: Melbourne University, SSH, Western Athletics and Box Hill. A quick calculation at the half way mark suggested it was very tight, but Box Hill appeared to have a slight advantage in having six athletes in the top 35.  Have a look at the finish results to see what I mean about how close it was (http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Round-6-All-Results.pdf).  I suggest that you be mindful that Ben Buckingham from SSH did not start and one of the SSH athletes pulled out mid-race, when he appeared to be in their scoring team.

Andre Waring had recovered from his illness and put in a very solid effort to finish 14^th in 30:34.  Immediately behind him, also performing exceptionally well was Matt O’Donnell, who recorded 30:43, also a fine performance.  These two runners underpinned the excellent team result and deserve congratulations for the way in which they put absolutely everything into their performance, leaving no question unasked.

Just outside the top 20 another two SSH runners finished 21^st and 22^nd, and Box Hill’s Will Potter, 23^rd (31:06) and Nick Baggott, 24^th(31:08) were next across the line.  They both held out the fourth Melbourne University runner by a small margin, a crucial part of the team’s performance in a fine outcome. The 27^th position was taken by a Western Aths athlete and the third Geelong athlete placed 28^th.  Next over the line, and the final scoring Box Hill team member was the almost ageless Steve Dinneen, who placed 29^th in a very smart time of 31:21.  When the arithmetic was completed, Box Hill had won the race provisionally by a narrow margin of 13 points from Melbourne University with SSH in third place.  This was an excellent result and takes us a little further ahead of SSH. A number of our other runners in other divisions and age categories also did extremely well.

Let’s start with Klarie McIntyre.  Klarie finished within sight of Steve Dinneen, in 33^rd place, a great result.  He would have made the Division 1 team of every other club.  He is destined to continue to improve.  His time of 31:31 was his fastest ever in a road 10 k event.  He should be extremely proud of his effort on this day.

James O’Connell also showed substantial improvement to get back towards where he should be, in placing 38^th, running 31:48.  This was a very encouraging sign and he looks certain to maintain this upward trajectory. This performance would also have made any other club’s Division 1 team.

Michael Dowel also had a good outing, running confidently along the whole course, placing 51^st (32:18) which is definitely a step in the right direction.  If he can maintain his improvement, he will threaten for a position in the Division 1 team as well.  Barry Lynch, 60^th, was also a great performer.  He placed second in his age division, beaten only by Brett Colman (Geelong), crossing the finish line in 32:46.

Josh de Stefanis would also have been well satisfied with his race.  He placed 82^nd in recording the time of 33:41.  John Meagher made the top hundred too, finishing 97^th in the time of 34:07, winning his age group by a substantial margin in a noteworthy effort. The performance of these runners enabled Box Hill to win Division 2 provisionally. Our Division 3 team placed third and the Division team 5 was second. Our Division 7 team was 7^th. Box Hill won Division 1 from Melbourne University, with SSH in third place.

The 40 – 49 team was 7^th. Our 50-59 teams were 1^st and 4^th respectively. John Meagher’s outstanding result was noted above, as was Barry Lynch’s second place result, and Garth Calder had a cracker of a race, winning the gold medal in his age division and running the extraordinary time of 36:10.  Chris O’Connor came 4^th in his age category. Tony Langelaan was placed 7^th in his age category, showing that we had a number of top performers in the age category divisions.

Sinead Diver (SME) led the women’s race from start to finish winning in the time of 33:04, but missing the AV time bonus.  Whitney Sharp (SSH) was second in 33:58, with Kiah Fry (FRA) third in 34:25. Two Box Hill athletes made the top 100, being Julie Norney, 41^st in 38:36 and Rachel Johnson, 81^st in 41:51.

Open Men’s Provisional 10 k results

1. Jack RaynerWestern                   28:52
2. Matthew ClarkeOX                          29:01
3. Liam AdamsEssendon                29:13
4. Collis BirminghamEureka                    29:21
5. Harry Summers Box Hill                  29:24
6. Charlie Park Melb. Uni               29:30
7. Andre Waring Box Hill                  30:32
8. Matt O’Donnell Box Hill                  30:43
9. Will Potter Box Hill                  31:06
10. Nick Baggott Box Hill                  31:08
11. Steve Dinneen Box Hill                  31:21
12. Klarie McIntyre Box Hill                  31:31
13. James O’Connell Box Hill                  31:48
14. Michael Dowel Box Hill                  32:18
15. Barry Lynch Box Hill                  32:48 (2^nd 40- 44)
16. Josh de Stefanis Box Hill                  33:41
17. John Meagher Box Hill                  23:07 (1^st 50-54)
18. Michael Vaughan Box Hill 35:41
19. Aaron Shorter Box Hill 35:44
20. Garth Calder Box Hill 36:10 (1^st 55-59)
21. Alex Ritchie Box Hill 36:44
22. Michael Petridis Box Hill 36:23
23. Luke Crozier Box Hill 37:06

228 Tony Langelaan                 Box Hill                  37:28

233. Russell Clowes Box Hill 37:39
234. Chris O’Connor Box Hill 37:44
235. Peter Stefanos Box Hill 37:46
236. Stephen Ross Box Hill 41:50
237. David Dougan Box Hill 43:20
238. Andrew Tunne Box Hill 53:43

Women’s 10 k Provisional results

1. Sinead DiverSouth Melb.            33:02
2. Whitney SharpeSSH                         33:58
3. Kiah FryFrankston                34:25
4. Julie Norney Box Hill                  38:36
5. Rachel Johnson Box Hill                  41:51
6. Kristine Hopkins Box Hill                 48:29
7. Carolyn Fox Box Hill 50:26
8. Belinda Dutton Box Hill 56:15

Under 16 female 3000 m

18. Carla Dreyer Box Hill 11:43

Under 16 Male 3000 m.

1. Lachlan Doehmann Box Hill                  9:11
2. Thomas Diamond Box Hill                  9:38

Under 18 female 3000 m.

19. Stella Crawford-Rust Box Hill 11:42

Under 18 male 10,000 m.

17. Kennedy Chen Box Hill 38:07

Open Men’s Premier Division

1. Box Hill 110
2. Melbourne University123
3. SSH143

Division 2

1. Box Hill 360
2. Ballarat362
3. Melbourne University451

Division 3

6. Box Hill

Division 5

1. Melbourne University757
2. Box Hill 828
3. APS861

Division 7

4. Box Hill

40-49 age category

8. Box Hill

50-59

1. Box Hill 15
2. Waverley 27
3. APS 56

Women’s Provisional team results

Division 1

9. Box Hill

40 – 49

4. Box Hill

XCR Round 5 – Sandown relays

July 7, 2018

By Ian Sloane

On Saturday 7 July, the annual Sandown Relay meeting was held.  In a surprising set of circumstances, Athletics Victoria considered cancelling the event on the basis of a weather forecast that did not eventuate. However, for the first time ever, the distance of each leg was cut from the normal two lap circuit to one lap.  There were very few team managers and athletes at the venue who could either see the sense or accept the reason for this change.  Weather conditions were no different to many years; there was little rain, the wind gusts, although cold, were not as extreme as in many previous iterations of this relay race and the sun shone for most of the afternoon.

Box Hill has been having some real tussles with St Stephen’s Harriers (SSH), Western Athletics and Melbourne University this season and until this race we were dead level on top of the Men’s Premier Division with SSH on 40 points with two wins and two second places each, with Western Athletics a further 10 points behind, third.

After some minor adjustments to the team’s running order, Andre Waring set off as our first runner.  He struck a number of runners in very good form, as indeed he has been this year as well.  Jack Rayner (Western) crossed the changeover point leading the field, recording the fastest time of the day in 8:30, followed by Ben Buckingham (SSH) in 8:45, with Nick Earl (Melbourne University) recording 8:47.   Andre was just marginally behind these athletes in recording the smart time of 8:53, holding fourth position.  Glen Huntly were fifth, with Essendon sixth.

Nick Baggott was the next Box Hill athlete in the Premier division, running the second leg.  Melbourne University took the lead in this leg, thanks to an 8:45 leg from Cassidy Shaw and Western Aths and SSH edged a little further ahead of our team, but, importantly, Nick retained fourth position in the teams’ race, within striking distance

Our third runner was Will Potter.  When he took over we were 43 seconds down on the leaders, and 25 seconds down on third.  Will did the job very competently, taking time out of SSH, second, and Western Athletics, third, so Box Hill were two seconds behind third (Western Aths) and five seconds down on second (SSH).  Charlie Park (M. Uni) ran slightly faster than Will, and University remained in the lead, but other team managers noted that University’s better runners, apart from Frankie Conway, had all completed their legs.  This appeared to suggest that any of the leading four teams could win the race.

Then it was the turn of Steve Dinneen in a key leg.  Steve passed Western’s Matthew Tonge during this leg and took time out of both University and SSH teams.  He ran the fastest leg 4 time in Premier Division.  When he handed over to Harry Summers, Box Hill was 30 seconds behind the leaders, Melbourne University, and one second down on SSH, with Western Aths a further 23 seconds adrift of our team.

Harry set off looking in scintillating form and he finished the same way as he had commenced. He passed the runners from University and SSH to hold a two second advantage over SSH, second and a 14 second lead over University, third, putting us in front and giving us a real chance of victory.  Western Aths were 50 seconds behind third, but with Cody Shanahan, one of their star runners, still to come.

Matt O’Donnell was our final runner.  Matt has been in great form this year and performed brilliantly at the Bundoora 10 k Championship race three weeks earlier in placing 12^th. He raced off, looking like he was very determined to anchor the team to victory and that’s exactly what happened.  He ran away from second placed SSH’s Jamie Wagstaff and increased the lead to seven or eight seconds.  Melbourne University held onto third position, despite Shanahan finishing with a sub-nine minute leg to bring Western Aths home in fourth position.  Matt and all the other team members have every reason to be delighted with their efforts and it was no mean feat to have such a barnstorming finish to with this relay championship.  There was much support for our runners on the course, especially in the last lap as Matt’s team mates urged him to do his best, and he delivered the goods.

Our Division 2 team performed very creditably in placing third, with sub 10 minute legs from James O’Connell, Alexander Ritchie, John Dutton and Michael Dowel.  Michael, in particular did a great job, running our fastest Division 2 time and bringing the team from fifth to third, a notable effort. Russell Clowes and Michael Vaughan also ran solidly.

We didn’t finish a Division 3 team with many of our competitors unavailable for various reasons.

Kennedy Chen, Jonathon Hall and Carlos Norman were our three runners Kennedy ran 11:17, Jonathan 11:27 and Carlos 12:04.

We had some excellent age group results as well.  Our Under 20 team won the gold medal with each athlete running extremely well.  Tom Sellwood ran 9:40, Sam Rattray ran 9:41 and Scott McKenzie finished it off with an excellent fast 9:24 leg.  They defeated St Kevins by 1 minute 26, a large margin.  Third-placed team was Western Athletics a further 23 seconds behind.  This was a very impressive victory.  Congratulations to all our Under 20 team members.

The Under 16 team also performed very creditably, placing second in their race and winning the silver medal. Knox recorded the time of 30:34, with Box Hill’s time being 31:12, with Douglas Buckeridge running an excellent leg in 9:55, Lachlan Doehmann recording 10:39 and Thomas Diamond completing his lap in 10:38.  The third-placed team was Ballarat which recorded 31:41.  This was also a fine result for the team. We had a second team in this age category and our boys in this team placed eighth, recording a total time of 34:14.  Izak Bibile recorded 10:49, and the times listed for Jasper Kay-Kneebone and Jordan Abbott were 11:34 and 10:51 respectively.

We had two teams in both the 40 + and 50+ age groups.  Our first team (consisting of Barry Lynch 9:45, Bob McHugh, 10:53 and Chris Bradford 10:41) claimed the silver medal, finishing just 19 seconds behind APS, with Glen Huntly third. The second team (made up of Stephen Ross, Simon Watson and Andrew Tunne) placed eighth.

The 50+ teams both won medals with Team 1 winning the gold medal (Garth Calder 11:04, John Meagher ran 10:11, and Chris O’Connor running 11:16).  Box Hill’s number 2 team won the Silver medal with its team members recording remarkably similar times (Peter Stefanos, 11:15, Andrew Egginton, 11:14 and Tony Langelaan anchoring the team with 11:12).

Our women in Premier Division placed eighth.  Julie Norney led off with the fastest Box Hill female time of the day with 11:19.  Katherine Foley recorded 11:33.  Marlie Campton completed her circuit in 11:41.  Rachel Johnson ran 12:29 and Kristine Hopkins ran 13:59.

Box Hill’s female Division 4 team (comprising Belinda Dutton 14:48, Carolyn Fox, 14:43 and Megan Sloane 14:48) placed eighth.

We also had an Under 16 female team and they all performed well to finish in fifth position.  Ruby Maher ran 11:48, Carla Dreyer recorded 12:49 and Breanna Croall ran 11:44.

Leading Male times

Jack Rayner WES 8:30

Andrew Buchanan BEN 8:40

Ben Buckingham SSH 8:45

Cassidy Shaw UNI 8:45

Nick Earl UNI 8:47

Charlie Park UNI 8:53

Andre Waring BH 8:53

Harry Summers 8:53

Cody Shanahan WES 8:54

Matthew Clarke OX 8:55

Brady Threlfall BEN 8:58

Will Potter BH 8:59

James Coleman SSH 9:00

Leading Female times

Ellie O’Kane GEE 10:19

Charlotte Wilson ESS 10:24

Natalie Rule KNA 10:25

Katie Gamble KNA 10:27

Lucinda Buckley KNA 10:29

Maxine Paholek SME 10:29

Georgia Griffith shines in Portland, Oregon

June 20, 2018

Georgia Griffith shines again in the 800m in Portland

Just as the State Cross Country Championships were drawing to a close on Saturday, Georgia Griffith was once again in action in the US, this time at the Stumptown Track Meet in Portland, Oregon.

In the 800m High Performance race, Georgia chose to sit on the pacemaker’s heels and be guided through the first lap at a hectic pace. The split of 58.36 was Georgia fastest ever first lap. As the pacemaker veered off the track, Georgia was left to her own devices and had to negotiate her way home with a substantial lead.

As she crossed the line, the clock ticked just past two minutes. Her time of 2.00.13 is the fastest time run by an Australian female over 800 metres in the last 10 years and this time is now the 7th fastest on the Australian All Time list. Georgia will head to Europe in early July to race in France and give the two-minute barrier another challenge.

XCR Round 4 – Bundoora

It was a big day of cross country races at Bundoora Park on Saturday, with about 1700 athletes taking part in the Athletics Victoria and Victorian All Schools Championships.

Box Hill had some great results, winning the men’s division 2, Under 20 and Over 50s team events and finishing 2nd in the men’s Premier Division.

Harry Summers finished 4^th in the men’s open 10km cross country championships and John Meagher, Pia Hunter and Garth Calder all won their age group divisions.

A big “thank you” to Simone Lovass, Marlie Campton and Rachel Johnson who acted as club helpers for this event.

Athletics Victoria Cross Country Championship Results

Men Premier Division (Team: 2^nd)

4 Harry Summers           30:24

9 Andre Waring              31:03

12 Matthew O’Donnell   31:26

18 William Potter           31:49

19 Stephen Dinneen       31:53

41 Alexander Ritchie     32:44

Men Division 2 (Team: 1^st)

62 John Dutton               33:44

69 James O’Connell        34:10

74 John Meagher            34:28    (1^st 50-54 year age group)

86 Joshua De Stefanis    34:55

100 Zac Hunter               35:24

124 Kynan Dawes          36:31

Men Division3 (Team: 6^th)

150 Garth Calder            37:20    (1^st 55-59 year age group)

172 Chris O’Connor       38:09    (2^nd 55-59 year age group)

180 Bob McHugh           38:28

187 Peter Stefanos          38:38

193 Tony Langelaan      38:50

Men Division 5 (Team: 8^th)

237 Simon Watson         40:32

271 Anthony Whitby     42:04

301 Stephen Ross           43:34

324 David Dougan         45:49

Men Division 7

352 Simon St. Hill          47:39

378 Andrew Tunne        53:20

Men 40+ (Team: 8^th)

16 Kynan Dawes            36:31

31 Bob McHugh             38:28

48 Simon Watson           40:32

Men 50+ No.1 (Team: 1^st)

1 John Meagher              34:28

7 Garth Calder                37:20

9 Chris O’Connor            38:09

Men 50+ No.2 (Team: 5^th)

11 Peter Stefanos            38:38

12 Tony Langelaan        38:50

52 David Dougan           45:49

Men Under 20 (Team: 1^st)

5 Thomas Sellwood        26:36.7

9 Scott McKenzie           27:01.7

12 Finnian Macken        27:34.7

Women Premier Division (Team: 7^th)

58 Pia Hunter                  42:12    (1^st 50-54 year age group)

62 Katherine Foley         42:41

87 Steph Kondogonis     45:10

97 Chloe Rosenberg       46:19

133 Caitlin Harrison       50:16

Women Division 4

139 Kerry Putt                51:06

149 Carolyn Fox             52:28

Women Over 40 (Team 6^th)

32 Caitlin Harrison         50:16

33 Kerry Putt                  51:07

37 Carolyn Fox                            52:28

Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championships

Many Box Hill athletes put in outstanding performances with special mention to Ashlee Treagus who won the girls U16 championship. Huge congratulations also to Thomas Diamond (U15), Mac Anderson (U16) and Sam Rattray (U20) who won silver medals.

Please let us know if we have missed any results.

Girls U14          3km 

25 Roxy Phipps                            12:05

Boys U14           3km      

15 Izak Bibile                               10:47

17 Jasper Kay-Kneebone            10:57

27 Jonathan Harper                      11:09

Girls U15          4km

13 Breanna Croall                        15:06

48 Aimee Traverso                      17:38

Boys U15           4km

2 Thomas Diamond                     12:46

10 Jordan Abbott                         13:33

13 Mostyn Drieberg                     13:40

Girls U16          4km 

1 Ashlee Treagus                          14:05

13 Ruby Maher                            15:20

16 Mia Pope                                 15:26

56 Eliza Klotz                               18:40

Boys U16           4km  

2 Mac Anderson                           12:24

4 Doug Buckeridge                      12:31

5 Jack Armstrong                         12:39

23 Jack McLean                           13:37

36 Murray Lovass                        14:12

Girls U17          4km

10 Hayley McGoldrick                14:56

30 Jordyn Oatley                          16:16

35 Stella Crawford-Rust              16:45

Boys U17           6km 

19 Josh Macken                            21:04

Girls U18          4km

9 Amy Atkinson                           14:46

22 Tea Wittey                               15:53

26 Tamsyn Lovass                       16:02  

Boys U18           6km  

10 Kieren Hesse                           19:37

23 Finn O’Donnell                       20:48

Women U20     6km 

19 Jess Hepworth                         26:32

Men U20           8km

2 Sam Rattray                               26:00

6 Tom Sellwood                            26:36

10 Finn Macken                           27:34

20 Jack Stummer                          29:43

XCR Round 3 – Cruden Farm

May 26, 2018

Andre Waring put in an outstanding performance to win the Bronze Medal in the open 12km event, ahead of Will Potter (5^th), Harry Summers (6^th), Nick Baggott (11^th), Steve Dinneen (13^th) and Matt O’Donnell (18^th) to lead our Premier Division team to another victory.

Box Hill also won the Division 2 and the Over 50 men’s division team events.

Scott McKenzie ran an outstanding race to win the men’s U20 6km event and Ashlee Treagus had a great performance, taking 3^rdplace in the women’s U16 6km race,

Results Open 12km cross country:

Men Premier Division (1^st place)

3 Andre Waring              37:10.4

5 Will Potter                    37:30.3

6 Harry Summers           37:37.1

11 Nicholas Baggott       38:07.7

13 Stephen Dinneen       38:23.9

18 Matthew O’Donnell   39:03.6

Men Division 2 (1^st place)

27 Michael Dowel          39:51.5

40 Alex Ritchie               40:44.3

54 John Meagher            41:45.9 (1^st 50-54 years)

74 Joshua De Stefanis    42:55.0

101 Chris Bradford        44:28.4

117 Zac Hunter                            45:22.7

Men Division 3 (5^th place)

126 Garth Calder            45:51.9 (2^nd 55-59 years)

129 Jackson Deane         45:57.9

144 Chris O’Connor       46:59.2 (3^rd 55-59 years)

165 Peter Stefanos          47:43.4

167 Bob McHugh           47:54.2

Men Division 5 (6^th place)

194 Tony Langelaan      48:56.1

249 Anthony Whitby     52:01.7

263 Stephen Ross           52:55.3

267 Jack Hill                   53:07.9

Men Division 7 (5^th place)

320 David Dougan         57:47.0

323 Simon St Hill           58:16.2

357 Andrew Tunne        66:31.4

366 Brett Smith              70:40.9

Men 40+ (7^th place)

13 Chris Bradford           44:28.4

31 Bob McHugh             47:54.2

52 Anthony Whitby       52:01.7

Men 50 + (1^st place and 5^th place)

1 John Meagher              41:45.9

7 Garth Calder                45:51.9

10 Chris O’Connor         46:59.2

12 Peter Stefanos            47:43.4

19 Tony Langelaan        48:56.1

56 David Dougan           57:47.0

Women Premier Division (7^th place)

17 Marlie Campton        49:05.5

39 Pia Hunter                  52:16.4 (1^st 50-54 years)

52 Katherine Foley         53:48.7

65 Rachel Johnson         55:56.8

124 Carolyn Fox             66:16.9

Women Division 4

140 Belinda Dutton        72:06.7

144 Eliza St Hill             74:40.4

Juniors

Under 14 women, 4km cross country

11 Roxy Phipps              17:45.9

Under 14 men, 4km cross country

8 Izak Bibile                    15:59.1

Under 16 women, 6km cross country

3 Ashlee Treagus            22:02.5

Under 16 men, 6km cross country

10 Thomas Diamond      21:16.8

Under 18 men, 8km cross country

23 Kennedy Chen           32:44.1

Under 20 men, 6km cross country

1 Scott McKenzie           18:07.1

XCR Round 2 – Myrniong

May 5, 2018

Will Potter was our first man across the line in 8^th place, closely followed by Andre Waring, Nick Baggott, Steve Dinneen and Matt O’Donnell, with James O’Connell returning to fitness and making up our Premier Division team.

Congratulations also to John Meagher (1^st, 50-54 years), Pia Hunter (2^nd, 50-54 years) and Chris O’Connor (2^nd, 55-59 years) who were place getters in their age divisions.

St Anne’s Winery, Myrniong, 8km Cross Country

Men Premier Division – Place: 1^st

8  William Potter            25:38.5

11 Andre Waring            26:03.7

12 Nicholas Baggott       26:05.8

13 Stephen Dinneen       26:07.8

17 Matthew O’Donnell   26:18.5

32 James O’Connell        26:52.2

Men Division 2 – Place: 1^st

44 Alex Ritchie               27:30.6

45 Klarie Mcintyre         27:32.5

68 Barry Lynch              28:33.3

79 Zac Hunter                 29:06.0

80 John Meagher            29:10.2

83 Joshua De Stefanis    29:23.7

Men Division 3 – Place: 4^th

111 Jackson Deane         30:31.2

124 Chris Bradford        30:57.7

156 Chris O’Connor       31:52.4

180 Garth Calder            32:30.3

199 Peter Stefanos          32:50.9

Men Division 5 – Place 7^th

217 Bob McHugh           33:23.3

238 Simon Watson         34:25.8

318 Simon St Hill           38:39.5

343 David Dougan         39:55.5

Men Divison 7

376 Andrew Tunne        44:23.3

Men 40+ – Place: 3^rd

4 Barry Lynch                 28:33.3

15 Chris Bradford           30:57.7

39 Bob McHugh             33:23.3

Men 50+ – Place: 1^st

1 John Meagher              29:10.2

10 Chris O’Connor         31:52.4

13 Garth Calder              32:30.3

Men 50+ (2) – Place: 11^th

17 Peter Stefanos            32:50.9

52 Simon St Hill             38:39.5

63 David Dougan           39:55.5

Women Premier Division – Place: 8^th

37 Steph Kondogonis     32:51.8

43 Marlie Campton        33:16.1

76 Pia Hunter                  35:32.0

98 Rachel Johnson         37:15.9

115 Chloe Rosenberg     38:24.2

Women Division 4 – Place: 6^th

125 Fiona Hansen           40:01.5

138 Kerry Putt                41:33.6

171 Belinda Dutton        48:02.5

Women 40+

14 Rachel Johnson         37:15.9

31 Kerry Putt                  41:33.6

Women 50 +

2 Pia Hunter 35:32.0

6 Fiona Hansen               40:01.5

Juniors

Men U20 4km Cross Country

12 Scott McKenzie         13:17.4

Women U16 3km Cross Country

20 Carla Dreyer              12:55.8

Men U14 2km Cross Country

8 Izak Bibile                    7:25.0

Women U14 2km Cross Country

14 Roxy Phipps               8:17.8

XCR Round 1 – Jells Park relays

April 21, 2018

In bright sunshine and warm conditions, Box Hill had 17 teams and over 60 competitors taking part in this event. Competition was fierce and Box Hill still came away with two gold, two silver and a bronze medal.

In the Premier Men’s Division, Will Potter, Nick Baggott, Harry Summers, Sam Dipnall, Steve Dinnee and Andre Waring combined to grab the silver medal, while our Women’s Premier Division team of Georgia Griffith, Steph Kondogonis, Marlie Campton, Amy Rives and Georgia Hansen finished a close 5^th.

Our Over 50 men’s team of Peter Stefanos, John Meagher and Chris O’Connor came away with a gold medal as did our women’s over 40 team of Pia Hunter, Julie Norney and Rachel Johnson.

The Under 20 men’s team of Finn Macken, Darcy Powne and Scott McKenzie, also put in a great performance, winning the silver medal, as did the Over 40 men’s team of Barry Lynch, Chris Bradford and Kynan Dawes who won a bronze medal.

A big welcome to our new members who competed for the club for the first time, Bob McHugh, Brett Smith, Marlie Campton, Eliza St. Hill, Belinda Dutton, Danica Dreyer and Maya Diamond and a welcome back to Harry Summers, Barry Lynch, Dino Crivelli and Julie Norney.

Also a huge thank you to John Rives, Simon Atkinson and Megan Sloane who helped as officials on Saturday and to all those who helped out with time keeping and other duties.

Jells Park Results

XCR season begins with 5km club handicap

April 14, 2018

The Box Hill winter season was launched with the annual club 5km handicap event, along the bike tracks of Gardiners Creek.
Sharron Meager beat the handicapper and the rest of the field as she improved her time of last year by more than two minutes. Behind Sharron, Katherine Foley, Belinda Dutton, Dalton Di Medio and Josh Macken all ran faster than expected to take out the next four places.
Despite the windy conditions, the back marker, Sam Dipnall, managed to run 15:35 to win the Frank Tutchener trophy for the fastest time of the day. Alex Ritchie (16:03), Zac Hunter (16:24), Finn Macken (17:00) and Thomas Diamond (17:40) were next in line.

Handicap Results

1 Sharon Meagher 28.02
2 Katherine Foley 28.49
3 Belinda Dutton 29.16
4 Dalton Di Medio 29.19
5 Josh Macken 29.22
6 Carla Dreyer 29.27
7 Russell Clowes 29.29
8 Dan Boulton 29.3
9 Finn Macken 29.3
10 Pia Hunter 29.34
11 Kieren Scarfe 29.45
12 Rachel Johnson 29.46
13 Danica Dreyer 29.52
14 Stephen Ross 29.56
15 Izak Bibile 29.58
16 Dino Crivelli 30.00
17 Thomas Diamond 30.00
18 Zac Hunter 30.04
19 Peter Stefanos 30.05
20 Kerry Putt 30.06
21 Andrew Hester 30.09
22 David Featherston 30.12
23 Kennedy Chen 30.12
24 Alex Ritchie 30.13
25 Anthony Whitby 30.14
26 Yvonne Chen 30.21
27 Sam Dipnall 30.25
28 Caitlin Harrison 30.30
29 Georgia Pearson 30.36
30 Chloe Rosenberg 30.43
31 Carlos Norman 31.03
32 Andre Di Medio 31.51
33 Eliza St. Hill 31.58
34 Liam Harris 32.32

Fastest Times

1 Sam Dipnall 15.35
2 Alex Ritchie 16.03
3 Zac Hunter 16.24
4 Finn Macken 17
5 Thomas Diamond 17.4
6 Josh Macken 17.52
7 Kieren Scarfe 18.05
8 Russell Clowes 18.09
9 Andrew Hester 18.4
10 Dino Crivelli 19
11 Peter Stefanos 19.05
12 Kennedy Chen 19.22
13 David Featherston 19.27
14 Izak Bibile 19.43
15 Anthony Whitby 19.44
16 Katherine Foley 20.19
17 Dalton Di Medio 20.19
18 Pia Hunter 20.19
19 Carlos Norman 20.33
20 Stephen Ross 20.36
21 Yvonne Chen 21.06
22 Georgia Pearson 21.06
23 Rachel Johnson 21.16
24 Carla Dreyer 21.27
25 Chloe Rosenberg 22.13
26 Liam Harris 23.32
27 Kerry Putt 23.36
28 Andre Di Medio 23.51
29 Caitlin Harrison 24.3
30 Eliza St. Hill 26.28
31 Belinda Dutton 26.46
32 Dan Boulton 27.3
33 Sharon Meagher 28.02
34 Danica Dreyer 29.22

Nana qualifies for World Junior Championships

April 10, 2018

Congratulations to Nana Owusu-Afriyie, who has been selected to compete in the World Junior Championships in Finland in July.

Nana will represent Australia as part of the 4x100m relay.

This is a great reward for Nana who had a terrific summer season, winning a silver medal and a bronze medal in the national under 20 200m and 100m events respectively.