La Trobe University was the setting for this year’s 15 K road championship associated with the underage 5 K road races. Conditions were fine with temperatures reaching an uncomfortable level by the latter stages of the senior race.
The 5000 m underage races commenced at 9.30 and Box Hill was well represented in the Under 20 Men’s division, with a number of other athletes in other age divisions, men’s and women’s races. The race had a furious beginning and by the time the field had settled, Box Hill was extremely well represented at the front end of the field with three representatives in the first five, Matt Coloe, Steve Kelly and Chris Hamer, and Navin Arunasalam a little further back with Alex Dioretes, just behind him at the bottom of College Drive before they ran onto the Ring Road. The finishing order was almost identical to the positions that they held at this of the race. Unfortunately for Matt and Steve, both of whom had a little juice left in the tank, the finish was not as it had been marked on the course map, so although there was loud advice offered from bystanders about the closeness of the line, Matt and Steve were caught out by a finishing line that could have been much improved. Nevertheless, this was a really tremendous finish with Matt second, Steve third and Chris fourth, all within four or so seconds of the winner. Navin Arunasalam finished 6th in the under 20 event, a minute further back and 22 seconds later Alex Dioretes placed 9th.
This was an excellent result and the team clearly won the teams’ race. It has been some time since we have had such a strong result at the front of the field. Congratulations to all the Under 20 men’s team members.
Hayley Tomlinson placed second in the Under 20 5 K with Liz Dobson in 11th place. Harriet Hodgkinson was 7th in the under 18s while Cameron Nagle was 19th in the men’s under 18 event. Michael Dowel ran well to place 4th in the under 16 5k.
The senior race commenced at 10.00. There was a good-sized field of athletes. Early leaders were Magnus Michelsson, Tyler Coady, Daniel Clarke and several others. John Meagher held seventh place. Dale Bickham was 12th, Andrew White 31st, Paul Boxshall, 38th and David Jimenez was in 46th position. There were six other male Box Hill athletes behind them and six female athletes representing Box Hill. Other male athletes included Chris O’Connor, John Vaitkunas, Graeme Olden, Andrew Robinson, Adrian Vincent, Scott Boxshall and David Ayers. Joc Keage was the first of our female representatives, followed by Amanda Harper, Talitha Crawford, Catherine Pease, Megan Sloane and Priscilla Barrington. The positions in the leading bunch were the same through the early part of the second lap, although Daniel Clarke fell back from the two leaders. John Meagher drifted back to 14th and the other Box Hill athletes looked like they were picking up athletes in front of them. David Jimenez was holding about 47th place completing the team.
The third lap was much harder because the temperature continued to rise and it was evident that a number of runners were not enjoying the warm conditions. Magnus Michelsson stretched the lead over Tyler Coady and Alan Failla and Simon Field moved through to be equal third. Two Sandringham athletes claimed fifth and seventh places. Dave Eadie (Glenhuntly) held sixth place and was finishing strongly. Daniel Clarke drifted back through the field after having a bad patch to 19th position with John Meagher not far behind in 21st place. There were four GlenHuntly and Doncaster athletes in the first twenty, but Glenhuntly had an advantage in the relative position of their fifth and sixth athletes’ relative positions. Geelong and Box Hill were vying for third place and it appeared that we had the upper hand. Dale Bickham held 23rd position, Andrew White, 31st, Paul Boxshall, 41st and David Jimenez, 45th positions.
Joc Keage was the best placed of our female athletes, followed in by Amanda Harper. Two new members, Talitha Crawford and Catherine Pease, made up the Division 1 female team.
By and large, positions didn’t vary much from the early part of the third lap to the finish. Magnus Michelsson won the race from Tyler Coady, with Alan Failla finishing third. Several of our runners surrendered a few places in the last lap, but it made no material difference to the team placings.
Our Division three team will have performed well in its division. The Women’s Division 1 team will have finished midfield.
Thanks to George Davies, Doug Bourne, Julie Milner, Gary Dowel, Steve Hodgkinson, David Boyd and Peter Nagle for officiating on the course. Your help is much appreciated.
Men’s Open 15 km
1. Magnus Michelsson (Collingwood) 47:54 2. Tyler Coady (Glenhuntly) 48:22 3. Alan Failla (Doncaster) 48:43 4. Simon Field (Doncaster) 48:46 5. David Eadie (Glenhuntly) 48:48 18. Daniel Clarke 50:32 21. John Meagher 50:52 24. Dale Bickham 51:08 38. Paul Boxshall 52:48 39. Andrew White 52:51 44. David Jimenez 53:18 82. Chris O'Connor 56:05 92. John Vaitkunas 56:39 95. Graeme Olden 56:56 127. Andrew Robinson 58:39 129. Adrian Vincent 58:52 210. Scott Boxshall 64:17 247. David Ayers 67:58 Division 1 Teams 1. Glenhuntly 2. Doncaster 3. Box Hill
Under 20 Men’s 5 km
1. Ben Crowther (Knox) 15:14 2. Matt Coloe 15:15 3. Steve Kelly 15:17 4. Chris Hamer 15:18 6. Navin Arunasalam 16:21 9. Alex Dioretes 16:47
Under 18 Men’s 5 km
19. Cameron Nagle 21:50
Under 16 Men’s 5km
4. Michael Dowell 17:21
Women’s Open 15 km
1. Sarah Lofts (Knox) 54:14 2. Emily Bell (Knox) 54:53 3. Lisa Dick (Ringwood) 56:09 25. Joc Keage 65:20 34. Amanda Harper 67:37 45. Talitha Crawford 69:27 48. Catherine Pease 70:50 52. Megan Sloane 71:11 67. Priscilla Barrington 73:57
Under 20 Women’s 5 km
2. Hayley Tomlinson 19:01 11. Liz Dobson 22:01
Under 18 Women’s 5 km
7. Harriet Hodgkinson 20:12
