WESTERN ATHLETICS Inc www.westernathletics.com.au JANUARY EDITION Club Newsletter RAY McCORMACK CHRISTMAS GIFT On December 17th Western Athletics held their annual Christmas Gift, with over 80 people in attendance we saw some great races, some fun outfits, enjoyed the food, raffles, laughter's and of course Santa. The 120m handicap gift consisted of a number of heats, with various athletes of all ages trying to win their heat to qualify for the final. We saw distance runners running sprints and vice versa. However the winner of the 2013 Ray McCormack Christmas Gift was Robert Weitsz with Steve Redmore a close second and Demi Utber third. The 100m invitation was won by Keegan Andrews. The 1000m is always a highlight with many athletes dressing up in the Christmas spirit and make there way around in the 1000m. This years race of consisted of 40 athletes including the distance runners, sprinters and even throwers. The Surprising winner for the 2013 Ray McCormack 1000m gift was Luke Hodgart second was Shihab Deen Mohamed and third was Demi Utber. The handicap for the 1000m is calculated at the end of the race, so the order is irrelevant but it was great to see Chris Downie come in first over the line in a time of 2:46.77. WESTERN ATHLETICS Inc JANUARY EDITION Christmas Gift 1000m Individual Results 1. Chris Downie - 2:46.77 21. Demi Utber – 3:27.78 2. Cody Shanahan - 2:50.41 22. Daniel Bunworth – 3:28.92 3. Allan Cook – 2:54.76 23. Josh – 3:29.16 4. Liam Cashin – 2:55.30 24. Peter Cashin – 3:30.48 5. Jayden Defina - 3:03.77 25. Thomas Rebesco – 3:39.37 6. Daniel Dunstone – 3:04.30 26. Adam Knowles – 3:40.11 7. Shihab Deen Mohamed – 3:04.92 27. Robert Weitsz – 3:41.72 8. Luke Hodgart – 3:05.46 28. Justine Muscat – 3:42.96 9. Nick Sampson – 3:05.8 29. Sharon Rankin – 3:43.74 10. Bailey Sharp – 3:10.67 30. Sue Rebesco – 3:47.02 11. Kirk Shanahan – 3:13.90 31. Phil Dunstone – 3:49.13 12. Christiaan Weitsz – 3:15.27 32. Bianca Rebesco – 3:55.84 13. Chris Camilleri – 3:15.83 33. Mechelle Lane – 3:57.36 14. Ayrton Redmore – 3:17.86 34. Mark Simmons – 4:01.27 15. Bailey Rankin – 3:20.85 35. Connor Macaulay – 4:05.13 16. Paul Shanahan – 3:21.42 36. Teagan Newman – 4:29.44 17. Brandon Muscat – 3:23.32 37. Bree Bunworth – 4:30.62 18. Claire Hodgart – 3:23.62 38. Loren Lane – 4:30.81 19. Georgia Muller – 3:25.49 39. Aimee Lane – 4:57.57 20. Mark Sharp – 3:26.72 40. Vana Evans – 4:57.67 WESTERN ATHLETICS Inc JANUARY EDITION Summer Summary With the Shield competition nearing the halfway mark, things are starting to heat up for our teams. Round 5 on 14th December saw lower numbers in our U14 and U16 teams due to the LA Vic State Relays on the same day. This resulted in the U16 men finishing 2nd for the first time this season. The U16 and U14 girls had lower than usual numbers and it showed in their team placing. Where our junior teams struggled, the 40+ teams soared. The 40+ men won for the first time this season mainly due to bigger numbers in the distance events. The 40+ ladies also won despite low numbers in their team. Many members competed in multiple events. Well done! Round 5 Ladder Men Div 1 3rd 3rd Men 40+ 1st 3rd Only 2 points behind 2nd placed Essendon Men U18 2nd 2nd Men U16 2nd 1st Ahead by 2 points Men U14 2nd 2nd 2 points behind Women Div 1 4th 3rd Women 40+ 1st 1st 2 points ahead Women U18 3rd 2nd 2 points ahead of 3rd Women U16 4th 3rd Women U14 5th 4th Following some consultation with the Women 16, the Summer Committee decided to move the Women U16 to the Women U18 team. Both teams were very low on numbers. By joining the two teams we can create a strong Women U18 team. This change comes into effect from Round 6 onwards. Athletes who competed in the Women U16 team will now need to re qualify for Shield Final. This means they will need to compete in a minimum of 4 of the remaining 7 rounds and compete in a variety of Program 1 events. Good luck to the new, strong Women U18 team who now stand a chance to finish on top of the ladder. In individual performances we continue to see some outstanding performances. Many junior athletes have obtained qualifying standards for the Australian Junior Championships in recent rounds. Well done to all those athletes! VICTORIAN COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 24-26 January 2014 in Ballarat. If you are looking for an additional opportunity to compete don’t forget to get your entry in by midnight on Tuesday, 14th January 2014. VICTORIAN MULTI CHAMPIONSHIPS (U14 AND u16) will be held in conjunction with the LA Vic State Multi Championships in Bendigo on 1st and 2nd of February. Entries are now open. VICTORIAN MILERS CLUB If AV throw on, some 3000m graded races on the Saturday 1st March of the Vic Open Championships at Lakeside, would you be interested in having a run?? The normal VMC entry fee of $5 would apply and there would be no qualification standards. If you are interested head to the VMC Facebook Page and express your interest by commenting or liking their post. WESTERN ATHLETICS Inc JANUARY EDITION Victorian All Schools The 2013 Victorian All Schools Track & Field Championships were held at Lakeside Stadium from 25- 27 Oct 13. These Championships are open to anyone from any school (primary or secondary), entrants do not need to be a member of an athletics club to participate, so everyone competes in their school sports uniform. This event attracts many athletes who do not regularly compete in athletics, but are very good at other sports such as football, so it tends to bring out some very good athletes that we don't usually see competing in regular athletics competitions. Western Athletics had many athletes competing who all achieved fantastic results, such as: Billie Arch U15 400m 1st 57.59; 200m 3rd 26.54; Long Jump 5th 5.08 Amador Bermejo U20 Discus 1st 35.68; Hammer 1st 29.89; Long Jump 2nd 5.36; 110mH 2nd 17.13; 100m 4th 12.01 Declan Best U15 Hammer 4th 33.18; Discus 5th 43.68; Javelin 6th 32.08; Shot Put 7th 11.97; 100mH 10th 18.70; Long Jump 11th 4.59; Triple Jump 14th 9.62; 100m 15th 13.29 Julia Bourke U16 Shot Put 1st 13.50 (Victorian Record!) John Camilleri U18 3k 9.43.25 Liam Cashin U17 2k Steeple 6th 6.54.07; 3k 12th 9.44.48 Jade Chamley U14 Hammer 1st 27.20; Shot Put 2nd 10.91 Matthew Chamley U18 Discus 2nd 36.92; Hammer 3rd 39.16 Jayden Defina U17 400m 9th 53.86 Daniel Dunstone U17 3k 7th 9.25.27 Claire Hodgart U18 2k Steeple 1st 8.04.14; 3k 5th 11.22.42 Lachlan Huell U16 3k 10th 10.16.82; 1500m 14th 4.39.93 Jeremy Kirkham U17 1500m 1st 4.04.97; 800m 2nd 1.58.54 Travis Knox U17 3k 13th 9.46.18 Jy Lambley U15 400m 9th 58.62; 200m 13th 25.73 Kyle Lambley U17 800m 8th 2.16.99; 1500m 13th 4.46.50 Lyndon Le U18 Pole Vault 5th Reinaldo Lobos-Caneleo U15 200mH 8th 31.69; 400m 11th 59.18 Conor Lynch U17 3k 15th 9.57.32 Connor Macaulay U16 Hammer 3rd 47.33; Discus 6th 39.25; Shot Put 6th 11.16 Daniel Masini U14 Pole Vault 4th 2.00 Nicholas Masini U15 Pole Vault 1st 2.60 Brittany McIntyre U18 Javelin 3rd 32.50 Bryce Mizzi U16 1500m 19th 5.23.62 Aliesha Newman U20 400mH 1st 71.36 Teagan Newman U16 Discus 1st 38.39; Hammer 1st 45.15; U16 Shot Put 2nd 11.91 WESTERN ATHLETICS Inc JANUARY EDITION Victorian All Schools Continued Matthew Schaumberg U16 3k 2nd 9.20.43; 1500m 10th 4.24.92 Cody Shanahan U16 3k 4th 9.24.48; 1500m 8th 4.21.59 Kirk Shanahan U15 1500m 11th 4.47.98; 3k 12th 10.16.26 Demi Utber U15 2k Steeple 3rd 8.20.89 Christiaan Weitsz U15 2k Steeple 2nd 6.55.27 Robert Weitsz U15 2k Steeple 6th 8.24 .85 Kale Wood U16 200m 6th 24.41; 100m 8th 11.93; Long Jump 12th 5.31 Australian All Schools From these results, the Victorian Team was selected to compete in the Australian All Schools Track & Field Championships in Townsville, Qld from 6-8th December 2013. To be eligible for selection, athletes had to finish 1st or 2nd in U14, U16 or U18 or 1st in U15 or U17 in their event at the Vic All Schools Champs (the U15 & U17 athletes had to compete in the U16 & U18 events respectively at Nationals). Some athletes were unable to attend Nationals, so the next placed athletes in each event were offered a position in the State team. It was compulsory for the Vic Team members to travel and stay with the team, so it was a great experience for the athletes to travel together & share accommodation with other athletes from around the state. A great way to forge friendships for years to come & to learn to respect other athletes requirements with differing competition timetables! Despite the high heat & humidity and very windy conditions in Townsville in December (which hit them like a wall when they stepped off the plane!), the 135 member Vic Team performed very well.