2009 News Archives
(listed from oldest to most recent)
27th July 2009 HARRIERS NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED Welcome to the Bendigo YMCA Harriers new website. We would welcome any feedback. Once completed the site will be an interactive experience sharing the latest news etc. There is still much work though to fully update it with all the links operational, club records and other information of our proud history. If members have photos etc. these would also be appreciated as you will get sick of just seeing my own collection.
27th July 2009 KEITH HUDDLE EAGLEHAWK TO BENDIGO PRESS RELEASE The 48th running of the Keith Huddle Memorial will be run on Sunday 16th August. The race commences at 11am from the Eaglehawk Town Hall before the 6.5km event concludes at the Tom Flood Sports Centre. Last years winner and local athlete from the Harriers Brady Threlfall will be aiming for back to back wins. Clubmate Meredith Cook is another Harrier who will be one of the favourites in the women's event. Past winners of this traditional event include Australian representatives Steve Monaghetti, Michael Hillardt and Sean Quilty. Race sponsors include Athletes Foot, Bendigo Curtain Service/Manchester House, Sharon Barr, Hilson Builders, Bendigo Property Management, Huddle Family, Retireinvest, Purtill’s Nursery. Once again $1500 in total for the men's and women's record is up for offer thanks to Hilson Builders.
Athletics Club
CONTENTS
31st July 2009 HARRIERS TO REPRESENT VICTORIA Bendigo YMCA Harriers athletes Cody Williamson and Leon Keely have been selected for the state Under 20 team to compete at the National Championships on Saturday 29th August in Nowra NSW. After consistent performances this year from Williamson and Keely returning to form at Bundoora their selection amongst three Bendigo runners in the Under 20 displays the junior potential in the region.
4th August 2009 SEMMENS WINS AROUND CRUSOE NO.7 David Semmens had an very good win around the very shallow pond . With a time of 30:18 for the 8km course he won from Mark Perdon and Carolyn Oates. In the same race Ian Wellard had the quickest time with a slick 27:28. Fastest women was Meg Bennett with an excellent 30:16. From afar though with that many impressive performances we may need to get the tape measure out to measure the course. Other victories on the day came from Anne Marie Dove in the 4km. In the junior race Michael Flynn took out the daily double in taking out both the 500 and 1000 metres, which also may attract the attention of the diligent handicapper Paul Martin or maybe Michael had too much red cordial the day before.
4th August 2009 WONDERFUL PERFORMANCES BY HARRIERS REPRESENTING BENDIGO REGION IN GEELONG All but one on the bus or that travelled to Geelong were Bendigo YMCA Harriers to show again that the Harriers are the leaders in Cross Country in the region with 20 Harriers competing. The men ran 16km's, the women 6km's and the juniors over shorter distances in an event that has been running over 100 years. Below were the highlights: * Jo-Anne Keely brilliantly winning the women's 45-49 age group. * Meredith Cook 14th in the Open Women's in a field of 136. * Charles Chambers doing a St.Kilda and being unbeaten in all races this season in taking out the 55-59's. * Brady Threlfall with a fine 11th in a field of 311 for his best performance of the season and PB. * Peter Cowell successfully returning from injury.
9th August 2009 HARRIERS DOMINATE ATHLETICS VICTORIA SANDOWN RELAYS Again the Harriers made up over 80% of the team that represented the Bendigo Region for the Athletics Victoria Sandown Relays. The Bendigo Region made up of all these Harriers were the premier club on the day taking 5 gold medals, which even outshone the powerhouse of Athletics in Victoria the Box Hill club who just took 4 titles and the next best country club Eureka with just 2. *It would be interesting if the same results would have be gained with the team just made up of Harriers (*just editors opinion). Enough of being controversial and these were the highlights: * Division 2 women win again and sit on top of the ladder with promotion to Division 1 and the top echelon of athletics in Victoria almost guaranteed. * Division 4 women take a victory of move from second to first on the ladder for that division. * Division 5 men take gold and move to equal top of the ladder with some races to follow that should suit. * Division 7 men take gold and now move into second spot and a promotion place. * Over 40 men in one of the toughest categories also get onto the winners dais and move up to second place on the ladder. * Division 1 Men combine for one of their best performances of the season in finishing 8th and now appear safe from relegation.
9th August 2009 CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES COMPETE AT BLUE JACKET RESERVOIR The Harriers made their annual visit to the Wellard designed Blue Jacket Reservior Course somewhere out the back of Eaglehawk on a road that the local treat like a rally track. The editor will not often get to legitimately put his name and photo on this website but when taking an extremely rare victory he will, so he can ring the few friends he has and let everyone know. In what was a surprise victory with the main aim being the upcoming Adelaide marathon the Green Hornet produced a PB of 18 minutes flat over the 5 km course (measured to perfection by the Wellards) in a narrow win over club stalwart Garnet Rodda. When Green passed Rodda in the last 100 metres the words 'You Bastard' were muttered from Rodda which Green took as a mark of respect. The handicapper would have taken much interest in the improvement of the fist two. In 3rd place was the consistent Mark Purdon. The Hornet was fastest male and Wendy Stibbe in 22.03 the fastest women. The Denahy family had a great day with dad Andrew taking the 3k and his very promising son Zac winning the 1km event. Zac ran with his Dad also in the 3k and unofficially also won that race. Tony Fitzpatrick showed good form in 9.53 for fastest male and Katrina Walters was fastest female. The 500 metre race took an unfortunate detour and ran 840 metres which suited the backmarkers. Matthew Buckle had an impressive win from Lachlan Perdon and Jed Denahy.
14th August 2009 HARRIERS ANNOUNCE ELITE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT SCHOLARSHIP At the last committee meeting after communication with the YMCA the club has been lucky enough to receive 4, 12 month gold memberships from the YMCA. Gold memberships include access to pool, gym and the majority of fitness sessions at the Eaglehawk/Peter Krenz leisure centre. The club is asking for applicants to use the 4 passes to further develop their training and talent. These passes are valued over $1100 per pass. Go to forms in the contents menu to find out more and apply.
17th August 2009 ACCOMMODATION FOR COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS IN JANUARY 2010 If you require accommodation for the Country Championships, which is held this year in Gippsland over the Australia Day weekend, please see Meredith Cook or Mel Gilligan. There is only 10 cabins and it will be first in best dressed as only payment will confirm the booking.
17th August 2009 COOK BREAKS THE DROUGHT FOR BENDIGO FEMALE ATHLETES IN EAGLEHAWK TO BENDIGO Meredith Cook become just the 4th female athlete in the past 30 years and the first female Bendigo athlete for 7 years to take first place in the Keith Huddle Eaglehawk to Bendigo. Cook completed the undulating 6500 metre course in 23 minutes 48 seconds which was right on the times of recent years which reinforced the stellar year Mez has had this year. Brady Threlfall finished a credible third place after attempting to win back to back titles in the men's race. There were no complaints from Threlfall though running a time of 20:06, which was 47 seconds quicker than last year on a course without the big downhill of View Street from past years. The race was taken out by Ballarat athlete Richard Gleisner who occasionally runs in Harriers races. Gleisner finished just 12 seconds ahead of Ash Watson and Threlfall. The Harriers though dominated the race in the teams event lead by Cook and Threlfall, which is highlighted by the results below: The Bendigo YMCA team of Brady Threlfall, Josh Nolan, Ross Evans, Ian Wellard won the A Grade teams section of the Keith Huddle Memorial EH to Bendigo with a score of 25 points. Second place was Ballarat YCW on 59 points. The Bendigo YMCA team of Craig Green, Charles Chambers, Meredith Cook and Peter Cowell won the B Grade section with 51 points over South Bendigo with 70 points. The Bendigo YMCA Women's team of Meredith Cook, Anne Buckley and Kirrily Burnett won on 8 points, from the Harriers number two team on 27 points. The Bendigo YMCA under 18 team of Brenton Hassett, Jamie Cook & Josh Powell won with 18 points.
19th August 2009 ATHLETICS BENDIGO ARRANGE JAVELIN CLINIC TO BE HELD AUGUST 30 WITH ELITE COACH Athletics Bendigo has appointed Jenny Jones and Judy Lees as the new joint Coaching and Development Officers for Athletics Bendigo for 2009 / 2010 financial year. There first event for the year has been obtained by gaining the services of Garry Calvert who is a level 4 Throws Coach, and who will be coming to Bendigo (LUBAC) on Sunday 30th August between 2pm and 4:30pm.
19th August 2009 GLEN ALLAN MEMORIAL TO BE RUN AUGUST 29 One of the most prestigious races on the Athletics Bendigo annual calendar is the Glen Allan Memorial which this year will be run over the 10km distance. There will also be a 1km for the Under 10's and 12's and 3km for U14's, U16's and U18's together with an invitational race.
23rd August 2009 CROSS COUNTRY ATHLETES COMPETE AT 'ALEXANDRA PLACE' SPONSORED NOTLEYS RESERVE Good conditions for the Bendigo YMCA Harriers Alexandra Place cross country events conducted from the Notley's Reserve covering distances from 500 metres to 8 kms. In the 500 metre event little Abby Perdon was successful holding off Mathew Buckell with brother Lachlan Perdon filling third place. Fastest time honours went to Chloe Green in the girls and Matthew Buckell in the boys. The next event to follow was the 1 km event was a titanic battle for supremacy between Nathan Green and Zac Denahy as they raced to the line with Zac getting the judges decision taking first place by the barest of margins with Aimee Powell again running her consistent race in third place. Other good performances were recorded by Darby Semmens, Ben Powell, Gary Eagan and Abe McCloughlin. The 4 and 8 km events were combined together with an out and back course, In the 8 Km Ross Evans after his success in the Veterans 40+ section of the Keith Huddle Memorial had a convincing win from Luke Hutchins who has been representing the combined Bendigo team putting in a solid performance to hold out the tough Ian Wellard just ahead of Peter Cowell. Good performances were also recorded from Michelle Stevenson fastest time for the women, David Semmens, Felicity Harrop and Wendy Stibbe. A sealed Handicap was held in conjunction with the placing's going to race sponsor Phil Brown from Michelle Stevens and Peter Cowell third. The 4 kms went to Tony Fitzpatrick who last week was winner of the Fun Run section of the Keith Huddle from Nick Crome and Brenton Hassett a new comer to the sport in third place and is improving with each run. Matthew Cindric and Kirrily Burnett were also good performances with Kirrily recording Fastest time for the women in this event. Note athletes worried there time was slower than expected the 4km measured about 100 metres long and the 8km was 8250 metres. The club's final run will be held at Sedgwick starting from the Sedgwick Hall, this will by followed by the Club's end of season aggregate winners for the 2009 Cross Country Season. A BBQ will be held and members are asked to bring a plate to share for afternoon tea. With the Cross Country season all but over attention will switch to the Summer Track and Field competition commencing in October, any body interested in and the Bendigo YMCA Harriers can contact Vice President Brady Threlfall on 0439 647 572 or Club Secretary Kerrieanne Hocking on 5439 3378. Training takes place Monday to Thursday nights at the Tom Flood Sports Centre from 4.30 pm till 6.00 pm. A reminder to club members who still have fundraising chocolate money, this needs to be returned by the last run on Saturday September 5th. please.
23rd August 2009 HARRIERS COMPETE ALL OVER THE COUNTRY Bendigo YMCA Harriers next weekend will compete all over the country in various races. Leon Keely will represent Victoria and head to NSW for the Australian Under 20 championships after qualifying 5 weeks ago at Bundoora. The club had another athlete selected but unfortunately Cody Williamson has injured his foot with a stress fracture which is extremely disappointing. Anne Buckley will compete at the Shepparton Marathon on Sunday 30th and on past and present form will have a huge chance to break the women's race record. On the same day as Buckley, Craig Green and Ben Goode head to Adelaide to compete also in the 42km event. For Green it is back to back marathons after running in the Gold Coast race just 7 weeks ago (mad as a cut snake). Goode is competing in his home town marathon.
28th August 2009 AUGUST NEWSLETTER NOW ON WEBSITE For a summary of recent news and upcoming events go to the contents menu on the website and go to 'Newsletters'.
30th August 2009 HARRIERS MAKE LONG TREK TO ADELAIDE FOR MARATHON It does not often happen when unexpected results come your way but it happened on Sunday 30th August in the city of Adelaide. Craig Green and Ben Goode make the long trek by vehicle and achieved times they thought were outside their range on a very strange course not known for quick times and also not helped by a windy day. The Green Hornet after running 3:11 at the Gold Coast 7 weeks ago joined the club of runners to break the 3 hour barrier with a 2:59.01 over the 42.195km course in his second completed marathon and yet to be confirmed top 20 finish. Ben Goode who had a target time of 3 hours 20 minutes smashed that time with a 3:07.58 to complete what was an outstanding, enjoyable and sometime painful day in the city of churches.
30th August 2009 IT IS THE TRELLY AND COOK SHOW YET AGAIN AT AN ATHLETICS BENDIGO EVENT. We take it for granted sometimes but Brady Threlfall 33:37 (1st man) and Meredith Cook 37:41 (1st women) dominated the field at the Glen Allan Memorial over the 10km at Emu Creek. It was more than dominated they obliterated other AB clubs. Threlfall won by 100 seconds and Cook by a tiny 7 and a half minutes ensuring the stewards did not have to go to the photo finish. Overall the Harriers had 10 of the first 20 over the finish line. Other clubs may be up in lights in the media over the summer but the Harriers dominate the winter with little fanfare and also are competitive in the summer season. Ian Wellard 37:10 one of the Harriers most consistent athletes won the veterans 40 plus with Peter Cowell 38:42 comeback from injury going well with a 3rd finish. Charles Chambers 37:35 is the best performed Harrier this year for his age group, which too many also take for granted (try running behind Charles!). Unbeaten in his age group in Bendigo and also not beaten by any member 50+ in the Athletics Victoria (this is all Victorian clubs throughout the state) events this year may ensure Chambers is considered at the end of the summer seasons in the veterans award that was not awarded last year. If you are unbeaten overseas you qualify for a million dollar gold bar. Luke Hutchins 37:21 continued his improvement with a third behind 2 seasoned competitors in the Under 20's and Callam Oates 42:21 stepped up to the longer distance with a 4th in this age group. Kerrieanne Hocking ran a superb time of 45:12 to win the veterans women's race and be 3rd overall. Other noticeable performances for the girls running in as longer event than normal were Carolyn Oates and Cathy Hutchins. Other Harriers to run well were David Grimes, David Semmens, Phil Brown together with the host of normal suspects that turn up week in and week out for the Harriers. 3km Event Surprise, surprise the Harriers dominated. David Birch running as an invite athlete as their was no open age group for the distance was first over the line in the handy time of 9:44. Brenton Hassett was second over the line and duly won the under 16 age group in 10:57. In third place for the Under 16's was Jacob Nolan in 11:22. In the Under 14 boys the club won again with Josh Powell 11.46 breaking the 4 minute per km barrier with an excellent run. Normally a sprinter Louis Schenker won the under 18 boys in a time of 12:54 while Caitlyn Hocking made it a quinella for the age group in taking out the girls with a run of 13:01. Other Harriers to run well were Kirrily Burnett, Zac Denahy, Oliver Northam, Allan Hammer, Andrew Denahy, Michael Flynn, Kimberley Egan, Katrina Walters and Robert Newton. 1km Event For a change the Harriers did not have the first finisher over the line but victories in the Under 10 boys and girls completed an outstanding day for the club. Michael Flynn 3:54 and Bridie Semmens 4:29 collected the major prizes. Aimee Powell was second in the Under 12 girls in a very smart time of 3:54. Zac Denahy also collected a second with a 3:57 in the Under 12 boys with Gary Egan 4:02 not far behind in third. Other fine performances in the race came from Darby Semmens second in the Under 10 boys with Ben Powell not far behind in third, Oliver Northam, Brianna Marron, Bailey McMurtrie, Phoebe Cook and Jed Denahy. Over the 3 races the Harriers showed great support for this Athletics Bendigo event. Out of 75 competition entries, there were 50 entries from Harriers. I will say no more or I may get into trouble for political bias but the stats say and tell all. Congratulations to all that participated!
3rd September 2009 RUNNING SPIKES FOR SALE Kel Pell a great friend and sponsor of the cross country season at the Harriers has running spikes for sale at bargain basement sizes. Sizes vary from 3.5 to 8. If you are interested see Neil MacDonald who will put you on to Kel.
3rd September 2009 HARRIERS AGM The Bendigo YMCA Harriers will hold their AGM at the Flora Hill track in the Glasshouse starting at 7.30pm on Wednesday 7th October. All executive positions and other positions will be vacant. A guest speaker normally appears and tea and coffee and sweets will be available. If you can bring a sweet to share it would be appreciated. It is a chance to be part of a club going forward with momentum at present. Nomination forms for the vacant positions will be on the website very soon.
3rd September 2009 ATHS 2 GO COACHING & OFFICIATING FOR CLUB *** IT IS FREE *** Rather short notice but this Sunday 6th September which is not a great day considering the Athletics Victoria Burnley Half Marathon is on and it is Father's Day but there is a free clinic being run to assist AV members who want to gain some knowledge of coaching and officiating.
7th September 2009 HELP NEEDED AT SWAP MEET The club is looking for volunteers to assist at the Swap meet 14th. and 15th. November could you please contact Neil Macdonald on 5442 6184 if you can help. This is a great funraiser for the club.
7th September 2009 TRACK AND FIELD SEASON FOR 2009/2010 Attention will now switch to the Summer Season of Track and Field commencing in October. Anyone wishing to do athletics in another environment (you even can do your event and go home) may contact Vice President Brady Threlfall on 0439 647 572 or Secretary Kerrieanne Hocking 0n 5439 3378.
7th September 2009 Y RUN The Club will be conducting the Y Run again this year towards the end of October, a date will be notified once the club checks out what events are being conducted to get the maximum involvement of club members. See Ivan for further information.
7th September 2009 HARRIERS EXCEL AT VICTORIAN HALF MARATHON TITLES While everyone else was in bed on Father's Day morning a band of brave Harriers commenced the Burnley Half marathon of 21.1 km's at 8am. The event also doubles as the Victorian State Titles over the distance with 449 men and 124 women competing on the day. The Harriers performed magnificently with a couple of us standing on the dais to receive medals. The standout medal was Meredith Cook winning gold for the winner of the Country Title. For the other athletes in the club Meredith ran under 4 minute km pace for the 21km and a bit journey with a time of 1:22.32 which also qualified as 7th overall at her first attempt over the distance. Our other medal winner was Brady Threlfall who took a bronze medal in the Country title and also 8th overall with a time of 1:09.40. It was an improvement of about a minute from last season. For Mez and Trelly it could also mean possible selection in the Victorian teams for the event. While the two athletes performed at the elite level there were some fantastic performances that also assisted the Bendigo Region achieving their best results of the year. The Div 1 men were 5th, Div 5 men were 1st and Div 2 women 2nd. The results of the Harriers athletes were: Men (449 ran) - Brady Threlfall 1:09.40 (8th overall, bronze medal in Country Titles and PB), Bryan Keely 1:14.54 (42nd), Phil Noden 1:16.32 (58th), Evan Barr 1:16.38 (59th), Charles Chambers 1:19.48 (105th and 3rd 55-59), Josh Fahey 1:19.56 (109th), Craig Green 1.22.17 (139th and 12th 40-45 and PB), Ross Evans 1.37.10 (332nd and 41st 40-45). Women (124 ran) - Meredith Cook 1:22.32 (7th overall, gold medal in Country Titles and PB), Anne Buckley 1:30.39 (28th and 7th 40-44), Meg Bennett 1:32.23 (31st and PB), Michelle Stevenson 1:37.22 (56th and PB), Kerrieanne Hocking 1:41.55 (76th and 11th 40-44 and PB). Once again all but 2 of the athletes were Harriers. Thanks to Jim Russell and Dave Tarrant of the University club who showed some commitment. Jim ran after having an operation a few days ago and having no food for 48 hours. Last year as Publicity Officer for Athletics Bendigo I needed to be careful of what was said but now it must be said that other clubs under the banner of Athletics Bendigo need to have a hard look at themselves. The Bendigo Region could have sewn up Titles yesterday if all our teams had competed. If we are representing Athletics Bendigo it would be terrific to see a consistent representation from all clubs in our region as the benefit and effort is being made by very few so these athletes can race against other athletes at the highest level when they feel like it. It also gives the opportunity in future years of distance athletes of all clubs to compete against the best in the State.
7th September 2009 EXTRAVAGANZA AT HARRIERS FINAL 2009 CROSS COUNTRY RUN & PRESENTATION DAY It was a large crowd that participated at the final run under the Leon Gilbert weight for age concept and also attended the presentation. Thanks must go the organisers of trophies, Ivan as usual with the BBQ, Paul with the course and everyone that shared their sweets with fellow club members before my daughter Charli touched everything. There will be a list of all trophy winners later in the week on the website. Please go to the 'Club Photos' tab to check out all photos but now there is a shortcut also here. Race report by Ivan Kitt and photographer Hunter Gill Good fields and conditions made for a successful day with the running of the Kell Pell and family sponsored Bendigo YMCA Harriers cross country events along the bush tracks of Sedgwick on Saturday. The 500 metre event was the first run for the day with Charli Green in top form scoring from Lachlan Perdon with another consistent performance and fastest time for the boys and Holy Fitzpatrick in third place. Emma Gilligan recording fastest time for the girls. In the 1 km event Taylor Stibbe showed great improvement to score a good win from Abe McLoughlin and Michael Flynn in third place and recording fastest time for the boys, with Aimee Powell recording fastest time for the girls. Tony Fitzpatrick put in another excellent performance in the 3 km event to win and record fastest time for the men, but had to pull out all stops to hold off the determined and improving Brenton Hassett in second place ahead of Jacob Nolan who also ran well from another promising junior in Josh Powell coming in fourth. Kirrily Burnett recorded fastest time for the women. A strong line up for the 5 km event was excellent considering a number of athletes were to compete the next day in the Athletics Victoria Burnley half marathon. The eventual winner was the well performed athlete in Rick Ermel from Peter Cowell getting back into form after an injury with Paul Boxshall returning to the club after a few seasons with Box Hill whilst living in Melbourne also recorded fastest time just ahead of Luke Hutchins. Other good performances were recorded by Lyn Crome and Nathan Green. For results go to the cross country link.
For full results click here
For full results and photos click here
8th September 2009 ATHLETES INTERESTED IN MULTI EVENTS Step into spring and a season of multi-events with two not-to-be-missed sessions – starting this Saturday 12th September, 2009 - tailored specifically for those that specialise in not specialising! FREE Multi Event Clinic George Knott Athletics Track, Clifton Hill Saturday 12th September, 2009 Conducted by reigning Australian decathlon champion Steve Cain. The clinic will cover event techniques and competition specific preparation. No experience, no problems. Athletes and coaches of all ages and abilities are invited to attend. Magpie Multis, George Knott Athletics Track Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th October, 2009 George Knott Athletics Track, Clifton Hill Kick-off your multi-eventing season with an October outing at the 2009 Magpie Multis. Doubling as the Victorian Masters Multi-Event Championship, competition is available in age groups from U14 up. For all information go to Aths Vic website for flyers and entry forms.
Click here for Full Marathon results
14th September 2009 LITTLE ATHLETICS Just like the senior athletes the Little Athletes are also set to begin with the registration only on 3rd October. Club spokesperson for our Little Athletes is Heather Purtill and if you follow the link to the Little Athletics area of the site there is attached plenty of information and forms that can be completed. It will be appreciated if these forms be completed prior to getting to the track as the first few days are a little hectic and it one less thing to worry about when you get there.
14th September 2009 TRACK AND FIELD SEASON (further detail) Please read because the club would enjoy seeing your faces and support again. Attention will now switch to the Summer Season of Track and Field commencing in the first Saturday of October. Anyone wishing to do athletics in another environment (you even can do your event and go home) may contact Vice President Brady Threlfall on 0439 647 572 or Secretary Kerrieanne Hocking on 5439 3378. The club always has terrific representation at Cross Country but it would be also great to see this occur at track and field. I don't know why our numbers are lower because I find track easier to catch up with friends! If you're worried about being on the big stage there is no need to do so. Most races are graded so you run against those of similar ability and field events are also available. I am sure all of you may have thrown a discus, shot put or jumped at school even if it was some time ago. What is great about track and field is that you select the event(s) you want to do. You may just want to run a 1500 metres which is run normally around 1.30pm and go home, or do a 100 metre sprint. You can do that so the commitment is not a large one. You could be in out of the Flora Hill track in 30 minutes and that includes signing in for the event, a small warm up and your event. Many athletes that compete at the track find that for the following cross country season they can do those km splits are a little faster. If you are at all concerned about running around a track (by the way it is no different to running cross country except it a reddish/brown colour and artificial) then why not try a Tuesday night run which is normally 3 or 5km and scheduled around 7pm. Old but young Life Member Kenny Bruechert is one that runs in many of the Tuesday night events. These runs are a great introduction and very informal. You do not need to be AV registered to compete in track and field and the other 3 clubs including the members of the Harriers always encourage each other on what is also a sociable day to catch up with people like you that are trying to stay fit after all your great efforts at Cross Country.
14th September 2009 TAN RELAYS Good luck to all Harrier athletes competing for the Bendigo Region in the Athletic Victoria Tan Relays on Saturday 19th. There are several teams with promotion and premiership opportunities and we hope also the lads above can save the Bendigo Region from relegation in the elite Division 1 competition. Many Harriers have contributed to outstanding seasons for Bendigo and from all reports it looks like there will be much needed and appreciated support from other clubs to get the region over the line. Good luck to all athletes competing and that have represented the Bendigo Region with great distinction in addition to the time and effort taking into account the travel requirements.
16th September 2009 THRELFALL BRINGS OUT TUESDAYS BEST as reported by Greg Hilson Brady Threlfall has eclipsed his own course record by a massive seven seconds, when he ran an astonishing 8.29 minutes for the two lap 3000 metre time trial around Lake Weeroona, as part of the Athletics Bendigo Trot Around Tuesdays. With training partner Josh Nolan along side, the pair set up the record as they went through the half way mark in 4.09 minutes, before Brady went on a solo last lap in 4.20 minutes. Top class veteran Rick Ermel was second fastest on the night with a time of 9.52 minutes, with big Mike Duell third best in a personal best time of 9.55 minutes. Luke Crameri also ran a personal best time of 10.02 minutes. Virginia Bennett ran the fastest female time of 11.07 minutes. Josh Nolan’s 4.09 minutes made him fastest 1500 metre runner of the night, with Bryan Keely next best in 4.25 minutes. Tuesday, 29th September is the last time trial night of the year with a 3000 metres and a 1500 metres time trial, starting together at 6.00pm. Results; 3000 metres; Brady Threlfall 8.29, Rick Ermel 9.52, Mike Duell 9.55, Luke Crameri 10.02, Mike Bieleny 10.09, Greg Hilson 10.17, Virginia Bennett 11.07, Wolf Heiden 11.29, Phil Brown 11.37, Tom Savage 12.05, Lyn Crome 12.28, Tony Fahy 13.05, Brendan Ryan 14.09, Josh Savage 14.09 1500 metres; Josh Nolan 4.09, Bryan Keely 4.25, Leigh Browell 5.17, Teleah Hayes 5.37, Ken Bruechert 7.12
22nd September 2009 SUCCESS AT THE TAN RELAYS AND A SEASON ROUND UP The Bendigo Region had a magnificent day at the Tan Relays even though an early start saw us getting up in darkness to make the 9am start on Saturday 19th September. Most of the teams had plenty to run for with premiership opportunities, promotion opportunities into a higher division and for our Division 1 men's team trying to hold off relegation. It was also terrific to see all Athletic Bendigo clubs represented which added much needed depth with the Harriers athletes for the Bendigo Region on such an important day. We will start with the girls as they have set the benchmark with some outstanding performances. THE HARRIERS WOMEN WIN THE COUNTRY PREMIERSHIP! Within the XCR09 season even though we race under the Bendigo Region there are points accrued in the Open Men's and Women's category on a club basis. What was great news from the weekend is the Bendigo YMCA Harriers women took out the Country Championship. Maybe the club does not have the same focus on the track but the women are the Queens of Cross Country Running in Country Victoria and the result is a wonderful compliment to the strength of our women distance runners in our club. Going into the Tan Relays the women had to finish in front of Ballarat YCW to take the premiership. You will read below a 3rd finish but first amongst the country clubs clinched the cup. The men finished just behind third place. A great effort considering the strength of cross country in Ballarat. Women's Division 2 The women's team of Meredith Cook, Virginia Bennett, Joanne Keely and Anne Buckley went into the last round in first position but had to win to stay in front of the Mighty Bombers. A gallant 3rd position was not enough to hold off Essendon who won quite easily to take the flag. All was not lost for the girls though who with an overall second finish will now join the men so the Bendigo Region are now represented in Division 1 for both men and women athletics in the Athletics Victoria XCR competition. Individually the girls had a terrific season. How's this for some results in the XCR09 season. > Meredith Cook finished 2nd in the Country Women's Open Age Aggregate which highlighted her standing as an elite athlete in country Victoria and her improvement throughout the whole state. > Anne Buckley in the 40-44 age group finished 2nd overall in the aggregate for the whole state and 3rd behind Meredith in the aggregate for the Country Women's Open Age Aggregate. > Joanne Keely in the 45-49 age group finished 2nd overall in the aggregate for the whole state and 4th behind Meredith and Anne in the aggregate for the Country Women's Open Age Aggregate. Women's Division 4 We are PREMIERS! What a great effort by this group of girls made up most of the season by Harriers Michelle Stevenson, Kerrieanne Hocking, Mel Gilligan, Debby Kirne and South Bendigo athlete Mandy Worthington. Others also chipped in at times but these girls were the mainstay of the team. Going into the Tan Relay the girls had pressure from the power house Box Hill club and needed to finish no lower than 4th. A bronze medal in the relays provided a narrow 2 point premiership win and promotion to Division 3 next season. Stiffer competition next years girls so a big pre-season is expected. Some of the girls in this team are relatively new Harriers athletes so it was great to see some new members achieve success. Women's Under 20 Team The trio from the Harriers of Caitlyn Hocking, Kirrily Burnett and Yvette Tuohey met some very talented distance runners. For Caitlyn and Kirrily who normally don't like to run more than a 400 metres the winter was used as a training base to strengthen them for the summer track season. At the Tan relays the girls finished 7th but a credible 6th finish overall was a terrific result Men's Division 1 The team went into the Tan Relays not safe from relegation but another consistent finish of 8th also resulted in an 8th finish overall in their first season in the top division of athletics in the State. The team never had a bottom 2 finish in any race and with these decent results it allowed the Bendigo Region to survive for another season. Harriers Brady Threlfall and Bryan Keely led the team with excellent support from other Harriers Leon Keely, Evan Barr, Cody Williamson, Ross Evans, Phil Noden, Charles Chambers, Josh Nolan and others throughout the season. On an individual note there were some excellent results: > Charles Chambers won the 55-59 age group overall aggregate for the state. > Brady Threlfall missed a medal by 1 point and finished 4th overall in the open age category country athlete together with PB's in almost every race. > Cody Williamson finished 3rd in the U20 age group in the overall state aggregate and missed one race that resulted in missing out on a second finish due to injury. > Ross Evans finished 8th overall in the 40-44 age group for the state. Men's Division 5 WE ARE PREMIERS! What a nailbiter of a finish as the team had to finish in front of the all conquering Box Hill club going into the Tan Relays to take out the premiership. Running was Harriers Luke Hutchins and Matt Hooke but this time with much needed help from the talented Andy Buchanan (Bendigo Uni) and Kaine Leech (Eaglehawk) the Bendigo Region just got over the line as Buchanan and Leech made up ground to pass Box Hill in the final 2 legs. Many athletes passed through this team throughout the year but other Harriers including Charles Chambers, Ross Evans, Craig Green, Peter Cowell, Victor Cook, Ian Wellard, Jim Russell (Bendigo Uni), Dave Tarrant (Bendigo Uni) and apologies to others not named all made significant contributions. Next year the team will compete in Division 4. Men's Division 7 This team came from nowhere on the final day of the Tan Relays to also gain promotion to Division 6 for next season. Going into the last round everything had to go well to move into a promotion spot and the team won the relays to move into second overall and promotion. Peter Boyle, Susan Guthrie, Scott Purdon and John Maher on the comeback trail won narrowly by 19 seconds to take the bikkies with Peter Boyle coming from behind in the final leg. Our other men's team on the day of Brett Gilligan with a handy time for a sprinter, Jamie Cook, Lyn Crome helping out the boys and Brady Threlfall running again with a warm down in around 12 minutes finished 5th. Over 40's Men's The over 40 men had a consistent season which was highlighted at the tan relays with a 2nd finish. It moved the team for the season into 2nd overall in the aggregate behind the unbeatable APS Utd. At the Tan it was Peter Cowell, Craig Green and Jim Russell who all ran within 13 seconds of each other in an even team effort. The other men's team finished 6th of Phil Brown, Victor Cooke and Ian Wellard. Over 50's Men's A team was entered in this age group for the first time this season and with Charles Chambers, Paul Bennett and Wolf Heiden (Bendigo Uni) they finished with the bronze medal. If this team ran together all year there surely would be a potential win in the overall aggregate. All members of the Bendigo Region no matter the club they came from should be congratulated on an outstanding season. *** 2 premierships and these teams promoted. *** 2 second placing's and these teams promoted. *** Division 1 Men stay put after their first season in top division. The result is that every team that could be was promoted into a higher division next year. What a wonderful effort. Special thanks should go to Charles Chambers, Peter Barrett, Keith Macdonald, Brady Threlfall, Kerrieanne Hocking and Meredith Cook who followed up athletes consistently to ensure we had teams filled. This time is voluntary and unpaid and I would hate to guess their out of pocket expenses. And special thanks to every athlete that gave up time with the huge amount of travel and commitment........................
22nd September 2009 HIGH JUMP CLINIC Harriers Life Member and Australian representative John Knight will conducting a high jump clinic. We are sure it will not be as difficult as our friend in the picture has it. You don't get many opportunities to be coached by an expert of the event like John. The clinic will be held on Thursday 30th September between 2pm and 4pm at the Flora Hill Track. Don't miss it!
29th September 2009 FINAL LAKE RUN Plenty of Harriers down the lake on Tuesday night with some outstanding performances lead by winner Rick Ermel in a time of 9.49. Peter Cowell showed he is back to his very best with a 9.54 for the run just short of the 3km's (things back to normal by whipping my backside), yours truly put in a 10 second PB of 10.07, Virginia Bennett running well 11.03, Phil Brown 11.29 and the Cromes with Terry 12.27 not letting the better half Lyn get past him in 12.28. The elder statesman of the team ran well with Tony Fahy 13.45, Ken Bruechert 14.53 and Hunter Gill after an encouraging return from a long lay off with injury recording a time of 15.37 and better for the run.
1st October 2009 THIS SATURDAY 3RD OCTOBER AT THE TRACK Enough of Cross Country with competition starting in Track and Field this Saturday at 1.30pm. Harriers to watch out for are Peter Cowell who had a terrific 3km lake run a few days ago, Jamie Cook in the 800 metres, Michelle Stevenson putting on a set of spikes and set to burn up the track, a stronger and fitter Kirrily Burnett and Louis Schenker in the javelin to name just a few. Not sure if we will see some of our more elite middle distances runners as last reports were sightings in some dodgy bars in Thailand. This year there is mainly only a Program 1 and 2 (thankfully) so there should be no confusion. For October 3 it is Program 2 as follows: TRACK 1:30pm 1500m Men & Women (all ages) 2:05pm 100m Men (all ages) 2:15pm 100m Women (all ages) 2:25pm 2000m Walk Men & Women (all ages) 2:45pm Sprint Hurdles Men & Women (all ages) 3:05pm 400m Women (all ages) 3:20pm 400m Men (all ages) 3:35pm Steeplechase Men & Women (all ages) 3:50pm 4x100m Men & Women (all ages) FIELD 1:30pm Discus Women (all ages) 1:30pm Pole Vault Men & Women (all ages) 2:15pm Discus Men (all ages) 2:20pm Triple Jump Men (all ages) 2:20pm Javelin Women (all ages) 3:10pm Triple Jump Women (all ages) 3:10pm Javelin Men (all ages)
5th October 2009 SUNDAY RUNNING GROUPS The Harriers (but anyone is welcome to come along) have a couple of groups that run on Sunday mornings. It is a very easy jog and not a race. If you want to continue your running and fitness from the cross country season then this an ideal way to keep the legs turning over. The gathering is also a bit of a social occasion as you need to have a bit of chit chat running at 7.30am on a Sunday morning to remain awake. There are 2 groups that run. The first is one that leave from the Spring Gully Pony club (opposite One Tree Hill Pub) and run a minimum of 16km and some go further, which normally takes 75 minutes. Regulars include Charles Chambers, Paul Bennett, Meredith and Victor Cook, Craig Green, John Maher, Ross Evans, Tony Fitzpatrick, Paul Boxshall and Ben Goode to name a few. The second of the running groups I will leave it to Hunter Gill to tell you what goes on. "The crew meet at Ken's Corner at Wildflower Drive Junourtoun at 7:30 AM on Sunday mornings (this has been going for 25 years) and the training pace per kilometre varies from 6:30 to 5:10 pace generally. The distances run vary from 5 km, 8 km, 10 km, 13 km, 15 kms in easy chatting groups. On the return to Ken's catering Corps vehicle we have tea, muffins, Anzac biscuits, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts, raisins, oranges, buttered dry biscuits and other assorted goodies. You can have any cup you wish, as long as it is an enamel tin cup and preferably with chips or dents - some traditions must be met. The de-psyching ritual usually takes around about half an hour or more of intense discussions with wide ranging topics covered. The participants returned home just in time to make theirs spouses' breakfast - another perfect day!" What a choice to keep your running going during Summer. Seeing these groups out I promise will keep you motivated. In the last 4 months these people have turned my running around.
5th October 2009 HARRIERS TURN UP IN HUGE NUMBERS TO FIRST WEEK OF TRACK AND FIELD Wow, for a club that goes from the most numbers during the Cross Country to a distant 3rd in track in field the club has turned this around if Saturday was a guide. We had equal numbers to the strong Eaglehawk club which has been a recent force in the last 2 years in track and field. There were several athletes also missing from the Harriers due to school holidays and returning from injury. Many of us were a little rusty and even chose not to put on the spikes this week so there should be some big improvements. We even saw Louis Schenker in one of his better events get a hat-trick in the discus by throwing the awkward implement into the net 3 times in a row for a DQ. There were some good performances though lead by the woman in the news Meredith Cook who set a new Bendigo record in the pre-vet age group for the 1500 metres with a time of 4:55.66. Younger member of the family Jamie also equalled his PB with a good first up run of 4:45.86. Paul Boxshall returning to the Harriers ran a terrific 4:17.25 in the same heat to keep up the distance running tradition in the club. Two of our teenagers had outstanding runs in the 1500 metres. Shaun Geraghty 4:09.62 served it right up to the well performed Kaine Leech and Tim McCullagh with a remarkable 6 second PB. Let's just say what a 4x1500 the Harriers will have this year and maybe a sub 4:05 will be needed to make the team. Jacob Nolan took out Heat 2 of the 1500 metres with an easy victory in 5:02.32. In the 100 metre sprints Jake Mellington showed he will be an excellent performer with a time of 13:08 while Michelle Stevenson was the quickest of the girls in 16.60 to lead the 40+ age group. Two of our most improved athletes ran well in the 400 metres with Kirrily Burnett looking much fitter with a 1:06.33 and Under 14 athlete Josh Powell 1:07.06 doing a 10 second PB. There may be some rivalry between the two as that evening Powell placed a message on the Facebook of Burnett saying that he has got her covered. To the field events and it was our normal suspects from last year that performed well. Lauren Shearman in the discus with 26.29 metres was a close second behind the talented Eaglehawk athlete Denise Snyder and Barbara Kellow and Alice Schenker were not far behind in third and fourth. In the spear throwing a new field event athlete this year to the Harriers Indiah Guy with a 25.63 throw finished third behind the experienced Keely sisters from South Bendigo in an encouraging debut. Note an email is circling from AB that has my name on it regarding the steeple. Suppose I have been made the full guy but I was not the only one that commented on what was a farce. To the Harriers athletes we want everyone to have fun but please have a think about those athletes in your event that treat it with some seriousness. Some type of professionalism is expected. Apologies to Wolf Heiden, Danielle Dillon and others who took time to set up the event and then ran in it professionally to put up with a lack of respect.
5th October 2009 OUR MEZ HITS THE HEADLINES What a terrific article in the 'Women in Sport' supplement in Monday's Advertiser (5th Oct) on Meredith Cook. It's not often you get a full page in a major newspaper. Also congratulations to the Addy in these series of articles each week that are always a good read. The story on Mez is a truly inspirational one and the effort she puts into her training (if you try to keep up as I have) displays her discipline and commitment to reaching her objectives. It is not only her individual objectives but Mez is a team player who for whether its the Harriers or her allegiance to running in Bendigo with the Bendigo Region puts in 110%. All this and being a Mum!
6th October 2009 THIS SATURDAY 10TH OCTOBER AT THE TRACK The second week of competition see the Program 1 on the agenda for the first time this season. Having a look at the events there may be hamstring concerns for some athletes with the 70 metres back on the card (after a few years) and also the 200 metres. If you are doing the 800 metres stretch well between events as it is very easy to do an early season injury after all the longer events during Winter. Jake Mellington showed good speed in the 100 metres last week so he will be one to watch in the 70 metres. Jamie Cook is set to do a PB in the 800 metres. Yvette Tuohey will be an improver over the 800 metres. In the shot put the Harriers have the consistent Lauren Shearman, Barbara Kellow, Roxanne Kellow, Alice Schenker and Emily MacDonald-Jones who all have a close tussle and favorites to take out the event.
8th October 2009 HARRIERS AGM RESULTS AND NIGHT An excellent night had by all as all current office bearers offered themselves for re-election and were returned unapposed. Pity the Liberals don't have this kind of stability. Changes to positions outside the executive see Craig Green being publicity officer, Michelle Stevenson responsible for the newsletter and Melinda Gilligan is Registrar. It's great to see a new member like Michelle take up roles in the club. After some late minute cancellations with 2 guest speakers club stalwart Neil Macdonald thankfully stepped in an provided an interesting talk. The talk was entertaining but also provided some insight into the legendry Australian elite athletics coach Percy Cerrutty who Macca spent some time with. Sessions of cutting the scrub with machetes, running up sand hills and mid afternoon sleeps to then be woken up to train again was an eye opener.
12th October 2009 2009 MELBOURNE MARATHON Congratulations to the Harriers athletes that completed the Melbourne Marathon. Wendy Stibbe ran a terrific race to finish in a time of 3:55.07 which beat the average time in the race and placed her 324th in the women's event for the Australian Championships and just outside the top 50 in 56th for her age group. Wendy is as tough as old boots and ran some consistent splits during the race. Now we know why we occasionally saw her pushing over One Tree Hill in September as part of her training sessions Matthew Hooke ran a slashing time of 2:54.29 to be third in the 20-24 age group and 136rd overall. Matt was also a star performer for Bendigo in the XCR09 representing the Bendigo Region this year. Life Member Tony Fahy with a time of 4:24.03 was 9th in his 65-69 age group in an another excellent result for the veteran athlete. Ben Goode ran his second marathon in 7 weeks after running Adelaide during August and finish 444th out of over 3600 athletes. A top 12% finish is excellent. Marcus Abey was the third Harrier home in the time of 3h21m. David Semmens stopped the clock at 3:48.14 and Brendan Ryan also ran and finished with a time of 4:27.51. Debbie Kirne rounded off a busy day for the Harriers with a half marathon result of 1 hour 45 minutes. Unfortunately after a gruelling training regime Anne Buckley did not get to the line after falling ill for a second time. One positive Anne is that you now have a great base in those legs without the fatigue of the race. A small comfort in what is heartbreaking after the effort you put in with your training.
12th October 2009 TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETES TURN UP TO PERFECT WEATHER CONDITIONS Strange to have virtually have no wind at the Flora Hill track but near perfect conditions greeted athletes as they arrived for their events on Saturday 19th October. Unfortunately I do not have results to date to do a proper write up, but to be fair to the hard working officials in the room at the top of the pavilion their computer system seemed to go haywire. When all results are posted I will add this information in the latest news. Therefore what I be writing will be from memory and unfortunately will not have much field event information. What would it be without Meredith Cook not being in the news on our website. This time she broke her own 5000 metre record by approximately 10 second (the AB book is incorrect) and her time was around 18:04. John Maher has gone from plodder to elite athlete in a couple of weeks narrowly defeating Mez with a time right on 18 minutes and Ian Wellard split the pair missing first by a nose. In the elite 800 metre event Shaun Geraghty after 400 metres went where he has not been before with a 400 metre of split about 55 seconds with Paul Boxshall trailing a fair way behind going through the first 400 in 1 minute flat. The two had a great battle to run around 2:03 with Paul flying home but having to settle for the placing's behind a brilliant run by Kaine Leech (Eaglehawk) 1:55. Last week Jake Mellington ran over 13 seconds to win his heat of the 100 and double the distance but not the time he runs 200 metres under 25 seconds to win his heat again. It is a very good sign for Jake to show the strength over the longer distance and maybe a 400 metre is on the cards soon if can show the staying power from the 200 metres. Michelle Stevenson won her heat of the 800 metres and then the iron women threw the shot put like it was a tennis ball. Not sure if Michelle took a new record but it will be just a matter of time. Kirrily Burnett is now doing her talking on the track with another fine PB over 800 metres of around 2:28 while 12 year old Nathan Green also did a PB with a 2:53 in the 800 and another PB in the 3000 metres of 12:53. The Harriers welcomed enthusiastic new member Geoff Jordan into the fold in the 40+ age bracket to compete in a Harriers singlet for the first time and he showed a fair bit of promise. What was great he showed up in an age bracket where the Harriers struggle a bit in the sprints, jumps and shot put. Geoff ran a very good 28 seconds in the 200 metres and took out the shot put for the age group. We apologise in not highlighting other events but at this time and as pointed out above I have no results from Athletics Bendigo (not their fault either). Next week we promise to highlight the field events first and also with photos.
12th October 2009 A BIG THANK-YOU TO IVAN AND MARGARET You may have received an email from Ivan on Monday evening in relation to the handing over of duties, which does not see Ivan in an official capacity at the club. You don't have to have a job title though to be a critical member within a club and it's the unsung heroes that make clubs tick such as Ivan Kitt. Work continues as Ivan puts in with the Weeroona athletes relationship with the Harriers, assisting with new athletics and every other bloody job nobody else can put in the effort like Ivan and Margaret do. The Eaglehawk to Bendigo was a prime example as helpers were needed for the sausage sizzle (Ivan requested help) bit was mainly left to Ivan and Margaret to cook the BBQ. It was noticed! During last year with the change in the Executive it was Ivan that stepped up from the Vice-President role to ensure the club did not fracture. The smooth transition for all to see was assisted with the help of Ivan and the Committee at the time. The time Ivan and Margaret also put into the newsletter which really today is what the front page of the Harriers website is based on is another initiative that brings the members of the club together. Well done to Ivan and Margaret and please continue on the good work.
12th October 2009 XCR09 BENDIGO REGION CELEBRATION NIGHT Athletics Bendigo have just completed the most successful ever Athletic Victoria Winter Season by any Bendigo Region team in our history. All the teams achieved their pre-season goals. A dinner will be held on Saturday 14th November at the National Hotel.
Please click on this link to find out all the information
15th October 2009 CHAMBERS TAKES GOLD AT WORLD MASTERS GAMES What a performance by Charles Chambers who has won the 8km Cross Country gold medal for the 55-59 age group at the World Masters Games in Sydney! Charles ran a sensational time of 28:56 to take first place in his event on Tuesday 13th October. In all age groups competing at the Masters Games he was 21st. You only need to just look at the link below and see what an international field it was with participants from Sweden, UK, USA, Russian Federation, Czeck Republic, New Zealand, Canada and many other countries. Charles defeated a competitor from the Czek Republic Miroslav Kravcik by 40 seconds who finished second and another Australian in third that has been cleaning up many of his events in a field of 46 within the age group. The next race for Charles at the Games is likely to be the Half Marathon on Oct 18.
19th October 2009 TONY FAHY RECEIVES LIFE MEMBERSHIP Congratulations to Tony Fahy who at the track on Saturday 17th October received a Life Membership of the Harriers from President Craig Burnett. Tony has been a past President, committee person, publicity officer and stalwart of the Harriers over many years.
19th October 2009 TRELLY WINS AT PROS There are quite a few Harriers that over the summer period compete in the professional events around the state. Brady Threlfall turned his attention to a 3200 metre event at Epping and running off scratch (18th Oct) won the race in the very handy time of 9:16.00.
19th October 2009 GILLIGAN TAKES OUT MULTI EVENTS Well done to Brett Gilligan who won his multi events competition at Collingwood on the 3rd and 4th October. On the 24th October Brett will be traveling to Melbourne to take on the stronger competition at the Doncaster track.
19th October 2009 GOLD RUSH FOR CHAMBERS AT WORLD MASTERS GAMES Only days ago we reported Charles Chambers had taken a gold medal at the World Masters Games in the 55-59 age group in the 8km Cross Country. On Sunday 18th October Chambers tackled the half marathon and took out his second gold medal in the World Championships in a time of 80.05. Congratulations Charles from all in the club.
26th October 2009 POWELL EXCELS AT STATE TITLES Well done to 12 year old Josh Powell who set a Bendigo record in a time of 2:27.15 in his 800 metre event at state titles. If there are any other results from Harriers, please email me (refer to 'contact us' for email address) and I will update the website.
26th October 2009 HARRIERS COMPETE AT DONCASTER TRACK (24th October) Report by Brett Gilligan Ten Harriers ventured to Doncaster last weekend to pit their skills against arguably the strongest region in the State. In a show of great growth for the Club, 9 of the travelling party were new members. The day got underway with high jump. Youngsters Jayden Beqir, Jordan Wilson, Zac Palmer and Olly Lang all setting PB's, with Lang jumping an impressive 1.35m in his first go at the event. Sam Gascoigne and Blake Pryse also recorded significant leaps, with 1.45m and 1.60m respectively. Blake needs 1.65m for a National Qualifier. In the 200m, an exciting battle ensued between the three Kangaroo Flat boys, with Wilson (29.60) just getting the chocolates over Palmer (30.19), Lang (30.23) and Beqir (34.03). Highlight of the race though was young Cooper Gaylor, who smashed his 200m PB by 4 seconds, coming in at 38 seconds. Newcomer Aaron Petri also had a good day, with a 25 second 200m and a massive 1.80m high jump. Four of the boys also took to the 4 x 400m relay, with Blake running the 2nd leg in an impressive 61 seconds. The boys also had a great battle in the long jump. With very little work in the pit at training, all boys came home with PB's, with Gaylor claiming his from his opposite foot! For the girls, Keely Haig (who competed in the triple jump at the VPSSA State titles on Monday) took to the sandpit and the shot put ring, and while the pit wasn't too kind on the day, Keely stepped up to the 3kg Shot for a very close PB of 7.11m. The next bus trip will be on Saturday 28th October to Nunawading. $10 per seat. Book now to avoid disappointment.
26th October 2009 HARRIERS DAY OUT AT TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITION (24TH OCTOBER) The Bendigo YMCA Harriers had a day out with some outstanding performances resulting in the dominance of several events from the weekends competition. In a close contest at the shot put Alice Schenker held her nerves to win with an excellent shot of 8.61 metres from Roxanne Kellow 8.44m in 2nd. Other good performers were Barbara Kellow 4th (7.82m) and Emily Macdonald-Jones 5th (7.43m). The club performed a clean sweep at the Hammer throw with the Harriers filling the top 4 places in the women and top 5 places in the men prior to another club getting a look in. Philip Clayton threw the hammer 43.68 metres from Louis Schenker 35.86m, Stephen Palmer 27.55m, Garnet Rodda 22.00m and Richard Kellow 21.60. In the women's event Roxanne Kellow reversed the result from the shot put with an excellent 36.68m over Alice Schenker 35.86m. Barbara Kellow 26.93m and Emily Macdonald Jones 21.65m also threw extremely well in this difficult event. The club has struggled a little at the jumping events recently but in the high jump the Harriers filled two of the top 3 placings. A jump of 1.85 metres by Hamish Nelson was good enough to win the event with Louis Schenker having a great day was third with a 1.76m leap. Under 12 youngster Brayden Scanlon with 1.45m provided a snippet of his ability in the event. In the long jump Hamish Nelson made it a double with a 1cm victory in a huge jump of 6.20 metres into a head wind. Other performances of note at the field events came from new Harrier Geoff Jordan at the shot put 7.85m and 1st in the 40 plus, Michelle Stevenson at the shot put 6.96m and 2nd in the 40 plus and Eddy Rowan in the hammer and shot put 70 plus. To the track events and the day started off with a bang and large fields in the 800 metres. Shaun Geraghty on his 16th birthday went under the 2 minute barrier for the first time, which now places him at the elite level for his age. A time of 1:59.72 was brilliant in finishing second. In the first heat the consistent Paul Boxshall ran 2:04.66. In the other heats of the 800 metres there were several top performances. The long striding youngster Mitchell Hocking 2:18.12 has improved greatly from last year in taking out Heat 4. Another youngster 15 year old Lonain Burnett won Heat 6 with a time of 2:26.86 while veteran Phil Brown took out Heat 5 with a time of 2:28.33 with the latter two normally more suited in the sprints. Michelle Stevenson also impressive with a 2:37.05 to be the leading veteran women in the event. Several members in the 800 metres are in career best form. Personal bests also from Jamie Cook 2:16.83, Craig Green 2:15.29, Nathan Green 2:46.39 and the fast improving Kirrily Burnett 2:25.48 has displayed that the winter performances for the club at Cross Country level and also representing the Bendigo Region has resulted in many members running at the top of their game. The 200 metre event did not see as much success for the Harriers as the search for sprinters in the club is on. Shaun Geraghty ran an excellent 25.01 to be the quickest of our athletes after his 800 metres only 45 minutes earlier. Lonain Burnett won his 200M heat again in a time of 26.18 in a heat with 5 other Harriers and not much separating the other 4 runners . Caitlyn Hocking took out the second heat in the women's 200 metres in a time of 29.67. Other performances of note came from James Cindric 25:77, Jake Mellington 25:93 and Sean Ryan 35:77 second in a chariots of fire finish. In the 70 metres where the race is over before you blink the versatile Louis Schenker was the quickest Harrier with a time of 9:26 from to win his heat from Jake Mellington 9:44. It was Heat 7 though that provided a scintillating finish with 70 plus athlete Ken Bruechert 12:19 taking victory from a gallant Sean Ryan. The final individual event and the 3000 metres saw Shaun Geraghty complete an outstanding day and win the event in a time of 9:30.35. Michelle Stevenson also ran a PB in breaking the 12 minute barrier easily and a time of 11:45.47. Last but not least Meredith Cook continued her weekly occurrence of setting a new Bendigo Record in the pre-vet category with a time of 10:29.30 over the 3000 metres. Meredith is attempting to qualify for the Zatopek A grade event in Melbourne to be held in the near future after last year taking out the B Grade event. Thanks to Hunter for the photos. Also refer to the report from Brett Gilligan with another 10 Harriers competing at the Doncaster track which gives our athletes some valuable experience at a much larger meeting.
27th October 2009 COOK AND STEVENSON BREAK INTO THE AB RECORDS VAULT At the track in the 5000 metres Meredith Cook has broken 18 minutes for the first time with a new Bendigo Pre-vet Record of 17:55. Going under 18 minutes is a brilliant effort and not easy for anyone! This time though our Mez had an accomplice in stealing a new record from the Athletics Bendigo vault. Michelle Stevenson has performed magnificently in a huge huge huge (as Darryl Eastlake would put it) personal best with a 19:43 and achieving a new Bendigo Record for the 40 plus group. Sub 20 min, Wow! It is a wonderful effort by Michelle who even herself was not aiming for times as low as that just a few weeks ago when talking about the Sweat V Steam.
30th October 2009 GERAGHTY EARNS QUALIFIER FOR THE NATIONAL TITLES The Harriers best performed male athlete for the 09/10 track season to date Shaun Geraghty made the long trek from his home in Shepparton on Thursday night. A shield meet at Box Hill was the venue for Shaun to aim for a National Qualifying 1500 metre time of 4 minutes and 5 seconds. Not sure if it was easy for Shaun but he smashed the qualifying requirement in running 4 minutes and 3 seconds after going close a few times already this year. It has been an unbelievable improvement since last year. Shaun has already achieved a National Qualifier in the 800 metres after a brilliant 1:59 last week at the track where he challenged Kaine Leech in the final 30 metres. What makes this also a remarkable effort with the times Shaun is achieving is that he just turned 16 on the 22nd October. Hopefully some more of our clubs elite athletes can get out to the track to assist Shaun even going lower in his efforts to make a big impact at the National Titles.
1st November 2009 MELBOURNE CUP TUESDAY 4TH NOVEMBER The Tuesday night meeting at 7pm at the track will be a Melbourne Cup type 3200 metre handicap. If you are interested in running, please arrive by 6.35pm or contact Greg Hilson by email at g.hilson@bigpond.net.au
1st November 2009 FUN RUNS COMING UP It looks like a number of Harriers will be competing at Echuca in the Sweat versus Steam event next Sunday 8th November. Rumours are circling that Meredith Cook, Michelle Stevenson, John Maher, Paul Bennett, Ross Evans, Victor Cook, Jamie Cook, Craig Green and maybe a few others are heading North. Good luck to all runners. Go to sweat v steam website for info.
1st November 2009 STIFFER POLE ENABLES GILLIGAN TO CONSISTENTLY SOAR TO NEW HEIGHTS and LEADS HOT HARRIERS AT TRACK AND FIELD COMPETITION (31ST OCTOBER) Brett Gilligan has been one of the mainstays to the Harriers performances in both Track and Field in addition to his expert coaching to Bendigo junior athletes and Harriers. Gilligan is having a serious tilt at the decathlon this year and recently was just 19 points short of a National Qualifier. Based on his performance at the pole vault into an unfavourable head wind on Saturday he is on track to reach his targets. Making use of a stiffer pole (note this is pole vault language and how this works I do not know in pole vault anyway) he soared on the weekend to 4 metres in taking out the pole vault event, which was just 5cm short of a personal best. The Bendigo record of 4.25m is within his sights to assist in enough points to earn a National Qualifier. The most impressive performance by a Harrier from the track was the win in Heat 2 of the 400 metres by Caitlyn Hocking in a personal best time of 1:04.97. Mum Kerrieanne in the same heat also ran an excellent race with three second quicker season best time of 1:11.34. Also impressive in the women's track events were Kirrily Burnett in the 1500 metres who looks like the professional circuit is on her mind. It was a run like some of the horses leading into the Melbourne Cup that looked full of potential for a big day. The in form Michelle Stevenson also in the 1500 metres ran a season best 5:23.41 while in the same race Kerrieanne Hocking 5:37.26 (8 second season best) and Yvette Tuohey 5:48.86 (9 second season best) are heading into the right direction. Keely Haig was the best performer in the 100 metre sprint with the 12 year old clocking an excellent season best 15:09. To the track men and staying with the 12 year olds and Nathan Green shaved another 5 further seconds off his personal best in the 1500 metres with a 5:40.41 in trying to run some of our girls down mentioned directly above. Other Harriers in the 1500 metres that ran well were 15 year old Jacob Nolan who almost went under the 5 minute barrier with a 5:00.36 and the 13 year old Matthew Cindric 5:00.79. Together with Shaun Geraghty nad Josh Powell we look like we have another exciting batch of distance runners coming through. Heat 1 of the 1500 metres saw the old and new meet with the 40 plus brigade taking the honours between the Harriers for the time being. Craig Green 4:37.75, Peter Cowell 4:46.46 over Jamie Cook 4:46.85 and Mictchell Hocking 5:03.14 after he donned the cricket whites in the morning. In the 400 metres Shaun Geraghty led the Harriers home with a 3 second season best of 54:85 to take out Heat 3. Heat 5 saw 15 year old Lonain Burnett take on some old farts from the Harriers 40 plus group of Craig Green, Phil Brown and Peter Cowell and he just got the better of them in a time of 1:02.17 from Green with a season best 1:02.71. Heat 6 saw Jacob Nolan with an excellent 1:02.97 ready to move up to race against the older folk of the club. Other good runs in the 400 metres were from Geoff Jordan with 1:06.97, Dylan Harvey 1:10.77 and Nathan Green 1:16.34 running season best times. The field events and the throws had some excellent results in particular for the Harriers. The Harriers filled the top 4 placings in the women's discus with Roxanne Kellow throwing a season best by 4 metres with a 32.37m throw. Lauren Shearman, Emily Macdonald and Alice Schenker all threw around the 26 metre mark. The star of the show though was Zoe Schenker who took off the judges uniform this week and threw a new centre and residential record for her age category. The throw of 20.02 metres surpassed the previous record by almost 2 metres. Philip Clayton was just tipped out of first place by the talented South Bendigo athlete Josh Pickthall with a season best 37.21m in the discus. There were many Harriers just behind Clayton though with the club filling up 6 of the top 10 placings. Also impressive were 12 year old Brayden Scanlon 22.31m and veteran Peter Bourke 27.34 metres. The triple jump had Harriers filling five of the top 10 placings. Louis Schenker 10.91m lead the way with good efforts also by 13 year olds Zac Palmer 9.72m and Ollie Lang 8.91m. At the javelin it was high class and close with the talented Harriers duo of Louis Schenker 46.18m and Shaun Geraghty 44.79 both with season bests but just missing out with Schenker just .72 of a metre from first. The veteran Garnett Rodda was in terrific form throwing over 30 metres and backing up from the discus Brayden Scanlon 29.25m, Peter Bourke 24.90 metres and Steve Ryan 22.48 meters threw the spear particularly well. Athletes should keep in mind the Country Championships in January. Based on the results coming in to date in the season and if all our athletes are AV registered then there may be some clubs around Victoria looking over their shoulders in many events. If you are not AV registered and would like to compete to earn points for the club at all events then see our club registrar Melinda Gilligan.
4th November 2009 HARRIERS NOW HIT THE AIRWAVES (yes you are reading right) The Harriers each fortnight will hit the airwaves with their own version of Radio Ga Ga. Yes that's right the club is now on 89.5 Fresh FM every fortnight at 10.30am Saturday mornings. Next show will be the 14th November. On Saturday we had President Craig Burnett and World Championship Gold Medalist Harrier Charles Chambers spend 10 to 15 minutes discussing the club. The guest seat will be a revolving one so if you are young, old or otherwise expect a call to appear on this unique Harriers show! Congratulations to Ivan Kitt and the committee for getting this off the ground and another way to bring the club to you.
8th November 2009 BUS TRIP TO MELBOURNE (from Brett Gilligan) We are still three weeks away from our next bus trip (November 28th), but just sowing the seeds early. The next comp will be at Nunawading, with the same program as the previous trip (Program 1 in your AV handbook). Last time, we dominated with a massive 14 personal bests. This was mainly due to the impressive competition East Region offers (and the fact that most of the people on the bus were having their first run). If you would like to get on the bus, please let me know. I am hoping to have the bus full before next weekend. Priority will be given to those who are AV registered members of the Harriers. Bus will leave at 10:00am to allow for significant warm up time before first event at 1:00pm. Bus will return to Bendigo at approximately 7:00pm. If there are any queries, please direct them to me in person. address.
8th November 2009 HARRIERS CONQUER ECHUCA IN SWEAT VERSUS STEAM CLASSIC There were Harriers everywhere on a very warm morning at Echuca on Sunday 8th November and these same members left the rest of the field mainly looking at our backsides as the club dominated the run at both the 13km and 5km distances. In the major race Brady Threlfall over 13km ran a time around 43 minutes to finish well in front of Australian cross country representative and winner of the race for the past 2 years Mark Thompson. Official results are yet to be posted to the web but following these two were a number of Harriers. Matthew Hooke (approx 47 minutes) finished 3rd, Cody Williamson 4th, John Maher (around 48.30) would have been top 6 and also Victor Cook in the top 20. Tony Fahy also ran well to be high up in the veterans. In the women's race the clubs was represented by Meredith Cook and Wendy Stibbe. Meredith ran a sensational time of just over 50 minutes to take out the race and Wendy was also a high finisher in the women's race after a marathon only a few weeks ago. The 5km event was again dominated by the Harriers. Rick Ermel continued on his splendid form to win in running 17.10 on a very quick course closely followed in 2nd by Craig Green with a 45 second PB in 17.15 both being Masters entrants In 4th was Ross Evans followed by the men's open winner in Jamie Cook 5th on his birthday in around 18.20 and a 20 second PB. Matthew Cindric in the Under 14 event ran a 2 minute PB (not sure when writing this if he won his age group). Paul Bennett also starting to rack up the km's finished in around 19.20. To the girls and to ensure the Harriers won all open men and women and masters men and women Michelle Stevenson the Harriers most improved athlete over the last 12 months took out the women's 5km in a time around 19.15. If I missed any other Harriers I apologise.
8th November 2009 ALICE HEADING TO HOBART IN VIC TEAM This story has only just been picked up off Facebook but Alice Schenker has made a junior Victorian Schools team to participate in the Hammer Throw. Alice will head to Hobart to compete on the 4th December. It's a terrific effort by Alice who has been a very consistent performer locally for a long time.
8th November 2009 BLAKE EARNS NATIONAL QUALIFYER Another junior Harrier doing well with Blake Pryse jumping 1.65 metres in the high jump, which is a qualifier for the National Titles. Displaying his versatility Blake has previously represented Victoria at Cross Country.
8th November 2009 GERAGHTY AND OTHER HARRIERS EXCEL AT VIC ALL SCHOOLS Shaun Geraghty has made the finals of 2 races to continue on his fine form this season at Olympic Park at the Victorian All Schools. A 4th place finish in the 800 metres in a PB of 1:58.45 was a great result after a 5th just 2 days prior in the 1500 metres. In addition to Geragty here are some of the other results from results located on the AV website. Louis Schenker 14th long jump, 11th triple jump, 5th discus, 3rd hammer, 2nd javelin (47.49m). Alice Schenker 3rd shot put, 6th javelin. Roxanne Kellow 4th shot put, 3rd discus, 3rd hammer (just 25cm behind winner).
8th November 2009 Y RUN The successful Y Run in the relay format runs from different points into Bendigo will again be run on Sunday 29th November. We are looking for 3 teams of 10 runners. There is more news to come on this from Ivan Kitt with whom you can ask any questions about the event. Look out for an update with further information.
8th November 2009 ACCOMMODATION FOR COUNTRY TITLES IN JANUARY Everyone was warned on the website that the club booked accommodation for the Country Championships at Moe in January was filling up quickly. Now there are no cabins left but just a couple of beds. The club had to book as far away as Warragul due to limited options in the area and could only get their hands on 10 caravan park cabins. Therefore if you are going and have not booked the club highly recommends that you book somewhere like a motel quickly. as I sure these will also be filling up quickly. Unfortunately there are also no caravan or tent sites as park is very full. Any queries see Meredith Cook.
15th November 2009 Y RUN POSTPONED The Y Run has been postponed with the club instead looking to make it as part of the Winter Cross Cross Season when our long distance members are around the club in an abundance.
15th November 2009 WEBSITE EDITORS Looking for assistance for editors at track and field events from the Harriers to do a short write up from their event. Not being at every event makes it hard to cover everything. We have lead this week with the track events after the field events for the past 2 weeks but rather get an even coverage from all events. Just type something out in microsoft word by 6pm on a Sunday and send it to the website editor by email (refer to email address in contents and 'contact us'). Your name will be placed next to the story. It can even be humerous.
15th November 2009 COOK COOKS GREEN EGGS AND HAM (WRITE UP FROM TRACK AND FIELD 14TH NOVEMBER) The Harriers Jamie Cook came of age as a serious athlete with an outstanding performance in the 800 metres on the weekend. After some friendly banter in recent weeks between Cook and the 'Green Hornet' who he had never beaten in a race over 400 metres the Cook cooked the Green when he recorded a 4 second PB in heat 2 of the 800 metre event with a time of 2:12.05. Green was not disappointed though finally going under 2:15 with a 2:13.96. Another runner that continues to improve in the middle distance events is Jacob Nolan who took out heat 3 of the 800 metres in his season best time of 2:16.01 and should almost move up to the next heat in coming weeks. In the same race Peter Cowell 2:18.15 and Victor Cook 2:21.65 ran season best times. In the other men's heats of the 800 metres the highlights came from: - Shaun Geraghty in Heat 1 with another sub 2 minute run and 3rd place. - Lonain Burnett having another victory in Heat 4 with a run of 2:20.53. - Tim Ralton having his first run for the Harriers with a promising 2:26.53. - A 3 second PB for Nathan Green in Heat 7 with a run of 2:43.22. - Ian Wellard taking out Heat 8 in a time of 2.32.27. In the women's 800 it was once again Meredith Cook that shone by again setting a new Bendigo record but breaking one she already held with a new pre-vet benchmark of 2:29.34. Yvette Tuohey looks like she is starting to near her best form with a season best 2:42.31 in narrowly losing Heat 7. The two veteran girls Michelle Stevenson 2:38.35 and Kerrieanne Hocking 2:44.80 we tip will have some close battles by seasons end with both running very well at present. Great to also one of our other top veterans return from illness with Anne Buckley in the 3000 metres. To the 200 metres and Shaun Geraghty 25:15 and Stacey Fiske returning to the track with a very good first up run of 25:39 finished with a top 10 finish. James Cindric 25:95 took out Heat 3 of the 200 metres with an easy victory into one of the strongest head winds of the day so the run and time was even better taking this into consideration. Ian Wellard 31:84 continued on his winning day in taking out Heat 5. In the girls 200 metres Mel Gilligan coming back from the longer distances recorded a third place 34:29 and Isabelle Cindric 5th in 37.10. The 70 metre dash had Dave Chisholm record a well deserved victory in Heat 4 with a time of 10 seconds flat. Matthew Cindric also saluted the judges in Heat 5 with a 10:63. Other good performances in the shortest of sprints came from James Cindric 9:04 and Aaron Petrie 9:09. To the field events and the Harriers continue to improve. The hammer throw saw the Harriers fill the first 7 male placings and first 5 women's placings in dominating the event. In the women's hammer there were some terrific performances. Youngster Roxanne Kellow threw an outstanding 37.07 metres and won comfortably over Alice Schenker who threw over 30 metres for the first time with a 30.57 metres and Emily Macdonald 30.08 only centimeters behind. The veteran Barbara Kellow 27.71m was on her game but it was Zoe Schenker with \ 23.87m effort that smashed the 50 plus record by six metres. Philip Clayton continues to dominate the men's hammer with a 43.53 metre hurl doubling the distance of the next competitor. Garnet Rodda 21.57m and Richard Kellow 21.35m both threw well over the 20 metre mark. The other strength event was the shot put and as usual the Harriers lead the way. Again it was a nailbiter between the friendly rivals and little separated Alice Schenker 8.88m and Roxanne Kellow 8.67m. Other Harriers throwing well over 7 metres were Barbara Kellow 7.63m and the versatile Michelle Stevenson 7.23m. Brett Gilligan was the leading male harrier in the shot with a third place and a 10.19 metre put. Garnet Rodda was the leading veteran with a great effort of 9.54m while Richard Kellow 8.93m and Steve Ryan 8.70m were also very good. The day for Brett Gilligan got better with a first and excellent 1.85 metres in the high jump in the steamy conditions. To continue the jumping theme Gilligan ran a brilliant 58.02 in the 400m hurdles and third in the long jump 5.78m. Back to the high jump with Aaron Petrie 1.70m and Sam Gough 1.60m jumping well while a PB was record by pocket rocket Brayden Scanlon 1.50m. Geoff Jordon continued his improvement in the long jump to be second in the veteran men with 4.59 metres. Men to finish in the top 10 were Louis Schenker 5.46m, Aaron Petrie 5.44m and Shaun Geraghty 5.25m. Our leading lady in the jump was Keely Haig with a 4.07m effort and fourth place. In the race walk Ian Wellard was third and John Watson fourth over the marathon 3000 metre journey. Well done to all Harriers on their patience on a reasonably hot day. Next week we see Program 2 for events to be held on the 21st November.
18th November 2009 10,000 METRE AB CHAMPIONSHIP HAS ATHLETES GIDDY BUT NEW TRACK RECORD SET Congratulations to Ian Wellard who took out the championship in 37.03. Ian has performed very well in this race over the years and almost runs his 400 metre pace throughout the mind numbing 25 laps. Harriers filled the first 3 placing's with John Maher on the comeback trail with a 38.11 and Craig Green in a disappointing 39.10. Michelle Stevenson won the women's race in 42.03 with a 5 minute PB and also set a new 'centre' record to continue her stellar first track season in Bendigo.
18th November 2009 KEELY CONTINUES HARRIERS HOLD ON LOCAL FUN RUNS On Sunday 15th November and one year after Craig Mottram won the Trentham Cool Classics Fun Run the Harriers Bryan Keely added his name to the honour roll in taking out the 5km race in a time of 16:29.99. Ben Fahy was the other Harrier to fill the placings in 3rd not far behind in 16:53.13. Other Harriers to run were Evan Barr (7th, 17:38.20), Virginia Bennett (2nd female 20:05.82), Paul Bennett (18th 20:19.28). In the 10km event once again we had some Harriers performing well over the hilly course. Ross Evens led the Harriers in 4th with a time of 39:34.68. Ben Goode completed the course in 6th place in a time of 41:05.30.
23rd November 2009 MOTHER AND DAUGHTER COMBO RULE (WRITE UP FROM TRACK AND FIELD 21st NOVEMBER) The discus for the last few seasons has been one of the more successful events for the Harriers and especially with the women. On Saturday the trend continued with the family combination of Roxanne Kellow 31.16 metres taking out the event from Mum Barbara Kellow 24.30m. Good to see some other Harriers also high up in the standings with Ashlea Monigatti in 4th, Zoe Schenker 6th and Michelle Stevenson 7th all with top 10 finishes. It was a great battle in the men's discus with Philip Clayton 37.53m just falling short of first place. Louis Schenker 4th (32.04m), Shaun Geraghty 5th (30.14m), Richard Kellow continuing on the family pedigree in the event at 14 years of age 7th (23.99m) and the leading veteran Peter Bourke again consistent in 8th (22.99m) all with top 10 finishes. At the women's javelin 16 year old Indiah Guy had to battle some other youngsters but very much more experienced and finished in an excellent second place with a throw of 27.13 metres. The men's javelin saw David Birch perform for the first time this season and an outstanding throw of 56.10 metres displaying some excellent talent with the spear to win easily. The Harriers quinelled the event with Shaun Geraghty 46.74m showing he is an all-rounder when it comes to track and field. Louis Schenker 4th in (44.83m) and Dave Chisholm 8th (26.58m) also threw well. At the men's triple jump it was the master over the pupils when Brett Gilligan was the leading jumper amongst the Bendigo clubs with 11.54m. Gilligan has some handy youngsters in the Harriers stable with 13yo Blake Pryse 10.71m, 12yo Brayden Scanlon 10.12m, 13yo Oliver Lang 9.24m and 14yo Jordan Wilson 8.68m all high up in the top 10. In the pole vault Gilligan showed his versatility to take out the event with a 4 metre effort. Ashlea Monigatti took on the might of Eaglehawk at the girls triple jump to finish with an extremely respectable second and just 39cm behind with a 10.61m effort. The busy Michelle Stevenson also jumped well with 7.47m. To the track and for the Harriers the most excitement came from the 400 metre event. Heat 4 of the women's event pitted Melinda Gilligan fresh from the long distances of cross country against youngster Isabelle Cindric. Gilligan went to an early lead before Cindric attacked at the 230 metre mark to head Gilligan into the straight. In a chariots of fire final 50 metre Gilligan led, then Cindric led, then Gilligan led, then Cindric led before the more experienced Gilligan dug deep for a .32 second victory over the gallant Cindric. It was exhausting watching the race as both gave their all. Earlier in the 400 metres our two leading veteran ladies over the 400 metres fought out a terrific battle with Michelle Stevenson and Kerrieanne Hocking against some other youngsters that should be racing in earlier heats. Stevenson ran very well in third with a 1:09.73 and Hocking also not disgraced with a 1:12.26. To the men's 400 metres and the club discovered some hidden talent with a fair bit of speed having not raced in the event this year. James Cindric and Mitchell Hocking were buried in some later heats bit now are amongst the leaders in the 400 metres. Cindric took out Heat 3 with a 56.70 second effort in beating fellow Harriers Lonain Burnett 59.56 and Jacob Nolan 59.82 also running well. In Heat 4 Mitchell Hocking blew the field away with an exceptional run of 56.41. Other successes in the heats of the 400 metres came from first year Harrier Dave Chisholm with a 1:05.55 win in Heat 5 from Dylan Harvey 1:08.33. In Heat 6 it was the evergreen Steve Ryan 1:13.25 showing the field a clean pair of heels. The 100 metres once again saw Shaun Geraghty the quickest Harrier with a 12.22 in Heat 1. In Heat 2 newcomer James Cindric ran an exceptional 12.33 to win narrowly in a close finish and complete a day of outstanding performances. In Heat 3 a 13.63 effort by 12 year old Jack Monigatti displayed his ability. On the other end of the maturity scale Steve Ryan made it a double when he took out Heat 5 of the 100 metres in 14.66. The water was on the track earlier than the Saturday night downpour for the steeple chase and David Birch after his earlier javelin victory comprehensively won over the 3000 metre journey in 11:08.98 from Jamie Cook 11:43.98. Louis Schenker and his accidental bellywacker into the water though was the highlight. The first event of the day was the 1500 metres and a hot field assembled with the Harriers still without some of their A Graders putting up excellent efforts. Shaun Geraghty 4:06.44 and Bryan Keely 4:09.22 were 3rd and 4th respectively. Craig Green with another PB in the event was the leading veteran with a 4:36.20 together with Peter Cowell 4:41.49 who ran a season best time. It was Meredith Cook though that completed her weekly ritual of having to complete a new Bendigo record form and ran aggressively early with a 4:45.53 that even surprised herself this time. In Heat 2 of the 1500 metres Victor Cook and Jacob Nolan dead heated for third in 4:50.69. For Cook it was a season best and for Nolan he will may be running in Heat 1 after showing some remarkable improvement in recent weeks. In the same heat the father and daughter battle with the Bennett's was a highlight and Virginia 5:02.50 just got the better of Paul 5:06.07 although Paul has put it on record this will not happen again. Dylan Harvey 5:12.18 is now getting closer to the 5 minute barrier with a good run. Michelle Stevenson who is having a splendid season had another PB this time by 7 seconds with a 5:18.99. Terry Crome with a 5:23.54 ran well as did Anne Buckley 5:27.98 and Jo-Anne Keely 5:31.43 who all were returning to the track. The club will have a very handy 4X1500 women's 40+ team with Kerrieanne Hocking 5:35.65 thrown in from Heat 3. I can't wait to see the women's 40+ 1500 metre championship if all women are available. In the same heat Lyn Crome 5:48.56 ran her best time of the season after Yvette Tuohey 5:46.00 set a blistering first lap.
23rd November 2009 HARRIERS SERVE IT UP IN OLYMPIC DREAM The Harriers athletes have been competing extremely well in regional funs runs but this time several of our runners competed in the 10km Olympic Dream Fun Run amongst 1820 other runners. Three Harriers in the top 10 is a bloody fantastic effort. Paul Boxshall ran a superb 34:06 to finish in second. Ben Fahy 34:21 was third and Matthew Hooke 36:11 in tenth place. Charles Chambers was 23rd (2nd 50-59) in 38:15 after earlier in the morning running up the Eureka Tower. Victor Cook not far behind in 28th place (3rd 40-49) and 39:03. Tony Fahy was a respectable 537 accross the line in a time of 52:13.
23rd November 2009 HARRIERS XMAS PARTY HARRIERS XMAS PARTY The Harriers will be holding their annual Xmas Party on the evening of Wednesday 9th December from 6pm. It will be a BBQ tea with the venue at the Crook Street Park in Strathdale.
27th November 2009 GOOD LUCK MEREDITH Meredith Cook will be the only Bendigonian male or female taking part in the 5000 metre Victorian Championships on Thursday 26th November at Olympic Park. This race is by invite only so good luck Meredith. My bet is another PB. *** News just in and Meredith has run 17 minutes & 28 seconds to smash her personal best by 27 seconds and finish 7th in the Victorian Women's Open Championship over the 5000 metre distance. Not too bad for a mum running against most athletes half her age and clearly the best running performance of any Bendigo open athlete at the elite level this season.
27th November 2009 MULTI EVENT CHAMPIONSHIPS The Multi Event Championships will be held on the 19th and 20th December. The club has several athletes both male and female that have displayed all round track and field talent this year so the Harriers could do well here. Entry forms may be found by clicking to the link next to the box.
27th November 2009 RECORD FORMS If you want to claim a record a copy of this form can be found in the contents under "forms", seeing that Meredith Cook, Michelle Stevenson and Zoe Schenker have used their fair share this year.
30th November 2009 DON'T FORGET THESE WEEKLY EVENTS At the Tom Flood Centre Centre we have the Hilson Builders sprint series (150/300 metres) and Distance series 800/1600 metres that are run on alternate Thursday nights. This is held at the Tom Flood Sports Centre so those cross country runners allergic to the rubber track come and run on the grass. It is also handicapped like Cross Country so an even race occurs. Lonain Burnett and Mitchell Hocking have been running very well to date.
30th November 2009 ZOE SCHENKER SHOT SIZZLES STANDARDS (and other news from the track and field 28th Nov) Zoe Schenker led the charge from the Harriers at the track and field last Saturday when she continued her Bendigo record breaking form. In the 50 plus age group Zoe set the new benchmark of 7.35 metres in the shot put. That was just the beginning as she also smashed her own Bendigo hammer throw record set a few weeks ago with a distance of 24.37m. Philip Clayton continued on his form to take out the hammer with a 42.23 metre throw for the men while Roxanne Kellow with 35.00m was best for the girls. The Harriers filled the 9 top placings in the event. Alice Schenker was best of the Harriers at the shot put with 8.56m. In the men's event junior Richard Kellow was impressive with a 9.15m effort and the improving Geoff Jordan took out the veterans with a put of 8.58m. Continuing with the field events and Louis Schenker was placed equal first at the high jump with a leap of 1.70m. Later in the day Schenker was third with a 5.69m effort in the long jump. Newcomer Malcolm Duncan jumped 5.25m to finish 5th in the long jump event. Brett Gilligan was in Melbourne competing at the strong metropolitan meet at Nunawading and almost all his performances would have won in Bendigo. A time of 22.9 seconds in less favourable conditions than then our local sprinters had with strong tail winds would have won the 200 metres. A jump of 1.85m in the high jump and 6.08m long jump sees the allrounder in good form for a tilt at the upcoming decathlon events. At the track many of our athletes had a week off from their normal competition after a strong start to the season. First year athlete James Cindric continues to impress with raw talent after taking out Heat 2 of the 70 metres in 8.79 seconds (4th quickest on the day) and a very good second in a strong heat 2 of the 200 metres in 24.95 behind Harrier young gun Shaun Geraghty 24.95. Ashley Wells took out Heat 4 of the 70 metres in 10.10 seconds while 73 year old Eddy Rowan also got those legs moving with a performance of 13.42 seconds prior to throwing the hammer and after the 1500 metre walk. Jamie Cook turned his attention to the 200 metres and showed some speed in taking out Heat 4 in 26.64. Garnet Rodda took out heat 5 in a thrilling finish in 30.43 with fellow veteran Bob Newton also running well in the sprints in the time of 33.08. It was a tough day in the 800 metres with strong head winds up the back straight but Lonain Burnett got it right to win again in Heat 3 with a time of 2:20.34. Heat 4 almost saw an all Harrier affair and Ian Wellard taking it out with the photo finish needed in 2:28.01 from the leading female in the event Virginia Bennett 2:28.67 and Phil Brown 2:28.87. The final Heat saw an enthralling race with 4 of the 5 runners holding the lead at some stage in the final 250 metres and Lyn Crome just pipped at the post in a time of 2:57.40.
1st December 2009 COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS ENTRIES AND DRAFT TIME TABLE Aths Victoria has sent out the entry form and a draft timetable for the the Vic country championships to be held at Moe. Entries close 7th January. Entry form in "Forms" on our website.
2nd December 2009 PRO MEETS - VICTORIAN ATHLETICS LEAGUE Many Harriers run in the Pro Meets during both winter and summer. To recognise this we now have a link via the contents home page to VAL - Bendigo to show support and recognise our runners competing in these events. Local athlete Greg Hilson is the correspondent with up to date reports with what's going on and what has happened. On 3/12/09 Shaun Ryan will run in a gift final in the AWD 120m. Read Greg's report for more information.
2nd December 2009 VICTORIA'S FASTEST KID Congratulations and best of luck to Jack Monigatti who has made the semi finals of the Victoria's Fastest Kid Series. A time of 13.48 means he will run at the Zatopek meet at Olympic Park and a chance on the night to make it through to the final. After the semi-finals Jack finished 11th which is a very good result considering the whole state is involved.
