State League 2001 Finals - Week 2

Let's hear from Men's Team Manager Justin Hanrahan:

After a killer first week, the men were set up beautifully for a victorious second week. There would be no reason to beware the "Ides of March", Burnham Woods was no where to be seen and while much ambition was evident, the vaulting was done with last Thursday.

It also meant the manager could really enjoy his mandatory 3-4 beers at the Corner Hotel.

Basically, the teams attracted very good support for the night and the men kicked off through victories to Cameron Grant (hammer) and Brendan and Stu (400mH).

Although very few get to see the event out in Yarra Park each week, Cameron Grant and Hans Lotz (his coach) have had things ticking along beautifully all season. Cameron threw well again last night, despite a twisted ankle and the competition was over. His only opposition was "honorary" Bayside member Marty Duriska which meant the points were worth a whole lot more as 2nd and 3rd were unable to register a point.

Like Cameron, Brendan and Stu have been indefatigable (first time I have used this word in a report!) all season. Brendan won in a very slick time - second best ever, I think - while Stu ran a very smooth race to win comfortably. As far as scoring was concerned, it was just about over at this point.

Of course, Justin, Nfa and Aiden (like everyone else) went out and ran very well. Justin and Nfa both under 22sec, while Aiden continued his great form since Christmas with a good second. These guys have been outstanding all season and the most reliable of sprinters. They have provided the team with a quality we probably lacked a couple of years ago and from a manager's perspective, are always very keen to run.

Our esteemed walker, Simon Baker, again showed his worth and came a very good third in the 3km. Simon is a multiple Olympian, and Australian rep, a member of the athletes commission and significant contributor to our sport. That he walks for us every week, unprompted, is a credit to Simon and something that should be recognised by all. A big thanks.

The discus was on early this week and that meant, for the first time, that Matt got to throw in sunlight. This was probably a good thing because if it had been too much colder he may have gone and put on his specially designed t-shirt for all to see. Thankfully he resisted the temptation until later on in the evening. Matt is one of the best team players going around and a quality athlete, to boot. He has a great interest in the sport and I hope he will be around for a long while to come.

Tom Farr was out at the high jump as he has been all season and for a javelin thrower, he is a pretty fine jumper. An injury meant throwing was out of the picture this season but Tom racked up plenty of points for the team and it was great to have him in the finals team.

In the other jumping event for the night, Matt Woodruff went over 7m again in the long and continued a very good season. Like many others, Matt is always available and helpful when it comes to selecting a team and I hope that he succeeded in getting as drunk as he planned to last night. Thanks Matt

"Athlete of the Year", Nfa Forster-Jones was back at it in the hurdles and ran another great race to be undefeated for the season. It says something for the strength of the team that the only athlete close to Nfa all season was Aaron Peterson! Aaron was undefeated by an athlete from another club for the season and has doubled up when needed in both the long and short relays.

The only other events were the long(ish) ones. Brenno was going for 4 in a row in the 800, but it was not to be and a strong second was his reward (but officially first due to a disqualification). Brenno has had a great season, beating long-time PBs and next season he will be going under 1.50 - be there for that one. I have a feeling that our youngest 800m (the oldest was only 21!) might not be far behind him. Todd Andrews ran out of his skin to take 3 seconds off his PB. Todd had been desperate to run and got his chance late in the piece. Todd has been excellent this year and look out for him next year. Evan? A season's best and a good step towards a few months in the USA at Camp Lotsachicksandguys in upstate Noo York. Good luck to him in the 550 at Stawell.

The relay was not our fastest, but it was full of big contributions - especially from Brenno and Aaron who ran despite common sense telling them not to. Honestly, had the manager been fit (no matter how slow) he would have stepped out. Sadly, it was not to be.

The 5k saw Clint lairising around as he crossed the finish line, closely followed by a rejuvenated Dean Lane. Great runs, both. And finally to Anthony Park. It wasn't the exciting crescendo of last season, but the 2000/2001 season finished when Anth crossed the line. It has been a great advantage to have Anth in the team and look for more improvement next year.

Finally.......

Thank you to everyone! Thanks for making it easy for me and making it a truly enjoyable season. Thanks to the coaches, officials (who allow us to keep the points we earn each week) and the parents.

A special thanks to André Sammartino who continues to produce amazing web stuff and e-mails despite the fact that he is not actually a lecturer anymore...where does he find the time?

Also congrats on a fantastic job by my brother, Matt, and his team which brought the girls from 8th to 2nd.

I am to be married on Saturday week and will be off to Sri Lanka after that, but we will be having a get together in mid-April. Look out for it...

One final thanks...Thank you to all those answering machines, message banks and semaphore operators who managed to get all my frantic pleas through to team members during the season. Without you, I am no one. I am truly humbled in your presence and an eternally indebted to you.

Beeeeeeeeep.

Matt speaks:

Congrats to all involved in the womens team - we finished a very creditable 2nd behind the all powerful Box Hill after two weeks of intense competition. It really wasn't until the second last event that we were out of contention. A fantastic effort. Congratulations to both Box Hill and Melbourne Uni. Final Scores Box Hill 376, Bayside 341, Melbourne Uni 327.

First some housekeeping, (but don't tell my flatmate). A huge thankyou to my two little Santa's helpers for the year. Megan Boyes - Miss Idaho, has co-ordinated all aspects of our throwers this year and because of her, we have pretty much secured maximum points every week. It got to the point where I didn't even check this week that everybody was coming, I knew they would. Our throwing girls have been the backbone of the team, and all girls have been well rewarded in the latter part of the year with pb's and personal accolades. Hopefully Megan will be back in full flight next season as a competitor with a very strong knee. Thank you Megan.

And then to Andre, or as he has been called on many occasions this year - Who's Andre? It's a bit like the Where's Wally books, in that he is ever present, ever smiling and ever helpful. If we could only get him to wear the red and white striped shirt. Andre is the one who prepares the results sheets, sends out the e-mails, sets up the web page and updates us on everyone's performances in the major championships In the latter part of the season he co-ordinated the women's team whilst I was off at school putting on puppet shows. Without him, we would not be where we are. Thanks Andre.

And then a big thank you to the coaches who have worked closely with us all year, letting us have athletes when they probably didn't wish to and prodding them to compete in events which they are probably not used to. It all makes for a great team spirit. I think the greatest rewards are that there are probably very few athletes out there this season who didn't attain at least one pb whilst competing in state league competition this season. It is the best going around and I think people are starting to realise this.

SO,

400mh - you probably all heard us pleading for athletes for this one, and two of our finest kindly put their hands up under duress to give it a go. Tammy Gibson, who has been showing great form on the flat in the latter part of the season decided that many years of not jumping things was not providing satisfaction. She went to the blocks and probably realised that it is very hard to jump hurdles at top pace. She was running to qualifying pace until the ninth hurdle, which suddenly got bigger and caused her to tumble. To her credit she got up to finish and was smiling immediately afterwards. Sarah Wiltshire was a pole vaulter who does have a good hurdling record, although very little 400 metre training this year. She held form over the event and managed to run 68.1 for some major points. We've booked her in for next year.

In the Long Jump, Emma Cochrane suffered possibly her first defeat of the season, however she has been dealing with a couple of niggling injuries over the last week and it was great to have her out there. The walk provided us with almost maximum points as both Shirley and Megan competed against the very talented Wendy Muldoon from Box Hill. Megan crossed the line in under 15 minutes, which I believe would go close to her best for the season, and proved to be a fine performance as she was very close to some of her male counterparts. Shirley, our most regular contributor, was not far behind.

Hammer Time (wo ho ho, wo ho ho), where our athlete of the year, yep you heard it right, took the title. Gab Neighbour was constantly smiling last night after she was awarded, along with Nfa, the competitions highest honour for the best athlete in state league competition. It was a very exciting night for both of them who received cash prizes and who get to share an honour board with names such as Cathy Freeman and Kyle Vander Kuyp. Oh yeah, and she won the hammer for the 11th time this season.

In the 200, Tamsyn was woken up from her slumber about two hours before race time to face a fighting fit opposition. I personally have slept pretty much before every race I've ever contested and didn't see what the problem was, however I hadn't flown 24 hours back from Portugal in the last day. Katrina Steward and Sarah Dosen (pb) both ran brilliantly in very close races to finish with very quick times and set themselves up for good runs in Brisbane.

Another pb over in the centre, where Emily Ryan, as she has done all season, fielded the last minute phone call and without flinching, offered her services to the team. It was very much worth it last night as she jumped another pb for the season and cracked the 1.70m mark for the first time ever. The best thing was that her attempts at 1.75 proved that she is not far away either.

At this stage, we were about 5 points up on Box Hill and travelling nicely. Onto the track stepped Kate Harris, who will go down in history as the only athlete to arrive at state league during the season to tell us that she is not running. That sort of attitude is so un-athletic, but very much appreciated. Kate has been the greatest person to organise this season and her performances have been exemplary. In the first lap, she went out a little cautiously, probably waiting to see who her opposition was. When she realised that she was far better than anybody else out there, she simply stepped up the pace and strode to a very strong victory. We wish Kate the best over the longer events during the winter season.

In the discus, another athlete, another pb. Bec Neilsen, whose name I have misspelt on 400 occasions this year, threw 43.19 to improve her pb again this season by nearly two metres. Bec has improved her disc by four and a half metres this season and her shot by nearly a metre and a half. She has also been our leading points scorer this season and a great team person.

In the short hurdles, Sarah Dosen was running neck and neck with Georgie Power who has been performing brilliantly on the national grand prix circuit. Over hurdles 6,7 and 8, we all thought Sarah might get her, however Georgie just pulled away at the last second. Sarah was rewarded with a very fast time, which I think might have been her second pb for the night. Don't quote me on that. Jeanette Bowles also had her best run for the season over the short hurdles and was very happy with her performance until I told her she was running a 400 relay leg. It's the little things in life that make the managers life a happy one.

To the 800, where another pb was found. Tammy Gibson, who filled in on short notice under the promise that she wouldn't have to jump things finished the last 100 in very strong fashion to run a new pb of 2min 16.9. Tammy looks so comfortable at the two lap event and will look to step up to it next season. Not far behind was Helena Montgomery who has continued to break pb's at state league this season and Tara Gleeson who put her hand up this week when we were short of athletes. Both of these girls have always said yes when asked to compete and their efforts are very much appreciated. Box Hill showed their true class in this race, finishing 1,2,3 with all three girls running sub 2.10.

With Tamsyn tired, Tara Jelly-legged, Katrina ill, Helena exhausted and Jeanette upset with me, we did a quick points tally and realised that our presence in the 4x4 would not be able to lift us to first, nor could we be passed by Melbourne Uni. So we decided to opt out, and never before have I seen a happier group of girls. It probably meant that the score line did us a little less justice than we deserved, however I think we deserve every accolade we could get.

Finally, thanks to everyone who competed at any time throughout the season and congrats to Jussie and the boys, even though he wouldn't let me run the 4*4. Hope all of you do a big winter and come back faster higher stronger next season. I'm taking the phone off the hook.

Results are here.

Read last week's report