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Week One of the finals kicked off well for the women's team... no idea what ever happened to the men's report
Welcome to the Sandra Sully presents women’s finals report. Whilst Sandra didn’t actually appear anywhere near the track last night and she was not in fact not aware that Cathy Freeman won a gold medal at the Olympics, she did send her best to the team via telepathy.
It obviously helped. Currently, the women are sitting an unofficial 39 points clear of Box Hill and a further 25 or so points back to Melbourne Uni. It bodes well for next week, however there’s still plenty of work to do.
The evening started with the 100 metres. Tamsyn lined up in heat one against the wind, Anne Dellar and Rosina Dick. A solid 12.49 into a 3.8m/s headwind got us away well. Kylie Reed showed that the wind doesn’t affect her as she bolted away in to take out the second heat and maximum points. Lisa Morrison pulled on the spikes for heat three and ran an excellent first sixty metres, and hanging on to run third in 13.19.
Over at the Triple Jump, Karen Lyne graciously pulled on the spikes in lieu of an injured Jeanette Bowles and followed up her strong Adelaide performance to take full points for the team. On the infield, Natasha De Neise finished a credible second in the Javelin as Celia McIntosh posted a Commonwealth Qualifier at the front of the field. Tash also made her first appearance over at Bayside headquarters to accept the grateful thanks from management for a superb season.
The victories continued at Yarra Park where Gabrielle Neighbour again took out a strong Hammer competition to score maximum points in front of a capacity crowd on the Sandringham line train. The driver even blew his horn in appreciation of her efforts.
Sadly, due to work and holiday commitments, we were only able to field one walker in the longer event. Happily, Justi Tonti-Fillipini took up the task and managed to produce a season’s PB of 26 minutes flat. Even more impressive is the fact the Justi is moving temporarily to Sydney as of tomorrow and still managed to find time to compete for us in a very heavy schedule.
Greatest appreciation for the day goes to Helena Montgomery, who thanks to a well timed phone call to Richmond Station and a very considerate boyfriend who brought in her gear, managed to fill in for an injured Sue Gloster in the 1500. Helena joined Kate Seibold and Julia Smith for a strong 1500, where the race was quickly broken into two groups. The three runners crossed the line in 6th, 7th and 8th to earn very valuable points for the team. Helena was rewarded for her efforts with a new PB.
The late starting relay saw possibly the strongest Bayside team for the year take the field. Lisa Morrison ran sharply from the blocks and had a good change with Kylie Reed, who showed her class down the back straight. Whilst not perfect, the change to Sarah Dosen gave us the inside running on the bend as she handed to Tamsyn, who generously volunteered to run into the headwind for the second of three times over the evening (well, OK. Maybe I prompted her a little bit). The team finished a very creditable second behind Melbourne Uni.
Almost full marks in the hurdles to both Sarah and Jeanette who appeared unphased by the headwinds. Sarah finished second to Georgie Power, whilst Jeanette took the Blue Ribbon in Heat Two. Still on the subject of jumping things, Melissa Jones found herself in a much more competitive steeplechase than she has been used to in recent weeks. Melissa ran stongly in yuk conditions to finish fourth. A huge thanks also to Stef Puszka, who after competing at the Nationals in Adelaide and after school runs during the day, put herself on the line over the 3k sticks. Unfortunately, with a lap to go, the lactic got too big and the steeples got too tall as Stef was unable to complete the race.
The quiet achiever award of the night goes to Bec Neilsen, who took maximum points in the Shot, even if it was possibly the closest she has been pushed by her competitors all season. Definitely a sign of a good athlete who can win when it counts.
So, with a steadily increasing lead over the course of the night, it came down to the 400’s. It’s always sort of comforting when you have an Olympic semi-finalist in the first heat. Tamsyn didn’t let us down as she posted arguably the best Bayside performance for the season, stopping the clock with 52 seconds still displayed on the scoreboard. In Heat Two, Bronwyn Liozou pulled on the Bayside colours for the first time since a pre-Christmas 800pb. She ran strongly throughout and whilst pipped on the line for third, Bronwyn still managed to break 60 seconds. Clair Gough came in to run the third leg but found the home straight about thirty metres too long, and finished a tick outside the qualifying time. A huge thanks to both girls who made the big trip up from Frankston and should be getting home as you read this report.
So to next week. Whilst we will probably go in as favourites, it should be remembered that it doesn’t take much to slip up. Make sure you stay away from too many Easter Bilbies over the festive season. I personally intend to limit my intake to seven rabbit shaped chocolate animals and four dozen eggs. We will be contacting as many of you as early as possible to ensure that all is well. If there are any injuries out there, make sure you keep us up to date. Good luck to those in Stawell (competitors and non-competitors) and remember that the Stawell constabulary don’t like you rolling tyres from the local service station down the main street. And remember, that we will be attending the very prestigious Zorba’s Family Fun Restaurant on Bridge Road at the conclusion of events next week. This souvlaki and pizza session will be used to talk up the prospects of a solid winter’s season.
And finally, here’s the call you were all waiting for.
400 metre hurdlers!!! Is there anyone out there who is interested in having a go? 69.14 seconds is the goal. If you are interested, please contact management and produce a doctor’s certificate to declare that all is well. We currently have one competitor and we’d be keen to fill the second spot. Good luck to all the girls for Sandra Sully presents - Finals Week Two.
Results are The last Report was Round 11.