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Round 10 proved a mightily successful comp for Bayside with a much needed men’s win and a monster victory by the Women that has rocketed them into first position on the ladder. Let's hear all about it...
Jussie’s Men’s Report
Cold and blustery...sound like a Thursday night in Melbourne?
Watching the sprinters/hurdlers battle up the straight into a stiff headwind made me glad to be in my skimpy t-shirt, teeth chattering away. Not because I enjoy freezing my icicles off, but I don't think anyone deserves to see a grown man take 15 seconds to run a 100 metres...
That said, it was Bayside sprinting at its best last night. Three starters, three winners. In fact no one could get near Justin, Arnold and Nfa. A nice soft tailwind and we would have seen some blistering times - but that it like wishing the Winter Olympics didn't exist...you can talk about it, but it ain't going to happen soon.
Justin appeared to have found his transition that was missing two weeks ago and Arnold looked fantastic streaking out in front. Nfa too, looked impressive in what was his first flat event for the season (I think). With Disco cockily easing up in the 4x1, we had our fastest time in the relay for the season.
Nfa took #1 spot in the 110mh and was very clean over the barriers. Tim blew the second heat away and running by invitation, Paul Harland may well have dipped under 16 seconds. Bayside's dominance of the event will be tested at the Vics with Aaron Peterson and Marty Barrow running well also, but look out for three or four finalists.
Tim Crosbie and Peter Riseley ran strong 1500s in tough conditions and though there wasn't a third runner available it was pleasing to see both guys out there when they would have clearly preferred to be somewhere else. (1500m fans note: Keep an eye out for "webguy" Andre Sammartino over 1500m at the interclub finals. With Matt and myself trundling 'round also it should be an entertaining afternoon. Just pray there hasn't been a strike at the hot dog factory, otherwise things could get ugly...)
No steeplechaser. Bugger. Then again, the evening's steeple highlight wasn't even in the steeple. Anyone who saw Doncaster's David Baxter (fresh off a 10.66 100m) hand over to their steeplechaser in the short relay will know what I mean.
Disco ran a good 400m, coming home very strongly, while Todd Andrews and Justin Ramirez made sure we had a full complement of runners. Maybe we can pull together a 4x400 team in a couple of weeks? Stranger things have happened...
Lotzy was back in the Hammer circle, spinning around gracefully. Unfortunately, at time of press results are not in. The discus results are only secondary to the revelation that Matt Brown is already looking forward to a career in bobsled following his discus throwing days. Given that discus throwers are prone to throwing until the Queen is dotting "i"s and crossing "t"s on their congratulatory letters, Matt could be the oldest Olympic debutant in history.
That said, no one will be surprised to hear that Matt likes the idea of covering himself in lycra from head to toe...
Nick Baltas won the jav but as a true thrower only got into top form in the final three throws after the pointscoring was done. Sam Hanzell ended up a little the worse for wear, but did pick up some points in the shot for which we are always grateful.
There seems to be an aversion to clearing heights in a vertical manner this season. High and Pole have not been our best events and even the threat of management trying to clear a height has not been enough to bring someone out of retirement. If anyone knows a retired vaulter, talk to them about coming back into the fold. Ditto walkers.
Horizontal jumpers are a different matter. Simon Jacotine debuted for the team last night and although he managed just one legal jump, is was all class and 14.96 metres later he had won the competition. Thanks heaps to Simon.
Enough from me. Looking forward to the venue finals and the standard "gap fillers" that come out each season. This season should be even more special with Lotzy figure skating, Evan Rees returning just in time for the skeleton (an event made for thrill-seekers like him) and Justin Lewis curly-ing ... sorry, that was tragic...
Matt’s Women’s Report
If you ever want to be scared, I suggest you turn up to State League to see nine Bayside athletes warming up for a hundred and not remember who you picked to run. Things went a little blurry there for a while, but a surplus of runners is a good scared. Like not remembering whether you have ice cream on your face, it was a win-win.
Into the evening breeze, Tamsyn Lewis faced a fast running Elly Hutton and managed second, whilst Kylie Reed did likewise behind more of the Doncaster sprint juggernaut. In the all green colours of the club, Clare Thompson made her debut for Bayside (and Ireland), rounding off a strong event for us. Four invite runners also made it down the home straight to prove what depth we have.
Newcastle bound Jeannette Bowles offered her three extra jumps to Karen Lyne, who had her first Triple comp. in the Bayside colours for a couple of seasons. Two early fouls had everyone scared, but Karen got one in on the last attempt, whilst Jeanette scared everyone off with a 12.20 first go. Hopefully, Jeanette or somebody else will bring us back a Coal Dome from the mining captital of the world, or at the very least dack Les Murray as he does an interview.
In the High Jump, lots of people jumped, but none of them wore Bayside. Over in Yarra Park, Gabrielle Neighbour showed that she is coming back to form with a 54m throw. Hopefully, she'll crack the World Juniors mark in the not too distant future.
With Siobhan Taylor nursing an injury, Natasha De Niese took the Javelins and hurled them at officals with all her might. Tash is an unsung hero of the team and has been consistently racking up the points for the Bayside crew throughout the season.
In the walks, Shirley pulled out on late notice, but scarily enough, we were able to replace her just as quickly. Justi Tonti-Fillipini stepped in to fill the gap in the longer walk and did so admirably to help grab us some extra points. Not surprisingly, Megan Peters was one again hanging around the front of the field, showing a few of the men how to do it.
Last week, I managed to forget both Sarah Wiltshire and Sarah Dosen. Funnily enough, i haven't mentioned either Sarah Ferguson or Sarah Jessica Parker in match reports lately, but I'll aim to rectify that. Oh by the way, what right have AV got to schedule a round of State League and State League finals on a Tuesday just as Australian Temptation Island is about to hit our screen? They just never consider the athletes, do they? Oh yeah, Sarah vaulted 3.35(again) and Sarah won her hurdles (again).
In discus, Megan Boyes pretended she was aiming for a career in the army and tossed the kitchen plate out 40.50 metres, whilst in shot, I'm pretty sure Bec Neilsen threw, but I'm not sure what.
Leah, Karen and Kate all ran strongly in the 1500 in chilly conditions, with Leah dipping under 4.30 - me thinks, whilst Melissa Jones was playing games in the water jump of the steeple whilst other athletes did bombs from the deep end. Very excellent to see Katie Seibold back up and make her debut, taking out victory at the same time - a quinella for Bayside. Yay.
And finally to the last event of the night, when managers thoughts are turning to whether the good people of Hungry Jacks will be cleaning up yet, our sole 400 metre runner took to her blocks. With instructions from the coach to find herself a competitive race prior to Junior Nationals, Elise Kingston jumped into Heat 1 of the 400 against the likes of Robson and Dick - both going around in a lazy 55. Taking it out hard, Elise battled on gamely in tough conditions to cap off what will hopefully be another successful night for the team.
Good Luck to everyone at Venue Finals and the Vics and remember that Les Murray isn't infallible...
Results are here.
The last Report was Round 5.