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Round 11 saw the build up to finals action continue...
After being ditched for pre-dinner drinks by someone called Jussie, who seems to think that baby preparations are more important than beer with his brother, it was a lonely trudge to OP for the second last round of State League. Cold, windy and sparse – your typical night out in Melbourne town.
We’ll start at the beginning because Julie Andrews tells us it is right – Gabrielle Neighbour broke her own State Under 20 hammer record over in Yarra Park, breaking the 57 metre mark with a sterling effort. This follows on from her state open title and World Junior Qualifier for Kingston Jamaica, where the junior champs will be held later in the year. Congrats to Gab on not only her achievements but also on getting management to hum Bob Marley songs for the rest of the night.
Sticking to the infield, Rebecca Neilsen continues on he winning ways in the Shot Put. Having showed her versatility by breaking the 50 metre barrier with the hammer, all we need is to get Bec in for a relay leg and we’ll have a truly interchangeable line-up. To prove my point, Tessa Densley competed in three events last evening in preparation for a heptathlon at the nationals. The former specialist High Jumper is now a specialist hurdler and long jumper. Tess gave us valuable points with her second run ever over the sticks and showed great potential by running 16.64 in someone else’s spikes. Oh yeah, and she also jumped 1.70m.
On the track, Carly Chapman made her debut for Bayside as our only 400m hurdler. Carly has kindly offered to run this event at the finals and, only a second over the qualifying time, will be much more relaxed second time around the 400 track. If anyone else is out there interested in doing the ‘Andre Sammartino three week intensive hurdling and aromatherapy double degree’, please contact us as soon as possible.
No 200 runners after many phonecalls and much heartache. Hopefully this will be rectified before finals time. I don’t want to have to put on my spikes ever again. Three 800m runners more than compensated for our losses. A big congrats to Sue Gloster on yet another PB for the season, bringing things down to 2.14, and then backing up with a 60 point 400 leg later. Helena and Kate Seibold both ran on strongly to get good points for the team.
With the new stretcher bought specifically for the occasion, Kate Harris proved in the 5k that it was an unnecessary precaution. Going out a little more conservatively, Kate finished second in the race in a fast 17min 45, not too far away from her PB. In another debut for Bayside, Julia Smith was hot on Kate’s heels and ran a PB in only the second attempt at this event, dipping under 18 minutes. Melissa Jones showed the depth we have by running 18:40ish and will be an invaluable team member for the finals.
In the Discus, Miss Idaho pulled on the Bayside uniform again to take some points for the team and cement her position in the traffic counters top ten for next week. Natasha De Neise, who has shown excellent late season form came in, competed and escaped as quickly as she ever does. Valuable points yet again. More of the same in the walk, where Shirley was our only competitor. Unfortunately, work commitments prevent Shirley from walking the first week of finals, although we are working on filling the gap as quickly as possible.
Sarah Dosen ran 14.40 or thereabouts in the hurdles whilst Vivian Potiris again filled in at late notice for the injured Sarah Wiltshire. Season’s PB for Viv, with another one in the 4 by 400 later in the evening where the much anticipated showdown between Helena and Cathy Freeman didn’t eventuate because track management decided to let a Doncaster team of one into the race. Helena was not available for comment but Cathy was visibly relieved at not facing the might of Karin Ladilaw’s managerial skills, as Bayside got a 4*4 team for the second week running. Finally, a big thanks to Lisa Morrsion, our bronze medallist from the Vics, who filled in for an injured Jeanette, who was still overcoming the disappointment at finding out that her recent drug test wasn’t multiple choice. Hopefully Jeanette will be back in action by next Tuesday and thereafter for the finals.
Finally, a reminder that we will be hassling all of you about the upcoming finals so remember to pick up the phone if starts ringing. With a bit of luck, it could be a great opportunity to be part of a premiership team.
Results are here.
The last Report was Round 10.