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Jussie's report on the First week of Finals 1999/2000
March 9, 2000
The Bayside men had a very good start to the State League finals last night and the team is confident that it can overcome the 16.5 point deficit in the second week of competition. Bayside are trailing Glenhuntly by this amount and are a similar margin clear of Eastside in third. Athletics Essendon are some distance off in fourth.
Some great performances on the track and in the field have enabled the team to be within striking distance, led by a fast improving Clinton Perrett. The 16yo ran a huge, 5 second PB in the 1500m to come 4th in the event and overtake a Glenhuntly athlete in the closing stages in an event that Glenhuntly was expected to completing dominate. Clint is running extremely well at the moment and his 5000m next week should be one to watch. He was ably supported by Neil Brennan and Martin Fedmowski in the event and it was one where the team exceeded expectations.
Leon D'Onofrio was excellent in the Pole Vault, taking 3rd after being under an injury cloud for some time. It was a heartening sight for the rest of the team to see him doing well early on.
The sprinters showed their consistency by finishing second in each of their heats, before easily taking the 4x100m relay. Justin Lewis has been a rock all season and was well supported by Bo Betts and Liam Wallis, who was running his first State League 100m of the season.
Tony Wilson showed what an outstanding team athlete he is by coming 4th in the steeple against quality opposition, while Simon Baker faced his protege in the 5000m walk and although not able to match it with the young Glenhuntly athletes, comfortably held off the others to come 3rd.
Nick Baltas and Matt Woodruff performed well in the Javelin and Triple Jump respectively to come second in their events, while Matt Brown, eccentric as he may be, threw well in the shot put, an event he is not suited to.
The 400m runners won two out of the three heats, filling second in the other to close out the night and leave the team in an attacking position for next week.
Results are here.