State League 2001 Finals - Week 1

From Jussie at the Men's desk:

After a week on ins, outs and maybe ifs, the team got out onto the track and field in pretty good shape.

As manager, maybe I get too worked up about this stuff, but man, I was nervous about the competition. I was nervous about numbers, uniforms, fouls, no-heights and dropped batons - all of which proved to be an unnecessary rise in my blood pressure.

In fact, it was a glorious night to be competing and I was silly enough to make the observation that on a night like this, I could even break 60 seconds for a 400m. Well, maybe not. Instead, I as fortunate to watch a bunch of very fit Bayside athletes take a commanding lead in the two-week finals match-up.

Dave McCaffrey - Mr Unbeaten. The jav field knew that he was going to be the man to beat, but I doubt anyone felt they could really challenge him. Olympian, Andrew Martin aside, Dave has been the best thrower going around all season, and for a guy who takes only a moderate interest in training, he shows how much ability he has. I also enjoy being able to share a beer with him before competition...that's my sort of dedication.

The vault saw Jason Hinkin compete with a hamstring niggle that prevented him from extending himself. With that in mind, Jason never indicated that he was in doubt for the meeting and as a team, we greatly appreciate the effort. Jason has been very reliable this season and if he decides to head to Europe again over the winter, we will be wishing him the best of luck.

The 100m was an interesting series of heats, with Justin Lewis leading off for us and running a very solid 2nd behind Essendon's Steve Brimacombe. Justin has been the mainstay of the sprinting team this year and just keeps racking up those points. Three cheers for him! Brendan Cole stepped up to run a 100m at late notice and it was much appreciated. Aiden Schannsema has proved one of the finds of the season. He is talented and keen and that goes a long way to making team selection easier.

Aaron Neighbour performed very well in the shot and won very comfortably, throwing over 18m. I was very happy to have Aaron come out to throw in the second half of the season and it is a great bonus having such a top class thrower waiting in the wings.

The 1500s saw a funny set of heats, with just 16 runners spread out over 3 heats. They were very interesting, all the same. Lucas Tickell ran a bold race from the front in a small field and lost very little ground in coming third. Like Aaron, it was very pleasing to have Lucas step up after Christmas. Clint Perrett? Well, a little finger wave said it all. Brenno? A controlled race and very easy victory - I can't believe he talked me out of selecting him for a 1500 more often.

Simon Baker is simply amazing. He gave it his all last night and came away with a season's best. Fantastic!

Matt Cooter. (See Simon Baker) Matt has been exceptional this year and for a young athlete, he has done some amazing things in a tough event. Credit must also go to Cathy Woodruff who has managed Matt very well and for a young triple jumped to come through unscathed is some effort!

Paul Mason ran a great, controlled race in the steeple. Nominating himself for the event two weeks ago was a brave move and he came away with a 13 second PB! Awesome.

The relay ran a solid race and I think many were surprised we only got 3rd. Thanks heaps to Matt Woodruff for filling in at late notice.

The 400s were looking pretty strong for us and they proved to be. Brendan ran a solid race and came a good fourth. Peter Hoggan came down from Wangaratta to run, chasing a world youth qualifier. Although he just missed, he gave it a great try, flying down the back straight. His race for home with Peter Ladd from APS was super exciting. Stu Laidlaw ran a blinder and was looking so ill afterwards that you just knew he'd given it his all.

Thanks to everyone who ran, jumped and threw. The team takes a solid lead into week 2 and with a bit of luck, we can go BACK TO BACK.

From Matt at the Women's desk:

OK, given that I skipped short story class to attend last night, it is only fitting that I make up my own. Unofficial scores at the end of proceedings are Box Hill 171, Bayside 163, Melbourne Uni 147, Weestern Suburbs 109, Doncaster 98. The last two drop out going into next week which leaves us in the midst of a very close battle and only 8 points down at the end of week one. It's not very much really and there's plenty yet to happen.

So we start at the very beginning, The Corner Hotel, I mean the 100 metre start. Katrina Steward drew what will probably be the toughest 100m race all season and finished a creditable fourth in the first of three runs that she would have for the night. Emma Cochrane started well, but unfortunately experienced a niggle at about the 80 metre mark. She still managed to finish 3rd in her race, but that was the end of her night. Katie Chivers, who has converted the superboxes at Olympic Park into a second home, given the amount she competes here these days, ran 12.71 into a slight headwind to take out 4th place in her heat. Surprise of the 100's was Doncaster's lack of sprinters.

Onto the track stepped the 1500 metre girls, an event we've struggled to fill all season. 3 runners was going to be a good start. Michelle reed went out hard in the early stages to try and latch onto the quality Box Hill opposition. Katie Seibold made her move half way through and ended up close to Michelle near the finish line, crossing in about 4.45. Helena Montgomery started out conservatively and had a lot left for the last lap, where should put on a great show, passing two athletes. She has run four 1500's this year and has dropped her pb significantly on each occasion, this time running 4.52 low. A good result overall although the Box Hill dominance was a bit scary.

Over in the centre, Siobhan Taylor showed her true class, dominating the Javelin event and throwing close to 45 metres on top of her 46+ throw last week. Daylight was second. The Boyesy led field events have really been our saviour this season.

State Champ Helen Galanopoulos took out the Triple Jump for us in fine style, leaping over 11.40 metres in the process. Helen is now gearing up for the Nationals in Brissie, as are a few others.

The 5k walk proved just how valuable our two stars, Megan Peters and Shirley Hay are. Racing with the men, we were looking for the opposition in the early stages to see how we were going to fare. We soon realised that there was only one other competitor in the race. To us this meant many valuable points. A big thanks to both girls, who will hopefully pick up more points next week in the more user friendly 3k.

Sarah Wiltshire was up against the big guns in the Pole Vault and coming off some good recent form from last week however, against a significant headwind, she had numerous troubles and was probably a little disappointed not to clear 3 metres. She did manage to finish 4th and pick up some more valuable points for the Bayside folk.

Onto the track stepped our two youngest recruits for Bayside, Belinda Hogan and Stef Puszka. Based at the Doug Grinstead/Steve Hore distance commune, these two put their hand up when nobody else would and offered to give the steeple a go. They both ran a trial at interclub last Saturday and showed that the potential was there. They have been training over the jumps for the last two sessions, and occasionally sneaking a bit of backyard practice. The result - Brilliant. Whilst their first few hurdling attempts in lap one left us gasping a little, the quality of both the hurdling and the water jump picked up as the race went on. The flat running of both girls was outstanding and Belinda was able to finish fourth in a tick over 12 minutes (more than 2 minutes under qualifying) and Stef was not far behind in 7th position for valuable points. A huge thanks to both girls for getting us where we are.

In the relay, our specialist relay runner (S.Dosen) for the night got off to an amazing start, putting 3 or 4 metres into the other runners. Katrina Steward took the baton along the back straight and passed to Katie Chivers, who passed on to Tara Gleeson. All changes were executed with great precision enabling the team to finish fourth.

Over in the centre circle, resident points leader, Bec Nielsen, again showed her dominance, beating a quality field in the shot, throwing around the 12.70 metre mark. Bec will be back for more next week in the slightly bigger circle.

And finally, the one lap event: A big and vocal crowd were gathered to watch teams all battle out for the final spots. Melbourne Uni showed their dominance taking out all three events and bringing them back into real contention for next week. Katrina Steward ran a very stong last 150 to finish third in a tick over 57. Tara Gleeson also showed great strength, like she always does to run 58 and a half, close to her season pb. Claire Gough, who was warned by the referee for running out of her lane, finished fourth in a tick over 59. When asked which part of the race she ran out of her lane, Claire replied "Probably all of it". That's the true Bayside spirit.

A big thanks to all who participated, and hopefully next week will provide us opportunity to celebrate a very successful season

Results are here.

Read Round 10's report