The 'home-and-away' State League season came to a conclusion last night at Olympic Park, and in very convincing form. The two teams won by a total of 165 points!!!

To the Match Reports:

From Jussie:

Round Ten. Ten wins.

A fabulous season ended on another good night.

As I was at the high jump for most of the night, there was a fair bit that I missed. I can also guarantee that with me as "chief official" there were never going to be any world records set in the HJ last night. In fact in terms of PBs, in sprinting terms, most heights were "windy".

Anyway, what did I see?

I saw Simon go around in the walk, but missed a fair bit of it too. Sorry, Simon.

I saw Justin Lewis give Steve Brimacombe a bit of curry. A great run by Justin against quality opposition. Nfa and Aiden were also locked in battle with an Essendon sprinter.

I saw Clint and Lucas in winning positions as they passed the HJ for the last time. I missed the next 300m, but saw them battling away strongly at the front of the field.

I heard Aaron yell at the shot put ring.

I saw (close up) Tom Farr sail over a high jump bar. With a decent run-up, 2m will be his.

I heard a lot of the discus, but it was behind me. Sorry.

I saw a relay that was as good as any run this season. A great race. Three strong teams and a Bayside victory. Some slick changes, too.

I saw another one-two in the sprint hurdles. Bayside rocks.

I missed the triple jump. No great loss, we didn't have anyone.

I saw the 400m races and the our guys rock and roll. Stu, Brenno (under 50s again) and Todd showing good form.

Anyway, if I missed anything, it is probably because I missed it on the night. My most humble apologies, but thems the breaks.

By the way. Ten rounds, ten wins...have I mentioned that?

TM

(see everyone in the finals!!!!!!) (Jussie also seems to have overlooked Dave McCaffrey's efforts in remaining undefeated in javelin all season)

From Andre:

A year is a long time in Athletics. This time last season the Bayside women were packing up the spikes and pondering whether to come and cheer on the men in the State League finals. This year is a very different tale. We have been fielding athletes consistently all year, have unearthed some new talent and engendered some real team spirit amongst our squad. A well-deserved and hopefully hard-fought finals campaign awaits us.

Round 10 was a bit of a formality for us as our 2nd-placed position wasn't about to change. Nevertheless we were well represented and there were no shortage of our athletes hanging around to see the 400m at the end.

Tamsyn Lewis is an athlete we'll certainly miss in the finals (she's off to the World Indoors - and good luck to her). She made the most of her farewell performance, winning her 100m and 400m, the latter in a very swift time. She also anchored home our 4x100m team that included athletes from across several events.

Katrina Steward looks to be in form in time for finals. She was a strong second behind Tamsyn in the short sprint and produced an impressive 400m and relay leg also. Unfortunately we only had two reps in these events, a situation that will NOT be replicated in the finals.

Michelle Reed was impressive yet again, running third in the 1500m, while Shirley Hay just keeps on racking up points in the walks. Now if only we had some steeplechasers…

Our hurdles are strong, with Sarah Dosen and Jeanette Bowles looking very comfortable in first and second. Now if only we had some 400m hurdlers…

Newly crowned state champion Helen Galanopoulos jumped well at triple, and it was great to also see Jane Denning back on the runway. Jane has been throwing shot put at interclub just so as to insure she is qualified for finals.

Emily Ryan is a saint. We hadn't been able to get hold of her about the high jump but as Jussie and I went out to the fan to stand around and look official, she did appear as if from the heavens and competed appropriately. She was equally obliging in taking the crucial 2nd relay leg.

Equally wondrous is Ms. Megan Boyes. She of the dodgy knee has organised about a trillion points for us in the throwing events this season, and yet again I type about Bec Neilsen and Gabrielle Neighbour's stellar performances, and of Siobhan Taylor popping the jav out over 40 metres.

So it has come to this. We have finished the season as comfortably the second-best team in the competition. Our aim now is to surprise Box Hill. This requires us to get every possible athlete on the track. A big coup would be to 'find' two steeplechasers and two quarter hurdlers. Email us with your ideas. The two weeks or finals are March 8 and March 15. The programmes are on page 16 of the AV handbook.

You'll hear a lot more from us about all of this over the coming three weeks. Finally a big pat on the backs to Matt Hanrahan, Boyesey, the wonderful coaches, parents and athletes who've got us through to finals.

It's time for some serious yelling and screaming now!

Finally a reminder that quite a few Baysiders will be competing at next week's Melbourne Track Classic... We hope to hear a few "Go Bayside"s over the fences...

Results are here.

Read last Round's report