 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
State League Round 1 kicked off as it usually does last night at OP. Athletes were missing due to exams, Oaks Day and late starts to the season. Singlets were missing due to messy bedrooms and lost laundry. Officials were out of practice and commentators were trying to work out how walkie-talkies work.
Nevertheless a fun time was had and Bayside held it togther better than most. We'd love to bring you the Team scores but AV is off trying to purchase a abacus that can handle the new seven and five team competitions. We expect to find out who won some time after Kim and little Johnny know their fates.
So to the team reports:
From Matty at the Women's desk:
It was clear that things were going well, even back in August. It was five degrees outside, rain threatening and the wind was blowing a gale. The Sandringham track seemed pretty sparse. Limbering up on the infield was Jeanette Bowles. She was smiling (as usual) and looking forward to training (not so usual). It was surely an omen of things to come.
Offered the Long Jumping duties in what is likely to be a hotly contested position this season, Jeanette put the result in no doubt. Six metres. That’s probably a metre for every month of hard training Jeanette has done since she last put on a Bayside top. Landing at 6.03 and clearly breaking her personal best in the process, it was hard to find a way for a manager to congratulate her. So I did what any manager would do and decided not to ask her to run a 4 by 4 relay leg. I think she’s still smiling.
On the track, two walkers in the 3k is always a good start. Shirley Hay displayed a clean pair of heels to finish third in the womens race and start her season well. And Justine Tonti-Filipinni made her debut for Bayside after moving across from Essendon. With four potential State League qualifiers, it appears that walking places are likely to be hotly contested this season along as are most events.
At the Pole Vault, Vivian Potiris came in at close to last minute notice and managed to vault 2.70m, taking second place in the competition. Meanwhile, Natasha De Neise, following on from a 42 metre pb at interclub last Saturday, performed credibly in the Javelin. Natasha has been adopting the alternative training regime of do nothing, take a holiday and break pb’s. Isn’t athletics beautiful?
Katrina Steward and Clair Gough showed solid early season form in the 200. Katrina finished in a tick over 25 seconds, whilst Clair ran a commendable 26.42 into a difficult headwind. Both lined up later in the relay.
Filling in at the Shot Put ring, Megan Boyes in her first competition back from a knee reconstruction managed to pick up some valuable points with a throw of 10.10, which is pretty close to the finishing time of her discus later in the evening. Megan’s third event of the night was reminding management that we need more tops.
NO HIGH JUMPER! If there is anyone with parents who made them jump out of deep holes from a very young age, we’d love to hear from you. Qualifying Height is a measly 1.45 metres, so hopefully the phone will be ringing off the hook really soon.
Gabrielle Neighbour started off the season pretty much where she left off at the end of the last - throwing extremely well. 55 plus is a huge performance and the sort that helped see her collect the State League Athlete of the Year award last season.
Another pb came in the women’s 5k, where Katie Seibold showed just what a strong winter can do, finishing fourth in 17min 38 seconds, beating her previous pb by just over a second. All those 1500 reps at interclub seem to be paying off. As fantastic as Katie’s run was, we are still looking for additional 5k runners throughout the season.
NO HURDLERS! If there is anyone with parents who lumped clothing down the hallway that required negotiation, we’d love to hear from you.
In the 800, Helena Montgomery and Bronwyn Lizou went out in a super-fast 64 second first lap. No negative splits for either of our athletes, although both battled strongly to the finish, with Bronwyn pb’ing with a 2min 21 in her first competition for Bayside. Helena also ran strongly, finishing just ahead of Bronwyn but was a little too ill for the post match interviews with the media.
With a specific training regime of no warm ups and chocolate m&m’s, the 4 by 400 relay was looking kind of disinterested before the start - putting spikes on whilst their competitors were in the set position. We needn’t have worried, as Katrina Steward and Clair Gough, running the first two legs, did what every fellow competitor in relay running despises they ran well and made Karin and Bronwyn work.
Taking the baton in second place, our specialist 400 relay runner, Karin Laidlaw showed great speed in the third leg down the back straight, keeping out her opponent until the two hundred metres mark before handing the baton to a fresh(??) Bronwyn, straight from the 800 finish. Obviously overjoyed to see herself closely surrounded by three competitors as she took the baton, Bronwyn sat quietly for the first 150, running a stride behind two girls who took off fast. In the home straight, Bronwyn managed to make nearly ten metres on her opponents, passing one and just missing out on passing a second. A stellar performance by all the girls.
Finally, if anyone has ordered Brooks clothing, the money is now required and can be delivered to Justin on Saturday. Cash or cheques made out to Bayside will be accepted. Special thanks to John Kneen who came in to support the Bayside team and offer his assistance as a lap counter for both the men’s and women’s 5 k’s. Next week is Program 1. You know when. You know where.
And from the old men's team manager Jussie:
In what is always a dodgy week to be selecting team, what with exams, Oaks Day and no Interclub last week, the Bayside Mens team was pretty solid thanks to some committed athletes and coaches.
No walkers will be a problem for us early on, so if anyone knows a frustrated walker, get in touch.
The throws were strong as usual, with the most notable effort coming from debutant, Paul Peulich. Still well and truly a junior, Paul threw a very solid 15.02 with the big shot to come second in the comp overall. Matt Brown and Dave McCaffrey were grinning wildly (there's a shock) and won their events. If Matt is grinning as wildly late on Saturday night it means his 21st has gone well. Have a good one, Matt. And Lotzy did what Lotzy does over at the hammer.
Justin Lewis was very impressive in the 200. First up and under 22 secs...well done. Arnold Pamphlis made his debut on the night and lead all the way only to be pipped on the line. Look out for Arnold throughout the season as he will be a regular on the track.
What a difference a distracted manager is. This time last year we would have coaxed a 4x400 team out onto the track, with the manager silly enough to pull on the spikes and fill a leg. This year it just didn't seem as important. I know it will change, but last night it was a case of off early to catch the last part of "Chains of Love".
Seriously, has there ever been a more disgraceful television show produced??? It really disappoints me to think that people get paid to produce such crap. If the producers really wanted to show what happens when a desperate male attaches himself to a bunch of unsuspecting females, hoping that one may be remotely interested, they should have been following Tonza around Stawell at Easter in his single days.
But I digress.
Brendan Cole ran well in a strong heat of the 400h to win in 52.40 while Justin Ramirez battled hard after hitting the sixth hurdle.
New team member Tim Ewen showed his class with a great 14.10 high hurdles first up. Liam Wallis wasn't too far behind and is set to improve. With Nfa in the wings and Kyle winning the other hurdles race from ex-Baysider Aaron Petersen, this'll be the event to get the commentators bellowing this season.
Brenno, Lucas Tickell (all the way from Bendigo) and Todd Andrews ran well in the 800s while Dean Lane and Peter Riseley ran strongly behind a flying Clint Perrett in the 5000m. Clint ran a huge PB (about 25 secs) and is on fire. Look out for him at the Under 20 3k at the Zatopek meet.
And over in the long jump, Matty Woodruff pulled out a 7m gem to wipe out the opposition.
Thanks to everyone who helped out in organising the team and I should have uniforms sorted out better in the next two weeks...
Results are here.