State League Round 7 saw State League return to Olympic, and Matt Hanrahan was there to tell us all about it:

Got off at the wrong tram stop and found myself walking through the faded, flattened grass area that is Flinders Park - I personally can't think of a more boring name than the National Tennis Centre (Mssrs Kennett and McNamee). It ranks right up there with the very fast train for originality. Anyway, on the way through they have these way cool busts of past tennis champions who are now in the hall of fame. I see no reason why we can't go out and get ourself all bronzed to create a Bayside memorial walk of fame.

As manager, Tim's head would obviously be at the front of the queue, especially after the unconfirmed victory. It is no coincidence that Telstra's share price fluctuates in line with the success of Bayside as the efforts Tim has made over the last few weeks are starting to yield rewards.

The night started with farce, just for a change, as Toby Sutherland appeared to be teamed up in an odd heat, which had the officials scratching their tall guy's head for minutes before the start. Bit of a shame really as, on debut, Toby was left to run on his own for 51 seconds whilst jumping hurdles for fun. A big welcome to Toby who will no doubt be a much required runner in the push towards the finals. Disco's Stu's bust, with glittering disco ball hovering above will no doubt be on the walk of fame, particularly after his run in a blustery Heat two.

In the 200's, Justin Lewis and Nfa put their hands up for nominations for the hall of fame with victories in Heats 1 and 2 of the 200. Both ran into a reasonable headwind but held firm to the line. Daniel Smith had the honour of pulling on the Bayside top for the first time and as a 15 year old will do well for the experiences of State League.

It was a strange night last night as all the attention seemed to be focussed on the track and the presence of Olympic Champions and National reps, so I feel that I can only give you a stunted view of the men's field. Carl Moorhouse, with the assistance of a nice breeze was ruining a good man's raking at the end of the Long Jump pit. After some big leaping up at Ballarat, Carl appears to be moving into the consistent form that is required in the Open levels.

In an extra small singlet, Aaron Wordley found the going tough with a 1:80 opening height in the High Jump. Seems sort of silly that so many teams struggle to find jumpers with such a qualifying height, but maybe that's cos my pb is 1:83.

In the 800's Bayside had a full contingent, and were lucky enough to get a top class field. After a lightning quick first 150, the field slowed to get a closer view of the women's shot put competition, coming around in 56. Kris McCarthy then took off down the back straight, passing Brenno and co in the process. Zac saw the move and responded with a great burst of speed, alas, it was a little too late, finishing in 2nd place, with Brenno dropping to 5th. Tony Wilson finished gamely in mid field to give us a fine result. Interesting to note Clint Perett running an invite 800 in the next race in a tic over 1:54.

Tom Farr threw in the Jav. Tom will tell you that is hair is only bronze anyway and that the likeness of his bust is conincidental, but don't let that fool you. Tom is blonde, has always been blonde and as long as there's sun in the sky and lemons in the fridge, Tom will remain a blonde.

The 5k saw Bayside with only one rep, another debut from the Frankston distance crew with Scott Vance pulling on the extra small singlet. In a huge field, Scott paced himself well and was desperately unlucky to miss out on the qualifying time by 1 second. He should be absolutely wrapt with his run though, as I know Manager Tim was.

Paul Peulich was on the start list for both the Shot and the Hammer, and will be another who will rack up the points towards the finals. Last night was unusual in that nobody seemed to hear the yelling of Matt Brown, which can only mean one of three things, but I'll leave you to guess what they are.

Victories for Tim and Nfa in the hurdles kept the points rolling in, leaving everyone to beg the question, just who will run the 4*400 relay. Brenno was putting up bounties for anyone who could find a replacement, whilst Justin Lewis stayed just far enough inside the tunnel so as not to be seen. As it turned out, Ev(whose legs will be immortalised in Bronze for that famous finals incident) roped in his three 800 buddies to cap off a night which will hopefully set a precedent for the remainder of the year.

The women also looked strong again after a few lacklustre weeks. Karin Laidlaw put her hand up for the 400 hurdles - our first runner for the season and did a fine job, although she'll be the first to admit that she hasn't done much training for them.

Still no short hurdlers and with Viv having troubles with other people's Poles (the object, not the people), the points were not exactly flowing in early. Up step the 200 runners. Katrina Steward drew inside Cathy Freeman and took two metres off her over the first 30 running solidly and staying within a few of metres of the Olympic 200 metre finalist down the home straight. Katrina's final time of 25.07 was marginally quicker than Emma Cochrane, who took out the second heat, into a gathering wind. Jeanette Bowles volunteered (ie was dobbed in) for the third heat and also came home with the half pound bag of brownies(or a white ticket) for her victory. Jeanette will no doubt be the first image young Bayside children of the future will come up to in the park and ask about, as they run their palm against her smiling image. And why not, when 400 runners were pulling out of the relay, Jeanette was the first to put up her hand.

In the field, Natasha De Niese was playing with those fluky winds that either make the pointy thing travel a mile or drop to earth just near the officials feet. Tash looks like she'll have the Jav duties for a while yet as it appears that her training is bringing dividends.

Lisa Morrison, fresh from a jumping camp (much preferable to Camp Shame - a weight loss camp in the US where they tease the kiddies) hit the Long Jump pit with results as yet unknown. Actually, just started to realise that people can see through these reports when you make stuff up all the time.

Anyway, Megan Peters was out on the track, doing the shorter walks in preparation for the Grand Prix series in Feb, where she will be on the 10k circuits in both Sydney and Canberra. Megan is the Lew Hoad of the Bayside team. Everyone's heard of her, but nobody really quite knows what she looks like. Once the cast comes back, you soon will.

Another new recruit in the 800, with Anna Thompson pulling on the spikes and running the shorter events after just being announced as a member of the World Cross Country team in Switzerland. A big congrats there. Anna, Karen and Helena were all grouped together in a very large 800 race. Helena surprised a few by being on the leaders heels after the first lap and running like everybody knows that she can. As the lactic built up, she fought on doggedly whilst the field began to swarm. After working her way out of a pocket, Anna opened up with a lap to go and worked to the front of the field, finishing first of the Baysiders in 2:14ish whilst Karen began to slowly pick off athletes over the last 250.

Tess Densley, who it was revealed last night, wanted to be a pro wrestler before becoming an athlete, was seen at the High Jump pit clearing 1:70. There's no opposition the size of Chyna out there on the other kind of mats, but there's no doubt that Tess will be standing tall in the row of famers in future years, right next to the obvious crew of Boyes, Bec and Gab.

Big highlight for the night was two pb's in the 5k for Kate and Kate and their music factory. Both girls lapping in regular 83-85 seconds for the first half of the race. Kate Seibold then drew away a little, finishing the second half off more strongly and recording a 24 second pb. Also outstanding was Kate Smyth's 8 second (or thereabouts) pb. Our third runner was the ever reliable Ms Jones, who made the trip up from Traralgon again and is obviously in favour with the aths calendar keeping in tune with the uni calendar.

And so to the relay and a special mention to our two specialist relay runners for the night. One was making her debut for Bayside as a fouteen year old and the other is an Olympic semi-finalist and all round walk of fame worthy recipient. On a night where Claudy Spencer from Mentone was told that she'd be running alongside Cathy Freeman in the second leg and handing over to Tamsyn, Claudy obviously looked a little nervous. Thanks to Tamsyn, Emma and Karin, who helped her find a way to relax, Claudy ran a very impressive second leg following Emma, handing over to Tamsyn, with Karin bringing the girls home in third place overall. A great relay result, when the Ringwood team out in front had Anne Fearnley on the emergency list.

Looking both ways, it was a very successful way to finish a very successful night, made even more so by the extra special help from Cathy Woodruff and Cathy Freeman in helping set up the hurdles. Don't let it be said that Olympic golds stop you from doing your bit. She even carried them two at a time, which put our other Tech Official to shame.

Don't forget the action continues next TUESDAY night at Olympic Park - let the good times roll!! Got off at the wrong tram stop and found myself walking through the faded, flattened grass area that is Flinders Park - I personally can't think of a more boring name than the National Tennis Centre (Mssrs Kennett and McNamee). It ranks right up there with the very fast train for originality. Anyway, on the way through they have these way cool busts of past tennis champions who are now in the hall of fame. I see no reason why we can't go out and get ourself all bronzed to create a Bayside memorial walk of fame.

As manager, Tim's head would obviously be at the front of the queue, especially after the unconfirmed victory. It is no coincidence that Telstra's share price fluctuates in line with the success of Bayside as the efforts Tim has made over the last few weeks are starting to yield rewards.

The night started with farce, just for a change, as Toby Sutherland appeared to be teamed up in an odd heat, which had the officials scratching their tall guy's head for minutes before the start. Bit of a shame really as, on debut, Toby was left to run on his own for 51 seconds whilst jumping hurdles for fun. A big welcome to Toby who will no doubt be a much required runner in the push towards the finals. Disco's Stu's bust, with glittering disco ball hovering above will no doubt be on the walk of fame, particularly after his run in a blustery Heat two.

In the 200's, Justin Lewis and Nfa put their hands up for nominations for the hall of fame with victories in Heats 1 and 2 of the 200. Both ran into a reasonable headwind but held firm to the line. Daniel Smith had the honour of pulling on the Bayside top for the first time and as a 15 year old will do well for the experiences of State League.

It was a strange night last night as all the attention seemed to be focussed on the track and the presence of Olympic Champions and National reps, so I feel that I can only give you a stunted view of the men's field. Carl Moorhouse, with the assistance of a nice breeze was ruining a good man's raking at the end of the Long Jump pit. After some big leaping up at Ballarat, Carl appears to be moving into the consistent form that is required in the Open levels.

In an extra small singlet, Aaron Wordley found the going tough with a 1:80 opening height in the High Jump. Seems sort of silly that so many teams struggle to find jumpers with such a qualifying height, but maybe that's cos my pb is 1:83.

In the 800's Bayside had a full contingent, and were lucky enough to get a top class field. After a lightning quick first 150, the field slowed to get a closer view of the women's shot put competition, coming around in 56. Kris McCarthy then took off down the back straight, passing Brenno and co in the process. Zac saw the move and responded with a great burst of speed, alas, it was a little too late, finishing in 2nd place, with Brenno dropping to 5th. Tony Wilson finished gamely in mid field to give us a fine result. Interesting to note Clint Perett running an invite 800 in the next race in a tic over 1:54.

Tom Farr threw in the Jav. Tom will tell you that is hair is only bronze anyway and that the likeness of his bust is conincidental, but don't let that fool you. Tom is blonde, has always been blonde and as long as there's sun in the sky and lemons in the fridge, Tom will remain a blonde.

The 5k saw Bayside with only one rep, another debut from the Frankston distance crew with Scott Vance pulling on the extra small singlet. In a huge field, Scott paced himself well and was desperately unlucky to miss out on the qualifying time by 1 second. He should be absolutely wrapt with his run though, as I know Manager Tim was.

Paul Peulich was on the start list for both the Shot and the Hammer, and will be another who will rack up the points towards the finals. Last night was unusual in that nobody seemed to hear the yelling of Matt Brown, which can only mean one of three things, but I'll leave you to guess what they are.

Victories for Tim and Nfa in the hurdles kept the points rolling in, leaving everyone to beg the question, just who will run the 4*400 relay. Brenno was putting up bounties for anyone who could find a replacement, whilst Justin Lewis stayed just far enough inside the tunnel so as not to be seen. As it turned out, Ev(whose legs will be immortalised in Bronze for that famous finals incident) roped in his three 800 buddies to cap off a night which will hopefully set a precedent for the remainder of the year.

The women also looked strong again after a few lacklustre weeks. Karin Laidlaw put her hand up for the 400 hurdles - our first runner for the season and did a fine job, although she'll be the first to admit that she hasn't done much training for them.

Still no short hurdlers and with Viv having troubles with other people's Poles (the object, not the people), the points were not exactly flowing in early. Up step the 200 runners. Katrina Steward drew inside Cathy Freeman and took two metres off her over the first 30 running solidly and staying within a few of metres of the Olympic 200 metre finalist down the home straight. Katrina's final time of 25.07 was marginally quicker than Emma Cochrane, who took out the second heat, into a gathering wind. Jeanette Bowles volunteered (ie was dobbed in) for the third heat and also came home with the half pound bag of brownies(or a white ticket) for her victory. Jeanette will no doubt be the first image young Bayside children of the future will come up to in the park and ask about, as they run their palm against her smiling image. And why not, when 400 runners were pulling out of the relay, Jeanette was the first to put up her hand.

In the field, Natasha De Niese was playing with those fluky winds that either make the pointy thing travel a mile or drop to earth just near the officials feet. Tash looks like she'll have the Jav duties for a while yet as it appears that her training is bringing dividends.

Lisa Morrison, fresh from a jumping camp (much preferable to Camp Shame - a weight loss camp in the US where they tease the kiddies) hit the Long Jump pit with results as yet unknown. Actually, just started to realise that people can see through these reports when you make stuff up all the time.

Anyway, Megan Peters was out on the track, doing the shorter walks in preparation for the Grand Prix series in Feb, where she will be on the 10k circuits in both Sydney and Canberra. Megan is the Lew Hoad of the Bayside team. Everyone's heard of her, but nobody really quite knows what she looks like. Once the cast comes back, you soon will.

Another new recruit in the 800, with Anna Thompson pulling on the spikes and running the shorter events after just being announced as a member of the World Cross Country team in Switzerland. A big congrats there. Anna, Karen and Helena were all grouped together in a very large 800 race. Helena surprised a few by being on the leaders heels after the first lap and running like everybody knows that she can. As the lactic built up, she fought on doggedly whilst the field began to swarm. After working her way out of a pocket, Anna opened up with a lap to go and worked to the front of the field, finishing first of the Baysiders in 2:14ish whilst Karen began to slowly pick off athletes over the last 250.

Tess Densley, who it was revealed last night, wanted to be a pro wrestler before becoming an athlete, was seen at the High Jump pit clearing 1:70. There's no opposition the size of Chyna out there on the other kind of mats, but there's no doubt that Tess will be standing tall in the row of famers in future years, right next to the obvious crew of Boyes, Bec and Gab.

Big highlight for the night was two pb's in the 5k for Kate and Kate and their music factory. Both girls lapping in regular 83-85 seconds for the first half of the race. Kate Seibold then drew away a little, finishing the second half off more strongly and recording a 24 second pb. Also outstanding was Kate Smyth's 8 second (or thereabouts) pb. Our third runner was the ever reliable Ms Jones, who made the trip up from Traralgon again and is obviously in favour with the aths calendar keeping in tune with the uni calendar.

And so to the relay and a special mention to our two specialist relay runners for the night. One was making her debut for Bayside as a fouteen year old and the other is an Olympic semi-finalist and all round walk of fame worthy recipient. On a night where Claudy Spencer from Mentone was told that she'd be running alongside Cathy Freeman in the second leg and handing over to Tamsyn, Claudy obviously looked a little nervous. Thanks to Tamsyn, Emma and Karin, who helped her find a way to relax, Claudy ran a very impressive second leg following Emma, handing over to Tamsyn, with Karin bringing the girls home in third place overall. A great relay result, when the Ringwood team out in front had Anne Fearnley on the emergency list.

Looking both ways, it was a very successful way to finish a very successful night, made even more so by the extra special help from Cathy Woodruff and Cathy Freeman in helping set up the hurdles. Don't let it be said that Olympic golds stop you from doing your bit. She even carried them two at a time, which put our other Tech Official to shame.

Don't forget the action continues next TUESDAY night at Olympic Park - let the good times roll!!

Results are here.

The last Report was Round 6.

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