Geelong Athletics

Saturday's AV Shield Geelong Regional Final at Landy Field saw strong competition between local clubs. It is the chance for clubs to win their age group and represent Geelong in the State finals in Melbourne next week. The strongest competitions were in the open women's division and the 40+ Mens . There were also great individual personal bests recorded.

The next competition in Geelong will be the Summer Cup competition on 6th March.

All the best to the athletes who compete next week and also at the State Championships on the 26-28th Feb.

Geelong Athletics Twilight Trot Handicap Event & Presentations, Eastern Park, Monday 1st March (Full Results)
Report by Geoff McDonald

The final run of the GJ McDonald & Co Real Estate Twilight Trot conducted by Geelong Athletics was held on Monday evening at Eastern Park. All juniors were handicapped over one lap of the long course whilst the seniors who qualified for the Joyce Lockyer Memorial Trophy were handicapped over two laps of the long course. Those participants who did not qualify ran or walked over the same course.

Andon Saplamaev was the winner of the junior U13 run over one lap followed in second place by Lauren Board and third was Mitchell Board.

It took a personal best time by Rhonda Moody to win the Joyce Lockyer Memorial Trophy in a corrected time 24.37. David Board the race back marker put in a great effort to finish in second place, only 28 seconds behind the winner, while Paul Austin beat his two sons home to finish in third place.

End of Season Awards
Females
U13 – Winner – Lauren Board, R/U – Maria Saplamaev.

13 – 34yrs – Winner – Jmara Hockley- Samon. R/U – Jess Lewis.

35 + - Winner – C. Bridgland. R/U – Rhonda Moody.

Males
U13 – Winner – Harry Hockley-Samon. R/U – Jack Hockley-Samon & Mitchell Board.

13 – 25yrs – No one was eligible.

26 – 39yrs – Winner – Scott Rantall. R/U – Leigh Marriner, Aaron Hitch & Tim Anderson.

40 – 49yrs – Winner – David Board. R/U – Michael Panckridge.

50+ - Winner – J. Walker. R/U – Lloyd Cotton.

Walkers
Winner – J. Coyte. R/U – M. Clough.

Joyce Lockyer Memorial Trophy – Rhonda Moody.

Geelong Athletics wishes to thank its sponsors – GJ McDonald & Co Real Estate, Charles Crawford & Sons Funeral Directors, Bakers Delight Pakington Street, Geelong West, DeGrandi Cycle & Sport, Geelong Bowling Lanes, Barwon Water, Royal Geelong Yacht Club.

Thank you to the Geelong Advertiser & Geelong News for publishing the race report each week.

Thank you to those people who assisted in the running of the event throughout the season.

Runners, joggers and walkers are now invited to join Geelong Athletics for the winter cross country season commencing on Sunday 25 April at Deakin University, Waurn Ponds at 1.15pm. A 3km and 6km run will be held. The cost is $3 per run for seniors and $2 for under18yrs. Participants of all ages are welcomed. Enquiries 5241 2653 or Neil Whitmore 0427 841 735.

The Chilwell 40+ women blitzed the field in the 4x400m on the Saturday and fronted up again the next day to convincinly win the 4x100m relay, breaking the Victorian Country record.

This was followed up by the under 18 men from Geelong Guild leaving the rest of the field in the their wake to achieve gold in the 4x100m race.

Winning team members - (L-R) Geelong Guild - Jack Armour, Darcy Nolan, Dylan McGann, Liam Dooley.
Chilwell- Jacinta Burns, Sally Hockey, Joanne Rowan, Cathy Orelli.

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend an enjoyable evening at The Barking Dog for the presentations. Congratulations to all the award winners who are listed on the website (http://www.grcc.net.au). Thank you to everyone who helped out & competed during the season. Our numbers were about 30% up compared with 2008 which is a great sign.

A big thanks also to Chris Sly who is stepping down as the Winter Team Manager of our junior athletes. Chris has given an enormous amount of his time to the team over recent winter seasons getting out junior athletes co-ordinated as well as arranging & driving the team bus & officiating at most events where that is required. He has also been heavily involved in much of the behind the scenes work that is required to make sure everything "works"!

Consequently, I am looking for a new Junior Team Manager. If you feel that you could help out in that respect, please let me know. I'm also always looking for extra help to co-ordinate the season so if you think you can help out in any way, please let me know (preferably by the end of Nov if possible). Also if anyone enjoys playing with photos and has any skills with Photoshop or similar and is able to spare some time, please also let me know. It's great to have new banners on the website but it also takes a bit of spare time to put them together & my knowledge of about 5 Photoshop functions in total doesn't always make it an efficient process!

Finally thanks so much to all of our sponsors this year. Where possible, please try to support them as they have supported us during the season.

I look forward to seeing everyone again in 2010 and hopefully some new faces. Remember Run Geelong (http://www.rungeelong.com.au) is coming up on Sun Nov 22 and it would be good to see the team well represented. A large number of marshals are also required so please contact Lee Troop if you can help out - contact details on the website. All the best to everyone over the summer & take care.

'GJ McDonald & Co. Real Estate' Geelong Athletics 2009 Cross Country Round 16 & Awards Presentation, Sunday 6th September (Full Results)
Report by Karen Wood

The final round of the 2009 GJ McDonald & Co Real Estate Cross Country season is was held at Landy Field. Participants had a choice of either a 3 kms or 5 km circuit.

In the 3km event, the first junior male was Noah Vernon in a time of 16:31. The first junior female across the line was Holly Curtis in a time of 11.30. In the senior event Christopher Shelley was the first male to cross the line in 13:58 and keeping it in the family for the second week in a row, Debbie Shelley was the first female in 15:03.

In the 5 km event, Andon Saplamaev was the first junior male in a time of 21:52. The first junior female was Ricci Curtis in a time of 21:27. In the Senior competition, the first male was Stephen Oldfield in a time of 17:32 and the senior women’s race was won by Cathryn Hoare in a time of 22.06.

We would like to thank our major sponsors GJ McDonald & Co Real Estate and Charles Crawford and Sons. Their support has been greatly appreciated.

We would also like to that the following people for their assistance during the season. Neil Whitmore for managing the winter season, Richard Lawysz for time keeping, John Moore and Geoff McDonald for course setup, Mary McDonald and Beth Bauer for recording, Michael Panckridge for collating the distances everyone has done for the season and Terry Crawford for sponsoring the BBQ.

Season Aggregates:
Male Winter Athlete of the Year : Stephen Oldfield

Female Winter Athlete of the Year : Karen Wood

Giddings & McKenzie Trophy (Interclub Premiers) – Athletics Chilwell

Women:
U16 winner – Holly Curtis. Runner up – Ricci Curtis

Open winner – Christine Coleman. Runner Up – Nicole Anskaitis

Veteran winner - Karen Wood. Runner up – Connie Anskaitis

Men:
U16 winner - Jackson Hamill-Beach. Runner up – Andon Saplamaev.

Open winner – Christopher Shelley. Runner up – Richard Webb.

Veteran winner – Stephen Oldfield. Runner up – Mario Profaca

Please check here for an updated set of rules for long distance throwing training. These rules apply to all hammer, javelin and discus training sessions.

Upcoming events:

Geelong Cup, Landy Field, Saturday 6th March 2010
Geelong Athletics Cross Country, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Sunday 25th April 2010