By Jamie Strudley
Yarra Ranges Athletics athletes made the trip to Duncan Mckinnon Reserve in Murrumbeena to compete in week one of the AVSL playoffs on a warm and windy Saturday afternoon.
With promotion to the next division up for grabs for the winning team over two weeks of finals action, the pressure was on Yarra Ranges athletes to compete.
Our main rivals, Preston Athletics, finished the day with a good points advantage setting up a fantastic chase for week two next Saturday at Morrison Reserve, Mt Evelyn.
Competition points are based on the performance of each athlete with points awarded from a table for each event and age group, based on the world record for that event. Mitch Mullens and Ash Rooke were the top point scorers for Yarra Ranges both earning over 1200 points each.
Mitch Mullens was again the standout performed, yet again breaking his club 100m record with a sizzling 11.14 seconds. Two relay records were broken, first, our Under 20 Women’s team of Mia Strudley, Zoe Clarke, Rori Jones and Ash Rooke stormed around in 55.75 seconds to break the U20 and Open Women’s records. Shortly after our Open Men’s team of Craig Hewitson, Ash Almond, Liam Russell and Mitch Mullens broke a record that was set in 2016 running 49.68 seconds.
Results are:
Women
100m: Ashleigh Rooke 13.22 (2.6); Rori Jones 14.39 (2.7); Kathi Hewitson 16.96 (2.5);
400m: Kristina Nackovski 64.11; Rori Jones 65.58; Ashleigh Rooke 67.15; Mia Strudley 68.55;
1500m: Mia Strudley 5:18.7h; Rori Jones 5:48.9h; Emilie Garside 8:04.1h;
80m Hurdles: Kathi Hewitson 20.53 (3.8);
4x100m: (Mia Strudley, Rori Jones, Ashleigh Rooke) 55.75;
Long Jump: Kathi Hewitson 2.79m; Sharon Cook 2.42m;
Discus: Ashleigh Rooke 29.53m; Meg Sparkes 27.21m; Hayley Wilkins 24.79m; Sharon Cook 15.70m; Anne-
Marie Ebbels 15.67m; Kathi Hewitson 13.12m; Emilie Garside 12.75m;
Javelin: Hayley Wilkins 32.74m; Ashleigh Rooke 26.52m; Meg Sparkes 17.66m; Anne-Marie Ebbels 16.42m;
Sharon Cook 11.42m;
Men
100m: Mitchell Mullens 11.14 (1.4); Oliver Duncan 12.21 (3.0); Liam Russell 12.44 (3.0); Joseph Johnston
13.20; Craig Hewitson 13.84 (2.0);
400m: Mitchell Mullens 52.43; Liam Russell 54.88; Craig Hewitson 63.71;
1500m: Max Savill-Bentley 4:11.9h;
4x100m: (Craig Hewitson, Ash Almond, Liam Russell, Mitchell Mullens) 49.68; (Joseph Johnston, Kathi
Hewitson, Sharon Cook, Meg Sparkes) 70.93;
Long Jump: Mitchell Mullens 5.63m; Oliver Duncan 5.42m; Liam Russell 5.31m; Ash Almond 4.86m; Lucas
Taylor 4.79m; Craig Hewitson 3.49m
Pole Vault: Liam Russell 2.25m; Lucas Taylor 2.10m;
Discus: Ash Almond 28.62m; Lucas Taylor 24.83m; Craig Hewitson 18.83m;
Javelin: Ash Almond 42.56m; Lucas Taylor 35.79m;
We host week two of the finals next weekend at our home track at Morrison Reserve, Mt Evelyn. Some of Victoria’s best athletes will be competing for the club in the chase for promotion or to avoid relegation or to prepare for the upcoming Australian Championships. Come along and watch a fun day of athletics action from 1.00pm on Saturday.
Our Little Athletics athletes finally had a chance to draw breath after a few big weeks of championships and PB-chasing competitions. Our tradition “celebration’ round was again a lot of fun for athletes, parents and
helpers. The opportunity for parents and helpers to join in the action and test themselves against their siblings and friends always provides much entertainment. There may have been a few sore mums and dads on Sunday after valiantly trying to keep up.
Next week is our Little Athletics presentation day to be held on Saturday morning at Morrison Reserve. Watch the socials for times for each age group presentation. Canteen and BBQ will be running for all our “little” members and families.
The final round of Vic Milers season was held on Thursday night at Doncaster. Yarra Ranges had another good turnout of athletes chasing a final PB for the season. Conditions were not fantastic making a PB tough, but some excellent racing from everyone made for some good results.
Women
800m: Kristina Nackovski 2:31.01; Rori Jones 2:32.76;
1500m: Olivia Twining 4:44.11; Brigitte Rice 4:47.70; Zoe Clarke 4:48.95; Katrina Winger 5:04.86; Mia
Strudley 5:06.40;
Men
800m: Noah Wright 1:58.17; Pete Nackovski 2:19.91; Craig Hewitson 2:29.70;
1500m: Max Savill-Bentley 4:04.80; Harry Norman 4:10.01;
Training continues for all club members on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5.30pm. Yarra Ranges Athletics welcomes and encourages all athletes of any age or ability.
If you, or someone you know, want to join in the Little Athletics fun registration is at www.lavic.com.au.
For information on training, how to join or trial, photos, results and updated news, visit the website at yarrarangesathletics.org.au or check us out on Facebook. Run, Jump, Throw…too easy!
