Peter McGarry, Author at SKAAC

Shield Round 6 – Nunawading

December 14, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

Round 6 Doncaster Thursday 10th December 2015

Carnage is all that can be said for the Mens Div 1 team following Round 6 at Nunawading. Being towelled up by the Box Hill second team, given the stakes, was a terrible outcome for the team dropping us from second on the ladder to third. On the upside, many athletes were unavailable for the Round and we still have a chance to redeem ourselves in the remaining four rounds.

Tempering the result for the Mens Div 1 team was the performance of our junior teams (U/14, U/16 especially securing their first win for the season).

Plenty of debuts for the club as well with Marco Sgro, Daniel Webb, Sam Forbes and Stefano Mazzocca all having their first runs in the famous club colours.

Mention also to Lachlan Chan having his first run, but not quite registered in time to compete for points.

Open Men

Pretty light on for highlights, But Shaun Hargreaves picking up 2 PB’s in the Shot & Hammer with 11.01m & 31.30 respectively was probably the key take out for the night. Mention also to the 5000m runners who were forced to wait until nearly 10:00pm for the start of their race.

Under 18

Great to see 5 strong 800m runners race well with James Hanlon (2:03) , Callum Day (2:08), Ned O’Brien (2:08), Konrad Debicki (2:09) & Marco Sgro (2:20)

Under 16

Nearly the highlight of the night for the club with the boys securing their first victory for the year. Full fields in the 200m, Triple Jump, High Jump went a long way to the team result falling our way. Marcus Hope’s two hurdles runs (30.41 & 63.1) and Phil Borg’s 200m (23.81) the standouts.

Under 14

Our top side by ladders position, saw the lads secure another strong win on the night to further consolidate top spot on the ladder. Tom Scroggie was everywhere securing 133 points on his own, the largest for any Under 14 this season. Great to see 4 200m Hurdlers and also a super 800m run by Hugo Goodman (2:25). Very handy points scored by debutant Daniel Webb in the Shot Put (5.36m) and Joel Imbriano in the Triple Jump (6.35). In a lesson to all other SKAAC teams the boys only had gaps in the Walk, Hammer & 3000m.

Full Results can be found here:-

AVShield-White-Round-06-Graded-Results

Ladders at the end of Round 6 can be found here:-

AVShield-White-Round-06-Ladders

Bronze for Lauren at School Sport Australia Nationals in Canberra

December 7, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

Congratulations to Lauren McGarry on securing the Bronze medal in the 10 year old girls Shot Put at the School Sport Australia National Track and Field Championships in Canberra on 5th December 2015.

Presently the only SKAAC female track athlete, Lauren was able to throw 10.05m, just under her personal best of 10.11m. Lauren was the only Victorian to win a medal in the event.

Special Offer to All SKAAC members

December 2, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

Special Offer to All SKAAC members

Have you ever had trouble finding replacement spikes with the right specification for the surface you are running on?

Well, thanks to dual SKAAC club record holder, Jonathan Taylor your hassles are now over.

As a special offer to all St. Kevin’s Athletics Club members, there is a 20% discount to the listed price on the website (www.fastspikes.com.au).

To take advantage of this special offer please make sure that you make contact with Jonathan directly (jonathantaylor021097@yahoo.com) with your order.

Orders placed with Jonathan before 6 December 2015 can be picked up from Jonathan at AV Shield Round 6, at Nunawading on 10 December 2015.

This offer is ideal for those athletes planning to do some pro running on grass over the December / January period where longer length spikes are required.

State Relay Championships 28 November 2015 – Lakeside Stadium

December 1, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

State Relay Championships 28 November 2015 – Lakeside Stadium

There is no doubt that Athletics is about numbers. After an amazing day of relay racing for the club here are some of the key numbers:

1 (as in SKAAC Open 4x400m Relay teams for the whole SKAAC community to watch at the Zatopek Final on Saturday 5^th December at 8:30pm)

1 (as in Gold medals, magnificently won by the Under 16 4x100m team)

1.20 (as in the seconds sliced from the previous Open 4x100m relay Club Record)

2 (as in the fastest two Open 4x100m relay teams the club has ever had)

3 (as in medals) with 1 Gold Medal to the Under 16 4x100m and Bronze to the Open 4x100m and 4x800m teams.

4 (as in SKAAC underage Club records that the Under 16 4x100m team broke in running 45.40)

5 (as in SKAAC underage Club records that the Under 16 Distance Medley team broke in running 4:00.04)

5.18 (as in the seconds sliced from the previous Open Distance Medley relay Club Record)

7 (as in Club relays records broken on the day)

7 (as in where the Under 16 Medley team performance sits on the SKAAC All-time list)

8 (as in teams to compete on the day)

17 (Conor Fry’s age, and the high likelihood to be the youngest ever Open Track & Field medallist for the club)

18 (Jonathan Taylor’s age for the 2 SKAAC Open Club Records he was a huge part of)

21,826 (as in the days that the Open Distance Medley Open Club Record had stood for!!) Tom Tierney, Keith Lodge, G Michael Stewart & Jack Baker incredibly holding the previous record since 26 February 1956.

Thanks to all for making the 2015/2016 State Relays as monumental as they were, especially to all of the Athletes that prepared and executed so well on the day.

In one massive disappointment for the day, I do need to issue an apology to the Under 18 4×800 team for their disqualification and take full responsibility for it. Doubly so after a similar issue in 2014.

Medals

Men Under 16, 17, 18 & 19 4x100m Relay (Gold Medal & Club Record x 2)

(Harry Livens, Massimo Acquaro, Harrison Lee, Phil Borg) 46.00 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 1^st place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Heat. (Under 16 Club Record)

(Harry Livens, Massimo Acquaro, Harrison Lee, Phil Borg) 45.40 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 1^st place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final. (Under 16 Club Record)

L-R Harry Lee, Massimo Acquaro, Phil Borg, Harry Livens

Men Open 4x100m Relay (Bronze Medal & Club Record x 2)

(Conor Fry, Joel Bee, Jonathan Taylor, Matthew Bertacco) 42.72 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 1^st place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Heat. (2^nd fastest All time)

(Conor Fry, Joel Bee, Jonathan Taylor, Matthew Bertacco) 42.13 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 3^rd place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final. (Open Club Record)

L-R Matt Bertacco, Joel Bee, Conor Fry, Jonathan Taylor

Men Open 4x800m Relay (Bronze Medal & 7^th fastest All Time)

(Steve Fabris, Deluca Lawson-Matthew, Xavier Chapman, Alex Rowe) 7:49.35 Lakeside Stadium 3^rd place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final.

L-R Steve Fabris, Xavier Chapman, Alex Rowe, Deluca Lawson-Matthew

Club Records

Men Under 14 (Club Record)

4x400m Relay

(Andrew Mathieson, Hugo Goodman, Angus Down, Thomas Scroggie 4:16.49 Lakeside Stadium 5^th place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final. (Under 14 Club Record)

L-R Angus Down, Hugo Goodman, Andrew Mathieson, Thomas Scroggie

Men Under 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20 Distance Medley (Club Record)

(Massimo Acquaro, Phil Borg, Harrison Lee, Tristan Day) 4:00.04 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 6^th place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final. (Under 16 Club Record, 7^th fastest All Time)

Men Open Distance Medley (Club Record)

(Jonathan Taylor, Joel Bee, Sebastian Purcell, Xavier Chapman) 3:33.82 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 5^th place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final. (Open Club Record)

Other results

Men Under 14 4x100m Relay

(Jett-Paris Bedelis, Matt Dinan, Angus Down, Thomas Scroggie) 55.72 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 5^th place. Athletics Victoria State Relay Championships Final.

L-R Thomas Scroggie, Angus Down, Matt Dinan, Jett-Paris Bedelis

Men Open 4x400m Relay

(Conor Fry, Alex Rowe, Steve Fabris, Deluca Lawson-Matthew) 3:19.56 28/11/2015 Lakeside Stadium 3^rd fastest qualifier for Final to be held at Zatopek 10 Meet 5 December 2015at 8:30pm

AV Shield Round 5 – Doncaster

November 23, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

Round 5 Doncaster Sunday 22^nd November 2015

The largest turnout for the club for the entire season (33 athletes) presented themselves for competition at Doncaster on a pleasant Sunday afternoon. 4 relay teams entered for the Day was the first time for quite a while that this has been possible. Thanks to the 16 hearty souls who made the Open, Under 18, Under 16 and Under 14 relay teams.

Congratulations to Jonathan Taylor, Jeremy Moore, Paul Hanlon and Harry Lee making their debuts for the club. Mention also to Joel Bee having his first run, but not quite registered in time to compete for points.

Club Record

A huge congratulations to Matt Dinan who broke the Under 13 90m Hurdles 17.50s (taking out the former equal record of Simon Gallagher and Alex Carew at 17.7). Well Done Matt!

Top 10 All time performances

Daniel Martin 5^th All time (15.78) in the Mens 110m Hurdles.
Shaun Hargreaves 10^th All time (34.70) in the 2kg Discus.
Men’s 4×100 relay 43.59s 3^rd All time (Steve Fabris, Jonathan Taylor, Shaun Hargreaves, Zach Nelson)

Men’s Div 1

If you ever needed an incentive to get to interclub early there was never a better opportunity with 3 great hurdlers facing the starter in the first race of the day, the Mens Div 1, 110m Hurdles, Cain just shaded Martin, with Hargreaves finishing 5^th overall.

The build-up to the 100m for Men was amazing, something not seen at Shield for quite some time. All 8 starters well capable of going under 11 sec. After a couple of goes they were away with Matt Bertacco second fastest for the day in 10.84 followed not far behind by Michael Romanin (11.01 who hurt his hamstring) in doing so. Zach Nelson was super sharp in running 11.46. A super debut run by Jonathan Taylor 11.56, followed closely by Fab (11.64) & Shaun Hargreaves (11.79).

It is fair to say that the distance performance was quite poor only 1 athlete under 40 years of age fronting for the 1500m and having 2 gaps, really being the difference between a win and the 3^rd place that the Mens 1 team ended up with. A similar story in the 3000m with 3 gaps cruelling the hard work of the sprinters and field event athletes.

A week to regroup for Mens 1 before round 6.

Under 18

Conor Fry was fantastic on the day. 6.25 long jump off a short run up a great effort, and a good hurdles (15.74). But the highlight for mine was Conor’s 400m late in the day, stopping the clock at 50.33.

Also good to see Konrad back in action along with James Hanlon blowing the cobwebs out in the 1500m.

Continuing a great start to the AV season Ned O’Brien with a PB in the 1500m 4:24.5 and another PB in the 400m 57.74s.

Under 16

Nationals bound, Harry Lee made his debut for the club in the 100m (12.37) and 400m running 53.53 to nearly win Heat 5 of the Mens 400.

Phil Borg was out and about tuning up for State Relays with a 100m and 400m

Tristan Day was really strong in the 1500m (4:27.1) and will run an 800m at State Relays.

Marcus Hope was everywhere, sprint hurdles, relay, 400m & javelin showing versatility and ability.

Under 14

The Under 14 team won the round by over 110 points. Full fields for the team in the 100m, 110m Hurdles, Discus, 400m, 1500m is something the Mens 1 team could learn from. Plenty of highlights too, from the 14’s:

Matt Dinan’s club record in the 90m Hurdles and 14.43s 100m;
Andrew Mathieson’s near 400m club record;
Jett-Paris’ great first leg of the 4x100m Relay;
Angus Down getting close to breaking 5min for 1500;
Joel Imbriano taking a leaf out of Dad, Dino’s book and grabbing a 1500m PB (6:05.1);
Adam McGarry’s 128 points for the day across 7 individual event and 1 relay; and
Tom Scroggie defying “parent orders to do some study” picking up a javelin PB (27.45m) and getting close to his 1500m PB in running 4:43.2.

The next round of AV Shield is a twilight meet scheduled for Thursday 10^th December 2015 at Nunawading.

However, with 10 teams entered there will be a strong SKAAC presence at the State Relays next Saturday 28^th November at Albert Park, whilst AV Shield takes a week off.

Full Results can be seen by clicking the link below

AVShield-White-Round-05-Graded-Results

New major sponsor for SKAAC – The Glenferrie Hotel

November 19, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

St. Kevin’s Athletics Club is pleased to announce The Glenferrie Hotel as a major sponsor of the club.

Managing Director of National Hospitality Management Mark O’Reilly (the owner of the Glenferrie Hotel), is pleased to be involved with a local sports club to expand his company’s support of local sporting clubs.

“I am ecstatic to become a major sponsor of a sporting club such as St. Kevin’s Athletics Club. Sport is a great passion of mine and I look forward to a long association and opportunity to welcome all people involved with St. Kevin’s Athletics Club to come and experience the great atmosphere and dining at the Glenferrie Hotel.”

A huge thanks to Mark O’Reilly and Mr Drayson Bushell, the Manager of the Glenferrie Hotel, as all at St. Kevin’s a rapt to have The Glenferrie Hotel on board as a major sponsor.

Needless to say, get down to The Glenferrie. I can personally recommend the Porterhouse – sensational.

Peter McGarry

President, St. Kevin’s Athletics Club

AV Shield Round 5 – Sunday 22nd November @ Doncaster

November 18, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

Round 5 of the AV Shield Competition is scheduled to be held at Doncaster track on Sunday 22nd November from 1:30pm to approximately 5:30pm.

It should be another great weekend of athletics with Matt Bertacco (club record holder for 100m) possibly having his first run for the season. Along with some handy debutants.

This is the last week to stake your claim to be a part of the St. Kevin’s Relay teams for the following week’s State Relay Championships at Lakeside Stadium.

The club has entered the following teams:-

4×100: Open, Under 16 & Under 14

4×400: Open x 2 and Under 14

4×800: Open & Under 18

Medley (2×200, 400, 800): Open & Under 16

Please see attached below a copy of the timetable of events for this week.

White-Zone-Timetable_Round_5

AV Shield Round 4 – Nunawading

November 16, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

AV Shield was held at Nunawading on 14 November 2015, with the memory of John Lewin everpresent in all club member’s minds.

With the approval of the Lewin family, each athlete wore a black armband a mark of respect for the contribution of John over many years and to his son Simon Lewin, a Life Member of the Club and his grandsons Will Lewis and Angus Birrell who are also club members. Deepest sympathy to the extended Lewin family from all at St. Kevin’s Athletics Club.

Back Row: Luke Goodman, Phil Borg, Jeremy Weekes, Chris Milne, Ned O’Brien, Chris Hibbert, Xavier Chapman

Front Row: Shaun Hargreaves, Steve Fabris, Conor Fry

Congratulations to the following 4 athletes who made their debuts for the club this week: Matt Dinan, Stefano Mazzocca, Hugh Pentland and Daniel Webb.

Highlights were:-

Michael Romanin being fastest over 200m for the day running 22.38

Dylan Johnson’s massive 14.14m Triple Jump, taking him to second all time for SKAAC.

Steve Fabris cracking the 2 minute barrier for 800m running 1:58.1, paced by Australia’s best, Alex Rowe.

Ned O’Brien racking up 3 PB’s for the day

Hibbo & Fab unable to be separated in the High Jump 1.52 each.

St. Kevin’s winning the Open Mens 4×400 in 3:31.8

Lucas Webb jumping 1.57 in the High Jump

Phil Borg winning the Under 16 200m in 24.03

Matt Dinan coming a narrow 2nd in the Under 14 200m in 29.41

Results can be found here:

AVShield-White-Round-04-Graded-Results

Vale – John Lewin

November 14, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

The entire St. Kevin’s Athletics Club mourns the loss of John Lewin.

Deepest sympathy is extended to club life member Simon Lewin on the loss of his father, and to club members Will Lewis and Angus Birrell on the loss of their grandfather.

Justin Rinaldi awarded Honorary Life Membership of St. Kevin’s Old Collegians Association

November 12, 2015 by Peter McGarry Leave a Comment

SKAAC is delighted to announce that Justin Rinaldi was awarded Honorary Life Membership of the St. Kevin’s Old Collegians Association (SKOCA) at last night’s SKOCA AGM. The SKOCA will publically present Justin with this honour at the SKOCA Annual Dinner in June 2016.

Please see below for some further information relating to Justin’s contribution to our club:

On the track, Justin has been a multiple State Champion and one-time National Champion at 800m, famously and proudly wearing the SKAAC singlet to victory during the 2006 Victorian State Championships held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Justin was amongst Victoria’s best championship performers over a 10 year period from the mid-1990’s to the mid-2000’s.

He has been a fierce competitor ranking in the Top 10 performances for SKAAC from distances from 100m to 3000m Steeplechase, for which he is the current club record holder at 9:20.2. A small excerpt of his achievements on the track are listed below:-

1990/1991 Member of St. Kevin’s Under 19 State Record 4 x400m Relay team. (3:14.6)
1990/1991 Member of St. Kevin’s Under 19 & 20 State Record 4 x800m Relay team. (7:40.72)
1996/1997 800m National Champion. (1:47.78)
1995/1996 800m Victorian State Champion. (1:47.89)
2005/2006 800m Victorian State Champion. (1:50.27)

In season 1992/1993, Justin as a junior athlete, was awarded the Syd James Trophy recognising him as the SKAAC Senior Club Champion, an amazing feat.

Justin also served the SKAAC Committee during the 2002/2003 season.

However, over the last 6 years Justin has gained national and international exposure, as coach and mentor to current joint Australian 800m record holder and Old Collegian Alex Rowe (2010). The time, effort and finance sacrifice personally taken by Justin to guide Alex has been incredible and culminated in the amazing run by Alex in Monaco in 2014 in equalling the Australian 800m record at 1:44.40.

Justin is presently committed to establishing a middle distance coaching group of excellence, attracting athletes from across the country to train with him with the aim of maximising the number of 800m athletes that are selected in the 800m for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Nearly everyone in the Australian Athletics community acknowledges Justin as St. Kevin’s “through and through”. On 11th November 2015, the St. Kevin’s Old Collegians formally recognised Justin’s immense contribution to all things St. Kevin’s Athletics by awarding him Honorary Life Membership.

Well done and thanks Justin.

2015/2016 SKAAC Committee