This season marks the 30th Anniversary of the club’s first ever Junior Venue/Region Premiership in the Under 18 Mens Competition at Box Hill in 1986/1987. Luckily there is a great photo to enable the club to celebrate this feat. Please see photo below, taken at the Association Final held at Olympic Park in March 1987. The team L-R 2nd Row is Cameron Hayes, Garun Hamilton, Derek Francis, Andrew Heaton, Mark Forytarz, Justin Murphy. Front Row is Mark Brady, Travis Mullarvey, Nick Owen, Richard Hope, Jon Savedra.

Many of those pictured held and continue to hold SKAAC Club Records and had distinguished APS careers.

Cameron Hayes: 4 x Senior Cross Country Champion (BJ Jones Cup);

Mark Brady: 3 x Club Champion (Syd James Memorial), School Captain & 1st XVIII Captain 1988 and still ranked the SKAAC Top 10 for 100m, 110m Hurdles, Triple Jump, ;

Garun Hamilton: Career sadly cut short by back injury but 1988 School Vice Captain & Dux;

Travis Mullarvey: Still holds a SKC School record in U17 4x100m Relay and was 1989 School Vice Captain;

Richard Hope: Arguably our greatest distance runner. Club record Holder for the Tan 10:51, 2 x Senior Cross Country Champion (BJ Jones Cup) and Australian Representative in Cross Country;

Justin Murphy: Captain of Athletics & Cross Country 1988

Mark Forytarz: Current club record holder for Under 18 5.4kg Hammer

Andrew Heaton: Currently ranked 6th on the SKAAC All Time Javelin Performances

Derek Francis: Sensationally won the 1986 APS 800m, SKC’s only track winner for the day.

 

On Saturday 28 May 2016, over 60 people from the SKAAC community came together to celebrate the five St. Kevin’s athletes to have won a Senior National 800m title. 4 of the 5 champions were in attendance on the night, with Luke Mathews currently in Europe preparing for the Rio Olympics in August offering probably the best excuse ever for being unable to attend on the night.

 

9 National 800m Champions since 1977 coming from St. Kevin’s can rightfully have us claim to be the 2^nd most successful 800m production line outside of the famous St. Patricks in Kenya. Please see below for a list of the years in which a St. Kevin’s athlete has won the National 800m title:-

 

John Higham (1977, 1978, 1979);

Peter Bourke (1980, 1982, 1984);

Simon Lewin (1993);

Alex Rowe (2014); and

Luke Mathews (2016).

 

A wonderful meal shared by all at The Glenferrie Hotel, our principal entertainment sponsor was followed by two riveting interview sessions expertly conducted by Justin Rinaldi (a National 800m Champion in 1997). John Higham and Peter Bourke were first to address the room to discuss their toughest training sessions, which centred around never asking Franz Stampfel as to why you were doing 20 x 200m for soon it would be 30 x 200m. John spoke of being the only Australian to have ever won the 400m/800m double at a national Championship, and also why he chose not to compete at the 1980 Olympic Games.

 

Peter Bourke in his unassuming way spoke to a silent room about the buildup to his famous win in the 800m at the 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games and the tactics that he took into the race. Peter also spoke of his preparation for big races seeking strong, PB level performances in distances either side of his specialist 800m event, in the 400m & 1500m.

Both John & Peter were unanimous in their views about the training methods employed by their coaches in the 1970’s & 1980’s being inferior to those methods of the current day coaching methods, particularly relating to the volume of training they completed.

A lovely dessert was soon followed by the final interview session with Simon Lewin & Alex Rowe (who leaves on Wednesday for Cologne, seeking a Rio qualifier). Simon Lewin spoke of his toughest session being in the sand dunes in Sorrento where the variation in rep performance would vary wildly between his best and slowest, due to incredible fatigue. Simon also spoke of mental preparation he completed to overcome long time competitor, Barry Acres to secure the 1993 National 800m title and also having Justin Rinaldi in the same race!! He also spoke of the form that he was in at the time, and that quite possibly he was possibly in better shape to win the 1993, National 1500m final, but the euphoria of winning the 800m took a little edge off – I say understandably!!

Alex Rowe spoke of his National 800m Record and the controversy surrounding him being in Monaco that famous night and the lead up to even receiving an invitation to contest the race. He also spoke of the heartbreak of injuring his hamstring soon after that record breaking run that was to rule him out of representing his country at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

Each of the 4 National 800m Champions present were presented with a memorabilia piece outlining their athletic records and their connection to St. Kevin’s.

It was a wonderful tribute to five wonderful gentlemen and giants of not only our club, but our sport and our country. Please see below for some photos taken on the night. Key videos (including both interviews) will be up shortly.

 

While we were sleeping, Australia’s, Victoria’s and St Kevin’s rising middle distance star added a 1,500m Rio Olympic Games qualifier to his already secured spot on the Australian Team in the 800m.

On Wednesday 18 May 2016 in Nijmegan, Netherlands, Luke stopped the clock in a new PB of 3:35.99, taking 1.32sec from his previous best of 3:37.31, run at the Briggs Track Classic in Hobart in February this year.

Luke’s next race is over 800m on 22 May 2016.

Huge effort Luke. Keep it up.

Go SKAAC

P.S. Records and Rankings have been updated with this slashing run 🙂

Dear SKAAC Community

It is with great excitement that we wish Luke, Alex, Sam and Peter our best wishes for their upcoming races:-

• Sam races over 5,000m this Sunday in the Payton Jordan Invitational this Sunday (Stanford, Palo Alto) where he will hope to go under the Qlympic qualifying standard of 13:24.00; and
• Luke’s first run is over 1,500m on May 18th  in Nijmegen, Holland and then over 800m on May 22nd in Hegel, Holland.
• Alex Rowe and Peter Bol leave for Europe on 1 June 2016 and have 800m races scheduled for:-
  • 14 June 2016 Lausanne (Switzerland);
  • 18 June 2016 Nivelles (Belgium);
  • 23 June 2016 Madrid (Spain)

All at SKAAC wish Sam the best this weekend and Luke, Alex & Peter all the best when they race in Europe.

On Friday evening at the AV Awards evening held at the AV Offices Luke Mathews was awarded the Most Outstanding Open Track and Field Performance at the 2016 Australian Championships, in addition to this Luke was also recognised as the People’s Choice Most Outstanding Male of the 2015/16 Season, receiving over 65% of the vote.

Accepting the awards in Luke’s absence was his sister, Michelle, who can be seen with both awards below.

Well done to Luke on what everyone in the state now acknowledges was a stellar domestic season!!

 

In a stunning race for SKAAC Luke Mathews has been crowned the 2015/2016 800m National Champion running 1:46.20. In doing so, he becomes the 5th SKC student to have achieved this feat, joining John Higham, Peter Bourke, Simon Lewin and Alex Rowe as National 800m champions. In a brutal race, typical of middle distance running, Luke was able to secure the win after sitting in second spot before pouncing at the 150m mark. Luke is now a certain selection for the Rio Olympics in August.

Alex Rowe finished a strong second after employing some excellent race tactics by staying close to the rail, getting up on the inside to complete the SKAAC quinella in 1:47.31. Alex now has until early July to seek a qualifying time under 1:46.00.

Peter Bol has been sensational all season and in coming 5th won plenty of admirers, nearly getting checked only 250m into the race, he was at the head of the chasing pack all the way and could have so easily been part of a Trifecta running 1:47.76.

Joel Bee finished 5th in his 100m semi-final running a seasons best 10.65s for 3rd fastest SKAAC athlete all time. His next goal is a race in Canberra in 2 weeks.

Dylan Johnson finished with 9th place in the Triple Jump final with 15.13m. Not many would know of the challenges Dylan has faced in the past 4-5 weeks with a foot injury severly hampering his preparation for Nationals – so to make the final was a brilliant effort.

These Nationals have been nothing short of a triumph for SKAAC.

• 11 athletes qualified and made the trip to compete in Sydney;
• 2 gold medals were won;
• 1 athlete has qualified for Rio;
• 1 silver medal was was won;
• 2 athletes can be selected pending qualifying performances being achieved before early July 2016;
• Two 5th places were achieved; and
• 11 athletes did themselves, their families and their club proud with what has happened this weekend.

Plenty of SKAAC athletes in action on Day 2 (1 April 2016) of the National Championships,

Zach Nelson jumping 6.97m in the qualifying rounds of the Long Jump.

Sam McEntee backing up his sensational 5,000m win on Day 1, narrowly missing the final of the 1,500m in 3.48.45 (17th), along with Jack Holden really close to breaking his PB running 3:50.57 (23rd)

Joel Bee was very impressive in running 10.71 (3rd in Heat) into a slight headwind to qualify for the semi finals of the 100m. See photo below…

Deluca Lawson-Matthew was 7th in his semi-final in 48.38s

In the last event of the night Jason Kozica placed 5th in the 10,000m Walk in 47:25.55, breaking his own club record of 48:42.0, a great performance.

Can we call today Super Saturday?

Big 800m Final tonight featuring Luke, Alex & Peter at 7:50pm, Dylan well set for the Triple Jump Final (6:50pm) and Joel due to run the 100m Semi at 6:35pm. Good luck to the 5 SKAAC athletes in action this evening.

One word…HUGE

The day got off to a flyer with Dylan Johnson getting a 15:43m Triple Jump (breaking his own club record) on the board in qualifying for automatic progression to Saturday’s Final.

Deluca Lawson-Matthew has also qualified for the semi-finals of the 400m in running 47.92s.

Then the SKAAC 800m championship, that also counts this year as the National Championship 🙂 was SKAAC domination, with Luke Mathews the fastest qualifier in 1:47.15, and Alex Rowe (1:48.03) coming 3rd in the same heat. Peter Bol won heat 2 in 1:49.90. So it will be 3 SKAAC athletes in Saturday’s 800m final to be run at 7:50pm.

And then shortly after 8:00pm the crowning highlight of a magnificent 1st day was the first gold medal which was magnificently won by Sam McEntee in the 5,000m in 13:37.95 beating home a quality field containing Robinson & St. Lawrence.

Plenty of action tomorrow, with the 100m Heats (Joel Bee, Michael Romanin), 1500 preliminaries (Luke Mathews, Jack Holden & Sam McEntee), 400m semis (Deluca Lawson-Matthew), Long Jump (Zach Nelson) and the 10,000m Walk featuring Jason Kozica.

There is a huge 11 strong SKAAC contingent going to Nationals in Sydney from 31 March 2016 to 3 April 2016. Representing themselves, their families, their state and our great club will be:-

• Joel Bee (100m & 200m likely)
• Peter Bol (1500m)
• Jack Holden (1500m)
• Dylan Johnson (Triple Jump)
• Jason Kozica (10km Walk)
• Deluca Lawson-Matthew (400m)
• Luke Mathews (800m & 1500m)
• Sam McEntee (1500m & 5000m)
• Zach Nelson (Long Jump)
• Michael Romanin (100m)
• Alex Rowe (800m)

The Committee and all at SKAAC wish these 11 outstanding athletes all the best for the Nationals as they chase not only medals, but also qualifying performances for the Rio Olympic Games.

Go SKAAC

 

Flying the club colours in Perth have been Conor Fry, Phil Borg, Will Lewis & Thomas Scroggie.

Phil ran a PB in the Under 17 200m Heats (22.93) but unluckily missed the final due to a fast heat, costing him a place in the final.

Conor ran 56.00 in the Under 20 400m Hurdles to qualify for the final as 4th fastest. We wish Conor all the best in the final on Saturday at 1:10pm Perth time.

Will Lewis ran the Under 17 800m and finished 5th in his heat in 1:58.98 to narrowly miss the final as the 11th fastest qualifier.

Thomas Scroggie finished in 8th place in the Under 15 2000m Steeplechase on 7:00.30, so close to his PB.

Phil Borg also has the 100m heats (& hopefully final) on Sunday.