There are sometimes in our sport where moments are defined and remembered for the magnitude of the achievement. And so it was on Saturday night when “Australia’s up-and-coming” middle distance talent, Luke Mathews claimed an 800m PB and importantly an A-Qualifier for the Rio Olympic Games in August in running a great race in 1:45.16 in finishing a strong second behind Olympic Champion and World Record Holder, David Rudisha a the Melbourne World Challenge.

There were plenty of SKAAC members on hand at Lakeside Stadium to support our three 800m starters at the Melbourne World Track challenge. Alex Rowe having his second race for the season finished 5^th in 1:47.48 showing solid improvement from his 1:48.39 in Adelaide. Peter Bol running a brave race in the famous SKAAC colours, was on the pace for the first lap and three-quarters finished in 1:49.22. The 800m at the Nationals in Sydney in a few weeks will no doubt be one of the great races for athletics purists.

In the final race for the night was Sam McEntee in the 5000m. Has there been anyone in Australian Athletics in recent memory that has performed at such a high level, as Sam has on the 2016 Australian Circuit, with little or no fanfare? Well judging by his 13:33.73 on Saturday night (9 seconds quicker than his run at the Briggs Classic in Hobart) this is about to change and change quickly. He is well set, has some great Australian competition striving for the A-qualifier of 13:24.00, and certainly the top end speed as evidenced by his super run in the Victorian mile championship to be a chance to join Luke on the plane to Rio.

Get excited as in Luke Mathews, the club has it’s first ever Olympic qualified athlete and still plenty more chances for our other elite athletes to join him.

 

Go SKAAC.

Never once in the 70+ years history of the club, and then twice in the same race. That is the summary of an extraordinary night of racing at the Miler’s Club meet held at Melbourne University Track on 23 February 2016.

There is something mystical about the mile, that had the potential to be lost in the move to the metric system in 1966, but coveted so dearly by those who love athletics still, especially when an athlete is able to break the 4:00.00 minute barrier.

Until last night no SKAAC athlete had been able to break that magical 4:00.00 minute barrier. We certainly have had the talent to achieve the feat in years past, but with the distance sadly raced so sparingly, Simon Lewin’s 4:02.XX had stood for nearly 18 years exactly as the club’s fastest ever mile.

SKAAC’s Luke Mathews and Sam McEntee, both wearing the famous SKAAC colours, staged an intriguing battle with the Victorian Mile title going to Luke Mathews in an incredible 3:56.7, with Sam second in 3:59.0. To have a quinella in such a big race is just reward for Luke and Sam and the training they have completed over the last 12 months and also to their coach Nick Bideau. Credit also to Deakin’s Brenton Rowe for also dipping under the 4:00.00 barrier in placing 3^rd.

Luke and Sam are in sensational form and really starting to gather some strong momentum leading up to the Nationals in Sydney in a few weeks.

All at the club should be justifiably proud of these two stellar performances. Well done to Luke & Sam.

Also in action at the Miler’s Club meet was:

Mile (1609m)

Xavier Chapman (4:28.7)

Paris Street (4:43.6) Under 17, 18, 19 & 20 Club Record

Dino Imbriano (4:56.9) 40+ Club Record

Andrew Thomas (4:59.4)

Lincoln Mah (5:19.7)

Jeremy Moore (5:23.0)

800m

Steve Fabris (1:56.8) Massive PB!!

Will Lewis (1:58.1) PB

Nick O’Halloran (2:12.5)

Aaron Little (2:13.7)

Some amazing results from the Victorian Junior Athletics Championships held from 12-14 February 2016 at Lakeside Stadium…

Congratulations to Phil Borg as the Club’s newly crowned State Champion in the Under 17 200m running 23.03. Phil also secured the Bronze in the Under 17 100m in 11.51s

Also congratulations to Conor Fry, Silver medallist in the Under 20 400m Hurdles in a new Under 18, 19 & 20 Club Record of 54.11s and also Bronze medallist in the Under 20 110m Hurdles in 15.46s.

Also great to see Will Lewis pick up a Bronze medal in the Under 17 800m in 1:59.90.

Also picking up a Bronze medal was Thomas Scroggie in the Under 15 2000m Steeplechase in 7:02.15, which was a National Qualifier and also only just over 2 seconds outside the club record held by Anthony McKay.

Club records also broken during the Junior Championships were:

Andrew Mathieson in the Under 13 Shot Put 9.14m

Massimo Acquaro in the Under 16 200m 24.12s in finishing 4th.

Well done to all athletes who competed in the Championships you have done yourselves, coaches and club proud.

A big thanks to Danielle Cain who acted as our designated official for the bulk of the Championships. 🙂

The full set of results for the SKAAC athletes can be seen below:

AV Victorian Junior Championships 12-14 February 2016

Under 14

1500m Angus Down 5:01.72 8^th

Shot Put Andrew Mathieson 9.14m Final 6^th (Under 13 Club Record)

Discus Andrew Mathieson 24.98m Final 8^th

Triple Jump Andrew Mathieson 9.59m Final 12^th

Under 15

1500m Thomas Scroggie 4:50.29 14^th

2000m Steeple Thomas Scroggie 7:02.15 Final 3^rd

Under 16

100m Massimo Acquaro 11.96s Heat 4^th, 11.80s Final 6^th

200m Massimo Acquaro 24.59s Heat 2^nd, 24.12s Final 4^th (Under 15 Club Record)

400m Stefano Mazzocca 57.80s 9^th

3000m Tristan Day 9:25.50 Final 4th

Under 17

100m Phil Borg 11.56s Heat 2^nd, 11.51s Final 3^rd

200 Phil Borg 23.37s Heat 2^nd, 23.03s Final 1^st

800m Will Lewis 2:05.37 Heat 1^st, 1:59.90 Final 3^rd

Under 18

3000m Paris Street 9:39.54 Final 11^th

Under 20

110m Hurdles Conor Fry 15.46s Final 3^rd

400m Hurdles Conor Fry 55.62 Heat 2^nd, 54.11 Final 2^nd (Under 18, 19 & 20 Club Record)

 

 

What a night of racing for SKAAC athletes at the Briggs Athletics Classic in Hobart on 13 February 2016.

Luke Mathews has lowered his 1500m PB by over 3 seconds and in the process created a new Club Record of 3:37.31 in finishing a close second to training partner Ryan Gregson. The previous record was held by SKAAC legend and Life Member, Simon Lewin with 3:40.2. This run follows up Luke’s slashing win over 800m at the Hunter Classic two weeks ago and sets his season up beautifully.

In the 5000m Sam McEntee (13:42.78) won a close race in SKAAC’s second fastest all time performance at the distance and again shows a strong pointer toward his prospects heading toward the National Championships. Also claiming a slice of history was Jack Holden, stopping the clock in 14:42.36 to join the illustrious Top 10 SKAAC 5000m runners of all-time.

The first morning AV meet for quite some time saw St. Kevin’s start well enough and cover the sprints and field with distinction, but a lack of depth in the distance races ultimately cost the club a win against the ever-strong Box Hill, falling 125 points short, but importantly securing 2nd spot and another chance in round 10.

The Under 18’s finished 5th and the improving Under 16’s secured a strong win, with the Under 14’s also grinding out another win, which was enough to secure their 2nd Region Premiership in a row.

There were numerous Top 10 All-Time performances for the club, with Joel Bee securing two of them. 10.85 the 7th fastest ever in the 100m and 48.48 in the 400m enough to secure 9th All Time.

Deluca Lawson-Matthew took his coach Justin Rinaldi’s spot in 6th with a 48.13 400m

The Open 4×100 Relay of Dan Bailey, Joel Bee, Zach Nelson & Dan Martin running 43.13 for 7th fastest all time.

Jason Kozica improved his best 2000m Walk time by nearly 10 sec to be a mere 1.5 sec outside the club record and solidify his already strong hold in second place on the All-Time listings.

Shaun Hargreaves pulled out a 5m PB (39.15m) in the Discus to claim 6th spot, just behind his brother, Chris on 39.99m

There were also club records tumbling in the the Udner 13’s with Andrew Mathieson securing the Discus record that had stood for 40 years, improving the record to 25.03m with the 1kg and later stopping the clock in the 400m at 64.77.

Lauren McGarry improved her Discus”unified” Club Record to 21.06 with a great series of throws for a 10 year old. Lauren was also able to secure 3rd place on the day for her 1 athlete Under 14 Women’s team 🙂

Mens 1

The day started emphatically with Steve Cain, Dan Bailey and Lachlan Chan dominating the 100m Hurdles. The 100m racing was also strong with Joel Bee leading the way and Zach Nelson solid with 11.49, Dan Martin 11.76, Dan Bailey back from overseas running 12.22, with Shaun Hargreaves running 12.34 and Lachlan Chan running 12.86.

Two gaps in the 1500m would provide costly in the wash-up as would the club’s present lack of depth in the 1500m presently. However, Aaron ran strong to run and Luke Goodman 4:34.

The field is no doubt a strength for the club at present especially the Long Jump. With Zach Nelson jumping 6.91, Dylan 6.65and Dan Bailey 5.72 to take 3 of the Top 5 spots in the Division.

The 400’s were fantastic with Deluca (48.13)  Joel (48.48) and Steve Fabris (50.37)brilliant, with support provided by Chris Milne (54.11) , Steve Cain (53.39) & Dan Martin (55.20).

The relay team of Dan Bailey, Joel Bee, Zach Nelson & Dan Martin won easily in 43.83s.

However, the last two events of the day (Steeple & Pole Vault) Box Hill were able to power away and leave it all up to the last round for St. Kevin’s to claim a finals spot, where a win will allow us to claim a spot in the Shield Final.

Under 18

Conor Fry has had a fantastic season thus far, has been training hard since APS Sport and had a real breakthrough in the 400m running a barnstorming PB of 49.59s to be just outside the Top 10 All Time for the club. He also complete the 100m (11.74s) and 110m Hurdles (16.13s) to round out a fantastic day.

Under 16

How exciting is this??

The Under 16 team has a massive chance to make the Shield Final after securing a 100 point win over Box Hill. They must win the last round and they will be in!!

Great sprinting from Phil Borg, Massimo Acquaro, Sam Forbes & Harry Lee and Field event power from Harry Livens & Lucas Webb and hurdling power from Marcus Hope, have set this team alight. However, a vital 69 points from Tristan Day in the 1500m 4:30.00 and 2k Steeple 6:45.70 was a great effort in warm conditions.

This team is coming together really well after the normal slow start due to APS & AGS commitments.

We wish them all the best in Round 10, as they seek to secure a spot in the big dance at the Shield Final on 6 February 2016.

Under 14

A bit closer this week, with a few gaps, but still enough to secure a strong win and wrap up the White Region Premiership. Andrew’s pair of club records (Discus & 400m) and a near record in the 4×100 was a great reward for a big day. Also great to see Michael Dinan make his debut over 1500m and Jett-Paris take on 4 events (400m, Long Jump 3.76m, 1500m & Relay) and Adam McGarry 5 events, with an equal PB in the Pole Vault and a great effort in the relay at the last minute to run the last leg.

Jay Cavedon was our fastest 100m runner in 14.94 with Matt Dinan in 15.13 not far behind. This team has been fantastic all season and this week was no different.

 

See below for full results:

AVShield-White-Round-09-Graded-Results

See below for ladders:

AVShield-White-Round-09-Ladders

 

Round 9 of the AV Shield Competition is scheduled to be held at the Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park track on Saturday 16th January 2016 from 10:00am to approximately 2:45pm. PLEASE NOTE THE EARLY START. Yes it will hurt – but it’s the same for every other club.

It is a crucial round for a number of reasons.

1) Mens Div 1 are currently outside the Top 2 teams. A win this round and we are back in it.

2) Another win for the Under 16 team, may see them leap into the Top 2.

3) If you are sudden death, that is have only competed once this season, you MUST compete this week to be eligible for finals. 3 rounds are required to qualify.

4) Please get there early to register for your field events, as this meet also is a Zone v Zone meet where the number of athletes virtually doubles and given that the meet is at Albert Park, it is sure to be popular.

A piece of very relevant information

Here is the event timetable for Round 9:

Red-vs-White-Rd-9-Timetable

A great turnout at Nunawading for Round 8, so early in 2016, saw an agonising 38 point loss for the Mens 1 team, however tempered by wins for the Under 16 and Under 14 teams.

Congratulations to Lachlan Chan, Jay Cavedon, Nigel Self and Hugh Pentland for making their debuts for the club.

Mens 1

In what was a crucial round for the club saw St. Kevin’s beaten by Box Hill by a mere 38 points. Our finals destiny is still in our own hands but with a win and a second required in the last two reounds endeavour similar to that on display on Saturday will be required.

The day started well with Steve Cain posting a Top 10 all time performance in the 400 hurdles stopping the clock at 56.85 to be fastest for the day. Great runs by Steve Fabris (62.70) and Dan Martin 63.02 saw SKAAC off to a flyer. The 200’s saw Joel Bee fastest in 22.53 with debutant Nigel Self running a sharp 22.86s (is his secret a small size singlet?). Iron man, Steve Fabris ran 23.90 after the sticks and Cainie a last minute starter ran 24.38, Lachlan Chan ran 26.67.

As has been the case all season the distance and middle distance has been our achillies heal. Fab the fastest with 2:02.01 and Chris Milne next with 2:16.18 with simply not enough support able to be provided to field 6 strong runners.

The SKAAC field events continue to be our strength with a trifecta in the Triple Jump. Dylan 14.50m, Lachlan Chan 12.54m (a great jump of limited preparation) and Cainie 12.13m.

A highlight for the day was the 8^th fastest All Time 4×400 relay at 3:25.85 with Steve Fabris, Conor Fry, Nigel self and Joel Bee winning by 6.51 sec also great to see Simon Field and Tom Crowley down late in the day to help the team try and get over the line.

A huge thanks to Jason Kozica a real warrior on the day competing in the 3000m Walk, 800m & 3000m.

In summary close, but no cigar.

Under 18

Conor Fry is stamping himself as a talent in the 400m and 400m Hurdles and is off to the Nationals in Perth. A run of 56.81 in the 400m Hurdles followed by a 23.64 200m was a great start to 2016.

Callum Day missing the 800m earlier in the day was super impressive in the 3000m running 10:13

Under 16

Great effort by the Under 16’s to secure a win in what is looming as a super competitive age group within White Division. Borgy won the 200m in 23.80s and was well supported by Massimo Acquaro, Marcus ‘double hurdles’ Hope and Lucas Webb.

However the run of the day for Under 16’s went to Tristan Day with a 4 sec PB in the 3000m, stepping up to the first race and getting into a strong position from the get-go, Tristan ran a PB of 9:35.08.

A great effort by all of the boys (especially Tom Scroggie) to get a relay together, it was the difference on the day.

Under 14

Two gaps all day tells a strong story as to why this team won by nearly 200 points. Full fields in the 200m, 800m, 3000m and all field events not only secured the win for the Under 14’s but also valuable qualifiers for the upcoming Shield Final. Well done to Jay Cavedon in his first race for the club in the 200m running 32.43sec. A club record to Adam McGarry in the 3kg Hammer Throw with 13.91m and another in the 4×400 with Adam, Jett-Paris, Joel and Angus running 5:15.18. However, the best performance for the Under 13’s was Joel Imbriano’s 1500m Walk in 9:28.74 was the club’s 10^th fastest all time and the first time Joel had completed the walk in competition. 8 events each for Tom Scroggie, and 7 events for Adam McGarry and Joel Imbriano was a huge factor in the massive win for the finals bound Under 14’s.

For full results click on the link below:

AVShield-White-Round-08-Graded-Results

For the ladders at the end of Round 8 click on the link below:

AVShield-White-Round-08-Ladders

Round 8 of the AV Shield Competition is scheduled to be held at Nunawading track on Saturday 9th January 2016 from 12:00pm to approximately 5:30pm.

It is a crucial round for a number of reasons.

1) You must have competed as a registered athlete 3 times to be eligible for finals, so this being the third last round, if you are yet to compete, you need to be at this round to be eligible.

2) The competition in Mens 1 is strong with Nunawading and Box Hill currently above us on the ladder, a strong showing in Round 8 is required to rectify the damage inflicted in Round 7.

3) Please get there early to register for your field events, as this meet also is a Zone v Zone meet where the number of athletes virtually doubles.

4) The program is also the same that will be used for the Shield Final, so this round is a great chance to get a event “ranking” by competing in the event that you wish to be considered for selection in at the Shield Final.

A few pieces of relevant information

Here is the event timetable for Round 8:

Timetable Round 8

The SKC based training calendar from Steve Fabris (dates training is on & a guide on the events to be covered) for the balance of December and January:

SKAAC Holiday Training 2016

To all SKAAC Athletes,

Athletics Victoria have just advised all Victorian clubs that this Saturday’s Round 7 Shield Meet has been cancelled. Please see below for the email sent by AV.

************************************************

Dear Team Managers,

The 5am forecast from the Bureau confirms extreme conditions (high temperatures) this Saturday across Victoria.

With the temperature exceeding 38 degrees, the extreme heat policy is in place and the assessment is a very high risk to athletes, officials, and club helpers in all regions.

Rescheduling and/or changes to the program or the provision of shelter/water etc is not an option based on the forecast on the day, and the preceding high temperatures forecast for the previous day.

As a result, the round of Shield for Saturday this weekend will be cancelled.

AV will post on our website and through social media and also send an email to all competing members.

At this stage no decision has been made to reschedule the competition to another time as a points scoring round.

If you would like to forward this onto your athletes, please feel free to.

 

Regards,

Travis Poznachowski

Round 7 of the AV Shield Competition is scheduled to be held at Nunawading track on Saturday 19th December from 1:00pm to approximately 5:30pm. However the present weather forecast of 39 degrees would place the meet in some doubt, however a final decision to either cancel or re-schedule the competition won’t be made until later in the week.

As a guide only, the venue will normally cancel meets when the temperature has either reached or is forecast to reach 35 degrees.

I have attached the AV extreme weather policy, but as you will see it isn’t prescriptive.

Please keep an eye out for an update on this site later in the week about the status of Round 7.

Extreme weather policy:-

28-09-12_-_Unfavourable_Weather_Policy