SKAAC

St Kevin's Amateur Athletic Club

The Dyson Relays

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The gust that raced down St Kilda Rd seemed to flank the APSOC runners during their warm up for the 74th running of the Frank Dyson relays around the Tan. With the sun out however, this wind did little to dour the spirits of the SKAAC contingent as teams began to gather into place. There’s a certain sense of excitement that comes from the alignment of some of SKAAC’s finest cross country runners into one six-man relay team, and as Peter Bol and Jack Holden completed their stretches, one could sense the scale of the display that was to come.

This was backed up by a blistering first two legs, 11:35 and 11:26 being the respective times, that gave the SKAAC Division 1 team a morale-boosting lead. The ensuing dogfight for this lead was admirably fought out with Chris Hibbert, Xavier Chapman and Tristan Mioni all taking the battle to the constant charges from the opposition. Special mention must go to Steve Fabris who pulled out a monumental sixth-leg effort right from the end of Anderson St hill to the finish line to hold SKAAC’s placing above Old Hailebury and, perhaps more importantly, Old Xavier. Finishing in 2nd place with an overall time of 74:24, that’s an average time of 12:24 for the 3.8km course, this was a superbly powerful performance.

The SKAAC women’s team held their own with a consistent pace throughout each of the four legs, Chloe Cornwell being the highlight performance, with John and Gabriel Cornwell supplementing the two division 2 SKAAC men’s teams all with commendable times. The junior SKAAC runners made a vital contribution to the overall performance of these teams with Joel Imbriano and Jett-Paris Bedelis both upholding the speed that allowed both these teams to take some scalps.

A common theme that seemed to run through each SKAAC runner’s recount of their leg of the relay was the unrelenting wind in the build up to the dreaded Anderson St hill. Especially in the latter, more spaced out stages of the event did this factor remind us why a course even as familiar as the Tan can be hard to read. It is a testament to the determination of the four SKAAC teams that they were able to endure the challenges of this time-honoured course against time-honoured opposition with tenacity and class.

The Orchard Handicaps

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It is a Saturday afternoon. The afternoon heat is like a big band in full swing as we gather at one of the Albert Park boat-sheds. Under the sun, we stand, clad in sporting motley.

There are three kinds of people on this particular Saturday afternoon – those completely at ease with themselves, having done this sort of thing before, those a little apprehensive that today’s race is 10 kilometers long (a quarter marathon, after all) and last, but not least, those who don’t give a damn.

I like to think the SKAAC spirit sits in the last category, but I myself was more than a little jumpy at the thought of the vaguely daunting course, lying in wait ahead of me. Only vaguely daunting, mind you – I’m not a coward. Well … not when faced with the autumn greenery of Albert Park … conspicuously large animals with distressingly sharp teeth are a different matter entirely.

Even so, vaguely daunting is enough for me to turn to SKAAC treasurer Dino Imbriano, the closest available source of athletic wisdom – what’s his advice for getting through such an egregious distance? “Try to make sure you run your first kilometer … at your average,” he tells me. “If you go out too fast, then you tend to get slower.” It’s sound advice and, I think, fairly applicable to life on the whole. Yes – life is not unlike a 10km race. Sometimes it’s fun and fancy free, and sometimes you feel like someone just took to your rib-cage with a blunt shovel and there’s all sorts in between. You have to take every moment as it comes though, at the right sort of pace. Don’t try and rush through it, or else it’ll be over before it started. How’s that for some homespun philosophy?

But as the race gets underway and the wind burbles titanic past our heads, my mind is drawn to a different comparison. Ken Orchard, the pilot – for whom the race is named. Ken’s plane was shot down during WWII, something we are all reminded of before the race begins. As I run, I wonder how Ken felt as that plane fell toward the ground at what must have been dizzying speed. All that frantic energy let loose in those final moments … what does it have to do with the race? Of course, Ken was a member of the APS community, someone’s friend, someone’s family – his presence deserves commemoration. But there’s something more, and it’s to do, I think, with life again. By running those ten kilometers around the lake, we not only remember Ken and others like him, but we demonstrate that the way they lived their lives was not a pointless exercise. We take to that vaguely daunting course because we can, because we’ve been given the chance to feel the air in our lungs and the noise in our ears. We run this race to show that we’re living life and living it to the full. And isn’t that the SKC way?

Sam McEntee off to Rio in 5,000m

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Sam McEntee has today booked his spot to represent Australian at the Rio Olympic Games with a sensational 13:20.72 run in the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University a few moments ago. Sam finished 4th in the race and his lap splits can be seen below…great effort to nearly break 2mins in the last 800m!!

4 Sam McEntee                  Melbourne Tr          13:20.72
32.506 (32.506)     1:39.307 (1:06.801)     2:43.750 (1:04.443)
3:47.665 (1:03.915)     4:52.212 (1:04.547)     5:55.698 (1:03.486)
7:00.938 (1:05.240)     8:04.867 (1:03.929)     9:08.002 (1:03.135)
10:14.268 (1:06.266)    11:20.009 (1:05.741)    12:21.960 (1:01.951)
13:20.716 (58.756)

WELL DONE SAM !!

PS – also a massive SKAAC – club record.

Go SKAAC

The race plans of our guns leading into the Rio Olympic Games

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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.

The Churchill Handicaps

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If you’re going through hell keep going

-Winston Churchill

Whoever decided upon the name of Churchill National Park certainly had a sense of irony about them. Far from being a hill of the church, as the hundred odd APSOC runners discovered today, this hill is the work of the devil.

Far more than just your average climb, this hill not only stretches out beyond the eyeshot of a weary runner, it bears no reward to those at the top. For those whose legs survive the lactic nightmare of summiting the hill, the gravelly drop that leads back to the foot replaces the moment of satisfaction with a striking fear.

Even for Stuart Pettigrew, no stranger to the course, it almost seems certain that at some point whilst descending one will lose control and collide with a tree, so he describes. Taking out 11th place in the handicap 6km race, Stuart says a decently paced first kilometre is key to mentally priming one’s self for the hill.

SKAAC athletes had good representation in the top end handicap 6km with Chloe Cornwell coming in as the first female, second overall. John  Cornwell performed similarly well, working hard for a top ten placing in the handicap as well as getting a top twenty time overall.

For those willing, mad or unsuspecting few who elected to compete in the 12km race, the grind repeated itself. Tristan Mioni pulled out all the stops to achieve his time of  47:34, the third quickest 12km time for the day. Honourable mentions must go to Matthew Dole and Joseph Lynch for their monumental effort in traversing this terror of a course.

Needless to say, the flat paths surrounding Albert Park Lake will come as sweet relief to the quadriceps and kneecaps of SKAAC runners next week at the Orchard Handicaps.

2015/2016 – SKAAC Presentation Night

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In a fantastic night for the club, with the Annual Presentation Night held on 16 April 2016, the efforts and achievements of all of our athletes were acknowledged for their volume and their quality. For the first time in over 20 years, all perpetual trophies were available for distribution to the 2015/2016 winners.

40 SKAAC supporters were in attendance at the Pavilion to see over $1,300 worth of Awards be made available to:-

  • our White Region Premiership Under 14 Men;
  • our Club Champions;
  • our Service Award Winners; and
  • our Outstanding Performers.

66 Club Records were broken during the 2015/2016, more than any other season in recent memory, underlining the quality of performances and the difficult job the Committee had in determining the award winners.

Please see below for the list of Award winners for 2015/2016. Please note also that the Club Honour Boards (on this website) have also been updated with this information.

  • Male Club Champion – Luke Mathews
  • Female Senior Club Champion – Not Awarded
  • Senior Cross Country Champion – Mark De Luca
  • Female Cross Country Champion – Karen Thorp
  • Under 13 Male T & F Champion – Andrew Mathieson
  • Under 13 Female T & F Champion – Lauren McGarry
  • Under 14 Male T & F Champion – Thomas Scroggie
  • Under 16 Male T & F Champion – Phil Borg
  • Under 18 Male T & F Champion – Conor Fry
  • Mens 40+ T &F Champion – Andrew Thomas
  • Junior Cross Country Champion – John Cornwell
  • Outstanding Junior Performance – Conor Fry (3rd National Under 20 400m Hurdles)
  • Outstanding Female Junior Performance – Lauren McGarry (3rd National Schools 10yo Shot Put)
  • Marathon Award – Luke Goodman (2:50.21 Tokyo Marathon 10 March 2016)
  • Outstanding Senior Performance – Luke Mathews (800m National Champion 1:46.20) & Sam McEntee (5,000m National Champion 13:37.95)
  • Outstanding Female Senior Performance – Not Awarded
  • President’s Award – Dino Imbriano
  • Best Clubman – Steve Fabris
  • Best Junior Clubman – Joel Imbriano
  • Most Improved – Tristan Day
  • Richard Hope Tan Champion – Luke Mathews (10:56)

Luke Mathews receives 2 Awards at AV Presentation Night

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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!!

Michelle_mathews

 

National Athletic Championships – Day 3…A SKAAC quinella plus 5th in Mens 800m!!

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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.

160403_Luke_and_Alex_after_National_800m

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.

National Athletic Championships – Day 2

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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…

photo

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.

National Athletic Championships – Day 1 – Wow

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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.