Doncaster Newsletter
Christmas edition – 27/12/2020
On Tuesday the 22nd, twenty-one athletes competed at the Victorian Milers Club meet at Box Hill. The 800m was first up where former Victorian 400m Hurdles champion Steph Larkin showed her versatility by finishing 4th in the Women’s A race in 2:17.90 while Hannah Williams finished 9th in the race in 2:22.70. We had a trio of second placings, with Luke Sinn (2:02.61) in the Men’s C race, training partner Remy Williams (2:05.05) in the Men’s F race backing up from running a 2:06 at AVSL two days earlier and Will Katic (2:07.66) in the Men’s G race.
The 3000m saw John Portwood work his way from last to first in the Men’s F race winning in 9:33.50 while David Mitchell ran a Personal Best of 9:51.48. Ben Purser came 20th in the Men’s D race in 9:38.11, Boris Mathys finished 16th in the Men’s E race in 9:39.46 and Robert Shellie finished 12th in the Men’s H race in 11:03.26.
An elite Women’s 1500m race was held at the end of the program with Abbey Caldwell putting on a fantastic display, keeping pace with the leader before surging with 300m to go and win in 4:13.09, just shy of Suzie Power’s 25-year-old club record of 4:12.00.
Christmas Party wrap
The previous Tuesday 15th was the annual DAC Christmas Party & Club Handicap event. With a strong turnout from our juniors and many parents watching on, the prestigious handicap events were hotly contested.
Two heats were required to find our finalists for the Peter Ruff 100m handicap. With a number of juniors in the final, 40+ member Paul Mierisch rocketed off the blocks and built a small lead but was overtaken by Under 16 athlete Anthony Jordan who flew home to win. 2017 winner Lachlan Parrott finished second and Paul Mierisch held on for third place. Anthony is the first Para athlete to win any of our Christmas handicap events, a remarkable achievement.
Peter Ruff 100m handicap Results:
Name |
Handicap time |
Notes |
Anthony Jordan |
10.70 |
|
Lachlan Parrott |
10.86 |
|
Paul Mierisch |
10.88 |
|
Riley Necowen |
10.99 |
First non-member |
Alessia Wynne |
11.00 |
|
Maddie Grace |
11.07 |
Second non-member |
Tahlia Grace |
11.02 |
|
Nick Heng |
11.42 |
Third non-member |
Eliza Chivers |
11.87 |
|
Hamish McLennan |
12.02 |
Fourth non-member |
The links to the races can be found on Youtube:
Heat 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUIxjQhP3Aw&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=DoncasterMasters
Heat 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNYOQq9fyRo&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=DoncasterMasters
Final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLi7jRuyxSc&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=DoncasterMasters
The Tom Kelly Memorial 800m handicap for Women had seven competitors, all bar one being juniors. With plenty of enthusiasm (and possibly inspired by seeing her brother Anthony win the Peter Ruff) Lucy Jordan survived a challenge from Lula Parrott to win the race as the first non-member. However, despite finishing second Lula Parrott is the winner of the handicap as the first registered member. 2019 Open 4x800m medallist Jess O’Keefe finished third (second non-member) followed by Alessia Wynne and Grace Wilson.
Tom Kelly Memorial 800m handicap Results:
Name |
Finish time |
Handicap |
Notes |
Lucy Jordan |
3:12.77 |
00:10 |
First non-member |
Lula Parrott |
3:14.92 |
00:06 |
First member |
Jess O’Keefe |
3:29.10 |
00:40 |
non-member |
Alessia Wynne |
3:34.68 |
01:00 |
|
Grace Wilson |
3:35.30 |
00:45 |
|
Eliza Chivers |
3:39.78 |
00:56 |
|
Rachel White |
3:40.00 |
00:56 |
|
The Ivan Harding 800m handicap for Men rounded out the handicap events, seven competitors lined up and once again the trophy will be at the McLennan household with Caleb winning in a finish time of 3:00.13, Caleb’s brother Hamish finished second (first non-member) with Oscar O’Connor in third (second member) and David Firth holding on to finish fourth (third member).
Ivan Harding 800m handicap Results:
Name |
Finish time |
Handicap |
Notes |
Caleb McLennan |
3:00.13 |
00:53 |
|
Hamish McLennan |
3:00.87 |
00:05 |
First non-member |
Oscar O’Connor |
3:02.39 |
00:58 |
|
David Firth |
3:06.72 |
00:52 |
|
David Mitchell |
3:08.38 |
00:54 |
|
Brock Goodings |
3:09.61 |
00:45 |
|
Lewis McLennan |
3:22.35 |
00:00 |
Non-member |
After dinner, we were able to officially present the award winners from our virtual AGM/Presentation Night with their trophies. Once again, congratulations to all our winners for their achievements in the 2019/2020 season.
The post dinner games of egg toss, the three legged race and musical chairs were fun to watch and it was fantastic to see many of our junior members getting involved and having fun.
A massive thank you to Colleen Kelly, Nathan Down, David Mitchell and Campbell McLennan for your time and effort organising the event. Also, a big thank you to Mike Rennie, Adrian Patti and Graham Ford who helped on the day with handicapping for the events, timing and taking photos/video of the races.
2021 Victorian Relay Championships:
We are seeking expressions of interest/availability to compete in the 2021 Victorian Relay Championships
Where: Box Hill Athletics Track
When: Saturday 30th (Junior events + Open 4×400 heats and 4×800 finals) and Sunday 31st of January (Open and 40+/50+ events)
Time: 10:30am start, 6pm finish on Saturday and 3:45pm finish Sunday
The following events are contested in the following age groups (Medley running order: 200m-200m-400m-800m):
Under 14: 4x100m and 4x400m
Under 16: 4x100m, 4x400m and Medley
Under 18: 4x100m, 4x400m, Medley and 4x800m
Open: 4x100m, 4x400m, Medley, 4x800m and 4x1500m
40+/50+: 4x100m, 4x400m, Medley and 4x1500m
Could all junior and open athletes who are interested please email our summer coordinator David Mitchell (summer.coordinator@doncasterac.org.au) with your age group, preferred event(s) and preferred place in the running order.
Could all 40+/50+ athletes who are interested please email 40+ team manager Campbell McLennan at 40.teams@doncasterac.org.au
Entries are completed by DAC. Members do not need to individually enter themselves for this event.
Photos wanted:
We would love to use your photos of DAC athletes in competition on our social media and newsletter.
Please send any photos of DAC athletes to photos@doncasterac.org.au
If you are not happy for us to use photos of yourself, please email this address and we will endeavour to make any changes.
2021 event dates:
January 2021
Saturday 16th – AVSL Round 5
Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st – Victorian Relay Championships, Box Hill
February 2021
Saturday 6th – AVSL Round 6
Saturday 13th – AVSL Round 7
March 2021
Saturday 6th – AVSL Round 8
Saturday 13th – AVSL Round 9
Saturday 20th – AVSL Round 10 (last round)
Saturday 27th – AVSL Final
The Doncaster Athletic Club wishes all our members a safe and happy new year!
Red Zone AVSL Ladders after Round 4
Open Men
Collingwood |
COL |
12,587 |
Doncaster |
DAC |
7,113 |
Preston |
PTN |
1,651 |
Open Women
Collingwood |
COL |
6,591 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
2,513 |
Preston |
PTN |
2,438 |
Doncaster |
DAC |
440 |
Under 18 Men
Doncaster |
DAC |
11,687 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
10,004 |
Ivanhoe |
IVA |
7,536 |
Collingwood |
COL |
3,133 |
Under 18 Women
Doncaster |
DAC |
14,805 |
Collingwood |
COL |
5,459 |
Preston |
PTN |
5,130 |
Under 16 Men
Doncaster |
DAC |
17,107 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
5,809 |
Collingwood |
COL |
4,558 |
Under 16 Women
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
12,350 |
Doncaster |
DAC |
8,745 |
Preston |
PTN |
6,858 |
Collingwood |
COL |
2,143 |
Under 14 Men
Doncaster |
DAC |
10,684 |
Collingwood |
CAL |
5,348 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
4,076 |
Under 14 Women
Doncaster |
DAC |
21,380 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
10,003 |
Preston |
PTN |
1,738 |
Doncaster |
DAC |
228 |
40+ Men
Collingwood |
COL |
26,425 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
25,565 |
Doncaster |
DAC |
24,157 |
Ivanhoe |
IVA |
3,028 |
Preston |
PTN |
2,675 |
40+ Women
Doncaster |
DAC |
9,899 |
Preston |
PTN |
3,141 |
Diamond Valley |
DIV |
3,109 |
Collingwood |
COL |
1,013 |
Victorian Milers Club (22/12) Results:
Grade |
Distance |
Name |
Performance |
Position |
FA |
800 |
Stephanie Larkin |
2:17.90 |
4th |
FA |
800 |
Hannah Williams |
2:22.70 |
9th |
FB |
800 |
Sanne Bakker |
2:24.33 |
7th |
FD |
800 |
Chiara Bakker |
2:31.34 |
9th |
FD |
800 |
Eliza Chivers |
2:35.01 |
11th |
FF |
800 |
Lucy Kearney |
2:36.36 |
6th |
MC |
800 |
Luke Sinn |
2:02.61 |
2nd |
ME |
800 |
Caleb McLennan |
2:05.93 |
6th |
MF |
800 |
Remy Williams |
02:05.05 |
2nd |
MF |
800 |
Lachlan Marasco |
2:10.93 |
8th |
MG |
800 |
Will Katic |
02:07.66 |
2nd |
MG |
800 |
Ashton Sinn |
02:12.41 |
8th |
MJ |
800 |
Aiden Marasco |
02:30.17 |
6th |
MJ |
800 |
Josiah Bakker |
2:32.22 |
8th |
MK |
800 |
Elija Bakker |
03:15.69 |
9th |
FA |
1500 |
Abbey Caldwell |
4:13.09 |
1st |
MD |
3000 |
Ben Purser |
9:38.11 |
20th |
ME |
3000 |
Boris Mathys |
9:39.46 |
16th |
MF |
3000 |
John Portwood |
9:33.50 |
1st |
MF |
3000 |
David Mitchell |
9:51.48 |
10th |
MH |
3000 |
Robert Shellie |
11:03.26 |
12th |