Shield Final
Saturday 14 February 2009, Meadowglen
STERLING EFFORTS IN SHIELD FINALS
The Diamond Valley Athletic Club was represented in seven out of the fourteen divisions at the state final of the Athletics Victoria club competition held at the Meadowglen Athletics Centre. Competing against the top two teams from the six centres of competition for athletics in Victoria, the DVAC athletes were able to produce their best form in the heat of finals action. There was no better example of how the Valley athletes responded to the challenge of putting their team ahead of the opposition in a tightly fought contest than Stirling father and daughter combination, Andrew and Amy. Both athletes were able to earn valuable team points by producing their best ever efforts in their events.
Andrew Stirling, competing in the Men's 40+ team, who went into the Final with a shoulder injury before the Shield final, was still able to walk out of the Hammer Throw cage with the satisfaction of having won maximum points for his team with a huge effort of 41.90m with the 6kg Hammer. This throw extended his own club record for the Hammer in his age group by close to four meters. In the Discus, there was another personal best effort but Stirling had to settle for second place out of the fourteen throwers competing for their clubs. Stirling's throw with the 1.75m Discus was 32.60m.
Amy Stirling followed the lead of her father in the Hammer Throw and set herself a new bench mark with the 4kg Hammer as well as scooping the pool for maximum points in the Women's Under 16 competition. Amy's throw of 22.61m was a two-meter extension on her previous best effort. Amy later earned her team valuable points in the Discus and Shot Put.
By the end of competition, the Diamond Valley Athletic Club was a clear winner in the Men's Under 16 team, with the Women's Under 16, the Men's 40+, the Women's U20, the Men's U20 all placed in second position. The Men's U14 and the Men's U18 teams finished in third position. The results were clearly the best ever for Diamond Valley at the state finals of the club competition.
The DVAC Men's Under 16 team was inspired by the efforts of it's distance running team of Paul Townsend, Jack Lewis and Brynton Ashton in the 1500m. While the three athletes had to settle for third, fourth and sixth placing in a high quality race, all three left nothing on the track. Townsend lowered his previous best time to 4:24.4, Lewis was right on his best ever time with 4:39.3 while Ashton walked away happy that he had lowered his best ever time to 4:48.4. Townsend later won the 3000m in a time of 9:53.5 by making the move past the race leader on the final bend and racing home in a new personal best time. Ashton ran his best ever 400m at the end of the program, finishing in 55.0.
The Men's Under 16 team has been an even team of talented athletes all season and this was evident again in the Shield final. Shaun Cooke brought out best ever efforts in the Discus and 100mHurdles. Josh Clancy saved his best ever efforts for the 100m Hurdles and the Hammer Throw. In the 400m, Thomas Lunney got his time down to 57.2. Other members of the winning team were Patrick Lacock-Smith, and Ricky Mullins.
A number of Valley athletes took on hectic schedules in their efforts to help their team. In the Women's Under 16 team, Maria Benke won her team a swag of valuable points by undertaking no less than seven events. Benke competed in the 1500m, 90m Hurdles, Discus, 3000m, Triple Jump, 400m and 4x100m Relay. Despite this heavy program, Benke still managed to find her best ever form in three events: the 1500m (6:07.2), the Discus (18.92m) and the 90m Hurdles (17.24). Ashleigh Hamilton took on five events in the Women's U20 team. Matthew Smith did likewise for the Men's U18 team.
Highlights of the day were many, but none more engrossing than the great runs of Philip Champion and Chris Lynch in the distance events for the Men's 40+ team. Both runners put in season best performances to finish well up in the order in both the 1500m and the 5000m. In the 5000m, the pair worked together, alternating the lead, with Champion crossing the line in second place in 17:25.8 and Lynch following in third position in 17:38.5. In the same race, Robin Broberg set a club record for the Men's 60+ with a time of 20:10.0.
Graham Ford set a new DVAC record for the Triple Jump in the Men's 55+ age division with a distance of 8.77m.
The 400m runners for the Men's 40+ team typified the valiant efforts of the Valley athletes in their attempt to get their team to victory. In one of the final events of the day, Brad Langford, Mark Bevilacqua and Jeff Young ignored the pain in their legs as they reached the home straight and fought on bravely right to the finish line. The Valley Men's 40+ team went down in a close finish to the Waverley team, but the spirit of contest was inspiring to all that watched on.
Article by Max Balchin
Results compiled by Max Balchin and David Armstrong
Photos by Graham Ford
Video by David Armstrong and Angela Hennel
Results: Women
| F16 | |
| 200m: | Phillips, Leah 27.16; Pike, Danielle 28.89; Quinn, Samantha 32.04; |
| 400m: | Benke, Maria 79.94; Quinn, Samantha 80.01; |
| 1500m: | Benke, Maria 6:07.2; |
| 3000m: | Benke, Maria 13:55.6; |
| Discus: | Benke, Maria 18.92; Stirling, Amy 14.43; |
| Hammer: | Stirling, Amy 22.61; |
| Shot Put: | Stirling, Amy 5.56; |
| Triple Jump: | Cowell, Jacqueline 8.70; Benke, Maria 8.32; |
| 90mH: | Benke, Maria 17.24; |
| 2000mW: | Cowell, Jacqueline 13:47.5; |
| 4x100m Relay: | 57.6; |
| F20 | |
| 200m: | Hamilton, Ashleigh 26.77; Folan, Alyce 28.31; |
| 400m: | Murray, Amy 64.9; |
| Shot Put: | Hamilton, Ashleigh 11.08; |
| Triple Jump: | Hamilton, Ashleigh 10.72; |
| 100mH: | Hamilton, Ashleigh 15.20; Murray, Amy 16.0; |
Results: Men
| M14 | |
| 400: | Phillips, Nicholas 65.77; |
| Shot Put: | Cowell, Lachlan 6.52; |
| Triple Jump: | Cowell, Lachlan 8.64; |
| 2000mW: | Cowell, Lachlan 14:21.8; |
| M16 | |
| 200m: | Mullins, Ricky 25.03; Cooke, Shaun 25.25; Clancy, Joshua 26.00; |
| 400m: | Ashton, Brynton 55.00; Lunney, Thomas 57.20; |
| 1500m: | Townsend, Paul 4:24.4; Lewis, Jack 4:39.3; Ashton, Brynton 4:48.4; |
| 3000m: | Townsend, Paul 9:53.5; |
| Discus: | Cooke, Shaun 33.17; Lacock-smith, Patrick 23.91; |
| Hammer: | Clancy, Joshua 21.40; Lacock-smith, Patrick 20.97; |
| Shot Put: | Cooke, Shaun 10.95; |
| Triple Jump: | Clancy, Joshua 10.76; Lacock-smith, Patrick 10.32; |
| 100mH: | Cooke, Shaun 14.40; Clancy, Joshua 14.90; |
| M18 | |
| 200m: | Lefevre, Shane 23.39; Mills, Taylor 23.46; Smith, Matthew 24.07; |
| 400m: | Riali, Nathan 51.75; Lefevre, Shane 52.64; Mills, Taylor 53.45; |
| Discus: | Lefevre, Shane 34.31; Henderson, Lachlan 22.18; |
| Hammer: | Williams, Mathew 30.32; Smith, Matthew 22.90; |
| Shot Put: | Williams, Mathew 11.01; |
| Triple Jump: | Smith, Matthew 11.91; Henderson, Lachlan 11.73; |
| 110mH: | Vine, James 13.9; Smith, Matthew 15.4; |
| M20 | |
| 200m: | Vraca, Marco 23.87; Mure, Anthony 23.92; |
| 400m: | Smith, Aaron 54.11; Smith, Aaron 56.66; |
| Discus: | Fletcher, Braydon 22.70; |
| Hammer: | Fletcher, Braydon 30.02; |
| Shot Put: | Fletcher, Braydon 9.18; |
| 110mH: | Smith, Aaron 16.6; |
| M40+ | |
| 200m: | Bevilacqua, Mark 27.47; Smith, Bernie 27.53; Neofitou, Spiro 28.47; |
| 400m: | Bevilacqua, Mark 60.23; Young, Jeffrey 61.91; Langford, Bradley 59.65; |
| 1500m: | Champion, Philip 4:37.1; Lynch, Christopher 4:39.4; Wendel, Rob 4:59.9; |
| 5000m: | Champion, Philip 17:25.8; Lynch, Christopher 17:38.5; Broberg, Robin 20:10.0; |
| Discus: | Stirling, Andrew 32.64; Quix, Darren 21.44; |
| Hammer: | Stirling, Andrew 41.90; Ford, Graham 21.85; |
| Pole Vault: | Quix, Darren 1.80; |
| Shot Put: | Stirling, Andrew 10.82; |
| Triple Jump: | Ford, Graham 8.77; Champion, Gregory 8.46; |
| 110mH: | Quix, Darren 19.4; Champion, Gregory 20.51; |
| 2000mW: | Keirl, Bernie 10:17.6; Hammett, Gary 10:52.80; |
| 4x100m Relay: | 50.07; |
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