GOOD TIMES ROLL AROUND THE TRACK AT SANDOWN
The Diamond Valley Athletic Club enjoyed its best results for the current Winter season at the Sandown Road Relays. The results from the Round 5 event of the XCR25 season included a new club record for a 6.2km lap, a second placing in the Open Men Division 2, three podium placings, and a batch of other success across the board. As if that were not enough, the turnout of 58 DVAC athletes (21 Female & 37 Male) was equal to the best ever.
Vincent Donnadieu led the DVAC Open Men’s Division 2 out and placed the team in second place with a time of 18:20 for the 6.2km run. This was a pb for Vincent and sets a new club record for the two laps at Sandown. Vincent was ably backed up by Tim Logan, 19:02, Caden Murray, 18:57 (pb), Lachlan Deller, 20:49 (pb), Rhodri Whelan, 21:17 (pb), and Blake Barnes, 20:53. Blake had competed in a Duathlon at Sandown earlier on the same day. The Div 2 team finished in second place and the average pace for the Men’s team over the 37.2km course was 3’12” and set a new DVAC record for the 6 x 6.2km Relay. Vincent cracked the 3min/km for his run with an average pace of 2’57”.
The DVAC female team in Division 2 was placed 7th out of 11 teams and covered 24.8km in a total time of 1:41:37 with an average pace of 4min/km. Mikaela Gray was first runner with a time of 24:12, and then came Alana Barnes, 26:53, Sarah Leeming, 27:27, and Shania Murray, 23:05. At the halfway point of the season, the DVAC Female Div 2 team sits at 6th/ 11 teams.
The three podium teams were the FU18, F60+ and the MU20 teams.
The FU18 team hung on to second placing when Grace Robinson fought off a desperate challenge from the Essendon team. Both Grace and Matilda Johnson had stepped up from the FU16 age group to join forces with Rose Jarvis. The three athletes ran a consistent pace with Matilda, 10:56, Rose, 11:05 and Grace, 11:23.
The MU20 team had to run the two laps for each leg of their relay and Cameron Ellis led the team off with a run of 20:02 before handing over to Ethan Armstrong-Bourne, 20:11, and then Joel Imbriano, 21:17, who brought the team home in third place. The team covered the 18.6km in 1:01:30 and averaged 3’30” for each km.
The F60+ team went into Round 5 in 2nd place on the season ladder and will hold onto that spot after placing second at the Sandown Road Relays. The team of Michelle Kiing, 34:26, Jo Moxon, 35:47, and Karen Quinn, 38:57, finished behind Glenhuntly and ahead of Old Xavs.
NEW FACES
Several athletes made their debut with Diamond Valley at the Sandown Relays. Asher Knuckey ran in the M16 team along with Samuel Reeve and Myles Boyle. Lucas Camuncoli ran at Jells Park by invitation, but ran at Sandown as a fully fledged Valley team-member. Lucas ran the 6.2km in 22:45.
METRONOME AWARDS
Hard to beat James Telford or Jordan Rudd for this award. James was spot on 11:26 for each lap of his 22:53 leg in the MDiv 7 team. Jordan ran 24:19 for his 6.2km but the judges claim there was a one second negative split in the spread. So James is declared the winner … unless there is someone else who comes forward with proof of their claim!
STEPPING UP A LAP …
Matthew Layton (U18) and Holly Gregory (U18) both kindly agreed to step up from the 3.1km distance for the Junior age group to the 6.2km for a spot in a senior team. Holly’s, 31:09, and Matthew’s, 22:52, was proof of the talent they possess. Well done … and thank you!
CLUB HELPERS:
A HUGE vote of THANKS goes to LAUREN IRVINE and NADINE McCLINTOCK for being kind enough to step up and help out at Sandown. Their duties were Spotter and Recorder – both challenging in the flurry of action that happens at Sandown.
The remaining CLUB HELPER DUTIES for DVAC are: 2 at Lakeside for the Lakeside:10 in Round 7 and 2 at The Tan for the Tan Relays in Round 10. If you have not yet experienced the joy of Helping then make sure that you do not miss out.
Athletics Victoria: XCR25 RD 5
AV ROAD RELAYS
Jells Park
Saturday 28th June 2025
Female:
Female Open:
4x6.2km: Division 2: (Mikaela Gray: 24:12, Alana Barnes: 26:53, Sarah Leeming: 27:27, Shania Murray: 23:05): Total: 1:41:37; Place 7th/10 teams
3x6.2km: Division 4: (Debbie McKenzie: 28:59, Kate Ryan: 29:56, Sarah Papadopoulos: 37:54) Total: 1:36:49; Place 5th/7 teams
3 x 6.2km: Division 5: (Elyse Littlejohn: 41:35, Holly Gregory: 31:09): Total 1:12:44; Place 7th/9 teams
3x3.1km: Female 20: (Matilda L'Estrange: 11:36, Poppy Scot-Dalgleish: 12:07, Zoe Bastian: 13:37): Total: 37:20; Place: 6th/10 teams
3x3.1km: Female 18: (Matilda Johnson: 10:56, Rose Jarvis: 11:05, Grace Robinson: 11:23): Total: 33:24; Place: 2nd/12 Teams
3 x 3.1km: Female 18: (Isabella Napoletano: 12:30, Zoey Ryan: 13:59, Lucy Johns: 13:52): Total: 40:21; Place: 10th/12 teams
3x6.2km: Female 60: (Michelle King: 34:26, Jo Moxon: 35:47, Karen Quinn: 38:57): Total: 1:49:10; Place: 2nd/3 teams
Male Open
6x6.2km: Division 2: (Vincent Donnadieu: 18:20, Tim Logan: 19:02, Caden Murray: 18:57, Lachlan Deller: 20:49, Rhodri Whelan: 21:17, Blake Barnes: 20:53): Total: 1:59:18; Place: 2nd/14 teams
4x6.2km: Division 5: (Michael Martello: 21:35, Flynn Connolly: 23:25, Anthony Lynch: 24:28, Lucas Camuncoli: 22:45): Total:1:32:13; Place: 6th/14 teams
4 x 6.2km: Division 7 (1): (James Telford: 22:53, Brody McCarthy: 23:16, Rory McPhillips: 25:16, Jordan Rudd: 24:19): Total: 1:35:44; Place: 2nd/16 teams
4 x 6.2km: Division 7 (2): (Jamie Hollingsworth: 25:26, Matthew Layton: 22:52): Total: 48:18; Place: 12th/16 teams
3x6.2km: Male 20 (Cameron Ellis: 20:02, Ethan Armstrong-Bourne: 20:11, Joel Imbriano: 21:17): Total: 1:01:30; Place: 3rd/9 teams
3x3.1km: Male 18 (Brodie Batt: 09:41, Glen Imbriano: 10:19, Felix Morgan: 10:55): Total: 30:55; Place: 8th/16 teams
3x3.1km: Male 16: (Myles Boyle: 10:07, Samuel Reeve: 10:01, Asher Knuckey: 11:22): Total: 31:30; Place: 7th/15 teams
3x3.1km: Male 14: (Jett Hollingsworth: 10:26, Oskar Jacobson: 11:26, Ryan Li: 12:26): Total: 34:18; Place:6th/8 teams
3x6.2km: Male 40: (Dylan Littlejohn: 23:17, Charles Jacobson: 22:30, Craig Cassidy: 22:10): Total: 1:07:57; Place: 4th/9 teams
3x6.2km: Male 50: (Scott Barnes: 25:18, Lyal Douglas: 29:52, Jeff Young: 33:15): Total: 1:28:25; Place: 13th/ 15 teams
3x6.2km: Male 60: (Andrew McKenzie: 27:01, Rob Wendel: 30:37, Martin Murray: 30:44): Total: 1:28:22; Place: 6th/13 teams
