SPECIAL EFFORTS, PB’S & QUALIFIERS

The AV Shield season might be over but with State & National Championships just around the corner, many Valley athletes are just hitting their best form.

A number of DVAC juniors competed over the past weekend at the Little Athletics Victoria State Championships. DVAC congratulates these athletes on their achievements but will leave the reporting to the Diamond Valley Little Athletics Centre.

BOX HILL CLASSIC

Thursday 5 March 2026

Box Hill:

DVAC Results:

Female Open
800m: Zoey Ryan 2:37.59;
1500m: Matilda Johnson 4:40.33; Heidi Kuppler DNS; Zoey Ryan DNS;
3000m: Heidi Kuppler DNS;
Male Open
800m: Thomas Short 1:55.37; Samuel Reeve 1:59.89; Felix Morgan 2:08.03;
1500m: Caden Murray 3:52.05; Rhodri Whelan 4:20.56;
3000m: William Quigley 9:15.66; Myles Boyle 9:17.02;

Notes:

Highlight of the Meet was undoubtedly witnessing Claudia Hollingsworth run the first female sub 4min 1500m on Australian soil. Amazing!

Thomas Short (M20) dropped another second off his previous best time to land a 1:55.37. Thomas will be chasing a 1:55.00 to qualify for the MU20 Nationals.

Felix Morgan (M18) is finishing the season in a flurry of pb’s and lowered his best 800m to 2:08.03. Rhodri Whelan (M20) continued his streak of pb’s, this time with a 4:20.56 in the 1500m.

William Quigley (M16) and Myles Boyle (M16) both sliced large chunks off their previous best times for the 3000m.

Caden Murray (MOpen) was close to his best time for the 1500m with 3:52.05 and remains very close to a qualifier.

Matilda Johnson (F16) ran her second fastest 1500m for the season with a 4:40.33.

Zoey Ryan (F18) and Samuel Reeve (M16) both ran strongly over the 800m distance.

STEIGEN Rare Air PV VI

Melbourne University

Thursday 5 March 2026

DVAC Results:

Female OP
Pole Vault: Elyssia Kenshole 4.16m; Gaelyne Kenshole 2.55m;
Male OP
Pole Vault: Asher Andrews 3.75m; Charlie Cooper 3.00m;

Notes:

The mother & daughter combination of Elyssia Kenshole (FOpen) & Gaelyne Kenshole (F55) again confirmed their place as the best mother & daughter Pole Vault duo in the country at Melbourne University on Thursday 5^th March 2026. Elyssia finished with a clearance over 4.16m while Gaelyne cleared 2.55m.

No doubt the happiest of the Valley Vaulters would have been Charlie Cooper (M18) who pushed his best Vault to 3.00m and now only needs to extend that by another 20cm to get to Nationals. Charlie only started Pole Vaulting this season.

Asher Andrews (M20) keeps honing the various skills he needs for the Decathlon. Asher cleared 3.75m.

High Velocity Club/ Athletics Victoria Throwers

Meet #4

Saturday 7 March 2026

Geelong:

DVAC Results:

Female OP
100m: Keely Boyne 11.72 (1.7); Katie Oliver 11.91 (3.4); Elisha Blair 12.34 (1.6);
200m: Keely Boyne 24.42 (1.4); Katie Oliver 24.67 (1.7); Elisha Blair 26.18 (2.1);
Female Open
Hammer: Tara Smith 42.55m;
Male OP
100m: Jaxon Latchman 10.94 (2.3); Hayden Moon 11.40 (1.5);
200m: Jaxon Latchman 22.31 (1.7); Asher Andrews 23.14 (0.7); Dillon Vidanapathirana 27.15 (1.2);
400m: Jordan Rudd 54.90; Dillon Vidanapathirana 57.31;
Male Open
Hammer: Wilson Riley 46.19m;
Male JNR
Shot Put: Asher Andrews 12.92m; Wilson Riley 10.91m;

Notes:

What a Meet at Geelong last Saturday! The Valley sprinters came out with guns blazing.

Keely Boyne (FOpen) is in rare form and her 11.72 for the 100m is nudging seriously close to her 11.67 pb. Then to come out and drop a pb in the 200m of 24.42 says a lot about her class.

Keely was kind enough to share her thoughts on her recent good form:

Katie Oliver (F20) flew down the straight to break 12 seconds for the 100m for the first time – only one catch, the tail wind that had been at 1.7 for Heat 1 was running at 3.4 for Heat 2. Some consolation came for Katie in the 200m later in the day when she lowered her best time to 24.67 (1.7). Katie has qualifiers for both the 100m & 200m.

Elisha Blair (F18) is finishing the season in her best form ever. Elisha clocked her best times in both the 100m (12.34) and the 200m (26.18). The wind factor was good for the 100m but ran at 2.1 for the 200m.

Jaxon Latchman (M18) was anotherathlete to suffer from the fickle wind gusts. Jaxon smashed through the 11 second barrier for the 100m with a run of 10.94 – only to find out that the wind gust was measured at 2.4. Later on, no one could take his pb run of 22.31 in the 200m away from him.

Dillon Vidanapathirana (M20) lowered his best time for the 400m to 57.31. In the same heat of the 400m’s, Jordan Rudd (M20) finished on 54.90 to be just outside his best of 54.35. Both T20 athletes are in great form in the lead up to the Championship season.

Asher Andrews (M20) logged his second fastest 200m, clocking 23.14. Hayden Moon (MOpen) continued his best season’s form, this time clocking 11.40 for the 100m. Asher also recorded a pb with the 6kg Shot Put, sending it out a distance of 12.92m.

Tara Smith (F20) recorded her best throw with the 4kg Hammer in Round 10 with a distance of 43.57m and a week later backed that up with a 42.55m throw at Geelong. Under 20 Qualifying distance is 40.00m.

Wilson Riley (M18) is another Valley athlete heading towards the Championship season in best form. At Geelong, Wilson sent the 5kg Hammer out for a best distance of 46.19m. This is well above Qualifying standard. In the Shot Put, Wilson achieved a distance of 10.91m.

AV SPECIALIST MEETS:

AV THROWERS:

Sun 29 March: Knox:Meet #5

Events: Discus; Javelin

VICTORIAN MILERS CLUB

Tue 31 March: Box Hill:Meet #5

Events: 800m; 1500m

HIGH VELOCITY CLUB:

Sun 29 March: Knox: Meet #5

Events: 100m; 200m; 400m; Long Jump

RARE AIR (HIGH JUMP)

Sun 29 March: Knox: Meet #5

RARE AIR (POLE VAULT)

Sun 29 March: Coburg: Meet #7

Tue 31 March: Box Hill: Meet #8

CLUB MEETS:

Thu 12 March: Doncaster Mile: Doncaster

Sat 14 March: Bendigo 5km Frenzie: Bendigo

CHAMPIONSHIPS:

Thu 19 – Sun 22 March: Vic U20, Open & Masters Champs: Lakeside

Thu 9 – Sun 12 April: 2026 Aust’n Athletics Champ’s: Sydney

Wed 15 – Mon 20 April: 2026 Aust’n Junior (U14-U20) Champs: Brisbane

(Compiled by Max Balchin)