TOAST OF THE TAN: CELEBRATING A SUCCESSFUL WINTER SEASON

POP THAT CORK

Blake Barnes came to the Tan ready to celebrate the first team promotion for the Diamond Valley Athletic Club since the current XCR structure was established. The DVAC Division 5 team went into the final round in second place on the season ladder, a position marked as ‘Automatic Promotion’. A four point margin over the third placed team made the chance of surviving the test of the Tan Relays seem likely but the job still had to be completed.

Fifty one minutes after the Division 5 teams commenced their 4 laps of the 3.8km around the Tan, Blake reached into his bag and produced a tiny bottle of Champagne with four tiny crystal glasses and proceeded to celebrate a joyous victory with his teammates. The DVAC Division 5 team of Blake Barnes, 12:25, Joel Imbriano, 13:03, Lachlan Deller, 12:45, and Flynn Connolly, 13:26, had won their Division, 51seconds ahead of the previously undefeated Knox 2 team to consolidate their second place on the season ladder. DVAC will now go into the 2026 Winter season with teams in Division 2 and Division 4.

6 MEMBER TEAM RECORD

The celebrations at the Tan included the Open Men Division 2 team that led the way for the Valley, smashing out six laps of the 3.8km Tan loop (22.8km) in a total time of 1hr10:36min and finishing second out of the 14 teams. That’s an average of 3:05min for each kilometre! It is also the fastest time posted by a six member DVAC Men’s team. The result was achieved by the team of Caden Murray, 11:07, Tim Logan, 11:31, Vincent Donnadieu, 11:40, Cameron Ellis, 12:10, Ethan Armstrong-Bourne, 12:10, and Brodie Batt, 11:58. The DVAC Division 2 team will finish in 4^th place on the season ladder.

VALLEY FEMALE TEAMS

The DVAC Women’s team in Division 2 will finish the season in 7^th position out of the 11 team competition. At the Tan Relays the team finished in 7^th place with Shania Murray, leading out on the first leg and clocking, 14:06, the fastest time for the Valley women on the day. Mikaela Gray, 14:39, Jesse Mayne, 15:32, and Alana Barnes, 16:26, completed a strong line up at the Tan.

Jo Moxon, 21:02, and Karen Quinn, 21:41, brought the DVAC 60+ team home in 3^rd place to collect the only medals won by the DVAC females at the Tan.

Eleven year old, Annabelle McCleary, stepped into the breach when the DVAC FU16 team needed support and ran a courageous lap in 17:07. Grace Robinson, 16:21, and Isabella Napoletano, 15:55, had set the team up before handing over to Annabelle.

Debbie McKenzie, 18:12, Kate Ryan, 18:44, and Sarah Popadopoulos, 22:09, brought the DVAC Division 4 team home in 6^th position.

Two other DVAC teams competed in the Under 18 and Under 20 divisions. Results are listed below.

BLING TEAMS

Two DVAC teams went home from the Tan Relays wearing medals; the Men 40+ and the Men Under 16. The M40+ team of Craig Cassidy, Dylan Littlejohn and Charles Jacobson backed up their second placing at the Jells Park Relays with another second placing at the Tan. Charles Jacobson brought the team home with the fastest leg of 12:59.

The combinations of Myles Boyle, William Quigley and Asher Knuckey won medals for their third placing at the Tan Relays. In a tight finish, the team was only two seconds off swapping their Bronze medals for Silver medals. Great racing!

PREMIERSHIP TEAMS

The DVAC has two teams that have finished on top of the season ladder at the end of the 2025 Winter season. The DVAC Men 60+ Short Course team has won their fourth consecutive premiership! Congratulations to all who contributed to this wonderful team record.

The Female Open Short Course team have also won their Division.

THE SUB 12 MINUTE CLUB

To get around the 3.8km loop of the Tan in under 12minutes is quite an achievement. On Saturday, Caden Murray was clocked at 11:07 and led the times for DVAC. Caden ranked 7^th out of the 624 males to run a lap of the Tan. The other sub 12 times on Saturday were: Tim Logan, 11:31, Vincent Donnadieu, 11:40, and Brodie Batt, 11:58.

The fastest time for the Tan I can find is by Jaryd Clifford, 11:05 when he ran the 2025 Run the Tan.

The other sub 12min times run by DVAC athletes at the Tan Relays were as follows:

2014: Dean Neofitou 11:55; Rory Kelham 11:59;

2016: Tim Logan 11:44;

2018: Tim Logan 11:14; Jack Itter 11:35; Jaryd Clifford 11:36:

2019: Tim Logan 11:31; Jack Itter 11:48:

2022: Caden Murray 11:48;

SUB 14 MINUTE FEMALES

The fastest DVAC lap of the Tan by a female I have found is by Jessie Mayne, 13:30 in 2019. The other sub 14min runs come as follows:

2022: Shania Murray 13:54

2023: Shania Murray: 13:33; Matilda L’Estrange 13:36; Heidi Kuppler 13:49;

2024: Ally Brooks 13:48

THANK YOU:

There should be a statue of David Armstrong erected outside the Valley tent each week for the work he does in bringing the tent, putting the tent in place and then quietly getting on with the Results for AV. Thanks to the generosity of all who helped in packing the tent (& the weights) at the end of competition.

Thanks to Paul Schofield and Brooke Rudd for carrying out the DVAC Club Helper duties at the Tan.

Thanks to all who brought food to share. (There was none left at the end of the day).

Thanks to all involved in the 2025 Winter season.

AND NOW:

The 2025 Winter season is over & DVAC has had a great season. There will be a celebration of the season & Presentation of awards at the Willinda Park Function Room on Thursday 16 October 2025 from 6:30pm on. Food & Drinks provided for the small fee of $5. Do come along & share in the celebrations.

2025 TAN RELAYS

Saturday 20 September 2025

DVAC RESULTS:

Female:

Female Open: Division 2
4x3.83km: (Shania Murray: 14:06, Alana Barnes: 16:26, Jesse Mayne: 15:32, Mikaela Gray: 14:39)

Total time: 1:00:43;Team Placing: 7^th/11 Teams

Female Open: Division 4

3x3.83km: (Debbie McKenzie: 18:12, Kate Ryan: 18:44, Sarah Papadopoulos: 22:09)

Total time: 59:05;Team Placing: 6^th/8 Teams

Female Under 20
3x3.83km: (Poppy Scot-Dalgleish: 16:56, Zoe Bastian: 18:27)

Total time: 35:23; Team Placing: 8^th/9 Teams

Female Under 18
3x3.83km: (Georgia L'Estrange: 15:52, Zoey Ryan: 17:28, Lucy Johns: 18:28)

Total time: 51:48; Team Placing: 10^th/11 Teams

Female 16
3x3.83km: (Grace Robinson: 16:21, Isabella Napoletano: 15:55, Annabelle McCleary: 17:07)

Total time: 49:23; Team Placing: 9^th/14 Teams

Female 60
3x3.83km: (Jo Moxon: 21:02, Karen Quinn: 21:41, Michelle King)

Total time:42:43; Team Placing: 3^rd/3 Teams

Male:

Male Open Division 2:
6x3.83km: (Caden Murray: 11:07, Tim Logan: 11:31, Vincent Donnadieu: 11:40, Cameron Ellis: 12:10, Ethan Armstrong-Bourne: 12:10, Brodie Batt: 11:58)

Total time: 1:10:36; Team Placing: 2^nd/12 Teams

Male Open Division 5:

4x3.83km: (Blake Barnes: 12:25, Joel Imbriano: 13:03, Lachlan Deller: 12:45, Flynn Connolly: 13:26)

Total time: 51:39; Team Placing: 1st/ 14 Teams

Male Open: Division 7:

(Rhodri Whelan: 13:12, Brody McCarthy: 15:26, Jordan Rudd: 14:29, Darren Rudd: 18:24)

Total time: 1:01:31; Team Placing: 3^rd/12 Teams

Male Under 18:
3x3.83km: (Nicholas Tomkins: 12:23, Felix Morgan: 13:48, Glen Imbriano: 13:57) Total time: 40:08;Team Placing: 5^th/11 Teams

3x3.83km: (Jack Daley: 14:06, Thomas Short: 13:05, Logan Armstrong-Bourne: 14:07)

Total time: 41:18; Team Placing: 8^th/11 Teams

Male 16
3x3.83km: (Myles Boyle: 12:37, William Quigley: 12:27, Asher Knuckey: 14:05)

Total time: 39:09;Team Placing: 3^rd/10 Teams

Male 14
3x3.83km: (Jett Hollingsworth: 13:43, Oskar Jacobson: 14:13, Ryan Li: 16:22)

Total time: 44:18;Team Placing: 6^th/10 Teams

Male 40
3x3.83km: (Craig Cassidy: 13:20, Dylan Littlejohn: 13:35, Charles Jacobson: 12:59) Total time: 39:54;Team Placing: 2^nd/8 Teams

Male 40:

3x3.83km: (Rory McPhillips: 15:26, Jamie Hollingsworth: 14:50, Aaron Bourne: 17:52)

Total time: 48:08;Team Placing: 8^th/8 Teams

Male 50
3x3.83km: (Scott Barnes: 15:18, Adam Scott: 16:48, Greg Luck: 22:19)

Total time: 54:25; Team Placing: 8^th/9 Teams

Male 60
3x3.83km: (Andrew McKenzie: 16:51, Martin Murray: 18:20, Rob Wendel: 18:30) Total time: 53:41;Team Placing: 5^th/8 Teams

Entries to the willinda classic HAVE NOW closed.

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