VALLEY LAPS UP THE TAN TO CELEBRATE SUCCESSFUL WINTER

The 2026 Winter season with Athletics Victoria came to an end with the Tan Relays and the Diamond Valley Athletic Club turned out in force to mark the occasion.A season high turnout of 61 DVAC athletes (28 Female & 33 Male) made up 18 teams to vie for points in Round 10 of the XCR’26 season. An even spread of talent across all age groups completed the most successful season in the club’s history.

The Female Open teams had a strong finish to the season with the Division 2 team placing 3^rd/10 teams, the Division 4 team placing 1^st/8 teams and the Division 5 team grabbing a surprise season top of the ladder victory despite their third placing at the Tan Relays. The Division 5 team result brings with it an Automatic Promotion to Division 4 for the 2027 Winter season. The Division 4 team missed out on the Automatic Promotion by one point. The DVAC Division 2 team finished the season in third place.

The DVAC Male team in Division 2 finished 11^th out of the 14 teams at the Tan and will finish in 7^th place on the season ladde The Open Male Division 4 team placed 2^nd out of 11 teams at the Tan Relays and will move from 7^th place on the season ladder to 5^th position. The DVAC team in Division 7 will move up one place on the season ladder to 5^th spot after placing 5^th at the Tan.

VALLEY PREMIERSHIPS

DVAC has finished the 2026 Winter season with five teams claiming the title of Champion Team. The categories that DVAC finished on top of the season ladder were the Open Female Short Course, the Open Male Short Course, the M20, the F18 and the M60+ Short Course. This represents the most successful seasonfor DVAC. Jesse Mayne has added to this success by taking out the Open Female Short Course Champion Athlete award.

TAN RELAY MEDALS

Three DVAC Junior teams were presented with medals for placing in the top three. The Female 18 team of Heidi Kuppler (13:04), Matilda Johnson (14:19) and Madeleine Arvaji (14:09) were awarded Silver medals for coming second. Heid Kuppler’s time for a lap of the Tan was the fastest for the DVAC women and eighth fastest for all ages at the Tan Relays.

DVAC’s Male U20 team of Ethan Armstrong-Bourne (11:43), Nicholas Tomkins (12:36) and Brodie Batt (11:42) were placed second, and the 9 points they won made their season winning margin up to 17 points for the team. The times posted by Brodie and Ethan led the fastest laps of the Tan by the Valley athletes on the day.

DVAC had a complete MU14 team for the first time this season at the Tan Relays and the combination of Jett Hollingsworth (13:08), Mihela Silva (13:27) and Sebastian Botha (15:38) was good enough to win Silver medals, holding out the third placed team by 23 seconds.

TOP TEN TIMES

DVAC had nine athletes run their lap of the Tan (3.8km) fast enough to be ranked in the top ten of their age group. These were:

Ross McDonald (M60):6^th15:11

Madeleine Arvaji (F18):7^th14:09

Matilda Johnson (F18):9^th14:19

Ethan Armstrong-Bourne (M20):6^th11:43

Brodie Batt (M18):4^th11:42

Heidi Kuppler (F16):1^st13:04

Hannah Fitzgerald (F16):7^th14:10

Michelle King (F60):10^th20:07

Poppy Scot-Dalgleish (F20):3^rd13:16

WELCOME TO THE VALLEY:

It might have been the final round of the XCR’26 season, but the Valley was delighted to be able to welcome four athletes who competed for the club for their first time. These were: Hannah Fitzgerald (F16); Mihela Silva (M14), Sebastian Botha (M14) & Justin Botha (M40).

A BIG THANK YOU …

Lots of Thanks were in order at the end of the Tan Relays.

• Thanks to the three athletes who stepped in to run the Tan at late notice & make teams complete: (Fieke, Jack & Craig)
• Thanks to David Armstrong for setting the club headquarters up at the Tan & thanks to Damien & Rick for the pack-up and taking the equipment home.
• Thanks to Matt Daley & Keith King for agreeing to be the DVAC Club Helpers.
• Thanks to all of the Valley team for their support & positivity.

TAN RELAY PAYMENTS … if you haven’t already:

Each athlete is required to pay $23.50 tocover the cost of each team submitted.If there is any issue with this please contact Lyn Davis (0409 005 406) or Michelle King (0409 434 727).

Payment methods:

·CASH $23.50

·EFT into DVAC BANK ACCOUNT

·BSB633000-ACC. 1364 13481

XCR’26 RD 10: TAN RELAYS

Saturday 12 September 2026

DVAC Results:

Female Open
F Division 2: 4x3.83km: (Poppy Scot-Dalgleish: 13:16, Jesse Mayne: 14:02, Mikaela Gray: 14:46, Shania Murray: 14:35):

Total Time: 56:39; Team placing: 3^rd/10 Teams: Ladder Points: 9

F Division 4: 3x3.83km: (Erin Maloney: 15:08, Isabella Napoletano: 14:51, Fieke Van Der Kamp: 14:49);

Total Time: 44:48; Team placing: 1^st/8 Teams: Ladder Points: 13

F Division 5 (1): (Alana Barnes: 16:00, Sarah Leeming: 15:18, Tayla Borg: 18:27)

Total Time: 49:45; Team placing: 3^rd/11 Teams: Ladder Points: 9

F Division 5 (2): (Zoey Ryan: 16:04, Lily Barnes: 17:59, Michelle King: 20:07);

Total Time: 54:10; Team placing: 5^th/11 Teams: Ladder Points: 7

F Division 5 (3): (Jo Moxon: 20:33, Sarah Papadopoulos: 21:44, Elyse Littlejohn: 24:28);

Total Time: 1:06:45; Team placing: 10^th/11 Teams: Ladder Points: 2

Female 18
F18 (1): 3x3.83km: (Heidi Kuppler: 13:04, Matilda Johnson: 14:19, Madeleine Arvaji: 14:09);

Total Time: 41:32; Team placing: 2^nd/9 Teams: Ladder Points: 9

F18 (2): (Sofia Norwood: 18:51, Annabelle McCleary: 16:48, Lucy Johns: 19:09);

Total Time: 54:48; Team placing: 8^th/9 Teams: Ladder Points: 3

Female 16
F16: 3x3.83km: (Hannah Fitzgerald: 14:10, Inessa Stabb: 15:22, Sanna Kersten: 16:58);

Total Time: 46:30; Team placing: 5^th/11 Teams: Ladder Points: 6

Female 40
F40: 3x3.83km: (Debbie McKenzie: 18:20, Kate Ryan: 18:02, Maryann Murray: 23:03);

Total Time: 59:25; Team placing: 4^th/5 Teams: Ladder Points: 7

Male Open
M Division 2: 6x3.83km: (Thomas Short: 12:57, Rhodri Whelan: 13:14, Joel Imbriano: 13:11, Dylan Littlejohn: 12:53, Lachlan Deller: 12:48, Anthony Lynch: 13:32) 1:18:35;

Total Time: 1:18:35; Team placing: 11^th/14 Teams: Ladder Points: 4

M Division 4: 5x3.83km: (Craig Cassidy: 14:14, Lucas Camuncoli: 13:12, Jordan Rudd: 13:55, Jarryd Cripps: 14:09, Caden Murray: 12:35);

Total Time: 1:08:05; Team placing: 2^nd/11 Teams: Ladder Points: 12

M Division 7: 4x3.83km: (Brody McCarthy: 16:15, Jesse Littlehales: 18:37, Rory McPhillips: 15:22, Craig Batt: 19:23);

Total Time: 1:09:37; Team placing: 5^th/13 Teams: Ladder Points: 6

Male 20
M20:3x3.83km: (Ethan Armstrong-Bourne: 11:43, Nicholas Tomkins: 12:36, Brodie Batt: 11:42);

Total Time: 36:01; Team placing: 2^nd/4 Teams: Ladder Points: 9

Male 18
M18: 3x3.83km: (Zander Botha: 13:47, Myles Boyle: 12:57, Jack Daley: 22:28);

Total Time: 49:12; Team placing: 6^th/7 Teams: Ladder Points: 5

Male 14
M14: 3x3.83km: (Jett Hollingsworth: 13:08, Mihela Silva: 13:27, Sebastian Botha: 15:38);

Total Time: 42:13; Team placing: 2^nd/7 Teams: Ladder Points: 9

Male 40
M40: 3x3.83km: (Jamie Hollingsworth: 16:32, Justin Botha: 17:44, Lyal Douglas: 17:57);

Total Time: 52:13; Team placing: 9^th/10 Teams: Ladder Points: 2

Male 50
M50: 3x3.83km: (Adam Scott: 16:09, Patrick Clarke: 18:37, Damien Clifford: 18:33);

Total Time: 53:19; Team placing: 7^th/7 Teams: Ladder Points: 4

Male 60
M60: 3x3.83km: (Ross McDonald: 15:11, Rob Wendel: 18:19, Jeff Young: 18:50) 52:20;

Total Time: 52:20; Team placing: 5^th/10 Teams: Ladder Points: 6

(Max Balchin)