Still waiting on the full results from Round 10 of the Athletics Victoria Shield North West Region competition. Held in conditions that were somewhat windy early on, as the sun went down the evening produced more mild conditions ideal for racing. While almost all other clubs were missing many athletes, the Coburg Harriers produced their second biggest turn out of the season. As a result, our U20 men and 40+ men were convincing winners. Its likely also that both our U16 boys and U16 boys scored close victories. Our U16 boys are now two points inside the final four and U16 girls are now outside the top four by just one point. A fantastic result

Several athletes recorded personal bests - Tim Holloway in the 1500 m (placing third in M2) and 5000 m, which is just reward for this improving athlete who has been training strongly with coach Brian Delaney. Glenn Caroll and Philip van Dueren ran personal bests in the 5000 m (Philip third for M40) while 1500 m personal bests were recorded by Melanie Evans, Stefanie Modesti and Jarrow Sarson-Lawrence (winning the M20 section). Season best times were recorded by Shane Wilson, Rita Pana and Pam Sievers in the 100 m, Alana Guerin and Glenn Carroll in the 1500 m, Leah Polycarpou ran a season best in the 400 m and Luong Dao ran his best 5000 m for many years. Tom Clarke, Stephen Wright and Tyler Guerin recorded season bests in the Triple Jump, Chelsea Wright threw a season best in the Javelin as did Ken Carter in the Discus

Special mentions to Chelsea Wright (F16) who ran a great 100 m before being coming third in the Discus and second in the Javelin. Josh Magee, son of Liam Magee, snuck in a legal Discus throw on the third attempt, eliciting rapturous applause from Coburg Harriers at the event. A big thank you to athletes who filled spots in the relay including Leah Polycarpou, Sophia Petropoulos, Damian Burton and Josh Vicendese. A big thank you to Shaun Stewart and Tom Clarke who helped our U20 men secure victory by agreeing to compete in the older age group when we had surplus U16 boys at the Triple Jump and 100 m. For Shaun Stewart, he would place third in the 100 m in the M20 section

The great results were due in no small part to the fourteen athletes who won their event in their section. Leah Polycarpou (F16) had a night out with wins in the 400 m, 1500 m and 3000 m. Similarly Matt Mifsud (M20) had a good night in winning the 100 m and 400 m. Sophie Petropoulos is proving invaluable to our M14 girls, winning the Javelin and coming second in the Discus. In the triple jump wins to Tom Clarke (M16) and Stephen Wright (M40), who later came third in the Javelin, Liam Magee (M1) won the 5000 m, Stella Radford (F16) won the 400 m, Sam Dragon (M20) won the 3000 m and was second in the 100 m and 1500 m

Mohammed Reese (M40) won the 100 m and was second in the 400 m while Phil Curtain (M40) won the Javelin and was third in the Discus. Luong Dao (M2) was second in the 5000 m, Ken Cater (M40) was runner up in the Discus, Alana Guerin (F16) was second in the Triple Jump and Maddy Black (F14) was second in the 400 m and third in the 3000 m. At the Triple Jump Tyler Guerin (F14) and Megan Marsh (F16) were both third, a rare father-son double in the 400 m with Michael Clark (M20) and father Charles Clark (M20) both third, in the 1500 m Shane Wilson (M16) and Leigh Roux (F14) came third

The penultimate round of the season is this Thursday night from 6:00 pm at Aberfeldie. For the sprinters, it's the 200 m and the 4 x 400 m Relay. Middle distance athletes have the 800 m with the 3000 m and the 400 m Hurdles are on with 200 m Hurdles for U14/U16 athletes. Field athletes can enjoy the High Jump this week but the Javelin and Discus are not on the program. For those with Cullen Cup ambitions this is a good program with four events - the 200 m, 400 m Hurdles, Long Jump and Shot Put - eligible for points. These events are also in the Region Final, so if you would like to add one of these to your finals program, this is your last chance to do so

Three teams - U14 girls, U20 and 40+ men - are safely through to the Region Final on Saturday, 6 February 2010, however our U16 boys and girls have two crucial meets coming up. For our U16 boys, their chance of making it through are bolstered by the Blair twins filling those all important throws events, Shane Wilson and Kayne Davies taking on middle distance events. For our U16 girls, the willingness of several athletes, including Chelsea Wright, Megan Marsh and Stella Radford to take on extra events have seen their stocks rise. A continued strong turn out in the last two rounds of the season would greatly enhance that team's chances of making the Region Final

Thank you to all the club volunteers who assisted in our monthly public fun run last Sunday morning. We had a near record number of participants and raised some good funds for the club. Club members would be interested to note that Sam Dragon won the junior 6 km run section. Did you know that senior club members receive a discount on entry? You can receive a whopping 33% off the $15 race entry, so you should consider giving the next one a go when we stage our next 6/12 km fun run on Sunday, 21 February 2010 from 9:00 am

Are you bringing your IGA shopping dockets down to the track? The club has set itself - in conjunction with Coburg Little Athletics - to raise funds to ensure the track we all enjoy training and competing on can be re-laid in a couple of years time. To assist us in that goal we need all members to bring their IGA dockets to the track so we can go into the draw to win $3,500 which will greatly assist us in reaching our shared goal. Let's keep them coming in

DATES TO REMEMBER

Thursday, 21 January 2010 - AV Shield Round 11 at Moonee Valley Athletics Track, Aberfeldie (Melways 28 C6) from 6:00 pm
Thursday, 28 January 2010 - AV Shield Round 12 at Moonee Valley Athletics Track, Aberfeldie (Melways 28 C6) from 6:00 pm