The Coburg Harriers entered the penultimate round of AV Shield North West Region competition with numbers slightly down on previous rounds, indeed the smallest since the Round Seven meeting at Williamstown. No doubt a number of athletes and their families were enjoying some time off for the Australia Day long weekend

Given the tragic events that occurred toward the end of the evening, it was probably fortunate there were not more Harriers on hand to witness the horrific accident to one of our officials, but more on that later

Teams to perform well were the U16 men who almost wrote their own ticket for the Region Final with a win, the men’s U20 were second, the U14 women were third as were our Men’s 40 plus with an ominous performance by the teams that finished above them. The club’s U16 women were unlucky in coming fourth – just one more performance would have got them into third place while our Women’s Open Division One had their best ever result in this division with fifth place and now have one over the men’s division one team

Athletes to do well included Liam Magee (M1) who was third in the 3000 m and set an M35-39 club age group record in the process. Tim Conway (M16) won the 200 m Hurdles, Bola Lawal (M1) dominated the 200 m and Leah Polycarpou (F14) won both the 800 m and 3000 m. Matthew Smith (M20) won the 800 m and was runner up in the 3000 m while Kira Davey (F16) won the High Jump before coming second in the Hammer and third in the 200 m Hurdles

Stephen Wright (M40) won the High Jump before coming third in the Hammer and Shot Put, Sam Dragon (M20) was runner up in the Long Jump and third in the 800 m, while Megan Marsh (F16) and Shaun Stewart (M16) were second in the Shot Put. In the High Jump Reed Cathcart (M16) with Benan Oztorun (M16) third and in the 200 m Tyler Guerin (F14) was third as was Benny Tancredi (M40)

Bethanie Barbour (F14) was third in the 1500 m Walk, Matthew Blair (M16) was third in the Hammer, Jarrow Sarson-Lawrence (M20) was third in the 3000 m, Pam Sievers (F1) was third in the Shot Put and Shane Wilson (M16) was third in the 200 m Hurdles

At the conclusion of the meet, our U16 men, with their victory, have rocketed into third place, while our Men’s 40 plus need to win the last round of the season to regain top spot on their ladder. The club’s U16 women are in fourth place on percentage and have their work cut out for them in the last round, having to finish in the top three to secure their place at the Region Final. A big effort required there

And now to the events of the evening that will have ramifications for a long time to come. Diane Brimacombe who was acting as an official at the Hammer Throw was, ironically on the last throw of the night, struck on the side of the head. First aid were immediately on the scene and an ambulance was called. Diane was loaded into the ambulance next to where she fell in the infield

Our thoughts are with the Brimacombe family as Diane recuperates from this tragic accident. She is a fit lady as those who train with her twice a week can attest and that should stand her in good stead for her recovery. As frustrating as it sounds, there is nothing any of us can do at this stage other than to give her time to pull through okay. Our thoughts are also with the female athlete from Western Athletics who was very badly shaken by the incident. We understand that she has received extensive support from her club and Athletics Victoria. The Coburg Harriers would hope that she can put this behind her and continue to compete in the sport

A number of people deserve our thanks and admiration. Firstly to our officials on the scene. To Joanne Delaney who initially sat with the Western Athletics athlete until her own coaches could enter the arena. To Brian Delaney, as the Event Supervisor, was able to under extreme pressure complete the paperwork required to close off the event. And to Chris Harrap who was able to provide a witness statement to North West Region officials

There were a number of Harriers who were by Diane’s side almost as soon as it happened, who were able to bring their medical experience to bear. Thank you to Melanie Evans, Luong Dao, Glenn Carroll and Harris Polycarpou and to Warren Burke for contacting emergency services. Further updates on Diane’s condition will be sent out as they are to hand