Keely Boyne finished with a silver in the U20 100m Hurdles

Twenty seven DVAC athletes – 14 Women & 13 Men – competed in the 2021 Victorian Track & Field Championships held at Lakeside Stadium from Friday 19 February through to Sunday 21 February 2021. By the time competition ended on Sunday afternoon, the Valley athletes had won a total of twelve medals – 3 Gold, 6 Silver, and 3 Bronze. The value of the weekend went far beyond these medals to include a range of great personal performances and exposure to competition under Championship conditions. As well it was good to see the support the Valley athletes gave to each other, including bands of the green & gold singlets warming up together out on the warm-up track.

KIRRA MADE OF THE WRIGHT STUFF

Kirra Wright, 12 years old, handled her first Victorian Championship experience with aplomb, winning Gold medals in the T38 category for the Women Under 15 Para 100m & 400m. Kirra was well under the T38 qualifying standards for both events. In the 100m, Kirra was clocked at 15.73, well under the qualifying standard of 18.0. In the 400m Kirra completed her lap of the track in 78.51; the standard set to qualify for the 2021 Australian Championships is 1:22.9. The current Australian records for the Women Under 16 T38 category in the 100m is 13.81 and the 400m record stands at 1:10.99. Kirra can now claim to hold two DVAC club records for her efforts on the weekend.

JACK IS BACK

Jack Clarke, 17, ran a 400m in 48.40 at the High Velocity Club, Meet #1, back in December and has struggled to get back to full fitness after suffering as injury soon after the HVC meet. He fulfilled the promise of that earlier run at the HVC at this week’s Victorian Championships when he stormed home to win the final of the Men Under 20 400m to clock 48.20. This time lowered his own DVAC club record for the Men Under 18 and as well gave Jack the Men Under 19 and Under 20 club records.

MEADEN LEAD’N BY EXAMPLE

Calvin Meaden, Under 20, finished the weekend with a Bronze medal in the Hammer Throw and a Silver medal in the Shot Put. The story of what he achieved to win those medals is worth noting. Calvin had not thrown over 50m with the 6kg Hammer before the Championships, but he landed three of his throws over 50m with the best of them measured at 50.95m.

In the Shot Put, Calvin went over 13m with the 6kg Shot for the first time and then repeated the performance two more times with the best effort coming in at 13.18m. This gave Calvin the Silver medal. Talk about performing under pressure!

Not to be outdone, Calvin’s sister, Victoria Meaden, Women Under 16, landed her best throw with the Hammer at a distance of 37.28m to put her in 5th place. This distance was a staggering 5m personal best achievement.

Training partner, Keira Sanchez, Women Under 16, claimed the Bronze medal with a best throw of 38.34m. Keira is competing in her first season with the Hammer. Keira also won a Bronze medal with the Women Under 16 Shot Put with a best effort of 11.09m.

Head Throws judge and Coach, Andrew Stirling, must have been smiling at the outstanding work of his squad.

SILVER LININGS

Other Silver medals were won by:

• Ally Brooks, Women Under 16, who produced an 11 second pb in the 1500m, finishing in 4:49.68 to cross in second place.
• Keely Boyne (pic above), Women Under 20, who finished in second place in the 100m Hurdles in 14.54.
• Katie Oliver, Women Under 16, who completed the 100m sprint in the final in 12.62.
• Jaryd Clifford, Men Open, made all the right moves in a thrilling final of the 1500m and hung on to second place in a time of 3:44.52. Worth bearing in mind that Jaryd is a T12 Para athlete who demonstrated once again his ability to break barriers.
• Hayley Sposato, Women Under 15, 2nd in the High Jump with a clearance over 1.55m.

Thanks to Helpers

A huge vote of thanks goes to the following members of the DVAC ‘family’ who stepped up on Weekend 1 of the Victorian Championships to help fill the duties assigned to Diamond Valley:

Bronwyn Meaden, Lyn Davis, Dylan Littlejohn, Diane Stirling, Melanie Sposato, Paula Merino, Kylie Portello, Maryann Murray, Max Balchin for their assistance as Club Helpers on the weekend.

DVAC Officals:

An incomplete list of DVAC Officials seen out and about on Weekend 1 of the Victorian Championships included: Stuart Schnaars, Andrew Stirling, Paul Schofield, Jeff Hughes.

Acknowledgements

Article by Max Balchin. Results by Athletics Victoria. Photos by Jazz Deol.

Results: Women

Results: Men