DVAC’S RICH HARVEST ON THE HILLS
The Diamond Valley Athletic Club reaped its best harvest for the XCR23 season in Round 8 on the slopes of the St Annes Winery estate. The 50 DVAC athletes (19 Women & 31 Men) who took part in the Ekiden Relay had to dig deep on their reserves of courage to negotiate the testing hills that threw new challenges at them around every turn.
By the end of the day the efforts of the Valley warriors had produced a bumper crop of results. The DVAC Women Under 18 & Women Under 16 teams had won Gold to cement their place at the top of their respective ladders and the Men Under 20 and the Men Under 16 teams were proudly displaying their Bronze medals. The DVAC Women in Division 2 had their season best result with a second place, and not to be outdone, the DVAC Men’s Division 2 team were placed second to move them up the season ladder. The DVAC Women in Division 4 added to the bumper crop with a third placing that puts the team with a serious chance of automatic promotion.
OUCH! THAT HURTS
A number of the DVAC ‘warriors’ came back to the Valley tent bearing scars from their adventure on the slopes of St Annes. Daniel Rees (M40), Debbie McKenzie (W50), & Gayle Clifford (WDiv 5) all came in with wounds from heavy falls out on the course. Brody McCarthy (MDiv 5) had a calf injury early in his 7.7km journey and rather than let the other three members miss out on a run, soldiered on bravely to complete his section of the 25.3km team distance. (The team still finished 4th out of 7 teams.) There were many other stories about near misses & narrow shaves.
DVAC MEN DIVISION 2:
What a story this team has created! Rock bottom after Round 3 with the ominous letter AR (Automatic Relegation) beside the DVAC team. Still second last after Round 4 with the AR tag. Since then, in the tradition of great fightback stories, the DVAC Men Division 2 has gone from strength to strength with the high-light coming at Myrniong where the team finished second out of the thirteen teams. The secret? One suspects it’s the passion for success created by the members of the team. In Round 8, the line-up was Chris Rancie, Caden Murray, Dylan Littlejohn, James Telford, Anthony Lynch and Jarryd Cripps. To see the rest of the team cheering Jarryd through to the finish line typified the fighting spirit. Great work, guys.
The points earned with the second placing means that the DVAC Div 2 moves from 10th place on the season ladder to seventh place, and a long way out of the AR zone!
DVAC WOMEN DIVISION 2
While the second placing at Myrniong was definitely a season best performance it does not change the overall position of the team on the season ladder. The DVAC team remains 5th on the ladder although they have closed the gap on Traralgon to 2 points, opening the chance of moving up to 4th position with another top performance like Round 8.
Shania Murray has been the mainstay of this team throughout the season and at Myniong, Shania covered the 7.7km leg at 4:00m/Km pace and crossed through second behind Olympian, Ella Pashley. Sarah Leeming & Simone Kuppler continued the attack in fine style before handing over to junior, Heidi Kuppler to run the final leg. The Under 14 athlete, about to compete in the SSA 11 Year Old 3000m Australian Cross Country Championship next weekend completed her 4.7km leg at 4:00m/km pace in 19:13 to bring the team home in second place.
JUNIOR DVAC TEAMS FLOURISH
Matilda L’Estrange, Erin Maloney and Ella Littlehales combined to claim the Gold Medal in the Women Under 18 Relay. Matilda who is off to the National Cross Country Champs next week, provided great leadership, coming through in first place and Erin, who ran the 3rd fastest WU18 6km leg (27:42) and Ella, who ran the 2nd fastest WU18 3.8km leg (17:03) brought the team home 1min17sec ahead of the second team. The DVAC WU18 team sit at the top of the season ladder with a buffer of 12 points over the second placed team.
Georgia L’Estrange gave the WU16 Relay a four minute lead when she completed the 6.9km in 33:54. Lucy Johns, 4.7km in 22:20, and Rose Jarvis, 3.8km in 16:28, maintained the four minute gap over the second team right through to the end. The DVAC WU16 goes into the final two rounds of the season at the top of the season ladder with a gap of 17 points over the second placed team.
The DVAC MU20 team of Jack Daley, Logan Armstrong-Bourne and Dillon Vidanapathirana went home proudly wearing a Bronze medal for their combined efforts. This is all the more meritorious when it is considered that Jack is MU16 and Logan, MU14.
The DVAC MU16 team of Ethan Armstrong-Bourne, Patrick Knight and Felix Morgan won the Bronze medal for their combined efforts. The trio covered the total distance of 16.7km in 1:08.02. Ethan ran the fastest 6.9km leg, covering the distance in 26:38 minutes.
WOMEN DIVISION 4 MOVES INTO AP COUNTRY
The DVAC Women Division 4 team of Lorna Maloney, Adina Morrow and Sarah Papadopoulos achieved something special with their 3rd placing at Myrniong. The 14 points they earned with their placing will move the DVAC W Div 4 team into 2nd place on the season ladder with two rounds remaining. The top two teams have AP (Automatic Promotion) against their names so now all DVAC has to do is hold onto that spot & the 2024 season might see our women competing in Division 2 and Division 3.
THANK YOU …
Thanks go to the following:
David Armstrong – for having the DVAC tent so well situated that the DVAC athletes were basically right on the start line. All we needed was a brick wall to keep us out of the wind. Thanks also to the happy team that helped with the pack-up at the end of the day. Ps: thanks David for the Results Hub – we love it!
Fleur Owen, Maryann Murray & Lyn Davis: for fulfilling the DVAC Club Helper roles at the changeover of the Men Division 5. Fabulous job, big thanks. PSST – DVAC is required to provide THREE Club Helpers at the next event, the Half Marathon & 5km Road Race at Burnley on Sunday 3rdSeptember. Let Max know if you can assist.
Andrew L’Estrange, Jo Harford, Suzanne Jarvis, Julie & Andrew Knight, Chris Whelan & Susan Armstrong for their generosity in helping to manage our junior teams.
Greg Luck – for organising the DVAC Bus to Myrniong. A relaxed & happy journey for all on board.
Everyone who brought a food offering: there was a LOT of food on the table & it was all gone at the end of the day.
XCR23 RD 8: EKIDEN RELAYS
St Annes Winery, Myrniong
Saturday 19th August 2023
DVAC Results:
Female Open
Division 2:
25.3km Ekiden: (Shania Murray: 31:03 (7.7km), Sarah Leeming: 32:10 (6.9km), Simone Kuppler: 27:02 (6km), Heidi Kuppler: 19:13 (4.7km)) 1:49:28;
Team Result: 2nd/ 12 Teams
Divison 4:
19.3km Ekiden: (Lorna Maloney: 44:22 (7.7km), Adina Morrow: 34:16 (6.9km), Sarah Papadopoulos: 29:28 (4.7km)) 1:48:06;
Team Result: 3rd/ 7 Teams
Divison 5:
19.3km Ekiden: (Gayle Clifford: 1:01:42 (7.7km), Elyse Scheuermann: 54:30 (6.9km)) 2:30:45;
Team Result: 5th/ 5 Teams
Female 18
16.7km Ekiden: (Matilda L'Estrange: 29:46 (6.9km), Erin Maloney: 27:42 (6km), Ella Littlehales: 17:03 (3.8km)) 1:14:31;
Team Result: 1st/ 3 Teams
Female 16
15.4km Ekiden: (Georgia L'Estrange: 33:54 (6.9km), Lucy Johns: 22:20 (4.7km), Rose Jarvis: 16:28 (3.8km)) 1:12:42;
Team Result: 1st/ 2 Teams
Female 50
16.2km Ekiden: (Debbie McKenzie: 42:12 (7.7km), Joanne Clarke: 27:30 (4.7km), Jo Moxon: 22:39 (3.8km)) 1:32:21;
Team Result: 6th/ 8 Teams
Male Open
Division 2:
39.7km Ekiden: (Chris Rancie: 29:57 (8.4km), Caden Murray: 26:38 (7.7km), Dylan Littlejohn: 27:05 (6.9km), James Telford: 23:56 (6km), Anthony Lynch: 23:09 (6km), Jarryd Cripps: 17:32 (4.7km)) 2:28:17;
Team Result: 2nd/ 13 Teams
Division 5:
25.3km Ekiden: (Brody McCarthy: 45:04 (7.7km), Blake Barnes: 27:39 (6.9km), Matthew Thompson: 25:32 (6km), Michael Martello: 21:49 (4.7km)) 2:00:04;
Team Result: 4th/ 7 Teams
Male 20
20.6km Ekiden: (Jack Daley: 35:07 (7.7km), Logan Armstrong-Bourne: 30:27 (6.9km), Dillon Vidanapathirana: 35:46 (6km)) 1:41:20;
Team Result: 3rd/ 3 Teams
Male 18
17.6km Ekiden: (Joel Imbriano: 27:14 (6.9km), Rhodri Whelan: 24:23 (6km), Jordan Rudd: 21:11 (4.7km)) 1:12:48;
Team Result: 4th/ 5 Teams
Male 16
16.7km Ekiden: (Ethan Armstrong-Bourne: 26:38 (6.9km), Patrick Knight: 24:51 (6km), Felix Morgan: 16:33 (3.8km)) 1:08:02;
Team Result: 3rd/ 4 Teams
Male 40
20.6km Ekiden: (Daniel Rees: 33:10 (7.7km), Craig Cassidy: 28:17 (6.9km), Aaron Bourne: 28:34 (6km)) 1:30:01;
Team Result: 4th/ 4 Teams
Male 50 (1)
19.3km Ekiden: (Aaron Scot-Dalgleish: 34:16 (7.7km), Scott Barnes: 32:31 (6.9km), Brett Maloney: 21:42 (4.7km)) 1:28:29;
Team Result: 5th/ 12 Teams
Male 50 (2)
19.3km Ekiden: (Andrew McKenzie: 38:39 (7.7km), Patrick Clarke: 37:33 (6.9km), Damien Clifford: 23:45 (4.7km)) 1:39:57;
Team Result: 11th/ 12 Teams
Male 60
18.4km Ekiden: (Lyal Douglas: 44:26 (7.7km), Greg Luck: 33:17 (6km), Rob Wendel: 23:50 (4.7km)) 1:41:33;
Team Result: 5th/ 5 Teams
