A FEW GOOD DROPS AT ST ANNE’S

Thirty six athletes from Diamond Valley Athletic Club journeyed an hour out of Melbourne to spend their energy negotiating the slopes of St Anne’s Winery, Myrniong. After surviving the ‘Big Dippers’ out on the course, many of the team enjoyed a few good drops in the Winery. At the end of the day, the six Men’s teams and the four Women’s teams had all scored good results and there is an enthusiasm for the remainder of the XCR’22 winter season.

The ‘Big Dippers’ were on the longer legs of the Ekiden Relay and caused most runners great difficulty. In one section there was a 24% slope that made running a real challenge. When Caden Murray completed his run, he remarked how difficult he had found the section. Despite this experience, Caden still managed to average 3’28” for the 8.8km leg when he crossed in 29:09.

The St Anne’s Winery offered runners an inducement to attack two Strava sections of the course and on one of these, the last Mile of the course, Shania Murray was able to record the fastest time of all women. For this effort Shania won a ‘few good drops’ of St Anne’s wine. Shania averaged 4min km pace for the 7km leg she ran. This was Shania’s last hit out before she runs the Gold Coast Half Marathon next Sunday.

TEAM REWARDS

WOMEN

DIVISION 2

The DVAC Women’s Division 2 team of Jessica Campbell, Shania Murray, Merlina Hession & Sarah Leeming completed the 27.6km in 1hr:53:32 to cross in 4^th place. This result tightens their grip on 4^th place on the season ladder; they currently sit 2 points behind Yarra Ranges and 4 points behind Glenhuntly in a battle for 2^nd position & possible promotion to Division 1.

DIVISION 4

DVAC went into XCR Rd 4 in 4^th position on the season ladder in WDiv 4 and managed to finish in 3^rd place at St Anne’s. That’s a win for Debbie McKenzie, Taylor Radatti and Sarah Papadopoulos.

UNDER 18

Matilda L’Estrange, Georgia L’Estrange & Sugi Neecowen have made the DVAC WU18 team happen on a regular basis & their performance at St Anne’s was excellent. Matilda came through at the end of the first leg in second place covering the 7.0km in 30:24. Georgia attacked her 6.1km leg with all the confidence that comes from having run that far only once before; she still kept the pace just a tad over 5min/km. Sugi grows into the winter season with increased confidence and brought the team home strongly.

UNDER 16

The DVAC Women Under 16 team is locked in a great battle with Mornington. At St Anne’s the DVAC team of Ally Brooks, Poppy Scot-Dalgleish & Jamieson Lander completed the 16.7km journey in 1:01:52 to finish 1min11sec behind the Mornington team. This result had reduced the margin from 4:21 that the Mornington girls had established at Cruden Farm. Now both teams sit on 35 points at the top of the season ladder. Bring on the Sandown Road Relays!!

MEN

DIVISION 2

The DVAC Men’s Division 2 team of Caden Murray, Dylan Littlejohn, Blake Barnes, Tyler Murphy, Jarryd Cripps & Michael Martello completed the 38.2km relay in a time of 2hr:20:19 and crossed in 4^th place. This result will advance their position on the season ladder from 7^th place to 5^th. The 2hr:20:19min total is an average pace of 3min39sec per kilometre for the 38.2km. Great going team!

DIVISION 5

Placed 3^rd out of 7 teams, the combination of Matthew Thompson, Aaron Bourne, Jordan Chapman and Ethan Armstrong-Bourne worked well on the day. Matthew, Aaron & Jordan maintained a steady pace just over 4min/km. Ethan, 14 years, flew around his 4.7km leg in 18:35 to take team honours with a 3min54sec average pace. The 14 points for their 3^rd placing is enough to keep the team in second place on the season ladder. That’s a good result! Jordan was one of the few to say he enjoyed the experience after his run.

DIVISION 7

This team wins the Courage award for the Valley. It seemed like ‘Mission Impossible’ when Rhodri Whelan and Jordan Rudd went off to cover distances of 8.8km and 8.0km respectively. The two 15 year olds had never raced either 8.8km or 8.0km before; in fact, Rhodri had never run that far before! Throw into the challenge that Rhodri is in his first season of athletics and Jordan was just getting over a serious cold and understand why there was some anxiety for the boys when they set off. Both came home in terrific times: Rhodri had covered the 8.8km in 41:29 and Jordan finished the 8.0km in 39:45. Well done, Boys. Then, Jo Moxon returned from a lengthy injury lay-off to run 39:15 for the 6.1km leg. The incomplete team still managed to win 6 points and finish in 5^th place with 4 teams behind them. That smells like team spirit!!

Men 50+

The two DVAC Men 50+ teams had a battle for bragging rights between themselves and in the end the team of Aaron Scot-Dalgleish, Scott Barnes and Mark Tapping took line honours by a NINE seconds. Their finishing time was 1:34:51 placed them in 7^th position. The team of Andrew McKenzie, Rick Clarke and Greg Luck completed the course in 1:35:00 to place 8^th.

Men 60+

The DVAC Men 60+ team of Peter Ramsay, Rob Wendel and Lyal Douglas are sitting on top of the Short Course ladder, but at St Anne’s they were placed second against all comers. The team completed the 18.8km journey in 1:32:25. Peter Ramsay came through in second place, completing his 8.8km leg in 36:29.

DVAC SAYS THANKS:

DVAC had two club helpers working right throughout the competition at St Anne’s. A big thank you goes to Natalie Lander who stood at Marshall Point 18 and Alexia Moxon who acted as Spotter & Recorder for the Men 50+ Division. Lyn Davis shared time with Natalie at Marshall Point 18. Their efforts were as vital to the club success as any athlete on the day.

(ps Don’t forget that DVAC will have to provide two club helpers at Sandown Road Relays).

The DVAC Food table was literally groaning with all sorts of yummy stuff including Angela Hennel’s famous Chocolate Cake. Let’s keep the standard up now for the rest of the season. Thanks to Maryann Murray for the hot drinks that were so popular.

The DVAC Tent was such an important focal point throughout the day. David Armstrong had it waiting for the Valley crew in pride of position. A team led by Scott Barnes dismantled it at the end of the day. Can I just say what fun it was packing the tent into the Van with the help of Caden Murray, Blake Barnes, Flynn L’Estrange, Georgia L’Estrange & Matilda L’Estrange.

ST ANNE’S EKIDEN RELAY

XCR’22 Round 4

St Anne’s Winery, Myrniong