Eaglehawk and Bendigo Harriers again achieved top-three finishes in their respective divisions in Saturday’s ninth round of AVSL track and field action at Flora Hill. Wet weather played havoc with competition, especially in the metropolitan zones. The cold did not phase athletes, officials and spectators at the Flack Advisory Services Group-backed Athletics Bendigo Region round.
The Hawks were in top form as they scored 24,271 points to be number one team in division two.
The Two Blues are in a strong position to claim a top-two result and earn promotion to premier division for next season.
Bendigo Harriers also kept the heat on division three rivals as it scored 11,198 to be third in the day’s standings.
South Bendigo’s tally of 11,957 earned five points in the hotly-contested premier division.
Bendigo University scored 2049 in division four.
More records tumbled at Flora Hill.
South Bendigo’s Trudy Haines completed the 300m hurdles in 70.13 seconds to set a 50-plus record.
It was another superb performance by Haines who starred at the Victoria Country championships at Ballarat in January, and on home turf in the Athletics Victoria and Victoria Masters multi-event titles.
Eaglehawk’s line-up of Glenn Stephens, Christopher Kadri, David Chisholm and Antony Langdon ran the 4 x 200m relay in 1:49.39, a 50-plus record.
Many athletes from Bendigo Region featured in the Most Valuable Athlete standings.
A tally of 1422 put Eaglehawk veteran David Chisholm in second place.
Hawks’ clubmates James Bentley 1313, 6th; Terry Hicks 1284, 9th; Jorja Morrison 1219, 14th; Julia Hattingh 1032, 33rd; Logan Barker 1004, 37th; Giselle Hattingh 983, 41st; Angus McKindlay 969, 42nd; Olivia Graham 933, 51st; Antony Langdon 909, 67th; Justine Hattingh 868, 80th; and Kenan Seebah 858, 86th; were in top form.
In his comeback to the track, the multi-talented Brett Gilligan played a key role for Bendigo Harriers.
Gilligan scored 1301 points to be seventh in the MVA standings.
He began the afternoon by leaping 1.70m at high jump, ran 25.80 in the 200m, contested the 4 x 200m relay, threw the discus to a mark of 32.37m and reached 10.54m in triple jump.
Harriers’ clubmates in the top 100 of the MVA were Geoff Jordan 1073, 29th; Anne Buckley 919, 63rd; and Frances Leach 917, 64th.
Highs for Harriers included a personal best of 1.55m by Frances Leach at high jump.
Youth and experience were to the fore in South Bendigo’s run.
Emma Orme scored 1197 points to be 18th in the most valuable athlete standings.
South Bendigo has plenty of Mums who compete on each week.
On Saturday it was Joan Self 1151, 22nd; Carol Coad 1070, 30th; and Trudy Haines 987, 40th, who led the way.
Distance runner Debby Kirne performed well on the track to be 44th in the MVA on 963 points.
Racing for Eaglehawk, the speedy Kye Mason ran a brilliant 200m in 22.64 into a -2.2 wind.
The 800m was dominated by Eureka’s Luke Padgham, who previously competed with Bendigo Harriers, in 2:01.60.
University’s Russel Jenkins ran the 3000m in 10:09.30 which was his best time since turning 50.
South Bendigo’s Taryn Furletti competed the 3000m in 10:10.09 which was her best time since Adelaide in 2018.
Despite the tricky conditions, Eaglehawk’s Olivia Graham reached a mark of 47.62m at hammer as her dad, Craig was runner-up on 33.98m.
PowerPlays that were in vogue on Saturday will carry-over to this Saturday’s 10th and final round in the 2020-21 AVSL season.
