Th BENDIGO Bats outran rivals to be number one team in three divisions at Saturday’s second round of Athletics Victoria’s XCR ’21 cross-country series raced at Lardner Park near Warragul.
The Bats earned enough points to be men’s open division two champions, and would also have taken out division one.
Bendigo had many athletes race on the rolling hills at Lardner Park for the first time.
“We had five runners in the top 30 and seven in the top 50,” said Athletics Bendigo representative, Nigel Preston.
“Every position counts as a point – so if you are first, that’s one point; second is two points; third is three points, etc. So the team with the lowest combined score wins,” explained Preston.
Based on the team scores, the Bats won Division 4 and their score would have also taken out Division 3.
The Bats also won Division 7 and their score would have also taken out Division 6.
There were many individual highlights, too:
Dual national 10km cross-country champion Andy Buchanan ran the 8km in 23:57 to be fastest of all competitors.
The star from Bendigo University Athletics Club led the Bendigo Bats charge in the men’s open 8km showdown.
Brady Threlfall from Bendigo Harriers clocked 25.27 to be 9th and Matt Buckell from Bendigo University Athletics Club ran 26.01 to be 17th.
Next best was Harriers’ Nathan Stoate in 26.16, 24th; South Bendigo’s Archie Reid, 26.39 to be 29th, and Uni’s Ned Buckell, 27.21 to be 42nd.
ABOVE: Andy Buchanan leads the field in the Men’s Open 8km Cross Country event in Lardner Park.
BELOW: Andy Buchanan speaks to the Aths Vic media team post-race.
ABOVE: Andy Buchanan leads the field in the Men’s Open 8km Cross Country event in Lardner Park.
Anne Buckley wins her first cross-country medal in open age
Among the many highs for Bendigo was the victory by Bendigo Harriers veteran Anne Buckley in the women’s 50-plus class.
Buckley ran the 4km in 17.49.
A representative for Bendigo since December, 1984, Buckley celebrated her first cross-country medal in open age.
“I was really pleased with how I ran today and I felt good.
“I’ve always wanted to win a medal in cross country and now I have I could retire happily, but I won’t be stopping yet,” Buckley said.
ABOVE: Anne Buckley (middle) wins the Gold Medal in the Women’s 50+ 4km Cross Country event in Lardner Park.
The Bats’ young stars were also in great form.
Logan Tickell won the under-16 3km in 9.46 as team-mates Max Rowe, 10.48, 8th; Thomas McArthur, 11.46, 17th; Mason Woodward, 11.52, 18th; and Tanner Fear, 20th in 12.40, ran strongly.
Chelsea Tickell was runner-up in the 16-girls 2km in 7.48.
South Bendigo’s Taryn Furletti ran the 4km in 15.50 to be fifth in the under-20 event.
Uni Pride’s Tullie Rowe was fourth in the under-18 3km.
Alice Wilkinson (pictured below) from Bendigo Harriers ran the open 8km in 34.24.
University’s James Russell clocked 19.31 for the 60-plus 4km.
Times for the Bendigo Bats in the 8km were Nigel Preston 27:39; Stephen van Rees 29:22; Matthew Schepisi 29:37; Matthew Hooke 30:35; Luke Millard 31:11; Mike Bieleny 32:05; Ben Stolz 33:02; Nick McDermott 33:27; Darren Hartland 34:30; and David Heislers 37:16.
Bendigo Harriers’ Harrison Boyd and University’s Angus Macafee ran the under-18 4km, but times were not listed on AV results.
Next round in XCR ’21 is on June 5 when the Ekiden Relays are run at Myrniong.
Top: The Junior Bendigo XCR team.
Above: Alice Wilkinson competes in the Women’s Open 8km Cross Country event in Lardner Park.
