ATHLETES from Eaglehawk and Bendigo Harriers capped a great run in AVSL as they contested the AVSL play-offs at South Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium on Saturday 5 March 2022.
Both clubs pitted their skills against the metropolitan powers.
Eaglehawk was in premier division against Essendon, Diamond Valley and Glenhuntly.
The Bendigo Harriers marked the early months of their 100th year by being second on the division two ladder after the preliminary rounds and in a fight to stay there and earn promotion to premier for next season.
Under the AVSL format, points were accumulated from an athlete’s best three events and a relay.
Essendon scored 62,054 to be the premier division champion ahead of Diamond Valley, 48,931; and Glenhuntly, 35,721.
The Hawks squad of 37 performed brilliantly across many disciplines to score 33,438 points.
In division two, Western Athletics led the way on 38,114 from Wyndham, 28,781.
It was a closely-fought duel between Keilor St Bernards and Bendigo Harriers as they finished on 20,975 and 18,017 points.
Bendigo University qualified for the division five play-offs but did not compete.
Several Hawks and Harriers were among the top 100 in the most valuable athlete award in the final.
Angus McKindlay in action on the track
Angus McKindlay racked up 1423 points to be 11th.
Highs for McKindlay were victory in the 400m hurdles, 57.19; and a time of 23.07 in the under-20 200m.
Fastest of the under-20 men in the 200m was Hawks’ clubmate Kye Mason in 22.01.
A first-year competitor in track and field, Cameron Smith was 21st on 1336 points.
Hawks’ veteran Terry Hicks scored 1311 to be 28th and talented youngster Alyssa Beaton was 40th on 1271 points.
It was at high jump and triple jump where Alyssa Beaton hit marks of 1.45m and 9.77m.
Also to the fore in the famous two blue of Eaglehawk were David Chisholm, 1260 points, 43rd; William Beaton, 1218, 52nd; and Kathryn Heagney, 1093, 94th.
At 71-years-young, Heagney’s willpower was on show in the 200m, 36.56; 800m, 3:42.3; 4 x 400m relay; and shot put, 4.08m.
Best for the Bendigo Harriers was Brett Gilligan, 51st on 1231 points in the 40-plus class.
Highs for Gilligan were a leap of 1.65m at high jump, 10.62m at triple jump, and 200m in 25.77.
A world masters decathlon champion in the 70-plus age group, Geoff Shaw from Harriers starred at high jump, 1.30m; and triple jump, 9.09m, for a score of 1162 to be 65th in the MVA standings.
The consistent Geoff Jordan scored 1132 points to be 78th after he competed at hammer, 26.79m; high jump, 1.35m; and shot put, 7.58m.
Finale to the day’s action was the 4 x 400m relay in which Eaglehawk’s team of Mason, McKindlay, Smith and William Beaton clocked a time of 3:32.85 to score 507 points and be the men’s open champion.
Brett Gilligan runs on track
