The 2019 Presentation Night was held at Windy Hill; the date chosen was May 3 and it turned out to be a good date for a 21st and a barbeque. Despite these clashes we had about 100 members, their family and friends of the club. Moonee Valley CC Mayor, Narelle Sharpe and Councillor Samantha Byrne also attended, along with our MVCC Liaison Officer, Gary McDonald. The club combined the 2018 XCR and 2018 /19 Track & Field presentations in One Big Night!
We were greeted at the door by Arthur Whitchell who handed us a Service Pin. This is a new initiative to recognise the time members have been with the club. See Arthur if you didn’t get your pin.
Mitch Brown was MC and introduced club President, John Higham to the microphone. John thanked MVCC for our new track and congratulated Ian Williams for his 12 years of service as Treasurer. He then announced that he was stepping down as President and that Mark Carey would be the interim until the AGM in July. Mark spoke of his vision and what he hoped to achieve.
This year will be exciting for the club with a new President and a new Treasurer.
The two Presidents invited our Shield winning Open Women to the stage and presented them with a Premiership medal.
Nina Lawson and Mikeala Selaidinakos then announced the Shield award winners.
The Most Outstanding Athlete Award
The athlete who achieved the highest individual point score during the 11 full rounds of AV Shield and who qualified for the Shield Final by competing at least 4 times. Shield Final results were included.
U/14 Women
Faith Villi. Round 12 shot put 12.99m (Club record) 480 points. Faith was the top performer 7 times throughout the season.
U/16 Women
Emily Portaro. Round 6 triple jump 11.97m 491points. Emily was also her team’s top performer 7 times during the season. Emily won triple jump gold at States with 11.77m again at Nationals with 12.07m.
U/18 Women
Ruby Pizzo. Round 6 triple jump 11.92m for 494 points. A special mention to Montana Djatschenko who scored over 490 points on 4 occasions. Ruby won the State u/18 triple jump title with a jump of 12.23m; she then came 4th at Nationals.
U/20 Women
Catherine Mendes. Round 3 100m 12.49s 483 points. Catherine won gold in the U/20 triple jump at states then had a very busy time at Nationals, competing in the long and triple jumps in both under 20 and open.
Open Women
Louise Mendes. Round 12 hammer 512 points. Louise also collected a bronze at Vic Champs in the shot put after a replay of the event.
U/14 Men
Kevin Healy. Round 10 Hammer 50.89m 442 points. Kevin had a max 12 top performances for his team. He won gold at Vic Champs in the U/15 hammer and shot put as well as gold at the Aust champs in the U/15 hammer as well as bronze in the U/15 discus & shot
U/16 Men
Robert Massey. Round 11 high jump 1.85m for 453 points.
U/18 Men
Angus Wood. Round 11 triple jump 14.19m 495 points. Angus won a Aust Champs bronze in the U/20 triple with a PB of 14.32m.
Open Men
Alwyn Jones. Round 11 triple jump 16.05m 543 points. Great to see the coach competing so consistently at Shield. Alwyn took gold at State and Nationals to add to his collection of triple jump medals.
40+ Men
Graham Hicks Round 7 discus 48.22m 524 points. Graham scored over 500 points, 5 times during the season. Injury hit him just days out of the Shield Final.
The Most Valuable Athlete
The athlete who accumulates the most points for their team throughout the season. Round 8 was washed out so no points have been included. Shield Final points were not included.
U/14 Women
Faith Villi. Faith competed in 8 rounds and earned 5535 points for her team
U/16 Women. Joint winners.
Emily Newton. 6573 points (7 rounds) plus 210 in shield final
Victoria Entwistle-Hardeman. 6372 points (9 rounds) plus a huge 901 points in SF
With just 200 points between the girls the Awards committee determined that they both deserved recognition.
U/18 Women
Montana Djatschenko. Montana competed in 7 rounds and scored 7519 points. She won gold in the State U20 long jump and bronze in the open long jump. She also came 4th at Nationals with a wind assisted long jump PB of 5.93m
U/20 Women
Jennifer Mendes. Jennifer competed 5 times in both U/20 and Open to collect 4081 points. She also scored a massive 786 points in the Shield Final to help her team win the Open women’s Final.
Open Women
Joanna Margiolis. The runaway winner for the 2nd consecutive year. Joanna had a go at every event from 100m, steeple, javelin etc. She competed 10 times for a massive 11,832 points plus another 381pts in the Shield Final.
U/14 Men
Kevin Healy. Kevin was the model of consistency, competing in 11 rounds plus SF for 10,835 points plus 936 pts in the SF
U/16 Men
Christian Knox. Christian is the most enthusiastic club member, encouraging his team mates to have a go and leading by example by doing multiple events each week. Christian topped his team with 7933 points.
U/18 Men
Aagaash Murugathas. Aagaash competed in 9 rounds accumulating 4335 points plus 607 in the SF.
40+ Men
John Cooper. John competed 10 times for 10,431 points plus 477 in the SF.
Open Men
Danny Hawksworth. Danny was the Open Team Manager and lead by example. He competed 11 times for 8671 points plus a massive 1510 points in the SF over 8 events!
Next up were the 2018 XCR awards announced by Steve Murphy and Mitch Brown.
Most Valuable Athlete awards:
U/14 Charlotte Jackson and Tye Davis
U/16 Sienna Andrews and Lachlan Attard
U/18 Ruby Ali and Carlo Alderuccio
U/20 Amelia Mazza Downie and Mason Scott
Open Emilie Guy and Toby O’Brien
40+ Lauren Patterson and Damien Bruneau
Rising Star Awards:
Lauren Connell and Liselle Atkin
Most Outstanding Athlete awards
Charlotte Wilson and Liam Adams
Ian Williams presented certificates to athletes who had broken club records in the past 12 months:
Linden Hall Open 1500m 4:00.86
Louise Mendes Open and U/20 Hammer 58.16m
Amelia Mazza Downie U/20 3000m 9:09.19
Faith Villi U/13, U/14. U/15 Shot Put 12.04m U/14 and U/15 Shot Put 12.99m
Sonny Dor U/13 2000m steeplechase 8:50.6
Joshua Tracy U/14 800m 2:04.7
Harry Orr U/13 High Jump 1.74m
Orla McCarthy U/14 Discus 37.77m
Kevin Healy U/14 Hammer 55.15m, U/15 Hammer 51.74m, U/15 and U/16 Hammer 56.48m
Next up, club VP, Andy Boudrie announced the Junior and Senior Athletes of the Year Award.
The committee was unanimous in its decision to award Amelia Mazza Downie the junior trophy for her 6th place in the World U/20 3000m with 9:09.19 (club record).
The Senior trophy went to Linden Hall who was present to accept her award. Linden’s 4:00.86 1500m at the Prefontaine Classic in May last year, was an Australian record. To confirm her status as Australia’s best Linden also came 4th in the 1500m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
