For the third year, VMC and Athletics Essendon celebrated the life of our great middle distance runner and administrator, John Higham with the running of the ‘John Higham 800m’ at Milers #4. Lakeside put on perfect conditions for the 35 event card.
The men’s A event was won by South Australian Jack Atherton with a time of 1:51.10.
The women’s event had two Olympians, Catriona Bisset and Essendon’s Linden Hall. Maddi Caulfield was elevated to the A race. Bisset won with a stunning solo run of 2:00.36, with Linden 2nd in 2:04.05. Maddi’s 2:10 would have won the B event and was her season’s best.
The two winners each received a $300 cheque, presented by Janine and Steph Higham along with John’s sister, Terese O’Keefe and club secretary, John Cooper.
Jannik Ernst keeps improving, recording a PB of 2:02.93. Riley Walsh ran a strong race to smash 3 sec from his PB and to go under 2 min for the first time. New member, 12 year old Madigan Carroll showed her potential with a 2:24.94 to be just 4 seconds away from the club’s F13 800m record.
Others to run well included Audrey Savage, Lara Sacaner and Matisse Lazzari who came 3rd in the B event.
The Vic Mile championships were also conducted. Matt Hussey (WES) and Melissa Duncan (SSH) took the titles. This event also had a touch of Athletics Essendon with former club 1500m Olympian, Margaret Crowley welcoming the runners to the start line.
Full Results:
Female
800m: Linden Hall 2:04.05; Maddison Caulfield 2:10.36; Matisse Lazzari 2:12.26; Lara Sacaner 2:20.60; Madigan Carroll 2:24.94; Emily Mifsud 2:27.42; Audrey Savage 2:29.24
Male
800m: Matthew Sostaric 1:59.61; Riley Walsh 1:59.94; Jannik Ernst 2:02.93; Christian Knox 2:11.06
Mile: Ty Davis 4:39.15; Oliver Anthony 4:51.61; Aiden Davis 5:21.14; Jake Smith 5:21.55
AVT#7 was also held with Mel Foster throwing a season’s best 25.08m javelin.