PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE FOR AUGUST
PARIS OLYMPICS
What a couple of months July & August have been, both at home & abroad. This last two weeks, we have been treated to world, Olympic & regional records, personal bests & some disappointments. All of these ups & downs are a part of the sport of athletics that we all love & can happen to the world’s best, such as Elide Kipchoge who does not finish, or our own Liam Adams who showed what a legend he is when he didn’t perform to his expectations on a very hard course. This is despite it being his THIRD Olympics, on a very hilly & challenging course & came home in 49th place (2:13.33), which interestingly was only 69 seconds behind marathon & track legend, Kenensisa Bekele!!
Unfortunately, Linden Hall suffered a torn calf muscle only 10 days out from her first race, despite running into form beautifully in the lead up to Paris. As Olympian Tamsyn Manou said on Channel Nine, “Wonderful effort by Linden Hall”. Hopefully, Linden can recover fully & we see her next year on the big stage at the World Championships & she can bounce back after her Paris disappointment.
Chris Mitrevski, our Club record holder (8.32m) was ranked in the world’s top 10 heading in to Paris, but battled niggles in the lead up & could only find 7.79m in the Group B qualifiers, with a 9th place finish. He fell short of the auto qualifier of 7.92m leaving him out of the finals. We look forward to seeing Chris jumping well over the 8m again soon!
Congrats to all our three athletes – your experiences & enthusiasm inspire our next generation of champions! WELL DONE FROM ALL OF US AT ATHS ESS!!
WORLD MASTERS’ CHAMPIONSHIPS
This month, a number of our older competitors have travelled to Gothenburg, Sweden for the World Masters’ Championships (13-25 Aug). We have Mel Foster, Mark Harper, Maggie Armstrong & Mark Giglio doing us proud over there. The best of luck to them all!
WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Best wishes to Sophia Gregorevic (Steve Gaffney) who travels to Lima, Peru shortly as part of Australia’s female 4x400m relay team at this year’s World U20 Champs, being held from Aug 27-31.
SUMMER SEASON 24/25
As we await the details of our summer AVSL season from AV, we can anticipate commencing the first weekend of October at a variety of venues. Some of our younger members will have already started school competitions & others are deep in winter training. Our Club has always been proud of what our athletes have achieved & we want to support you all in whatever competitions you choose & hope that coaches can support the AVSL season & use it as part of their training, whether that be for State, National or International competitions in 2025.
This year, AE is really keen to understand what our Club’s U25 age group want out of this summer & Audrey Savage & Jack Walsh, our social media crew/committee members, are keen to hear your views. Please feel free to reach out to them so we as a Club can embrace your ideas.
VALE ADRIAN FITZGERALD
It is with great sadness that I heard of the passing of Club member, Adrian Fitzgerald. He had invested his heart & soul into the Club over the years & will be greatly missed. Please read his obituary further in the Wrap, crafted by his good friend, John Cooper.
AUSTRALIAN CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS
Launceston, Tasmania, Aug 31-Sep 1, 2024
Symmons Plains Raceway, near Launceston, Tasmania is the location for the Athletics Australia Cross Country Championships & Mixed Relay Championships for 2024 & we have a huge number of athletes racing, representing Team Vic & as individuals for Aths Essendon!! It incorporates all age groups, from juniors to elite & through to masters participants. Fresh off his Olympic run, we have Liam Adams, Essendon coach, Charlotte Wilson & the in-form, Bianca Puglisi (Frances Lipscombe) racing in the Open & our 17 junior competitors are outlined below. Our enthusiastic Team Managers have also worked hard to form an U20 mixed relay team, comprising Charles Barrett, James Cruse, Charlotte Jackson & Lara Sacaner. Please get behind all our incredible members who have been selected by AV or chosen to race individually & we look forward to celebrating all your results next month! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!
XCR ‘24, ROUND 7, LAKE WENDOUREE, AUG 4
We had 21 finishers at Lake Wendouree, Ballarat – 13 open & masters athletes & 8 juniors. The 6km course was tackled by the juniors & the masters/open age groups could also choose to run this distance. The open athletes ran the 15km course.
Top 4 Placings:
- Charles Barrett – 2nd, M20, 6km – 18:01 & top of the M20 ladder overall
- Jonty Neethling – 3rd, M18, 6km – 18:04 & first on the M18 ladder
- Miles Thompson – 4th, M16, 6km – 20:16 & sitting in 3rd on the M16 ladder
- Isabelle Kays – 4th, F16, 6km – 22:20 & third on the F16 ladder overall
- Janine Higham – 1st, F60, 6km – 29:27 & currently 4th on the F60 ladder (SC)
- Rebecca Pile – 3rd, F40, 6km – 26:52 & sitting 2nd on F40 SC ladder
- F18 Team – 3rd – Sarah Fitzpatrick, Lauren Hanna, missing one runner
- M16 Team – 3rd – Miles Thompson, Andre Faure, missing one runner
- M20 Team – 4th – Charles Barrett – missing two runners
- F16 Team – 4th – Isabelle Kays – missing two runners
Strong performances from Sarah Fitzpatrick F18 7th, Aiden Davis M18 9th, Lauren Hanna F18 9th, Damien Bruneau M45 6th & solid team results in the M18, MOP Div 4, F40 & F60 short course. Overall, after 7 rounds & with only 3 to go, there’s some very good age group ladder standings but there looks to be some relegations to lower divisions by others. Thanks to Stephen Murphy for compiling these results.
Round 8 is the Ekiden Relays at Myrniong on 17th August. Best of luck to everyone!
VALE ADRIAN FITZGERALD
Fondly compiled by John Cooper -:
Athletics Essendon lost a wonderful member & servant last week. Former treasurer, esteemed member & all round good guy, Adrian Fitzgerald lost his battle with cancer. He had just turned 60 last February. Adrian was always a valued member, competing with the 40+ squad. He was also a proud member & the treasurer of the Red & Black running team & a regular at the Maribyrnong Park Run. Adrian never shied away from helping & was a willing volunteer at all times & even assisted our current treasurer despite being so unwell. Many at the Club wouldn’t have known him as he kept a low profile but he was one of the nicest people you could be lucky enough to meet. Apart from running, Adrian enjoyed riding with the 99 Bikes Group & playing golf. The Club extends its heartfelt condolences to his wife Linda & his extended family. Many of us will miss him greatly.
We will be gathering to celebrate the life of Adrian Fitzgerald on Wednesday, August 28th at Cordell Chapel, Fawkner Memorial Park at 11.30 am til 12.30 pm. Following the service, there will be a wake at the nearby Commemoration Centre at Northern Memorial Park. The service will be live-streamed for those who cannot attend in person.
REMINDERS!!
CLUB MERCH IS STILL AVAILABLE! Quality Nike gear for men & women, juniors & seniors – LOOK AWESOME THIS AVSL SEASON & beyond, in the latest merchandise available on the AE website. Click HERE for the extensive range.
Get your helping hands ready as the summer season is approaching & we will be looking for volunteers every week to fill one to two hour time slots of the easiest duties ever! We don’t want to have to chase you down each week to help out but the jobs have to be filled!
REACH OUT
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if there is anything we missed, by sending our secretary Rebecca an email at secretary@athleticsessendon.org.au.
