Hello to all Essendon cohort!
XCR’23 Season Recap
Well, XCR season 2023 has come to a close with the running of the Tan relays. Some great team results & individual runs which will no doubt lead to some incredible times/results for the upcoming summer season 🤩
Essendon put up a strong show with 40 men & 15 women racing across the age groups at Rd 10 with the U16 boys finishing with a win as well as the big W overall – congratulations on the consistent performances across the season! MU18 women placed 2nd from a big field also, amazing effort!! Open men finished 7th (from 14!) in some extremely fast racing & open women 10th – great efforts by all! The U16 women also finished a strong 7th, boys U14 3rd & the big boys, Men60 putting up brave runs! Essendon were well represented in the Open mens & women’s races as well as M18 with some great individual performances across the board.
Recognition to all the athletes for their stellar results, magnificent representation of the Athletics Essendon club & for turning up to as many XC rounds as possible!
Big thank you & massive kudos to the tireless efforts of our six amazing distance coaches, Barb Augustin, Charlotte Wilson, Frances Lipscombe, Gregor Gojrzewski, Ken Hall, Mark Carey who all, with their dedication, belief & expertise, support & enable our athletes to continue improving & achieving to always do their best!
And finally, appreciation to the parents, helpers & volunteers, who continue to show up, help out & keep the show running!! Many hands make light work 🙌🏼
And huge thanks to the four winter XCR’23 team managers, Bianca Puglisi, Charlotte Wilson Sandra Schultze and Stephen Murphy.
Some special mentions now!
Bianca Puglisi has had an incredible season in ‘23 with the culmination of all her hard work earning her the overall gold medal & best U23 female at the recent Australian Cross Country Championships in Canberra!! Well done to Bianca & her fantastic coach, our very own, Frances Lipscombe; incredible achievement ladies!!
Damien Bruneau M45, he did all ten races of XCR’23. He finished on top of the XCR’23 M45 individual ladder with a mighty 49 points, 13 points ahead of his nearest rival – congratulations again to coach Frances Lipscombe for her tireless effort & amazing ability to get the best out of her squad!
Jonathan (Jonty) Neethling has had a massive season, he was the winner of the M16 title for XCR’23 and he was a huge part of the M16 team winning the premiership. And he finshed tenth at the National Cross Country Champs. Mark Carey has been coaching Jonty for many years now and he is one of Mark’s many junior athletes that have raced often and worked hard this winter. Mark’s squad have been a big part of the great results achieved across all female and male junior teams.
Charles Barrett has had a season to remember, sharing his racing between relay races with the open men and then getting excellent results in the junior individual races. Charles was runner-up in the M18 XCR’23 title. He qualified for National Cross Country Championships, but unfortunately he wasn’t able to race to his full potential due to illness. Coached by Charlotte Wilson and having done many training sessions alongside Archie Noakes in Charlotte’s squad, Charles made some huge progress this winter. And as an added bonus, his dad Philip, younger brother Jude and younger sister Tess, all raced in XCR’23 this winter.
XCR Final Team Ladders
Men Div 2 Tenth of 14 teams
Men Div 4 Ninth of 13 teams
Men Div 6 Twelfth of 17 teams
Women Premier Div Tenth of 10 teams, relegated to Div 2 for XCR’24
Men U20 Tenth of 19 teams
Men U18 Ninth of 22 teams
Men U16 Team 1 First of 23 teams
Men U16 Team 2 Fifth of 23 teams
Men U16 Team 3 Sixteenth of 23 teams
Men U14 Sixth of 19 teams
Women U20 Fourteenth of 18 teams
Women U18 Third of 23 teams
Women U16 Third of 20 teams
Women Tenth of 16 teams
XCR Final Individual Ladders
Men Open Archie Noakes Tenth
M45 Damien Bruneau First
M50 Jeffrey Jones Eleventh
M60 Short Course Brian Anderson Eleventh
M60 Short Course Ken Hall Eighteenth
Women Open Bianca Puglisi Thirteenth
Women Open Charlotte Wilson Sixteenth
Men U20 Ty Davis Eighth
Men U18 Charles Barrett Second
Men U18 Oliver Anthony Fifteenth
Men U16 Jonathan Neethling First
Men U16 Noah Tarallo Eighth
Men U16 Jesse Lumby Eleventh
Men U16 Aiden Davis Twentieth
Men U14 Leonard Gray Twenty First
Women U20 Ruby Ellis Seventeenth
Women U18 Lara Sacaner Seventh
Women U18 Charlotte Jackson Thirteenth
Women U18 Emily Mifsud Sixteenth
Women U16 Rosa Barbanti Eighteenth
Women U14 Ridda Mehta Thirteenth
Support for our Sponsors
A reminder to all of our AE families, that we are very proudly sponsored by the Bendigo Bank branch located in Keilor East & they currently have some bumper offers to assist in these crazy financial times, including:
• specials on their 4-& 12-month term deposits; and
• free home loan health checks in branch to any new or existing customers.
If you are in the market for a bit of money growth or need some advice on how best manage your finances, pop in to see the friendly staff at Bendigo Bank in Keilor East branch, mention you’re associated with Athletics Essendon & see if they can help you make your money work harder for you!
Upcoming Track and Field Season
AVSL round 1 is at Aberfeldie on Saturday, 7 October.
Draft timetables have been released so keep your eye out for entries opening soon & good luck to all athletes in your continued preparation. Go the red & black!!
Reach Out
Any additional information or results you would like to submit for the upcoming Weekly Wraps, please email kristowers@me.com or secretary@athleticsessendon.org.au.
