Athletics
YOUTH TO THE FORE AT OLD SCOTCH ATHLETICS CLUB
Old Scotch athletes train hard to reproduce last season ’ s good form
Last summer ’ s track season ended in a hurry just after the Victorian Championships and two weeks before the Australian Championships . Several young Old Scotch athletes were primed to represent Victoria before COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the national titles in Sydney .
Jean-Philippe Soulie ( Year 11 ) was set to fly in his 800m , Ronghao Chen ( Year 9 ) had qualified for the 100m and 200m , Bart Leeton ( Year 6 ) had won the Victorian under 14 1500m and was ready for higher honours , Olivia Nigido-Scott had again qualified in the hammer throw , and record-breaking thrower Hugh Bailey ( Year 9 ) was ready for a big shot put . Both Benjamin Beischer (’ 19 ) and Tom Bowers were to team up for Victoria in the 5000m and Cam Mackenzie ( Year 12 ) was to take on the two-day decathlon . Now they all need to reproduce that form again this summer to be able to represent Victoria in April .
The winter cross country season was cancelled before it started , but many of the distance runners used the time under the guidance of David Lightfoot to record personal bests in time trials around the Tan before the severe restrictions were imposed . In particular Harrison Carr (’ 16 ), Sebastian Brasington ( Year 12 ), Tom Worsteling ( Year 11 ), Robert Barber ( Year 10 ) and William Hutchings ( Year 11 ) were known to be in very good form .
At the club ’ s annual general meeting the following awards were made for performances in the 2019-20 season :
• Best over 40 athlete : Andrew Jamieson (’ 63 )
• Best open athlete : Ed Beischer (’ 17 )
• Best under 18 athlete ( equal ): Jean-Philippe Soulie ( Year 11 ) and Tom Bowers
• Best under 16 athlete ( equal ): Robert Barber ( Year 10 ) and Olivia Nigido-Scott
• Best under 14 athlete : Hugh Bailey ( Year 9 )
• Outstanding contribution to the Athletics Victoria Shield Competition : Lachie Stewart , Robert Belton (’ 96 ) and Antony van Eeten
• Most impressive performance by a junior athlete : Bart Leeton ( Year 6 )
HARRISON CARR ( CAPTAIN OF CROSS COUNTRY 2016 ) TRAINS WITH SEBASTIAN BRASINGTON ( CAPTAIN OF CROSS COUNTRY 2020 ).
Although Scotch ’ s Family Day , and hence the annual Ewen Macdonald Memorial 800m Handicap , were cancelled , this did not deter the club from holding a phantom 800m handicap , with about 20 willing entrants , and a wonderful phantom race call from the course commentator Mark Purvis (’ 74 ). The result – a dead heat for first between perennial bridesmaids Hugh Gundlach (’ 02 ) and Pete Simm (’ 93 ). The entertaining call can be found on the Old Scotch Athletics Club ’ s Facebook page .
Summer training has commenced at Scotch for schoolboys and at local ovals around the suburbs . Track and field competition commenced in late November , with a few changes in format to account for COVID-19 protocols , but finally we have the opportunity to hit the track and reproduce the excellent performances of last summer .
In particular we will be targeting the Victorian Relay Championships , scheduled for the end of January and at which we had much success last season , winning both the under 16 and under 18 medley relays and the under 18 4 x 800m relay .
Athletes of any age or ability who wish to be involved in the club are invited to contact the Rev Doug Campbell at Scotch , President Ian Handasyde (’ 70 ) on 0412 936 816 , or Gregor Evans (’ 68 ) on 0439 006 493 . www . scotch . vic . edu . au Great Scot 81