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THE OPEN 4X800M SILVER MEDALLISTS : LEFT TO RIGHT : NATHAN MONRO ( YEAR 11 ), ED BEISCHER (’ 17 ), HARRISON CARR (’ 16 ), TOM BOWERS
Old Scotch Athletics Club hopes for a full winter program in 2021
THE UNDER 16 4X400M BRONZE MEDALLISTS ( ALL OF WHOM WERE UNDER 15 ON THE DAY ) LEFT TO RIGHT : BART LEETON ( YEAR 7 ), SAM ALLEN ( YEAR 8 ), NICK LEETON ( YEAR 7 ), HARRISON CARR
HARRISON CARR (’ 16 ) RUNNING THE FIRST LEG OF THE 4X1500M RELAY . THE TEAM WON THE GOLD MEDAL FOR THIS EVENT .
Athletics
The Old Scotch Athletics Club is back on track ! The summer season eventually got underway in late November , but like an inexperienced 800m runner , had a very cautious start , some bursts of enthusiastic competition and some stutters along the way due to COVID-19 restrictions .
The Victorian Relay Championships , usually held in November , were held at the end of January , which meant many young athletes had to step up an age group or two . And our athletes again rose to the occasion against the best teams in the state .
Our open 4x1500m team ( Harrison Carr (’ 16 ), Tom Bowers , Ben Beischer (’ 19 ), Ed Beischer (’ 17 )) won the gold medal , and the 4x800m team won the silver medal , when Ben Beischer was replaced by 15-year-old Nathan Munro ( Year 11 ) in a wonderful team effort . Our under 16 4x400m team ( Nick Leeton , Bart Leeton ( both Year 7 ), Harrison Carr , Sam Allen ( Year 8 )), took the bronze medal , and in the process set a club under 15 record .
Ronghao Chen ( Year 10 ) replaced Nick in the under 16 medley relay team which finished fourth , but established a club under 15 record . Similarly , our under 18 medley team ( Mac Debeljak , Alex Shears-Jones ( both Year 10 ), Liam Kenneally , Rob Barber ( both Year 11 )) also finished fourth and established a club under 17 record .
Individually there have been many very impressive early season performances . Mac Debeljak has run personal best times over 100m , 200m and 400m , Alex Shears-Jones
OLD SCOTCH ATHLETES LOOK TO A SUCCESSFUL WINTER SEASON
shows enormous potential over distances from 200m to 1500m , Harrison Carr (’ 16 ) – no relation to the younger Harrison Carr – has run 3.49 over 1500m , Olivia Nigido-Scott has thrown the hammer nearly 45m , and Rob Barber has run 2 min . 00 for the 800m .
But the real class runs have come from Bart Leeton , who broke the Victorian under 13 record for 1500m ( 4.20.39 ) in December , and has gone very close to the 800m and 3000m Victorian records . The night before Victoria went into its five-day lockdown in February , Ben Beischer broke his own under 20 5000m club record with 14.47.59 ; but due to age cut-off dates , he was not eligible for the Victorian Under 20 Championships , which , in a separate title race , his training partner and clubmate Tom Bowers won in an outstanding distance running performance .
With national championships still scheduled at the time of writing for April in Sydney , we are hoping we will have solid representation , with eight athletes already qualified to represent Victoria after last year ’ s championships were cancelled .
We are also hoping for a full winter APSOC and cross country season this year , after no winter competition was offered in 2020 .
Anyone interested in running in any winter events , including handicap races , with distances from 4km right up to the marathon should contact Pete Simm ( 0407 965 560 ) or Mark Purvis ( 0407 526 622 ).
IAN HANDASYDE , OLD SCOTCH ATHLETICS CLUB