OSCA
Athletics
GOOD ATHLETICS PERFORMANCES OVER THE SUMMER
The Old Scotch Athletics Club continued to perform well over the summer track and field season , with the club narrowly missing the finals . That was mainly because club athletics is now a numbers game , favouring the larger clubs with more athletes at their disposal . We , however , have quality across the board , as shown by the number of our athletes who performed admirably at the Victorian Championships and the 11 athletes who have qualified for the national trials .
New members continue to make their mark and enhance the club ’ s reputation as a strong competitive unit . Standout performers were Tom Bowers , who won the Victorian under 20 5000m championship in 14.40 , Bart Leeton ( Scotch , Year 8 ) who won the Victorian under 14 1500m
LEFT : ED BEISCHER
(’ 17 ) AND TOM BOWERS
RUNNING IN THE VICTORIAN
CHAMPIONSHIPS 1500M FINAL .
ABOVE : THE BRONZE
MEDAL-WINNING UNDER 16
SPRINT RELAY TEAM – LACHLAN
GUMLEY ( YEAR 8 ), CONOR
SULLIVAN ( YEAR 9 ), HARRISON CAR , NATHAN MUNRO ( YEAR 12 )
Quality across the board at Old Scotch
Athletics Club
championship in 4.07 , and Ed Beischer (’ 17 ) who came third in the open Victorian Milers championship . Many athletes performed personal bests over the season , with many of them looking forward to the National Championships in early April .
Our relay teams performed strongly in the Victorian Relay Championships . The under 16 sprint medley team of Lachlan Gumley ( Year 8 ), Conor Sullivan ( Year 9 ), Harrison Car and Nathan Munro ( Year 12 ) were third in 11.13.5 . The under 18 sprint medley team of Ronghao Chen ( Year 11 ), Mac Debeljak ( Year 11 ), Rory Vial ( Year 10 ) and Nathan Munro were fourth in 3.49.7 . In the Zatopek 1500m final , Ed Beischer ran 3.52.8 and Tom Bowers 3.52.9 .
In interstate results , Ollie Moore ( Year
9 ) came seventh in the final of the under 16 100m in 12.32 , and was sixth in the final of the 200m in 24.14 at the Tasmanian Championships ; and in the Victorian Championships , Olivia Nidigo-Scott came third in the discus .
Other notable performances over the year were by Ashleigh Arnold ( 13.5 for the 100m and 4.50m for the long jump ), Harrison Car , Hugo Stubbs ( Year 8 ), Conor Sullivan , Olaoluwa Arogundade , Thomas Kluckow , Alex Shears-Jones and Sebastian Brasington ( all of Year 11 ), Sam Allen ( Year 9 ) and Jonny Giakoumis . They all trained well and improved over the season . In the Par 15 , Tom Roach ( Year 8 ) competed strongly . Eleven athletes qualified for the nationals , and the club is helping them in their endeavours . The main aim for the forthcoming 2022-23 season is to recruit more people to the club . We have the quality : we now need to focus on quantity . An advertising campaign will target all schools ’ males and females in Hawthorn , Camberwell , Kew and Malvern . If you are interested in becoming involved in athletics , please contact Ian Handasyde (’ 70 ) on 0412 936 816 or Gregor Evans (’ 68 ) on 0439 006 493 .
A large thank you must go to our two specialist coaches , Dave Lightfoot ( distance ) and Gregor Evans ( sprints / hurdles ). The results reflect their passion and direction in coaching their squads . With the track and field season completed , we athletes turn our attention to the cross country season , which began with the ‘ Jamieson ’ at Scotch on 9 April . If you ’ re interested in joining the club , please contact Pete Simm (’ 93 ) on 0407 965 560 or Mark Purvis (’ 74 ) on 0407 526 622 .
IAN HANDASYDE (' 70 ) – OLD SCOTCH ATHLETICS CLUB
84 Great Scot Issue 165 – April 2022