Welcome to St Kevin's Amateur Athletic Club
New and Improved SKAAC Website! - skaac.com
Thursday 5 May 2011
After almost six years, it is time for a thorough update and improvement of the SKAAC website.
The most significant improvement will be the ability for us to do more frequent posts and updates, including both news and photos. In recent times, our underlying code has become a bit out of date, which has made it difficult to update the site as frequently as we would like. The new site addresses that issue.
In addition to that, the site will have an several improved features, including an updated and improved appearance, better navigation menus, better integration with social media (including in particular the SKAAC Facebook page) and more photos and videos.
It will take a few weeks for all the features of the site to be fully up and running. But for a sneak peak, the initial design and structure is complete and can be found at http://www.skaac.com
Club Records and Rankings Updated
Wednesday 20 April 2011
The club's records and rankings are always very popular, however it has been a while since they have been comprehensively updated.
That task is now largely complete, with the following pages updated:
Men's All-Time Lists
Womens All-Time Lists
Men's U20
Men's U19
Men's U18
Men's U17
Men's U16
Movers on the various lists include Steve Cain, Alex Rowe, Regan Logan, Matt Bertacco, Nick Cropley, Jason Kozica, Anthony Aloisio, Timas Harik, Josh West, Mark De Luca, Chris Bridge, Hamish Nelson, Zach Nelson, Peter McGarry and Dan Bailey.
We note a slight change to some event rankings: In sprints and horizontal jumps we are moving to include both an athlete's best performance in any conditions, as well as their best "legal" performance (wind 2.0 or below), with both listed and rankings based on the latter. This task is largely complete for long jump. It is only partly completed for the other events (for the moment the 100m and 200m rankings are based on wind assisted times), but in the medium term, these lists will include both performances where applicable.
While we try very hard to get everything right, inevitably there are some errors and oversights, so if you are able to spot anything, please send an email to admin@skaac.org.
Richard Hope Trophy - This Sunday 27 March at the Tan, 10am at the Pillars of Wisdom
Wednesday 23 March 2011
The club's winter program gets underway this Sunday with a Club Tan Championship, with the fastest athlete awarded the Richard Hope Trophy.
Apart from being an Australian representative at the World Cross Country Championships, Richard holds the club Tan record of 10.51, set at the Dyson Relay in 1995. That time remains the APSOC record (and from a quick perusal of the results, no one appears to have beaten it at the AV relays either, the closest being Colis Birmingham's 10.52 in 2006).
However, while we do expect a few quick times, you certainly do not have to be challenging Richard's time to join in, with the slowest time last year being comfortably over 20 mins. Everyone is welcome, if only to join in for a Sunday morning run around the Tan and to kick off the Winter Season for 2011.
The APSOC season starts at the Jamieson at Scotch College on 9 April and the winter season fixture is available here. Further news (including club records and Timas' win at the Australian Championships) to follow soon.
Rowe Breaks State U19, Club Open 800m Records & Tops World Junior Rankings; Cain Breaks Club Pole Vault Record
Thursday 3 March 2011 - updated Friday 4 March
Alex Rowe, Steve Cain and Dan Bailey were all in action at the Melbourne Track Classic, in the 800m, Pole Vault and Long Jump respectively. Full results from the meet are available here.
Newly re-crowned State Decathlon Champion, Steve Cain, set a new club record in the Pole Vault for the second time this season, setting a new mark of 4.95m - well done Steve! Although it was the source of a particularly bad injury several years ago, the Pole Vault is one of Steve's best events. Apart from having won several national titles in the decathlon, Steve was the Australian U20 Pole Vault Champion in 2003, winning with a jump of 4.50m. It was also his best scoring event in winning the the state decathlon championship on the weekend (4.80m for 849 points).
In the 800m, Alex Rowe smashed the club 800m record in finishing fifth in a race won by world record holder David Rudisha. Alex was 2nd Australian (beaten only by reigning Australian Champion, Lachlan Renshaw) and set a new PB and club record of 1:46.28.
Alex's run was impressive for reasons well beyond the club record - it was a notable run at both a national and international level. For those keen on their statistics, we note that Rowie's time also:
- Was the fastest time ever run by an Australian 18 year old and was also a Victorian U19 record, knocking off Paul Byrne's 1:47.21;
- Was a World Championships B-Qualifier (ie below 1:46.60);
- Makes Rowie the #1 ranked junior (ie U20) in the world so far in 2011;
- Would also have ranked Rowie #3 junior in the world for the full year in 2010;
- Ranks Rowie as the #2 all time Australian junior 800m runner, behind Paul Byrne: Within the space of a week in July 1995 at the age of 19 years and 6 months, World Junior 800m Champion Paul Byrne set what were until tonight Australia's three best junior 800m times (Alex is currently 18 years and 8 months old). Rowie's run moves him into 2nd spot, between Byrne's 1:45.91 and 1:46.74. In third spot behind Byrne and Rowie on the all time junior list is Lachlan Renshaw (1:47.00), the current Australian champion, who finished ahead of Rowie tonight in a new PB of 1:45.66.;
- Makes Rowie the 19th fastest Australian 800m runner of all time of any age.
The History of the SKAAC 800m Record
The existing 800m record had stood since 1993 and was a pretty significant record in the club's history. To understand the significance of the club's 800m record, it helps to know something of the recent history of the club.
The club record broken by Alex Rowe tonight was set by the club's first ever Open Australian Champion in any event (1993 Open 800m - Simon Lewin). The 800m was also the event in which a SKAAC athlete first won a national title in any age group (1977 U19 800m - Peter Bourke).
It had not always been a strong event for the club. In its early years, the club did well in sprints, field and multi events, but had less success in distance and middle distance running. In the early 1950s, club throwers Reg Carr and Bill O'Connor won several state titles and between them won 5 medals at the national championships in shot put, discus and hammer, although neither ever quite managed to take the national title. By contrast, by the early 1970s, the club 800m record was still a modest 1:57.6, a time that had stood since 1961.
But the 1970s marked the beginning of a remarkable rise in St Kevin's middle distance running.
Two junior athletes from this era, John Higham and Peter Bourke, set new standards in the 800m. Both were talented juniors who later left the club to find better competition in an era when we had declined to become only a B grade club competing at Sandringham (an unlikely venue given our demographics) and (almost equally improbably) Glenhuntly - an unfortunate allocation of venues that further hurt club membership numbers at the time.
Higham set a new club record of 1:47.6 in December 1974 and became the club's first open age national championships medalist on the track when he came third in the 400m in 1974. He went on after leaving the club to win three 800m national titles and one 400m national title and is still #9 on the Australian all time rankings list in the 800m.
In 1977, Bourke became the first club athlete to win a national title, when he won the U19 800m in Sydney in a time of 1:51.6. After leaving the club, among other achievements he won the gold medal in the 800m at the 1982 Commonwealth Games, in the process becoming only the 2nd Australian to break 1:45.00 and is still #2 on the Australian all time rankings list.
But perhaps most importantly for the club's long term improvement in this area, the mid 1970s also saw the development of a strong middle distance and distance group more generally, including such athletes as Rob Neylon, Len Johnson, Frank Devlin, John Lewis, Barry Jones and Terry O'Halloran. This established a real tradition and culture of middle distance and distance running at the club. It also saw the rise of a young athlete who claimed the club's newly instituted Cross Country Champion title in 1975 and 1976 and was instrumental in the improvement in the club's distance running stocks. That athlete, Peter Kehoe, stuck around and ultimately coached several of the club's top athletes, such as Australian world cross country championships representative, Richard Hope, and several national champions, including Justin Rinaldi, who in turn now coaches Alex Rowe.
In 1986, Rob Fregon became our first club athlete to medal at the national championships since Higham and Bourke, when he finished 3rd in the open 800m in a time of 1:49.15.
By the late 1980s, SKAAC had slowly risen through the ranks from E to B grade in AV winter competition and won the APSOCAAA cross country title for 3 years in a row. However no club athlete had ever won a a senior national title - something that was to change with Simon Lewin in the 800m in 1993.
Simon set a new club record of 1:47.06 in June 1992 in Tampere, Finland, then ran the same time - leading the race from start to finish - to become Australian 800m Champion in March 1993.
Shortly afterwards, Lewie's career was stifled by injury and the club 800m record stood at his time of 1:47.06 for 18 years. While we have had many excellent 800m runners in that time - about half of the club's top 10 times in the 800m have been set since 1993 - the record itself remained until Alex lowered it tonight.
Congratulations to both Steve and Alex on their new club records - for those who have been getting impatient, we note that now that the interclub season is over and the committee has a little more time, the club records page will soon be receiving a long overdue update!.
Individual Results Continue SKAAC Success - Vic Multis, Vic Youth Champs & Australian Athletics Tour
Wednesday 2 March 2011
The teams competition may be over, but SKAAC athletes are continuing their winning ways in individual competition.
State Decathlon Championships
The state multi-event championships were held on the weekend and Steve Cain is once again state decathlon champion, with a points score not too far off his PB, with 7416 points (100: 11.43; LJ: 6.76m; SP: 13.30; HJ: 1.93m; 400: 50.51; 110H: 15.22; DT: 37.37m; PV: 4.80m; JT 55.64m; 1500m: 4:33.75). Congratulations to Steve, whose continues his run as the dominant Victorian decathlete. Congratulations too to Hamish Nelson (competing in this context as a Wellington athlete rather than with SKAAC) who was 3rd with 6348 points. Full results are available here.
State Youth Championships
Also on the weekend, SKAAC saw plenty of success at the state youth championships - particularly in the U18 age group. Matt Bertacco (100m, long jump), Timas Harik (800, 1500) and Anthony Aloisio (5000) all won state titles, with the following results:
U/15 Long Jump
D Bertacco - 5th: 4.49m
U/18 100m
M Bertacco - 1st: 11.11
U/18 200m
M Bertacco - 2nd: 22.49 (same time as winner, Thomas Frawley OLX)
U/18 800m
Timas Harik - 1st: 1.56.37
Josh West - 3rd: 1.57.88
U/18 1500m
Timas Harik - 1st: 4:02.47
Josh West - 3rd: 4.05.29
U/18 Long Jump
M Bertacco - 1st: 6.64m
U/18 High Jump
Nicholas Cropely - 2nd: 1.95m
U/20 5000m
Anthony Aloisio - 1st: 15:12.55
Congratulations to all the boys! Full results from the youth championships area available here.
Australian Athletics Tour
Meanwhile, in the Australian Athletics Tour, Alex Rowe has competed in the 800m in Brisbane and the 1500m in Hobart, for 4th (1:48.22) and 11th (3:49.81) respectively.
At the Melbourne Track Classic tomorrow SKAAC will have have a very strong presence, with Steve Cain (Pole Vault), Scott Crowe (Long Jump, 200m), Dan Bailey (Long Jump) and Alex Rowe (800m) all named as starters in their respective events. Overall it is a very strong field across all the events; in the 800m, Rowie will once again be taking on the world record holder, David Rushida, and with several of our own top athletes competing it should be one of the highlights of the SKAAC year. Well worth making the effort to get down to the track if you can, full results will be posted when they become available.
PREMIERS!
2011 Men's State Champions after winning the top division at the AV Shield Finals
Saturday 12 February 2011 - updated 13 February 2011
The day loomed as a contest between us and south-east region premiers Glenhuntly, with Box Hill also strong. In that sense it turned out as expected: Glenhuntly was well organised, with plenty of talent and only one gap in their team on the day; Box Hill was also much stronger and better organised than they had been in the regular season, finishing much closer to us at the shield final than they had on the same program the previous week. Inevitably, not everything went as planned: injuries to Zach Nelson and Joe Lynch led to some late selection changes. But while this certainly weakened the team, unlike in some previous years we had sufficient depth to cover for these injuries reasonably well.
The team on the day rose to the occasion: We had 7 PBs, and 8 season bests. Among those to set new personal bests was Keith Brick, who seems to be lower his PBs every week at the moment and this week set two new ones, taking 4 seconds off his 1500 PB and 1 second off his 400 PB. Also impressive was club President Andrew Thomas, who could only manage 4:32.4 for the 1500 last week after injuring his hamstring, but came good when it counted at the Shield Final, setting a new PB in the 1500 of 4:20.8.
In individual results, Steve Cain was a stand out performer on the day, 1st in the 110 hurdles, javelin and triple jump, 2nd in the discus and pole vault and also running well in the 100, 400 and 4x100m. Hamish Nelson (2nd in the javelin, 3rd in the pole vault and 4th in both 110 hurdles and discus) was also hugely important, as was Steve Landers, who was 1st in the 100m, 3rd in the 400m and ran the anchor leg in the 4x100m. Jason Kozica provided our other top 3 finish on the day, 2nd in the 2000m walk.
Ultimately, overall team performance right down to our 5th and 6th athletes in each event was of course essential for the win. While some clubs were very strong in specific areas (Athletics Essendon in particular was very strong in the sprints, with athletes 1st in the 4x100, 1-2 in the 400, equal 1st with Steve Landers in the 100 and 2nd to Steve Cain in the 110 hurdles), the combination of quality, depth and coverage of events meant that it was largely SKAAC, Glenhuntly and Box Hill who fought it out at the top of the scoreboard in the contest for overall standings.
After doing well in a couple of the early events, SKAAC led on the scoreboard for most of the day, although the lead fluctuated at times. The events were held as follows:- The day opened well for SKAAC with the 110 hurdles, won by Steve Cain in 15.47s, while Hamish Nelson ran 17.62 for 7th.
- In the discus, Steve Cain was 2nd, with 39.13m and Hamish Nelson was 4th in 35.39m. Peter McGarry was 12th with 27.38.
- The pole vault was another good event for SKAAC. The heats were graded, with the higher heights being completed first. Both Steve Cain and Hamish Nelson jumped in the first heat; Steve was 2nd with 4.60m and Hamish was 3rd with 4.20m. Peter McGarry completed a later heat and was 11th with 2.40m.
- In the 1500m we had 4 PBs from 6 athletes. Anthony Aloisio was our quickest athlete, in a PB of 4:02.1 (9th). Next was Chris Bridge (backing up from winning 3rd place in the Stonnington Gift the previous evening) in 4:09.0 (17th). Mark De Luca had an off day by his standards, running 4:11.3 (22nd), after being around the 4:00 mark for most of the season. Keith Brick, as mentioned above, set a new PB, running 4:18.1 (31st); Club President Andrew Thomas ran a PB of 4:20.8 (35th), and Eamon Lynch also ran a PB of 4:24.2 for 38th.
- Steve Cain also won the triple jump, jumping 13.23. Ben Benke was 16th with 10.69 and Patrick Noonan was 18th with 10.27.
- The 100s were run into a strong headwind and the times were all pretty slow. Steve Landers was both the stand out for SKAAC and the quickest overall, in 11.44 (equal with Brendan Ashcroft of Athletics Essendon), followed by Steve Cain (12.13, 20th), Steve Fabris (12.14, 21st), Michael Landers (12.24, =22nd), Sandor Kazi (12.37, =28th) and Chris Wilkinson (12.72, 35th).
- In the 2000m walk, Jason Kozica finished 2nd and again improved his PB, this time to 8:52.7, while Patrick Noonan was 7th in a season's best of 10:56.5.
- In the steeple, both athletes ran season's best times: Matt Scally was 7th in a time of 10:19.8 and Dino Imbriano was 11th in 12:09.0.
- The 4x100 was a great race, with a very close finish as the teams fought it out in front of the crowd down the home straight. Our team of Steve Fabris, Steve Cain, Michael Landers and Steve Landers ran the third fastest 4x100 ever run by a SKAAC team, running 43.87 to be 4th overall.
- The javelin was another good event for us, with Steve Cain and Hamish Nelson finishing 1-2, Steve winning with a throw of 52.26m and Hamish 2nd with 49.70m. Peter McGarry was 14th with a throw of 37.32m.
Going into the final event of the day we were in the lead, but both Glenhuntly and Box Hill remained within striking distance. However, our team in the 400s all ran well and in the end only Athletics Essendon (4th overall) gained ground on us, as we increased our lead over the other clubs. Steve Landers was again the stand out for SKAAC, 3rd fastest overall in 49.27. Steve Cain (7th, 50.76), Steve Fabris (12th, 51.73), Chris Wilkinson, (19th, 52.18), Keith Brick (23rd, 52.78) and Hamish Nelson (28th, 53.61) all ran strongly. As the last heat was lining up, in a great sporting gesture the Glenhuntly team came over to congratulate us on the win.
This was the Club's first ever state title in the top division. In 1944/45, the club finished its first season with a premiership in the VAA 3rd division (then C Grade). This was repeated in 1951/52 and further premierships followed in the lower divisions, as well as region titles. But it was not until 2001/02 that the club managed to go one better in the state track and field teams championships. We eventually won the state 2nd division title in 2001/02 and repeated the feat in 2002/03, but the top division title has been a long time coming. Very few of the club's early members are left and the club's founder, Professor Tom O'Donnell, passed away in February last year at the age of 86.
The season this year started inauspiciously enough: Rain has not only cancelled competition, but club training on the ovals has been interrupted by floods and the ovals were frequently unusable even when not under water. But once we got going we had a great season, winning 6 of the last 7 rounds before the shield final. With no permanent track or clubrooms as enjoyed by some clubs, club athletes train at a variety of locations and the culture and camaraderie of the club is ultimately what holds it all together. The result this year is a great tribute to all the club's members and supporters - congratulations to all coaches, athletes and officials and good luck to those now continuing their preparation for individual events at the state and national championships!
SKAAC DIV 1 EASTERN REGION CHAMPIONS - NOW ON TO THE SHIELD FINAL
Monday 7 February 2011
A huge turnout of SKAAC members at the Box Hill Aths Track last Saturday witnessed some amazing individual performances, but most importantly a great team effort in defeating Box Hill and claiming the Eastern Region Div 1 Championship for the first time in 10 years and only the second time in SKAAC history! At the end of the day the results were St Kevin's 912.50 to Box Hill 759.50.
The highlight of the day was Alex Rowe wininng the open 1500m race in 3:46.6min, slashing 8 seconds off his pb to skyrocket to 6th on the SKAAC all time list. Steve Cain, Dan Bailey, Hamish Nelson and Zach Nelson dominated the sprints and the field events cleaning up the discus, javelin, triple jump, pole vault and hurdles. In the sprints Matt Bertacco was again our quickest in the 100m with 11.34s and in the 400m Hamish Nelson was the quickest with 52.13s with Chris Wilkinson and Timas Harik only 0.1s behind. Timas Harik also ran a pb in the 1500m in 4:00.3min as well as Anthony Aloisio in 4:03.4min. Jason Kozica had a solid 2km walk and Matt Scally ran a seasons best in the 3km steeple of 10:22.3min.
Full results are available on the AV website at this link, including individual results, team results and ladders.
We now move on to the Shield Final (contested by the top two teams from all regions in the state), which will be held this Saturday at the Knox Athletics Track, Scoresby (melways ref 73 D7). Further details regarding team selection will be posted in the next couple of days. Meanwhile a copy of the timetable can be found here.
Win Puts SKAAC on Top by Percentage - All Down to the Last Round, then the Shield Final
Wednesday 2 February 2011
Saturday's comp was the 200/800/5000 program. The last time we competed on this program was in round 10, when we led all day, before getting swamped at the very end of the competition in the distance event. This time around, better coverage of events gave us a bigger margin going into the 5000 and the return of Mark De Luca and Anthony Aloisio to our 5000m line up was enough for a strong win. Anthony was our best in the 5000, running 2nd in 15:10.3, ahead of Chris Bridge, 3rd in 15:37.7 and Mark, 4th in 16:11.7. Other highlights included the 4x400m relay, where Chris Wilkinson, Jeremy Weeks, Josh West and Steve Cain all ran a gutsy race, in which the lead changed several times before we ran away with the win in 3:31.20. Other winners on the day included Jason Kozica in the 3000m walk, Steve Cain in the Shot Put and Hammer, Timas Harik in the U18 800m and Matthew Bertacco in the U18 200m. Full results are available here.
This week we are back at Box Hill for the final round of the season before the Shield Final. The Region Premiership goes to whoever finishes on top of the ladder. As SKAAC and Box Hill are only separated by percentage, the winner on Saturday will take home the region title.
Of the 10 completed rounds this season, we have beaten Box Hill 5 times and they have beaten us 5 times. We have good form leading up to this round, having won 5 of the last 6 rounds. But Box Hill has the home ground advantage this round and are going for their 10th straight title. As we found in round 10, if we don't cover all the events, or if a few key athletes are unavailable, we will miss out.
So once again, get down to the track this Saturday, as we will need everyone available for a shot at our first Div 1 Region Premiership in a 10 years. As we have mentioned before, given how close several rounds have been this season, the whole season could well come down to one athlete in one event. And we may have to wait another 10 years - so if in doubt about whether to compete in an event, just do it! The BBQ and esky will be there for supporters.
Interclub Down to the Wire - Calling all Athletes for Last Rounds!
Wednesday 26 January 2011
The race for the Men's Division 1 title is the hottest it has been in almost a decade. Box Hill has dominated this competition for nine years, winning it every year since we last won it in season 2000/01.
This year SKAAC has a genuine chance to take the title, but we have to win both of the last two rounds. The usual APS related slump cost us dearly in the early rounds, finishing behind both Box Hill and Collingwood and losing easy premiership points in a couple of early rounds. But SKAAC has won 4 of the 5 past rounds ( round 10 results - a Box Hill win - are available here and round 11 results - a SKAAC win - are available here) to be 1 point off the top of the ladder. If we win this week we are on top by 1 point, but if we lose either of the last two rounds we are out of the race.
So we need everyone to get down to the track just 3 more times this season - the last 2 rounds and the Shield Final - to make the difference between a good year, or one of the greatest years the club has ever had. Several rounds (including the most recent one) have been decided by only 10 or 20 points this season. And with 31 points available for winning an event, that means that 1 athlete jumping in an event in the last 2 weeks could decide the entire season's premiership.
So see you all at the track this Saturday!