THE sun made an appearance following weeks of inclement weather to showcase the new track and venue in the Yarra Valley for athletics.
The Yarra Ranges team of volunteers were up at the crack of dawn on Sunday to ensure all final preparations were attended to for a successful EMR Region Relay Championships held at the Morison reserve venue.
It did not take long for all Eastern Region Centres to have their gazebos set up and for the first race to take place.
Yarra Ranges Under 11 4×200 metre mixed team got the show moving sensationally with a gold performance in the first race of the day.
The under 15/16 mixed team finished the day winning gold making it three from three events, the 4×200 metre, medley and 4×100 metre.
Their effort and determination was something for the younger athletes to aspire to.
There were a number of other outstanding performances with medals to the Under Nine Girls, Under Nine Mixed, Under 12 Girls, Under 12 Boys, Under Nine to 11 Girls, Under 12 to 13 Girls, Under 14 to 16 Girls, Under 14 to 16 Boys, Under 15 to 16 Mixed.
All the young athletes put in a fantastic effort after several months of training to run as fast as possible and for smooth baton changes.
Special mention to young Jayden Clarke who donned the spikes three times to cover for missing or late athletes only to miss out on a run.
Full results and state qualifiers will be available at yarrarangesathletics.org.au.
A small team of athletes competed at Round Four of the AV Shield held at Lakeside Stadium last Saturday afternoon.
Even though the numbers were down in many events the performances were still of the highest quality.
Standout performances were James Laven’s 200 metre hurdles club record, Andrew van Duuren’s debut hammer throw of 24.90 metre and a big personal best for Craig Hewitson over 800 meters.
Unofficial results from AV Shield Round Four:
3000 metre walk: Lucas Taylor (15.42).
1500 metre walk: Lee Taylor (9.18).
200 metre hurdle: James Laven (34.00).
200 metre: Kyle Braun (24.70), Andrew van Duuren (26.73), Harrison van Duuren (29.46), Craig Hewitson (29.85).
800 metre: Jamie Strudley (2.20.7), James Laven (2.23.0), Step Bollaart (2.30.7), Craig Hewitson (2.44.6).
3000 metre: James Laven (10.23.0), Connor Thrall (10.53.0), Jamie Strudley (11.31.7), Craig Hewitson (13.46.0), Hammer Lucas Taylor (41.78), Andrew van Duuren (24.90).
Shot Put: Andrew van Duuren (10.03), Harrison van Duuren (6.30).
Triple Jump: Harrison van Duuren (9.08).
Full results are available on the athsvic.org.au.
