The Victorian Relay Championships were held over the weekend at Lakeside Stadium on a day that brought rain, wind and shine. Doncaster Athletics Club was well represented, with teams in almost every event; which included the 4x100m, 4x400m, 4x800m and Medley Relays (200, 200, 400, 800m). This was one of the clubs strongest showings, especially in the open woman’s events, where we often had up to 4 teams competing in the same race.
Being the end of the year, Doncaster AC was short some of its star athletes as they were up in the Gold Coast enjoying some ‘altitude training’ following the commencement of their high school exams. The day’s proceedings started with the Medley relays, where our strongest available runners in each event would be competing; many of them junior athletes, that were asked to run in the open ranks. The teams preformed valiantly, with DAC often in the lead pack of competitors, however our medal winning performances in the U/18 and Open men’s category both ended up with disqualifications.
The 4x400m was the next event on the schedule, which for the open age groups was qualification for the final which will be run at the Zatopek:10 on December 12th. As this is a hotly contested event; with many teams around the state registering a team, DAC put forward its best available athletes on the day which prevailed with 2 woman’s and 1 men’s teams qualifying for the next round. Congratulations to the open woman’s “A” team for qualifying with the 3rd fastest overall time.
After a long day out on the track, the final event to be run was the 4x800m. Former Australian Champion, Katherine Katsanevakis partnered up with running sensations – Bronte Gange, Georgie Buckley and Natalie Rule. The team never looked in strife, taking victory by over 20seconds. On the men’s side; Ben Ashkettle, Campbell McLennan, Andrew Reddie and Nick Finch ran extremely well to finish just a few seconds shy of receiving bronze. Nick, who competed in numerous events throughout the day, ran 1min56sec to come from 6th to 4th after running out of track to catch 3rd.
Congratulations to all that competed and thanks to all the team managers that were able to assist in the proceedings. Good luck to the teams competing at the Zatopek:10 4x400m Finals.