A lot had changed since the last competition at Collingwood Athletics Track well over a decade ago; mainly the introduction of a synthetic surface which is renowned for its hardness; aiding sprinters with very quick times. Kevin Rassool and Chris Tetaz utilized the track surface to its full extent in the 100m with both men winning the Open men and U/18 boy’s age groups in 11.03sec and 11.24sec respectively. Courtney Yates and Joanna O’Connell replicated the men to take out the Open woman and U/14 girls age groups in 12.88sec and 13.69sec respectively. The showdown in the 400m came down the wire with Conrad Coumaros, Alex Di Medio and Jarrod Robinson from Diamond Valley all running 49.4sec to dead heat. Georgia Feben was the standout in the woman’s event, easily winning in 59.48sec to be the only woman to break the minute barrier throughout the day.
While the distance men took the weekend off, the woman came out to dominate the results with the top 5 fastest times of the day. Georgie Buckley led the charge with 4:53.8 to be the only athlete to break 5minutes. Connor Gist, Claire Walpole, Sam Carberry and Alex Lyster ensured that they would receive maximum points. Courtney Yates managed to pull off the double by winning the 100m Hurdles in a dead heat with Ashleigh Hamilton of Diamond Valley while Nicole Reynolds won the U/16 girls 90m Hurdles. In the 3000m Steeplechase, Chow Lui, Claire Walpole and Adrian Patti lead their respective age groups from start to finish – in a day where all 3 athletes competed in multiple events to ensure their team received maximum points in the race towards the minor premiership.
In the field, Wes Spargo put his weightlifting strength to the test by winning the Open Javelin competition with 40.60m while Sebastian Reyneke topped the U/14 boys with 36.87m. Discus starts James Joycey and Stephanie Ratcliffe continued their great starts to the season by winning the U16 girls and boys Discus competition with throws 42.49m and 31.69m respectively. Doncaster’s best performance of the day came in the U/18 girls 5000m walk with Kirsten Walburg walking her way into the clubs record books with a time of 36:48.87min.