Happy New Year!

Let’s hope that 2024 is a good one for the Club (and the world in general).
Certainly, for me, I am hoping for a much better year health-wise. My apologies for the ‘break in transmission’ with The Magpie. I was pretty crook for quite some time and just couldn’t get it done.

I don’t think there’s much point in trying to cover every event from the past six months, however I will mention a few bits and pieces from the journey and then concentrate on upcoming and current events.

Newbies!

We have welcomed a number of new members to our ranks for the summer season, including some very promising youngsters that have been very valuable additions to our team.
These juniors include: Greta Zabottto, Sylvie Collie, Alfie Webb, Ethan Robertson, Wolfgang Curry, Loki Fangmeier, Thomas Follis-Kirby, Isaac Malamatinas, and Jarrad Vandenberg. We have also had a number of senior athletes sign up to be a part of the action. They include: Alex Collie, Azain Raban, Jennifer Hudson, Elizabeth Ruach, Ruby Hore, Tom Templeton, Percy Harrison, Charlotte Martin and Hugh van Cuylenburg.
We have also had Selena Lee, Adele Boylen, James Morelli, Max Brown, Heath Mitchell and Spencer Brown rejoin the Club after missing a season or two (or in a couple of cases quite a few).
A special welcome to John Nottle who has come back to the Club after a looonnngg absence. John competed as a junior, (mainly in the walks), back in the late 60s. He was part of our very strong group of junior walkers of that era including Peter Heeney, Billy Brooks, Graeme Light and Ian Bradbury. John has spent much of his time since then living interstate, but has come home to Collingwood Harriers after a very brief stint with the Glenhuntly club. Again John is showing his wares in the heel and toe caper and is moving very well for a gentleman well into the senior category of competition.

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The Winter Season!

The Club had some good performances during the winter, but as usual the season could have been so much better with a more consistent turn up of our athletes. Both our women’s and men’s teams managed to avoid relegation but it is getting harder each year.
Tim Bryant had an outstanding season and the Club certainly benefitted by the acquisition of Abdi Rhoble, an athlete choosing to stay in Australia after attending the world cross-country championships in Bathurst in February ’23. Another terrific addition to our winter squad was John Paul Caligiuri who put in some great runs during the season. It is shame that John has waited so long to join up – he’s in his early forties. His effort in the Half Marathon (72:55) was a beauty and it was no surprise when he smashed out a 2:28+ marathon in Chicago in October.
The aforementioned Tim Bryant ran a 2:25+ marathon in Melbourne just two weeks later. Tim is also in the 40-44 category

Our Club Cross Country Championships were held in August and although the weather could have been a little kinder it was good day.
Alison Chapman and Abdi Rhoble were the winners on the day and of course will see their names added to the Champion’s Board in the clubrooms. It was the first win for both runners, with Alison joining her sister Janette Chapman on the board.
The Parade of Champions back at the rooms after the event was well attended and it was great to see so many of our past winners able to be with us on the day. Ninety-five year old John Morgan again made the trip up from Mt Eliza (thanks to Bruce Conboy’s lift) and once again the Club was thrilled to have Albert Collie, the grandson of Jack White, the winner the first Blue Ribbon in 1926, in attendance.

Campbell Maffett did a great job as Winter Manager throughout the season, while Scott Lovell did the bulk of work with the tent. Eugene Nemesi and Tony Dell certainly did their bit as well.

Tony Williams and Christine Dell rarely missed a week as officials while Kevin Wigmore coordinated the Club’s results on a regular basis.

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VICTORIAN ALL SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Held over two weekends at the close of October and the beginning of November, these championships saw a healthy number of Collingwood athletes participate, albeit in their respective school colours rather than the black and white Magpie strip. There were some terrific performances including a number of medals gained. A few names will be familiar from previous seasons however there was a very pleasing dozen or so athletes in their first season with Collingwood Harriers. This can only be a good sign for our future. Two names have been included although at the time they were not members of the Club. Isaac Malamatinas officially became a member during the first weekend when his clearance from the Box Hill club was finally approved and Jarrad Vandenberg signed with us a few days after the finish of the championships. You will see from their results that both boys are well worth having on board!

Day 1 October 28th

Pennie Triandos U/14 100m heat 3rd 13.81
Greta Zabotto U/15 100m heat 5th 13.71
Ruby Ozougwu U/15 100m heat 2nd 12.75
Wolfgang Curry U/15 100m heat 3rd 11.96
Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 100m heat 1st 11.00
Jarrad Vandenberg U/16 100m heat 1st 11.51
Isaac Malamatinas U/17 100m heat 2nd 10.90

Alfie Webb U/14 1500m heat 3rd 4:39.64
Angus Buchan U/14 1500m heat 12th 5:04.66
Natasha Gurtler U/16 1500m FINAL 3rd 4:44.56
Max Luke U/16 1500m heat 4th 4:18.56

Evangeline Kondys U/14 400m heat 5th 66.00
Alfie Webb U/14 400m heat 4th 60.82
Greta Zabotto U/15 400m heat 5th 65.27
Wolfgang Curry U/15 400m heat 2nd 54.60
Jarrad Vandenberg U/16 400m heat 1st 52.00
Piper Hartnett U/17 400m heat 4th 67.43

Day 2 October 29th

Loki Fangmeier U/18 2k Steeple 5th 7:07.48
Ethan Robertson U/18 2k Steeple 6th 7:38.81
Angus Buchan U/14 2k Steeple 6th 7:22.63
Wolfgang Curry U/15 Triple Jump 2nd 12.10m
Jasper Louey U/16 Triple Jump 1st 13.83m
Alfie Webb U/14 90m Hurdle FINAL 5th 14.32
Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 100m Semi 1st 11.33
Jarred Vandenberg U/16 100m Semi 3rd 11.54
Ruby Ozougwu U/15 100m Semi 4th 12.88

Marcus Wakim U/18 5k Walk FINAL 1st 20:34.86

Wolfgang Curry U/15 400m FINAL 7th 54.41
Jarred Vandenberg U/16 400m FINAL 2nd 50.86
Alfie Webb U/14 1500m FINAL 7th 4:31.11
Max Luke U/16 1500m FINAL 5th 4:09.51

Ruby Ozougwu U/15 100m FINAL 4th 12.80
Wolfgang Curry U/15 100m FINAL 7th 12.12
Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 100m FINAL 2nd 11.09
Jarrad Vandenberg U/16 100m FINAL 6th 11.66
Isaac Malamatinas U/17 100m FINAL 4th 11.31

Day 3 November 4th

Loki Fangmeier U/18 3000m FINAL 16th 9:54.34

Evangeline Kondys U/14 200m heat 4th 29.02
Pennie Triandos U/14 200m heat 5th 29.35
Greta Zabotto U/15 200m heat 3rd 27.98
Wolfgang Curry U/15 200m heat 4th 24.61
Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 200m heat 1st 22.39

Alfie Webb U/14 200m Hurdle FINAL 2nd 30.58
Wolfgang Curry U/15 200m Hurdle FINAL 7th 31.66

Piper Hartnett U/17 800m heat 8th 2:26.79
Alfie Webb U/14 800m heat 2nd 2:13.47

Day 4 November 5th

Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 200m Semi 1st 22.62
Greta Zabotto U/15 200m Semi 5th 38.62 inj
Pennie Triandos U/14 200m Semi 7th 29.52
Evangeline Kondys U/14 200m Semi 6th 28.99
Isobel Rhodes U/14 3000m FINAL 4th 10:39.08
Natasha Gurtler U/16 3000m FINAL 2nd 10:04.29
Declan Loeckx U/15 3000m FINAL 3rd 9:29.44

Piper Hartnett U/17 800m FINAL 9th 2:25.65

Thomas Follis-Kirby U/16 200m FINAL 1st 22.35

Jasper Louey U/16 Long Jump 1st 6.33m
Isaac Malamtinas U/17 Long Jump 6th 6.03m
Max Brown U/18 Long Jump 2nd 6.65m

AUSTRALIAN ALL SCHOOLS CHAMPIONSHIPS

Perth December 7-10th
Six of the young Magpies made the trek across the continent for the Nationals. Two Gold medals, one Silver and one Bronze accompanied the athletes on the trip home!

Under 15
Declan Loeckx 3000m 8th 9:38.17
Wolfgang Curry Triple Jump 4th 12.46m
Under 16
Jasper Louey Long Jump 3rd 6.82m
Triple Jump 1st 14.07m
Thomas Follis-Kirby 200m 2nd heat 22.17
5th final 21.97
100m 2nd heat 11.36
4th final 11.29
Jarrad Vandenberg 400m 2nd heat 50.25
2nd final 49.84 ( just his 4th ever 400m)
Under 18
Marcus Wakim 5000m Walk 1st 20:40.01

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VICTORIAN RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS 25 November Doncaster

Collingwood entered 5 teams in the Championships. We intended to enter more, including, what we thought were real medal chances, however, some unavailabilities and a couple of injuries thwarted our plans somewhat.
However, the Club did come away with some medals and some Club records to boot.

The highlight was the win in the Open Men’s 4 x 100m relay – our first ever in this event.
Gabriel Zabotto, Spencer Browne, Will Johns and Massimo Acquaro did us and themselves proud with a come-from-behind win in a new Club Record of 41.66. They had previously beaten the old mark in the heat, earlier in the day with an even 42.0 seconds. The old record of 42.1 was first set in 1981 and then equalled in 1983. It’s taken forty years but there are now some new names on the listings.

Another ‘old’ record was eclipsed in the Under 16 4 x 100m when Alfie Webb, Jarrad Vandenberg, Wolfgang Curry and Thomas Follis-Kirby finished second in their heat of the relay in 45.50. Unfortunately, they were not able to get the baton around the track quite as effectively in the final finishing in 5th place in 46.07.
The old record of 48.2 had stood since 1980. It should be noted that the four boys in this latest team are all first season athletes, with Alfie Webb still under 14. He was brought into the team when the original athlete had to withdraw.

Having won the Open Women’s 4 x 400m in the previous year, we were keen to defend our title in 2023. Two of the successful girls, Kendra Hubbard and Scarlett Burmeister, were again on board and were joined by very promising junior, Lucy Delbridge and newcomer to the Club Elizabeth Ruach. The girls ran third in their heat running only marginally slower than last year (3:51.84) and in so doing qualified to run in the final at the Zatopek meet on December 6th at Albert Park. Despite giving their all, our girls could do no better than fifth in 3:52.35 in the final.

Our senior citizens had a great day picking up two silver medals in the 50+ age group events.
In the 4 x 400m event Adam Delbridge teamed with Andrew Dodd, Andrew Evans and Jeff Sargent and led for a great deal of the way before getting pipped by just 0.16 sec. Their time of 4:06.37 smashed any previous efforts by our Club members at this distance.
Scott Lovell came into the 4 x 100m team, replacing Jeff Sargent in the shorter event and this time they went down by just half a second in a smart 50.81.
They are still talking about their efforts – talks have also been held concerning the film rights.
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CLUB 100 Yards CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Held at our track on Tuesday December 12th these events proved to be good ’uns.
As part of the evening’s entertainment both the Little Aths and the Masters from the Collingwood venue also participated in the soiree by running a handicap event over the 100 yards.
The Harriers had enough blokes for two heats of our Blue Ribbon event while just the four ladies fought out the Women’s title.

Men’s Heats
1 2
1 Jarrad Vandenberg 16 10.70 1 Gabriel Zabotto 10.52
2 Dylan McGann 10.88 2 James Edgar 16 11.35
3 James Morelli 20 11.97 3 Nick Rosa 11.47
4 Scott Lovell 55 13.08 4 Liam Dell 13.01
5 Brendon Dell 14.66 5 Michael Kyriakakis 60 13.63
6 Matthew Crawford 14.94 6 Tony Dell 60 18.31
Finals
Womens Mens
1 Ruby Ozougwu 16 11.83 1 Gabriel Zabotto 10.38
2 Elizabeth Ruach 12.22 2 Dylan McGann 10.41
3 Pennie Triandos 14 12.92 3 Jarrad Vandenberg 10.51
4 Sylvie Collie 14 13.16 4 James Morelli 11.23
5 James Edgar 11.32
6 Nick Rosa 11.50

Through the good graces of Ben Daly we had the use of the Littles’ timing gates. It was quite fortuitous as the close finish in the men’s race would indicate.

After the race the athletes stayed around for a ‘barby’ organised by Scott Lovell and presentations to the two new winners, Ruby Ozougwu and Gabe Zabotto were made.
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COLLINGWOOD CLASSIC!

Held on Thursday, December 14th this event was again a successful venture. Co-ordinator, Campbell Maffett, did a power of work leading up to the day with Eugene Nemesi providing some terrific support along the way.
A couple of tweaks to the program of previous years saw the introduction of a 2 x 2 x 800m relay where teams of two (one female, one male) run alternate legs of 800m. The event was quite keenly contested by the teams (the prize money on offer made sure of that) with Australian representatives Abbey Caldwell and Catriona Bissett spearheading the two major protagonists.
The other interesting addition to the program was a One Mile Walk record attempt. Walking is not often featured in ‘special’ meets these days but quite a few athletes had a go at the record (again the evil $ may have had an influence).

From the Collingwood aspect two very good performances on the night were from Max Luke
who ran a ripper 15:19.52 to smash the Club under 16 record for 5000m and Mikaila Young who covered her 5000m in 17:16.72. Miki’s time eclipsed her17:24 from a few weeks prior which was a Club under 20 record. Unfortunately Miki turned twenty in early December so no new record on this occasion.

Kevin Wigmore and Tony Williams were a big part of the night as officials and were joined by a number of bods from AV who were instrumental in the success of the program. The photo finish was in operation with results being loaded onto the internet via the Results Hub within minutes of the respective events concluding.

Scott Lovell, Marty Galea, Tony Dell and Wolfgang Cotra Nemesi also contributed a lot to the night assisting with either, the set up, the packing up – or both!
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SHIELD SEASON

The season kicked off on October 7th and seven rounds have been held up until the Christmas break. There have been some exceptional performances by some of our athletes, however the team results are very disappointing as we just don’t have enough people turning up each week.
During the season almost seventy athletes have represented us in at least one week of Shield, yet in the last three weeks of competition we had less than thirty turn up.
Being in the top division means we are against the bigger clubs. Some of these clubs regularly have in excess of eighty people doing at least one event each week. Collingwood doesn’t!

We are in real danger of relegation this season. The Club needs a real commitment from our athletes to compete in the final 5 rounds of the season January 13th and 20th and February 3rd, 10th and 17th. Please make the effort to compete. By all means do your favourite event(s), but also consider having a go at something extra as well. Remember you can score in three events…… …………and there is quite often a relay. Don’t be afraid to get into a team – it doesn’t matter if you’re not the quickest – any result gains points and the relays can be big point earners. ( NB a relay can be your fourth event)

On Round 10 (February 3rd) the Club is using its POWER PLAY. This is the chance to score double points. It is imperative that we have a huge representation on this day.
Remember that you must register on line. Entries open on the Wednesday 10 days before the competition and close at NOON on the Wednesday immediately before the competition.
(You don’t need to enter for a relay – the Club does that on the day.)

Competition on Round 10 is at Doncaster and Glenhuntly. We would encourage our members to compete at Doncaster but if the program at Glenhuntly is more to your liking, by all mean s go there.
The walks are at Glenhuntly that week.

The Club is required to supply Club Helpers at Doncaster that week.
We are asking for volunteers to help fill these spots so that our competitors don’t have to fill as usual. Family members, friends or even people you don’t like will be made most welcome. The tasks are not hard and the officials will go out of their way to make you feel comfortable.
The more volunteers we get the less each person has to do!

Come on!

Just five Saturdays left….be a part of it.

MAGPIE MORSELS

The First Tuesday of The Month!
Yes – it’s on again! Collingwood’s World Famous 400s session is on the first Tuesday of the month (January 2nd) beginning at 6:15pm.
A great session, not only for general fitness, but to also improve your time/pace judgement. Suitable for everybody!
We have had great numbers in recent months – let’s keep it up!
There were 52 participants in December!

Thanks for the Support!
The recent Collingwood Classic was the beneficiary of some very welcome support from a number of sponsors.
Puma was the major contributor with quite a sizeable sponsorship. The Running Company (located in Queen’s Parade Clifton Hill) again supported the Club and was also instrumental in Puma getting involved.
Three organisations involving Club members also played a part in the Classic.
ERNIOD – makers of quality running gear supplied some spot prizes.
MAD Physiotherapy – provided physiotherapy services trackside – Georgie Macdonald
SNAP PRINTING – provided numbers for the athlete’s singlets.
Club members are encouraged to support these companies
Simon Hanns (Erniod), John Nicolosi (Physio) and Marty Galea (SNAP) are the people to contact for information.

GREAT ADDITION!

The new throwing cage is finished and operational. Our people have been using it now for a couple of months and are very happy with it. The City of Yarra has now allowed us to throw the hammer at the venue. Guess they figured if we’re going to spend a heap of money then it is probably the right thing to allow full usage.
And it looks good too.

DON’T GET A FRIGHT!

The Council has also installed a remote controlled mower at the track. Housed near our equipment shed it is programmed to come out of its hidey hole and cut certain areas of the infield – usually at night. Apparently some late night joggers have been startled when this machine starts moving around with no-one in sight.

MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER!
Promising junior James Edgar missed the first six weeks of the summer season because of a sojourn with his school to the snowless fields in Victoria’s high country. James and his buddies spent around two months in outdoor educational pursuits. James organised a few of the boys to join him on a run each morning over some pretty rough terrain. Well played James.
It certainly paid off – at Round 7 of Shield James scored well over 1000 points (our best of the day). He’ll be real handy for the rest of the season.

TALKING POINTS!

Our summer points awards are at an interesting stage. The winner of the last couple of seasons in the men’s section, Marty Galea, is leading but has not cleared out on the field as in past seasons.
After Round 7 Marty is on 8260 points, less than 200 points in front of Scott Lovell on 8084.
The boys of course are vying for the Colin Murraylee Award.
In the women’s section Kate Hughes is leading on 6120 points from under 14 athlete Evan Kondys on 5707. Evan is a bit stiff as she has missed two weeks of competition due to Little Aths commitments. The girls are chasing the Kirralee Radford Award.

THE WEEKLY WINNERS!
The best point scorers in each week of Shield are:
Round 1 Evan Kondys 958 Chris Boylen 1170
Round 2 Evan Kondys 1263 Scott Lovell 1149
Round 3 Evan Kondys 1078 Chris Boylen 1247
Round 4 Kate Hughes 1189 Scott Lovell 1260
Round 5 Kate Hughes 949 Chris Boylen 1266
Round 6 Evan Kondys 1394 Marty Galea 1299
Round 7 Allison Bruce 1165 James Edgar 1233

Something To Chew On!

Anyone can give up. It’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.
Source unknown