AVSL Round 7 January 2025 – a positive start
A hot day for our 13 athletes variously at the Meadowglen International Athletic Stadium and at the more modestly named Ballam Park Aths track at Frankston and for Pat at Bendigo. With multiple performances by many of our athletes we finished in the middle of Div 4 in conditions not conducive to fast times or big throws and jumps. So kudos to Lachie Stewart, James Rentschler, Tom Roach, Jayden Millie and Alex Latief for their huge efforts doing three scoring events each.
A big welcome to Alex who racked up over 1000 points for the day in her first outing in red. Jayden ripped up the track in his 3 races to be the Club’s highest point scorer for the day while Pat confirmed his ability with 400+ scores in his 100m and 400m as our sole rep at Bendigo. Hugo Stubbs continued his fine Peninsula form with a PB 800m just a whisker outside of a National Qualifier which will come in his next race or two. Julian Li said he would be happy to throw over 10m in his shot put so he would have left Frankston a happy chappy while newly licensed Aj Merry found his way to Ballam Park and then found the heat and a heavy week tough work in his 3k where the leader just got away from him in the last 300m.
Athlete of the Week
Another tough decision for the selectors – even harder than deciding who will open the bowling and batting in Sri Lanka. Alex Latief staked her claims as did Hugo with an excellent 800. But the verdict went to Jayden Millie who ran 3 outstanding races in the heat to score 1083 points for the day and included National Qualifiers in his 400m and 90mHurdles for good measure. Great work Jayden.
Upcoming Events
18 January: Round 8 AVSL: Our base will be Mt Evelyn: (100m, 400m, 1500m, Long Jump etc). Some may be at Aberfeldie (200m, 800m, High Jump etc. Enter field games asap to ensure a berth.) You may also enter and compete at Geelong, Bendigo or Ballarat if you are in the vicinity.
21 Jan Vic Milers: 800m and 1500m at Sandringham
24-26 Jan: Vic Country Champs at Bendigo (entries close noon Monday 13 Jan!!)
30 Jan High Velocity: 100m, 400, 400H at Doncaster
Training
Training continues with our various groups usually around the Righetti Oval area on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Please sing out if you are not a regular with these groups but wish to be part of the fun.
Some Important Requirements
We are managing the AV requirements pretty well but gentle reminders:
Athletes are to enter AVSL events on the AV website no later than noon on the Wednesday prior (need to be much earlier to gain a field games berth) and then to check-in via the AV Results Hub site at least an hour before your event. This now applies to every track and field event.
Our athletes should wear red singlets with their AV bib number attached. How about pinning your bib numbers before you leave home?
Old Scotch is required to provide a club helper next Sat (18 Jan) at Mt Evelyn to assist with the Discus event. Any assistance from a family member or friend would be greatly appreciated to avoid us losing hard earned points. We will also need a helper on 8 Feb. And remember we need lap scorers for our athletes running events more than 1500m. This task It is not that numerically challenging. Please come to the party if you can assist when requested
Results Round 7 AVSL
Female 18
1500m: Lara Becroft 6:43.05;
Female 16
200m: Alexandra Latief 27.16 (-2.4);
High Jump: Alexandra Latief 1.39m;
Shot Put: Alexandra Latief 6.81m;
Male OP
100m: James Rentschler 13.55; Lachlan Stewart 14.03;
400m: Lachlan Stewart 61.99; James Rentschler 71.01;
1500m: Lachlan Stewart 4:28.44;
Discus: James Rentschler 18.04m;
Male 20
200m: Alex Shears-Jones 25.17 (-1.6);
800m: Alex Shears-Jones DNF;
3000m: Aj Merry 9:25.78;
Male 18
100m: Patrick Kroschel 11.23 (0.7); Tom Roach 21.40;
400m: Patrick Kroschel 50.68;
800m: Hugo Stubbs 1:59.11;
1500m: Jasper Quinn 6:07.68;
Discus: Tom Roach 16.70m; Jasper Quinn 18.37m;
Javelin: Tom Roach 10.15m;
Long Jump: Tom Roach 1.96m;
Shot Put: Julian Li 10.63m;
Triple Jump: Patrick Kroschel 12.29m (1.1);
Male 14
100m: Jayden Millie 13.15;
400m: Jayden Millie 59.37;
90m Hurdles: Jayden Millie 14.55 (0.8);
Male 40
200m: James Southall 32.60 (0.5);
Vale Bruce Wilson OAM
Below is from the WA Athletics Facebook page
Bruce was a rare man. He was a friendly and helpful athletics official with an abundance of knowledge, expertise and generous in his contribution to athletics both here in WA and Australia.
Athletes were always treated well, his peers enjoyed a fellow boffin of the sport and Bruce’s contribution has always been well respected.
A life well lived
Vale Bruce Wilson
Kindest regards to Bruce’s family and close friends
Below is from the Athletics Australia X page
Bruce Wilson began his involvement in athletics in Western Australia in 1980 and became a devoted servant of the sport thereafter both at state and national level. He extended his involvement in many ways – not the least as an enthusiastic masters athlete.
The geographic isolation of his state from the rest of the national activity in athletics meant that the sport nationally relied heavily on committed individuals based in WA for several key reasons. Almost from the beginning of his involvement Bruce was prepared to take on such roles.
Under the mentorship and guidance of his colleague Fred Napier, Bruce quickly came to understand the requirements for recognition of all competitions and what was expected in the staging of national and international meets. He also made sure this applied to state events.
Despite the challenges of distance, Perth was an enthusiastic participant in the National Grand Prix Circuit that ran from the early 1990s. Bruce was key to the conduct of these meets in myriad ways – always being available to receive and checking deliveries and provide support to Athletics Australia staff and officials prior to and upon their arrival in Perth.
Whether or not he was formally a member of the local organising committee for each grand prix meet or national championships, Bruce was always available to make a significant contribution. Within a very short space of time, many requests did not have to be made – Bruce would have already ensured they would happen.
The old stadium at Perry Lakes was difficult to master. It had been built prior to 1962 in a way well ahead of its time but very much with that year’s Commonwealth Games in mind. It had to be “cajoled” into working for smaller events but based on Fred’s tutelage, Bruce was adept at getting the best out of it.
The eventual move to the current venue not so far away at Mt Claremont made life a little easier for hard working servants like Bruce. But at both locations there were editions of national competitions in Perth that would never have been presented as they were without the relentless behind the scenes work of Bruce and those assisting him.
It was not only in event management that Bruce made his mark – also being a highly qualified and committed technical official who was, more often than not, the go-to man to verify that high level performances in Perth were in accordance with the rules.
This was particularly important when the national pole vault program was established at WAIS and world-class performances were often achieved at interclub competitions or state championships. The respect for Bruce was such that if he ticked it off, there was no further question to be asked.
His qualifications included the top level in almost all areas – track, throws, jumps, walks and administration. Bruce was highly competent in each and was a skilful and always reliable chief judge and referee but was particularly effective in the role of meeting manager.
Bruce supported athletics locally – officiating at interclub, state championships, schools meets (particularly appreciated by the Associated and Catholic Colleges Carnivals) and Masters Athletics WA.
Despite the considerable personal cost, Bruce was a regular attendee as a technical official at many competitions interstate for more than 30 years – both in and out of stadium – senior, under-age and schools. He has served as a technical delegate for national meets and championships and as a member of juries of appeal.
He did not seek appointment to the Sydney Olympics but served as a field judge for the 2000 Paralympics and as a track umpire for the IAAF Grand Prix Final in Melbourne in 2001.
Bruce’s contribution to athletics has been acknowledged through the AA Platinum Service Award (in 2021) recognising 40 years of quality commitment and with life membership of Athletics WA and in 2019 of Athletics Australia.
When in late 2016, the World Masters Athletic Championships (WMAC) were conducted in Perth drawing over 4000 athletes supported by over 200 national and international officials – conducted simultaneously over three track and field venues, with live streaming to over 170 countries, competition was conducted over 12 days with two rest days between for athletes and officials.
Bruce was assigned as the International Technical Officer at the Ern Clark Athletics Centre, the role commencing a week prior to competition to verify track and field equipment to ensure ratification for WMA world records. Supporting this role was Bruce’s input and assistance in establishing safe field of play areas, whilst ensuring the best public viewing and supervising a team of officials from around the world.
From Linkedin
Sadly, Bruce Wilson passed away after a massive heart attack. Bruce was a long-term stalwart of the information technology industry, the Australian Computer Society, the Western Australian Information Technology & Telecommunications Awards and the AIIA iAwards.
I echo David’s comments. Bruce was a knowledgeable and wise colleague and I considered him a good friend. I leaned on his wise council regularly whilst chair of Waitta and chief Judge. There were times when Bruce‘s voice was the only dissenting voice to be heard in the room about a topic and it was usually because he had taken the time to analyse the suggestion and reach a different conclusion to everybody else. And he was always right. His passing is a great loss.
The passing of Bruce Wilson is not simply a sad moment for all of us, it is also a reminder of the incredible person he was, and the amazing contribution that he made to the information technology industry, as well as the ACS (Australian Computer Society) and WAITTA aka The INCITE Awards. Bruce brought a tremendous passion and dedication to the IT Profession. He sought to bring out the best in others, and his counsel and advice was always worth listening to. He is a great loss. I wish there were more like him. RIP Bruce.
Bruce loved his athletics – often running for Old Scotch when he was in Melbourne. He was a dogged competitor.
Bruce was the brother of OS athletes Ian. Hugh, & Ewan, and cousin of Robert.
Your Old Scotch Athletic Club Committee
please contact us at oldscotchathleticclub@gmail.com
President – Doug Campbell
Secretary – Nathan Munro
Treasurer – Heather Danks
VP Cross Country – Pete Simm
VP – Track & Field – vacant
Registrar – Rob Wilson
General Member – Ian Kluckow
General Member – Connor Merigan
We welcome assistance in the areas of IT knowledge, accounting, spreadsheets, social media comms, event organisation, recruiting and newsletter production.