Newbies aim to make athletic mark

THE newcomers to Athletics Bendigo’s track and field action will be aiming to make their mark when a non-AVSL meet runs this Saturday at the Retreat Road complex in Flora Hill.

Action starts with the hammer throw at 1.30pm, and some of the region’s best in such a testing event include Eaglehawk’s Olivia and Craig Graham, Hannah and Haylee Greenman, and Jemma Norton.

Saturday’s track action will begin with 400, 300 and 200-metre distance hurdles, and athletes to watch here include Eaglehawk’s William Beaton and Abbey Hromenko, South Bendigo’s Trudy Haines, Naomi Henderson, Joan Self, and Bendigo Harriers’ Lachlan Carr.

There will also be the walks contests of 1500 and 3000 metres.

Sprint action on the track will be the 200 metres in which South Bendigo’s Oliver Muggleton and Belle Guillou, Eaglehawk’s Jorja Morrison, Laura Kadri, Cameron Smith and Taine Bishop, and Harriers’ Jake Gavriliadis ran well in the first round of the AVSL season.

Also on the program are the 100, 800, 3000 and 5000-metre events.

Some of this season’s best at the 800 meters have been Bendigo Harriers’ Jackson Eadon, and South Bendigo’s Genevieve Nihill and Chelsea Tickell.

The 3000 and 5000 metre events are seven-and-a-half and 12-and-a-half lap contests, but could draw the likes of Harriers’ Anne Buckley, Hunter Gill, and Ian Wellard, Eaglehawk’s Trevor Kelly, South Bendigo’s Aaron Norton and Debby Kirne, and University’s Andrea Smith and Ross Douglas to race.

Athletes to watch at discus include Bendigo Harriers’ Jake Gavriladis; South Bendigo’s Emma Berg, Jasper Seymour and Kai Norton.

A high of the first round of AVSL was the leap of 1.90 metres by Eaglehawk’s Cameron Smith at high jump.

The popular event will be contested on Saturday, along with long jump, at which William Beaton, Jake Gavriliadis, Dude Kelly and Cameron Smith had a great duel at the start to the season.

Highlights of last Saturday’s non-AVSL meet included Angus Hoyne’s form in the 100 metres and 400 metres.

Racing on invitational basis, Hoyne was runner-up in the 100 metres in 12.92 seconds, and second in the 400-metre heat in 57.23 seconds, which was won by Eaglehawk’s Cameron Smith, who took out last season’s Sally Conroy Memorial 200-metre classic.

The Bendigo Harriers welcomed Kuppah Kome for his first day of competition after the previous week’s meet was called off because of threatening storms, which did not occur until later in the night.

Kome hit a mark of 19.60 metres in javelin, and 9.57 metres in shot put.