Heat’s on to rack up points

THE heat to claim a top-five finish on the ladder rises for Athletics Bendigo clubs when the second half of Athletics Victoria’s Shield League field and track action kicks off this weekend.

Round six of AVSL will be run at Bendigo’s Regional Athletics Complex in Flora Hill’s Retreat Road from 1.30pm this Saturday.

Track action begins with the sprint hurdles at distances of 110, 100, 90, and 80 metres.

Race walk of 2000 or 5000 metres will be followed by the 100-metre heats.

It’s a step up in distance to the 1500-metre heats before the one-lap dash of 400 metres.

Non-scoring events are 3000 and 5000 metre.

Final event on the track will be the 4 x 100-metre relays.

It’s time for the pole vaulters to soar high from 1.30pm at which time the first of flights of shot put, javelin and triple jump will be on.

A big night of field and track action was run under lights in Bendigo last Friday night when the re-scheduled third round of AVSL was held.

Top performers for Eaglehawk included Cameron Smith, Cooper Richardson, Terry Hicks, Jorja Morrison, Olivia Graham, Julia Hattingh, and the Beaton siblings of Alyssa, Madelyn and William.

A strong South Bendigo squad includes Emma Berg who broke her own open discus record when she achieved a mark of 43.95 metres.

Berg’s previous best of 43.65 metres on 27 January 2019 set a Bendigo Centre record for open, under-20 and under-18 level.

A dual national shot-put champion, Berg hit a mark of 14.29 metres when the event was contested in the fourth round of this AVSL season.

Other key members of South Bendigo’s squad include pole vault ace Rhys Hansen, sprinter Oliver Muggleton, Jemma and Kai Norton, Tyler Fynch, Carol Coad, Joan Self, Jasper Seymour, Greg Hilson, and Debby Kirne.

Up against South Bendigo in division two, Bendigo Harriers will look for strong performances from the likes of Geoff Shaw, Jackson Eadon, Caitlin, Eliza and Josh Evans, Jake and Monique Gavriliadis, Hailey Stubbs, Neil Shaw, and Hannah Greenman.

Bendigo University’s squad in the latest round was Craig Green, David Lonsdale, Anne McIntosh and Billy Meade.