Bacchus Marsh Little Athletics

Bacchus Marsh Cross Country families gathered on the banks of the Bostock Reservoir in Ballan for their weekly competition last Saturday morning.

With a delay to the start of the first race, it was decided to combine the Under 11/12 2km event with the Open age athletes running their usual 3kms.  While the Under 11/12 runners turned at the 1km mark for their return back to the finish line, the older athletes continued along the course for their turn around at the 1.5k mark.

In the 2km event Dushan Baniluk (U11) notched up another win; 6 seconds ahead of 2nd placed Patrick Lovett (U12) while Lachlan Simons (U12) was a further 5 seconds behind.  These boys continue to push each other, and this week saw them all record personal best performances.  This coming Saturday will see them run together as a team at the State Cross Country Relays.

Meanwhile, Melton’s Mataya Leetham claimed the win for the Under 12 girls while Myah Estlick (BM) was the Under 11 girl’s winner in a PB time of 9:51.70 mins.  Lily Norman (BM) and Guntaj Mangat (Melton) also recorded PB results for their runs.

Elise Cook (BM) ran a controlled race to claim another victory in the Open age 3km event while we welcomed the return of Mackenzie Estlick who finished in 2nd place ahead of Emma Stewart in 3rd.

In the Under 9 & 10 1.5km event, Balreet Mann (Melton) backed up well, after racing on Friday at the Schools Cross Country competition, to take line honours in a PB performance of 6:20.02 mins. Iyla Robinson, also backing up from her school run the day before, finished in 2nd place with Joshua Askew in 3rd. Melton’s Jujhar Dhaliwal produced a PB for his run.

The Under 7 and 8 athletes raced over a 1km distance.  Melton’s Fletcher Reid continued his unbeaten record, claiming the win over Bacchus Marsh’s Emilia Ibrahim in 2nd place and Harry Wark also from Melton claiming 3rd overall.  Gigi Baniluk (BM) and Olivia Callister (Gisborne) continue to improve, with both girls running PBs.

The final race for the morning saw the Under 6 athletes race over 500m.  A fast down hill start saw Melton’s Charlie Hoffman and Annabelle Menzies (BM) take the early lead and at the 300m mark were still neck and neck.  The strength of Charlie in the later stages saw him break away and claim the win just ahead of Annabelle in 2^nd, with Hayden Tung (BM) finishing strongly to claim 3rd place.  Charlie, Anabelle and Tegh Singh Mann (Melton) all recorded PB times.

This Saturday the Centre will be represented by teams competing at the State Cross Country Relay Championships to be held at Cruden Farm, Langwarrin.  Zeke Horne, Logan Simons and James White will compete in the Boys Under 10 event and Dushan Baniluk, Patrick Lovett and Lachlan Simons will form an Under 12 team.  Meanwhile, Anni Clark and Scarlett Wake will join Melton’s Balreet Mann to create a Western Metro Region team and will compete in the Under 10 relay event.

**The BMLAC Cross Country meet will be held for all other athletes at the Lady Northcote Recreation Camp, located at Glenmore.

To read the full story – Simply click on the following link

https://issuu.com/themooraboolnews/docs/mn_2022-05-31/21

in the 31 May 2022 edition
OR
pick up a paper around your town.