Wodonga Athletic Club

Club News

Wodonga Athletes to Represent at 2008 Pacific Schools Games

30^th Nov – 6^th Dec

Canberra

Five members of Wodonga Athletic Club will be representing Victoria at the upcoming Pacific Schools Games to be held in Canberra.

Congratulations to Brendon Ashcroft, Ben Buckingham, Ashlea Bennett, Jodie Elkington and Charlotte Wallace on their efforts in winning through at the recent trials held at Olympic Park and gaining selection to represent Victorian Schools.

Brendon won the U/20 mens 100 / 200 sprint double with times of 10.96 and 22.18 secs.

Charlotte (11 yrs girls) also won the 100 / 200 double with 13.42 and 28.06 sec.

Jodie has qualified in all 5 events she contested as AWD T38. Jodie will represent in the 100,200,400, Long jump and Shot Put.

Ashlea Bennett qualified in the 100 and 200 for AWD’s T37.

 Ben competed in the U/18 3000 mtrs and came 3^rd with a time of 9.26.10 mins, but had to withdraw from the steeplechase. However, on past performances Ben has been selected in the team.

Jemma Power competed in the very competitive 12yr girls age group for High jump where she jumped 1.40 for a 4^th place and in the long jump where she jumped 4.26 mtrs. While Jemma doesn’t get to represent Victoria she performed well on the weekend.

 Congratulations to all who competed in Melbourne, and to those who are competing in Canberra we wish you every success in your events.

 I’m sure that all the athletes will be looking forward to the beginning of the Wodonga Athletic Club season on the 5^th October, using it as a good competitive base before the Pacific Schools Games.

2009 Victorian Country Championships
Recommended Accommodation Venue

The Committee would like to recommend the following venue for members to book their own accommodation for the Victorian Country Champs to be held in Geelong Next year.

Big4 Holiday Park
Belmont
03 5243 6225

COMMERCIAL CLUB (Albury ) Ltd  CLASSIC

SUNDAY 13^TH JULY 2008

10 AM START

 Picnic Area near entrance to Buna Barracks, Corner Murray Valley Hwy & Anderson Road Bandiana

11 KM EVENT

Round 10 of North-East Distance Runner of the Year

Male & Female - Under 20, Open, 40 plus & 50 plus

5 KM EVENT

Male & Female – Under 12,  Under 14, Under 16, Open, 40 plus, 50 plus

PHONE ENQUIRIES : BILL 02 6020 3258  Richard 03 5726 1101

11 KM ENTRY FEE - $10       5 KM ENTRY FEE - $5

Entries taken on the day from 8:30am 

50% Discount applies to Wodonga Athletic Club Members

Sydney City 2 Surf

August 10th

Wodonga Athletic Club will once again be taking a bus to Sydney for the City 2 Surf, the bus will be leaving Friday 8th and get back to Albury late Sunday 10th August.

We are currently taking names of those interested in coming on the bus, accommodation is usually at a reasonably priced & convenient motel, overall cost is anticipated to be about $160 per head but this does depend on numbers a deposit of $50 per head is required.

Positions are filling fast so if you are interested please contact Bill Pearce on 02 6020 3258

NEW 2008/2009 WAC COMMITTEE

The Wodonga Athletic Club held their annual general meeting on 11th March where a new committee was elected.

President - Janet Crocos, Vice President - Kevin Jones, Secretary - Mike Mellor, Assistant Secretary - Karen Hill, Treasurer - Beris Toney, Registrar - Fay Pearce, Publicity Officer - Greg Simpson, Public Officer - Richard Smyth

Committee Members: Charles Aitken, Chris Barton, Don Chambers, Ben Cook, Zachary Jones, Doug Lloyd, Alan Pearce, Bill Pearce, Pat Thomas, Emilya Toney and Rosalie Wilson.

2008/2009 WAC Fee Structure

Wodonga Athletic Club (WAC) membership fees for 2008/2009 season:

Joining Fees:
Wodonga Athletic Club (WAC) membership fees

$22        Juniors (Under 21)

$35        Seniors (21 and over)

$60        Family

WAC weekly competition fees

$2         per member (Daily maximum of $6 per family)

$7         registered Little Aths

$7         registered other Athletic Club members
$7         non-members (a maximum of two meets)

If a person joins at the completion of their first day the $5 will be taken as part of their membership fee.

Athletics Victoria membership fees (Required if athletes wish to compete at Country or State Championships)
$60        Registration with Athletics Victoria
$25        Existing registered Victorian Little Athletics members (Dual Registration)
 

Wodonga Athletic Club members receive discounts to enter WAC fun run events.
Registration forms are available from the committee.

 Wodonga Athletes shine on National Stage

 Wodonga Athletic Club has been well represented at National level this year with six of our young athletes competing, with great success.

Ben Buckingham, Brendan Ashcroft and Catherine Williams competed at National All Schools at Homebush with excellent results.

 Ben started out with a 5^th in the U/17 3,000 mtrs in a new PB of 9min07.48 secs. Considering the conditions on the night with huge storms in Sydney and the postponing and combining of events he preformed extremely well.

The following day saw him compete in the U/17 2,000 mtrs steeplechase where he again proved himself a class performer with a well deserved Bronze medal, in a time of 6mins22.91 secs which again was a PB. Ben missed 2^nd place by a mere 0.39secs.

 Catherine Williams also chose Nationals to achieve a PB with 1.66 mtrs in the U/18 girls Highjump.  This gave her an equal 4^th place but 6^th overall on a count back.

 Brendan Ashcroft, who is the most experienced of the 3 athletes, competed in the 100/200 double with mixed results.

In the 100 mtrs Brendan did 11.06 secs to qualify for the final where he ran a solid 10.97 sec to come in 6^th.

In the 200 Brendan ran a 22.45 sec in the heats which unfortunately failed to qualify him for the final. However, he certainly showed he is still up there with the best young sprinters in the nation.

 Zach Jones competed in the Australian Multi-events Championship in Canberra and in only his 2^nd full decathlon achieved a remarkable 4^th place, with a total of 5976 points. In the words of the Australian multi-event coach “if he learns to pole vault he will be dangerous”.

Zach achieved no less than 8 PB’s from the 10 events in the decathlon which is a fantastic effort.

 Ashlea Bennett competed at the Australian Athletes with a Disability athletics and in her first major competition did herself and the club proud. In Sydney she won both her 100 and 200 mtrs for T37 athletes.

Ash brought home the bronze medal for the 100 at Nationals and came 4^th in the 200 mtrs and impressed the national selectors with her potential, for one so new to athletics. She was up against much more experienced competitors but acquitted herself admirably.

 Charlotte Wallace, the youngest representative this year competed in Hobart at the National Primary schools athletics. After blowing away the opposition to win the 100mts at the Vic championships Charlotte went to Hobart in fine form. In the 4x100 relay she collected Bronze with the Victorian team, to start the meet off in fine style. Charlotte progressed through the heats of the 100mtrs to reach the final of the 11 yr girls race, where she unfortunately missed a place.

 Congratulations to all athletes on your performances at the highest level. I know that your achievements will spur others on within the club to aspire others to achieve the same level of competition.

Falls Creek Camp

April 3-4-5   ( two nights)

Staying at Viking lodge,  $75 per room per night.

Running, mountain biking or whatever else!

Contact Nadia on 0412174699 or email  nadiamellor@bigpond.com

2008 Cumberoona Run

Sunday 2nd March

CLUB MEMBERS PLEASE NOTE: 

IF YOU WISH TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOUR WAC MEMBERSHIP DISCOUNT YOU WILL NEED TO ENTER THE CUMBEROONA RUN THROUGH THE CLUB.

THIS CAN BE DONE AT OUR MEET: on SUNDAY 24TH FEB AT WODONGA ATHLETICS COMPLEX PEARCE STREET. After this date you will need to enter through the Hume Building Society Branches and pay the full price.

A receipt will be issued so you can claim your t shirt. T shirts available from Robinsons Sports Store in Dean St.

More information contact Bill Pearce - (02) 6020 3258

Victorian Country Championships
Alexandra Park Athletics Complex Cadell Street Albury
Friday 25th - Sunday 27th January 2008

 The 2007/2008 Victorian Country Championships are almost upon us. The organising committee headed up by Pat Thomas have done an enormous amount of work in organising the event, and at this time all is looking good for a successful carnival.

 To successfully conduct the carnival we will require plenty of assistance throughout the weekend. It may be raking the long jump pit, or assisting moving the hurdles etc but its important that we have as many helpers as possible to allow the carnival to run smoothly. If you have any time available please contact Pat or one of the organising committee to express your interest or have them answer any questions you may have. You don’t need to commit to the entire weekend, any help is better than none, and it would be greatly appreciated.

 From a club point of view it is now time for those who wish to represent the club or are thinking of competing to get organised. 

A few points to remember:       

 Wodonga Athletics Club has a history of providing the opportunity for ALL competitors to compete in the relays at the end of the carnival. This is the fun side of the event, and allows us to really feel part of a team and can contribute valuable points towards the championship. Kevin Jones is again the team manager this year and he will be organising the relays over the weekend. I’m sure he will be talking to you about running in a relay.

 Over the coming weeks there will be more information distributed regarding accommodation and our team function on the Saturday evening.

 This year we have a great opportunity to win the championship, so I urge all club members to consider competing. The opportunity to compete against like minded and similar ability athletes from other clubs doesn’t arise often, so here is your chance, and you may well be a member of the winning club by the end of the carnival.

Greg Simpson
President

Congratulations
Don Chambers
Australian Record at the Masters in Adelaide
80m Hurdles 14.14 - Age group (70 to 74)

News from Don Chambers

The last three months have been rather full on with Track & Field events, catching up with family & meeting like minded organisations to Keep Australia Beautiful.

The name "Wodonga Athletic Club" threw the Canadians & the Americans.

In Canada they thought it was near Vancouver & in the States they thought it must have been some where near LA??

In USA if you finish in the top eight you are awarded a ribbon from 4th to 8th.

Results were:

I competed in 7 of the 10 events in the Dec in Italy & pulled out when it was announced we were not to finish until after midnight with no transport??? won the 100m & 80m Hurdles in this event & was 5th when I pulled the pin.

I was a member of the 4 by 400m Relay that won a Silver medal in our age group.

I reached the semi finals in the 100m & 200m & came 6th in the final of the 300m Hurdles.

Thanks to past member Barry Heppell for getting in touch and letting us know what he has been doing and providing us with some really great photos.

The internet is truly a wonderful thing!

My name is Barry Heppell and I am a past (founding) member of the Wodonga Athletic Club. I found your great site here and thought I would drop you a line to pass on my best regards to any of the other “old timers” still active in club life. Len/ Veronica Foard, Graham/ Jenny Miller, the Dugdale’s, David Jones, Danny Flynn and a bunch of other great people would probably remember me as that crazy kid who ran way to many miles and was only interested in running marathons! I was active in the club from late 1978 through 1980 when my family moved to Perth Western Australia.

I competed all through High School and then trained at AIS in Canberra in 1986/87, until I went to the United States to run for a US College, Univ Texas San Antonio. I competed in track and cross country. After school I stayed in San Antonio training and running many marathons. I got married to a Californian gal and settled in San Diego, CA. I took a real job in 1994, but have still competed all over, with the job. I currently run for a local team Mizuno San Diego. I am the teams co-captain and we just started our cross country season here.

I am now 41YO and have modest lifetime PB’s of 30.30 for 10KM and 2.23 for the marathon, however I always look back on the time and people I met in the sport at WAAC in Wodonga as shaping the way I have led my life. I have some old school pictures, some of which must be close to 30 years old of club members at races, in uniforms etc. I will include one of myself, email me back if you would like more for your records.

Best wishes,
Barry Heppell

WAC Club Champion 1980 - I completely forgot about this award until I saw it on the site!

PS – Some of your older members may remember my parents John and Mary Heppell, they are both well and living in Perth, Western Australia.

Here is a recent picture after a long training run in San Diego. The guy in the middle is Olympic Silver medallist in the marathon 2004, Meb Keflezighi.

He looks fresh, I look spent!

Barry

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This page was last updated on  27/9/08