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The long road relay from Harcourt to Bendigo, through spectacular countryside. Legs vary from flat and short, to undulating and challenging. Teams of 6 contest the Men's Division 1 & 2 relays whilst teams of 5 contest all other divisions. Competitors wear the traditional Japanese Tasuki sash, which is passed from runner to runner as the relay progresses over the 32.9km & 42.9km course.
Western Athletics had seven teams competing in this event, Men Div 2, 4 & 5 and Women Div 2, 3 & 4 (x2), which was a great result considering the amount of athletes who were unavailable due to work, final preparations for State Championships (17 Jul), overseas trips and recovery from the Gold Coast Marathon (Belinda Keogh 35th women in 3h 7m 2 sec). On arrival at Harcourt we knew we were in for a tough day, this being the 13th running of this event and only the 2nd wet one and wet it was...athletes experienced strong winds, constant rain and 8-10 degree temperatures for the entire day. With Divisions commencing at differing times, four of our teams left with the first wave and the remaining teams started wither 10 or 20 minutes later. With the chaotic logistics of getting athletes to the starting locations and then again picking them up after their leg there are generally one or two issues and this year was no different. As the day continued on many of the legs were run just that little slower than previous years due to driving rain & strong cross winds, but even in those conditions Amy Cashin (16 of Werribee) was able to post the fastest female time of the day across all four open women divisions on the tough 8.4km trail leg. Cashin, along with Claire Hodgart, Amanda Missale, Jo Francken and Jodie Dunstan, was a part of the winning Division 2 team who had a two minute lead over the competition leaders Glenhuntly AC and third placed Melbourne University AC, the win sees the team now in 5th position on the ladder with five rounds remaining. The other Western Athletics ladies teams also had strong performances, the Division 3 team finishing 4th in the 8 team competition and the division 4 teams finishing 2nd and 6th. A strong family bond was seen again in the female teams with mother/daughter combinations; Mechelle & Loren Lane, Sue & Bianca Rebesco and then siblings Rebecca & Allison Gatt. The Western Aths men knew the day was going to be tough, the horrible windy conditions, very tough competition as well we were missing a few of the faster guys, but team camaraderie did shine through and a few guys made the long trip to Bendigo for the first time. One of our first timers was Australian Schools World Cross representative Callum Drake who led out the six person Division 2 team, Drake found himself racing against a group of strong fast men in the 12 team division but was able to get our team off to a strong start in 5th place but only seconds behind the leaders. The second leg was run by Blair Morton and again he posted the 5th fastest time of the division, next runner was Michael Berhe who ran the tough 8.4km dirt leg which was very wet and rocky which was made harder by the weather conditions, running the longest leg was Cameron Macaulay who ran the 5th fastest time over the 10km leg, Chris Camilleri again ran the 5th fastest time for his leg and the final leg was run by Reech Kuol again in the 5th fastest division time, so not surprisingly the men finished 5th in a very tough competition. The other two teams finished 8th in Division 4 and 5th in Division 6, both of these teams had first time runners and father/son combinations; Colin & Callum Drake, Stuart & Cameron Macaulay and also siblings of some of the female team members, Liam Cashin & Thomas Rebesco. Next on the 10 race Cross Country & Road racing Series (XCR) fixture is at Bundoora on Saturday 17th July is the Victorian Cross Country Championships which also incorporates the Victorian All Schools Cross Country Championship, both are the selection trials for the National Cross Country Championships to be held in Brisbane on the 21st of August. | Men Div 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Frankston AC | 12 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 14 | | | | | | 64 | 2nd | Athletics Waverley | 14 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 10 | | | | | | 63 | 3rd | Melbourne University AC | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | | | | | | 55 | 4th | Glenhuntly AC (2) | 11 | 11 | 10 | 6 | 11 | | | | | | 49 | 5th | Western Athletics | 7 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | | | | | | 42 | 6th | Richmond Harriers | 9 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 8 | | | | | | 35 | 7th | Traralgon Harriers | 4 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 4 | | | | | | 34 | 8th | Mentone AC | 6 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 6 | | | | | | 31 | 9th | Box Hill AC (2) | 8 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 5 | | | | | | 25 | 10th | Collingwood Harriers (2) | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | | | | | | 19 | 11th | Mornington Peninsula AC | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | | | | | | 15 | 12th | Athletics Nunawading | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | | | | | | 14 | 13th | Doncaster AC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Men Div 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Athletics Waverly (2) | 16 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 | | | | | | 82 | 2nd | Western Athletics (2) | 14 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 9 | | | | | | 63 | 3rd | Glenhuntly (4) | 13 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 8 | | | | | | 60 | 4th | Knox AC (3) | 11 | 13 | 8 | 14 | 13 | | | | | | 59 | 4th | Geelong Region (2) | 5 | 0 | 18 | 18 | 18 | | | | | | 59 | 6th | Collingwood Harriers (4) | 10 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 14 | | | | | | 53 | 7th | Casey Cardina AC | 15 | 16 | 9 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 40 | 8th | Oakleigh AC | 6 | 15 | 7 | 11 | 0 | | | | | | 39 | 9th | Malvern Harriers (2) | 3 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 7 | | | | | | 38 | 10th | Coburg Harriers (2) | 12 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 6 | | | | | | 37 | 11th | Richmond Harriers (2) | 8 | 11 | 5 | 0 | 12 | | | | | | 36 | 11th | Bendigo Region (2) | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 15 | | | | | | 36 | 13th | Ringwood AC | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | | | | | | 28 | 14th | APS United (2) | 0 | 7 | 15 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 22 | 15th | Wodonga AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | | | | | | 11 | 16th | Maccabi AC | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 9 | 17th | Box Hill AC (3) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 4 | 18th | Sandringham AC (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Men Div 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | South Coast Athletics | 15 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 16 | | | | | | 82 | 2nd | South Melbourne AC (2) | 11 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 15 | | | | | | 66 | 3rd | Frankston AC (2) | 18 | 0 | 14 | 16 | 18 | | | | | | 66 | 4th | Traralgon Harriers (2) | 8 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 10 | | | | | | 64 | 5th | Ivanhoe Harriers | 10 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 9 | | | | | | 55 | 6th | Melbourne University AC (3) | 14 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 14 | | | | | | 43 | 7th | Diamond Valley AC (2) | 13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | 41 | 8th | Eureka AC (2) | 16 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | | | | | | 34 | 9th | Collingwood Harriers (5) | 9 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 11 | | | | | | 30 | 10th | Western Athletics (3) | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | | | | | 18 | 11th | Coburg Harriers (3) | 7 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 16 | 12th | APS United (3) | DNF | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 12 | 13th | Ringwood AC (2) | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 12 | 14th | Ballarat Harriers (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 14th | Doncaster (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 14th | Williamstown AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 14th | Malvern Harriers (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Men Div 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Athletics Waverley (3) | 13 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 11 | | | | | | 48 | 2nd | Geelong Region (3) | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 10 | | | | | | 23 | 3rd | Traralgon Harriers (3) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13 | 0 | | | | | | 22 | 4th | Glenhuntly AC (6) | Inv | 11 | 10 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 21 | 5th | South Melbourne AC (4) | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | 19 | 6th | Richmond Harriers (3) | 7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 17 | 7th | Frankston AC (3) | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | | | | | | 16 | 8th | Eureka AC (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | | | | | | 13 | 8th | Bendigo Region (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | 13 | 10th | Diamond Valley AC (3) | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 10 | 11th | Bendigo Region (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | | | | | | 9 | 12th | Knox AC (5) | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 8 | 12th | South Coast Athletics (2) | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 8 | 12th | Athletics Waverley (4) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | | | | | | 8 | 15th | Bendigo Region (5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | | | | | | 7 | 16th | Bendigo Region (6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | | | | | | 6 | 17th | Melbourne University (4) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | | | | | | 4 | 18th | Collingwood AC (7) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | 2 | 19th | Coburg Harriers (5) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 19th | Athletics Essendon (4) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 19th | Western Athletics (4) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Men Under 14 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Geelong Region | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | | | | | | | 48 | 2nd | Mornington Peninsula AC | 13 | 11 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | | 37 | 2nd | Western Athletics | 10 | 9 | 10 | 8 | | | | | | | 37 | 4th | Knox Athletics | 9 | 10 | 0 | 10 | | | | | | | 29 | 5th | Collingwood Harriers (1) | 7 | 0 | 11 | 9 | | | | | | | 27 | 6th | Wendouree AC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 8 | 7th | Keilor St Bernards AC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 6 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Women Div 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Glenhuntly AC (2) | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | | | | | | 76 | 2nd | Melbourne Univesity AC (2) | 5 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | | | | | | 58 | 3rd | Diamond Valley AC | 13 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 10 | | | | | | 54 | 4th | Box Hill (2) | 6 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | | | | | | 50 | 5th | Western Athletics | 8 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 16 | 0 | | | | | 45 | 7th | Ballarat YCW | 12 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | | | | | | 32 | 8th | Athletics Waverley | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 8 | | | | | | 32 | 8th | St Stephens Harriers | 11 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 7 | | | | | | 31 | 10th | Malvern Harriers | 7 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 9 | | | | | | 30 | 5th | Coburg Harriers | 4 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 0 | | | | | | 29 | 11th | Knox Athletics (2) | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 19 | 12th | Ringwood AC | 10 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 18 | 13th | Frankston AC | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 16 | 14th | Ballarat Harriers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | | | | | | 12 | 15th | Sandringham AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Women Div 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Glenhuntly (3) | 15 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 0 | | | | | | 73 | 2nd | South Melbourne AC | 13 | 0 | 18 | 20 | 20 | | | | | | 71 | 3rd | Mentone AC | 16 | 17 | 0 | 16 | 17 | | | | | | 66 | 4th | Casey Cardina AC | 12 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 0 | | | | | | 64 | 5th | Traralgon Harriers (2) | 11 | 15 | 16 | 0 | 14 | | | | | | 56 | 6th | Richmond Harriers (2) | 10 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 0 | | | | | | 52 | 7th | South Coast Athletics | 9 | 16 | 12 | 0 | 15 | | | | | | 52 | 8th | Eureka AC | 20 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 35 | 9th | Bendigo Region (2) | 17 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 31 | 10th | Western Athletics (2) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 | | | | | 23 | 11th | Oakleigh AC | 8 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 19 | 12th | Knox Athletics (3) | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 18 | 13th | Doncaster AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | | | | | | 18 | 14th | St Stephens Harriers (2) | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 14 | 15th | Wondga AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | 13 | 16th | Athletics Essendon (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 17th | Collingwood Harriers (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 18th | Wellington Athletics | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 19th | Wendouree AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 20th | Williamstown AC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Women Div 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Keilor St Bernards AC (2) | 8 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 31 | 2nd | Diamond Valley AC (2) | 9 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | | | | | | 24 | 3rd | Geelong Region (2) | 4 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 11 | | | | | | 23 | 4th | Glenhuntly (4) | 10 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 21 | 5th | Traralgon Harriers (3) | 2 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 20 | 6th | Athletics Waverley (2) | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | 19 | 7th | Melbourne University AC (3) | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 15 | 8th | Frankston AC (2) | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 13 | 8th | APS United (2) | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 13 | 10th | Mornington Peninsula AC | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 11 | 11th | Western Athletics (3) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | | | | | 10 | 12th | Bendigo Region (3) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 7 | 13th | Maccabi AC | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 5 | 14th | Diamond Valley AC (3) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 3 | 15th | Coburg Harriers (2) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 1 | 16th | Diamond Valley AC (4) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 16th | Melbourne University AC (4) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | 16th | Malvern Harriers (2) | DNF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Women Under 18 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Ballarat YCW Harriers | 11 | 13 | 13 | 11 | | | | | | | 48 | 2nd | Athletics Essendon | 13 | 11 | 0 | 13 | | | | | | | 37 | 3rd | Keilor St Bernards AC | 9 | 10 | 0 | 10 | | | | | | | 29 | 4th | South Coast Athletics | 7 | 0 | 10 | 0 | | | | | | | 17 | 5th | Collingwood AC | 4 | 0 | 9 | 0 | | | | | | | 13 | 6th | Athletics Waverley AC | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | | | | | | | 11 | 7th | Glenhuntly AC | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 10 | 8th | Box Hill AC | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 8 | 9th | Diamond Valley AC | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 6 | 10th | Western Athletics | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Women Under 16 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | 1st | Western Athletics | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | | | | | | | 52 | 3rd | Geelong Region (1) | 11 | 11 | 0 | 11 | | | | | | | 33 | 2nd | Glenhuntly AC | 10 | 10 | 11 | 0 | | | | | | | 31 | 4th | Western Athletics (2) | 6 | 9 | 0 | 9 | | | | | | | 24 | 5th | Ballarat YCW Harriers | 0 | 0 | 10 | 10 | | | | | | | 20 | 6th | Athletics Essendon (1) | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 9 | 6th | Glenhuntly AC (2) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | | | | | | | 9 | 8th | Knox Athletics | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 8 | 9th | Doncaster AC | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 7 | 10th | Bendigo Region | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 5 | 11th | Geelong Region (2) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 4 | 12th | Keilor St Bernards AC | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 3 | 13th | Western Athletics (3) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | | | | | 2 |
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