Wantirna Little Athletics Club

Athletics Australia have released details of the team  for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, which will be held from 27 September – 6 October.

The team of 57 athletes for this months championship is the second largest to represent Australia.

It includes some former Knox Little Athletes, Brooke Stratton (Long Jump) and Rhydian Cowley (Walk). The squad also include Knox Seniors Athlete Melissa Duncan (5000m).

Headlining the team are Commonwealth Games high jump champion Brandon Starc (IAAF world rank No.2) and Kelsey-Lee Barber (IAAF world rank No.2), who will both arrive after second-place finishes at the IAAF Diamond League final in Zurich.

AUSTRALIAN TEAM FOR DOHA

MEN
100m: Rohan Browning
400m: Steven Solomon
800m: Peter Bol, Luke Mathews
1500m: Ryan Gregson, Stewart McSweyn, Matthew Ramsden
5000m: Morgan McDonald, Stewart McSweyn, Patrick Tiernan
10,000m: Harry Summers
Marathon: Julian Spence
3000m steeplechase: Ben Buckingham
110m hurdles: Nicholas Hough
High jump: Joel Baden, Brandon Starc
Long jump: Henry Frayne, Darcy Roper, Henry Smith
Discus: Matthew Denny
20km race walk: Dane Bird-Smith, Rhydian Cowley
4x400m: Alex Beck, Murray Goodwin, Tyler Gunn, Ian Halpin, Steven Solomon

WOMEN
400m: Bendere Oboya
800m: Catriona Bisset, Morgan Mitchell
1500m: Georgia Griffith, Linden Hall, Jessica Hull
5000m: Melissa Duncan
10,000m: Sinead Diver, Ellie Pashley
Marathon: Rochelle Rodgers
3000m steeplechase: Paige Campbell, Genevieve LaCaze, Georgia Winkcup
100m hurdles: Brianna Beahan
400m hurdles: Lauren Boden, Sarah Carli, Sara Klein
High jump: Nicola McDermott
Pole vault: Elizaveta Parnova
Long jump: Brooke Stratton
Javelin: Kelsey-Lee Barber
20km race walk: Katie Hayward, Jemima Montag
50km race walk: Claire Woods
4x100m: Melissa Breen, Maddie Coates, Kristie Edwards, Nana Adoma Owusu-Afriyie
4x400m: Ellie Beer, Rebecca Bennett, Lauren Boden, Bendere Oboya, Gabriella O’Grady, Caitlin Sargent-Jones

In what was the last major meeting before this month’s worlds, the second of the Diamond League finals in Brussels was held on Friday.  Former Wantirna LAC athlete Brooke Stratton finished seventh in the women’s long jump with a best of 6.53m. The Long Jump was won by Malaika Mihambo of Germany, who is still undefeated in 2019. Brooke has booked her Australian team place for Doha at the Athletics World Championships in 3 weeks time.

Other Australians

Australian high jumper Nicola McDermott, the 22-year-old bronze medallist at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, leapt for a best of 1.89m.McDermott finished seventh in an event won by Russian world champion Mariya Lasitskene with 1.99m

The Athletics World Championships will be held in Doha between 27 September to 6 October 2019.

The Diamond League will be back in 2020 and begins in Doha in April 2020.

The first of the Diamond League Finals in Zurich was held on Thursday 29 August in Zurich (Friday Morning our time). Kelsey Lee Barber in the Javelin and Brandon Starc in the high jump with both finishing second in their events.

Kelsey Lee Barber

Barber has  improved her personal best several times this year.  Barber’s best throw at the Diamond League final was 64.74m.

As we get closer to the start of the track and field season on the 5th October 2019, preseason training  with the coaches at Knox LAC has begun. While training is not compulsory for little athletics, Wantirna LAC encourages athletes to attend regular training and coaching sessions when they can. Coaching is available for all ages and all events.

When?

Normal training days during Track and Field season are Monday and Wednesday between 4.30pm and 7pm depending on the event and the coach, with some other events coaching on other days – all training is held at Knox Athletic Centre.

Training in the full range of events is provided, including: Running, Relays, Sprints (60-400m), Middle Distance (800-1500m & Cross Country), Hurdles (60-400m), Jumps (Long Triple & High Jump), Throws (Shot put, Discus, Javelin & Hammer) and Walks.

Costs?

Importantly, the coaching provided at Knox LAC is free and there is no ongoing additional costs to families for coaching during the season. There is no need for athletes to bring their own equipment, (such as blocks, discuses, javelins or shotputs) as Knox LAC provides all equipment and implements for training.

For any athlete looking to improve their skill and techniques before the start of the season please contact the coaches to discuss joining training sessions.

The Knox LAC training schedule can be accessed here

The Knox LAC Coaches contact details are here

Further information on coaching can be found at the Knox LAC coaching webpage.

Little Athletics Victoria has announced that registrations for the 2019-20 season are now live and can start taking registrations.

Head to the Get Involved section or the member portal page on the Little Athletics Victoria  website and follow the prompts through to renew your membership or sign up for the first time.

To go to the member portal click here

If you are a returning member don’t worry if you don’t have your login details, Little Athletics Victoria will be sending these details out to every member in the next few weeks.

If you’re looking to join Little Athletics for the first time click on the new member link and follow the prompts to join.

Knox LAC introduction and tryout day is 21 September and the season starts on 5 October.

If you have any questions about joining Wantinra LAC or renewing your membership with us please contact our Team Manager, Janine Kearsley, or contact us here.

Registration for the 2019-2020 Little Athletics Season opens tomorrow Tuesday 20th August 2019.

For further information on registration check the LA Vic website

Little Athletics Victoria has released the full 2019-20 Season Calendar for track and field and cross country in 2020.

Season 2019-20 will see the Region Carnivals and State Championships for Relay events occur prior to Christmas.

The calendar also includes the dates Introduction to Coaching and Introduction to Officiating Courses. For anyone looking to begin coaching or officiating these are worthwhile doing.

On Wednesday 14th August at the Knox LAC Competition Committee meeting, clubs were assigned their responsibility for which events they are required to manage and provide chiefs officials each week. Every three years the clubs rotate to different events.

With the reduction of clubs this season from 11 to 8, the responsibility of providing Chief Officials has been spread across the remaining clubs. This has meant that a number of clubs have had the responsibility increased. For Wantirna LAC, this means that we are required to provide 2 Chief Officials per week.

For the the 2019-2020 season Wantirna LAC will be responsible for:

• Front Straight Marshalling (1 Chief each week)
• Discus and Shotput ( 1 Chief  required for two weeks of discus and 1 week of shot put)

For discus and shot put, this will be a three week rotation split between Discus and Shotput. Program A and B will be Discus and Program C  will be Shotput.

For those that are returning as Chief Officials or those that are a new Chief Official, there will be training on the 21st September 2019 on the morning of the Try Out Day.

We could always do with more Chief Officials at the club. Ideally the club would like a minimum 3 people that Chief front straight marshalling and 3 that would chief discus/shotput.

Anyone who is considering that they would like to be a Chief Official  and help out for these roles please contact the club.

Former Wantirna LAC athlete Brooke Stratton has recently been interviewed by Little Athletics Victoria on their Podcast – The Athletics Journey.

Beginning her little athletics career at Nunawading, Brooke and her family moved to Knox LAC, competing for Wantirna. Brooke has represented Australia on numerous occasions including at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and 2018 Commonwealth Games. Brooke currently holds the Australian Record for long jump.

You can watch the episode by clicking the link below

Episode 02. The Athletics Journey – Brooke Stratton