About Me

My photo
The older I get the better I was... but after many years of idle burrowing the candle of desire is still burning and I have come to realise that running is as much a part of me as my heart and lungs... In Christmas 2008 I was 82kg and was not running a step..This is my journey , the journey of the wombat...Dogged...determined...persistent...and maybe a little grumpy.. but like the wombat my journey is territorial, its about running and I am going to work to protect it...Come along for the ride and see if I can become the wombat warrior. 2009 was a mixed bag for the wombat's journey.A top ten placing in both the Bridges and the City Surf brought a small sense of achievement but also a degree of frustration.... I think I can do better and better I will in 2010. A better run in the Busso Half iron man in support of TV in his swim and bike ride and that was about the extent of my racing. Lets see what happens in 2010 as "My journey Continues". Now in 2011 the wombat will continue his journey, but not alone the wombat has a youngling who knows how to dig. 2015 and its a new beginning , time goes on and the journey to the 2016 World Masters is under way.

Saturday, July 4, 2015

All Schools 3 man X 3km 2km 1km relay Guildford Grammar

The final all schools event prior to the close of term was, for me, the highlight of the PSA Cross Country competition to date and the teams, in particular our first relay team, are to be congratulated on one of the most impressive runs, as a team that I have seen in a very long time.



This relays format, introduced for the first time by Guildford this year and laid out over the expanse of playfields is the closest thing to we currently have, in a running sense, that even comes close to winning the Head of the River. The boys, in teams of three, each completed a 3km leg. At the end of their leg they waited for their team mates to complete their 3km leg and then they started the 2km legs. At the conclusion of the 2km legs they then completed the 1km legs thus each boys ran 6 km staggered into sections of 3k, 2k and 1k.
Individually I have seen some fantastic runs over the years by Guildford boys, the assistant coach Jackson Passeri ran a few of these however, Thursday’s was an absolute standout for me as a coach in the time that  I have been involved with the Guilford squad.
So why was this relay above and beyond?
The boys were up against some very strong teams and on paper, our first team was not the fastest team out there. I use the work fastest deliberately, because today they showed, along with our other teams that contested this event that they were the STRONGEST and there is a difference. 
In the first 3km leg Bailey Gillam put our guys into a great position, Ben Armstrong capitalised on this and Declan White ( captain) used this to bring on his A game.
During the 2km legs these three boys lifted again, and got within shouting distance of the Wesley with Hale and Trinity chasing hard. Each of them gave 110% not just for themselves but for their team mates. The effect that their race had on the rest of the team was like throwing a rock into a pond and watching the impact the ripples has on the rest of the pond.
The 1km leg was inspirational and I'll explain why, not one of the boys wanted to the one who lost the race. ( I Know this feeling, As a runner I’ve  been there and it takes you to a place that you never knew existed within your physical endurance ) not one of the boys wanted to be the one who had to touch in second and because of that they dug deeper than we’ve seen them dig before.

Gillam headed out in the lead with Wesley chasing hard, again on paper this lad was faster than Gillam and he did close him down BUT Gillam did not let him go, he dug and he hung on, in the final 200m he dug deeper and powered over the top of the Wesley runner and gapped him, not because he was the fastest but because he was the STRONGEST. 
Armstrong was spent with still 641m of running to go, he was buoyed by his teammates who were still out on the course and as they lifted him he lifted them. I could see that Armstrong was running on empty everything about his form told me that but he stayed tall AND he hung on and he dug and he gave up absolutely no ground to Wesley, Hale or Trinity. He demonstrated to the boys that he was committed to the team. When he crossed that line he have nothing left, Mr Armstrong ran on pure guts for the final 641m and that takes courage and having completed his role is setting the stage for the final 1km leg he ‘feed the crows’ in between trying to breath.

White, what can I say about this run and what could his team ask for from their captain. He played a big role in his team's win today and he went out pumped. He gapped the Wesley runner, the Hale runner and the Trinity runner on the final leg and did not let down either Armstrong or Gillam. He anchored an absolutely inspirational line honour win in the toughest relay on the program
While we did not win the competition , we won the race. The victory was earned by them but shared by the 40 other boys who ran for the G today and every Guildford spectator who was on the course.
Mr Webber, was even excited when he saw the team hit the lead and it was fantastic to have the schools head witness the teams finest moment to date.

Our second team, 19th over the line was just as impressive, Marcel Niutta (Vice), Nick Rollo and Cameron Adams all opened their accounts for the day with impressive 3km legs of 10:52, 10:37 and 10:43 respectively and Niutta’s final 3min 48sec 1km over testing and undulating was fantastic however to see Adams open up his stride and accelerate with 400m to go prior to taking as he surged past runners was awe inspiring, while Nick Rollo’s methodical decimation of anyone who got within sniffing distance in the closing stages of his leg also helped left our younger runners.
The consistency of our 5 teams was to be applauded and once again new comers to the team Sam Simba, Aiden McLaughlin, Jake Manolini, Health Collins and Jack Grant raised the bar once again in terms of intestinal fortitude.

Over the first 3km leg the boys splits, including those not named in teams were ranked as:

Name
3km Leg
Declan White
0:10:10
Benjamin Armstrong
0:10:19
Bailey Gillam
0:10:25
Nicholas Rollo
0:10:37
Cameron Adams
0:10:43
Marcel Niutta
0:10:52
Dylan Foppa
0:11:29
Rory Adams
0:11:46
Samuel Sibma
0:11:47
Heath Collins
0:11:48
Aiden McLaughlin
0:11:55
Jake Manolini
0:11:59
Jack Grant
0:12:06
Blake Hillier
0:12:12
Sebastian Boyd
0:12:15
Cameron Miles
0:13:10
Wei Ngo
0:13:10
Jack McLean
0:13:34
Henry van den Wall Bake
0:13:40
Gabriel Boyd
0:14:07
Thomas Gregory
0:14:23
Thomas Schoenauer
0:17:52
Daniel Brecich
0:18:23
Liam Cowie
0:20:02
James Holmes
0:22:44

The 2km splits for the boys ,those in teams were:

 Name
2km
Declan White
0:07:10
Bailey Gillam
0:07:13
Benjamin Armstrong
0:07:14
Cameron Adams
0:07:40
Marcel Niutta
0:07:42
Heath Collins
0:08:04
Nicholas Rollo
0:08:06
Dylan Foppa
0:08:07
Rory Adams
0:08:21
Aiden McLaughlin
0:08:24
Samuel Sibma
0:08:27
Jack Grant
0:08:33
Jake Manolini
0:08:45
Sebastian Boyd
0:08:52
Blake Hillier
0:08:54

At this point in time we do not have the 1km splits available
Our first relay’s team celebrate in the knowledge that we have not seen the Guildford cross country team take line honours in a relay (and the toughest one ever contested) in my time as a coach. Their victory today lifted the other lads   and resulted in the squad picking up 2 bonus points and finishing within 6 points of Scotch and narrowly missing 5th place. Today's result has moved the squad into the realm of being the most successful I have been involved in.
I hope our boys  enjoy the feeling of victory because I know how hard they have  worked for it. Enjoy your holiday break and thank you for the opportunity to watch a fantastic group of lads, run an incredible race and take a wonderful victory, not because they were the fastest but because they were the STRONGEST, STRONGEST of mind, STRONGEST of character and STRONGEST of fortitude. Today they demonstrated what it means to run in a team.
Congratulations to all the boys who ran today and contributed to a wonder team result.
The teams for the day comprised:
Team A
Line Honours 1st Place
Declan White
Bailey Gillam
Ben Armstrong

   
Team B
19th Place
Cameron Adams
Nick Rollo
Marcel Niutta
Team C
29th Place
Heath Collins
Dylan Foppa
Rory Adams
Team D
34th Place
Sebastian Boyd
Blake Hillier
Aiden McLaughlin
Team E
33rd Place
Sam Simba
Jake Manolini
Jack Grant

PSA 5 man x 3km 26th June at Trinity Playing Fields

This morning’s race was both exciting and highly competitive. For a number of the team, this was their first experience of an all schools relay event, others it was just another day at the office.


The PSA relays are, in some ways a logistical nightmare in that the teams are named, the boys are given an order and then once the race begins anything goes.  In Guildford’s case we named 5 teams for the event. Each team was made up of 5 boys and the relay format, over the shorter distance, provided an opportunity to blood some of our younger runners.



The runners in the first leg have the most competitive race in terms of having to work to hold their positons. This comes about because every runner who is not named in an official team also runs the first leg. The second leg runners don’t wait for their runner to return they simply start when they are tagged by a Guildford runner as he crossed the line in finishing order regardless of team.  This morning we saw this occur in two teams.

Declan White was our first runner over the line and had the first team into 4th positon after an extremely aggressive of 9minutes  45seconds (50 seconds quicker than his time last year over a very similar Trinity course). He changed with Liam Stacey.


Nick Rollo, in the second team, was next over the line for Guildford, and he also tagged with his designated team mate, Marcel Niutta, after an impressive 10 minute  25sec

In our third team Henry Van Den Bake was the first runner however Blake Hillier 11min 37sec, 32 seconds quicker than last year), who had returned from illness managed to work his way through the field to be our next runner over the line so he tagged Sebastian Boyd.

Jack Grant was the first runner for team four and was also the 4th Guildford runner over the line in 11min 40 sec and he tagged Jack McLean.

In the case of our final team Guy Taylor was named as the first runner however he was beaten in by Wei Ngo (12 min 17 seconds/ 2min 41 secs quicker than 2014)  and both these runners managed to stay ahead of Henry Van den Bake ( Henry was carrying a mild chest cold that made breathing difficult). So Wei   then tagged Liam Cowie.

From this point, the teams tend to hold true to their original orders.

The coaches notes and split times tends to look like a huge mess,  however , having worked with Darryl White as his assistant previously Jackson and I managed to keep things running smoothly, while Dene Lampard managed runners after their legs.


 Our first team run magnificently and gave us one of our highest  overall places for this event. Through the strong combined running  of Liam Stacey (10:18), Ben Armstrong (10:11) and Bailey Gillam (9:59) the boys worked themselves up into 4th place however with Trinity closer to Cameron that a travel agents fridge magnet and Aquinas coming through like a freight train  after taking the gamble to run their faster runners last Cameron had his work cut out for him. This being said, Cameron run a 10 minute 20 second leg ( 11 seconds quicker than last year ) to give the lads a well-earned 7th place.


Team 1
Name
Line Time
Split
Pace/km
1
Declan White
0:09:45
0:09:45
3:15
2
Liam Stacey
0:20:03
0:10:18
3:26
3
Ben Armstrong
0:30:14
0:10:11
3:24
4
Bailey Gillam
0:40:13
0:09:59
3:20
5
Cameron Adams
0:50:33
0:10:20
3:27

Our second team, which consisted of two year 7s who were new to the squad, were just as impressive. After Nick Rollo and Marcel Niutta’s great start (10:25 and 10:32 respectively) young Heath Collins took to the field with a sizzling 11:09. Rory Adams followed this up with an 11:19 with both boys running against much older competitors and clearly demonstrating that they both have big hearts and plenty of competitive spirit. Dylan Foppa was the last runner for this team and crossed the line for 20th place with a leg of 11min 9 sec. In 2014 our second team placed 18th however the boys collective time of 54 min 32 seconds would have placed them 13th  in last year’s race. Another clear indicator of the competitiveness levels that the PSA XC has now risen too.

Team 2
Name
Line Time
Split
Pace/km
1
Nick Rollo
0:10:25
0:10:25
3:28
2
Marcel Niutta
0:20:57
0:10:32
3:31
3
Heath Collins
0:32:05
0:11:08
3:43
4
Rory Adams
0:43:24
0:11:19
3:46
5
Dylan Foppa
0:54:33
0:11:09
3:43

Guildford’s third team over the line today managed to take out 24th place, one better than last year and , like our second team, their combined time of 59min 36 seconds would have placed them 20th.  Blake Hillier opened the account with a solid 11min 37 sec and as mentioned earlier forced his way into a position to have an impact on the race,  passed over to Sebastian Boyd, who has come into his own over the last few weeks, for an 11min 34 sec leg which saw him close a 250m gap on the Wesley runner before handing over to two more of our year 7 quartet Jake Manolini and Jack Spark. Both boys were was rock solid today having got stuck in no man’s land and recorded solid  times of 12:03 and 12:04 respectively. Aiden McLaughlin brought this team home with a solo 12min 18 sec run. 

Team 3
Name
Line Time
Split
Pace/km
1
Blake Hillier
0:11:37
0:11:37
3:52
2
Sebastian Boyd
0:23:11
0:11:34
3:51
3
Jake Manolini
0:35:14
0:12:03
4:01
4
Jack Spark
0:47:18
0:12:04
4:01
5
Aiden McLaughlin
0:59:36
0:12:18
4:06

Our final two teams finished 27th and 28th respectively with both finishing better than our 4th team in 2014 which placed 29th

Team 4
Name
Line Time
Split
Pace/km
1
Jack Grant
0:11:40
0:11:40
3:53
2
Jack McClean
0:24:46
0:13:06
4:22
3
Sam Simba
0:36:33
0:11:47
3:56
4
Bailey Bartholomeusz
0:48:56
0:12:23
4:08
5
Cameron Miles
1:01:28
0:12:32
4:11

Team 5
Name
Line Time
Split
Pace/km
1
Wei Ngo
0:12:17
0:12:17
4:06
2
Liam Cowie
0:27:01
0:14:44
4:55
3
Gabriel Boyd
0:40:41
0:13:40
4:33
4
Thomas Schoneuer
0:55:53
0:15:12
5:04
5
Caden Alexander
1:08:33
0:12:40
4:13

In the PSA competition it’s the first 15 boys that count for points so in the case of the 5 man relays it’s a schools first three teams over the line that count for points. The question then begs, why run more than teams? The reason being that this is a way in which you can push other teams back by finishing ahead of their point scoring teams. When you look at the places of the teams below you can see how this can work.   


All Schools 5 man by 3km Relay at Trinity
Position
Name
Time
1
Hale
0:49:12
2
Scotch
0:49:20
3
Aquinas
0:49:26
4
Trinity
0:49:59
5
Aquinas
0:50:03
6
Aquinas
0:50:16
7
Guildford
0:50:32
8
Trinity
0:50:58
9
Hale
0:51:02
10
Trinity
0:51:13
11
Wesley
0:51:41
12
Hale
0:52:24
13
Christ Church
0:52:30
14
Wesley
0:52:34
15
Wesley
0:52:37
16
Scotch
0:52:42
17
Christ Church
0:52:58
18
Christ Church
0:53:15
19
Aquinas
0:54:08
20
Guildford
0:54:32
21
Scotch
0:55:35
22
Aquinas
0:56:11
23
Wesley
0:58:42
24
Guildford
0:59:35
25
Scotch
1:00:36
26
Scotch
1:00:46
27
Guildford
1:01:27
28
Guildford
1:08:32

School
Points
Place
AC
(3-5-6)                    14
1
H
(1-9-12)                  22
2
TC
(4-8-10)                  22
3
SC
(2-16-21)                39
4
WC
(11-14-15)              40
5
CC
(13-17-18)             48
6
GG
(7-20-24)              51
7

It was fantastic to see the boys again giving 110% for their teams and leaving nothing in the tank in getting to the line. The leadership team again did  fantastic job of getting the team to collectively give it their all and their war cry was heard across the field today as they came in for their captains’ last minute instructions.


Below is the rank times for the boys that ran today. I have indicated a time for them if they ran last year over this course, as a gauge of the improvement they have made. I must apologise to the boys where there was no time provided (NTP). While I focused on getting split times for the relays teams, I assumed (wrongly) that blue chip would have picked up the first runners times as they crossed the line and this was not the case. These times may appear on the Blue Chip website later in which case I will inform the boys.

Of the 13 boys who ran last year, 12 ran times better than last year and 1 ran a time equal to that of last year ( Bailey Bartholomeusz who has had a season troubled by a chest infection finished spent today but looked so much more in control at the end of the race)

Guildford Individual Times All Schools 5man x 3km Trinity
Team Rank
Name
Line Time 2015
2015 Leg Split
2014 time
Pace/km
1
Declan White
0:09:45
0:09:45
0:10:47
3:25
2
Bailey Gillam
0:40:13
0:09:59

3:30
3
Ben Armstrong
0:30:14
0:10:11

3:34
4
Liam Stacey
0:20:03
0:10:18
0:11:00
3:37
5
Cameron Adams
0:50:33
0:10:20
0:10:31
3:38
6
Nick Rollo
0:10:25
0:10:25
0:11:01
3:39
7
Marcel Niutta
0:20:57
0:10:32
0:11:42
3:42
8
Heath Collins
0:32:05
0:11:08

3:54
9
Dylan Foppa
0:54:33
0:11:09

3:55
10
Rory Adams
0:43:24
0:11:19

3:58
11
Sebastian Boyd
0:23:11
0:11:34
0:13:54
4:04
12
Blake Hillier
0:11:37
0:11:37
0:12:09
4:05
13
Jack Grant
0:11:40
0:11:40

4:06
14
Sam Simba
0:36:33
0:11:47

4:08
15
Jake Manolini
0:35:14
0:12:03

4:14
16
Jack Spark
0:47:18
0:12:04

4:14
17
Wei Ngo
0:12:17
0:12:17
0:14:31
4:19
18
Aiden McLaughlin
0:59:36
0:12:18

4:19
19
Bailey Bartholomeusz
0:48:56
0:12:23
0:12:23
4:21
20
Henry Van Den Bake
0:12:32
0:12:32
0:13:45
4:24
21
Cameron Miles
1:01:28
0:12:32
0:13:44
4:24
22
Caden Alexander
1:08:33
0:12:40

4:27
23
Jack McClean
0:24:46
0:13:06

4:36
24
Gabriel Boyd
0:40:41
0:13:40
0:14:45
4:48
25
Liam Cowie
0:27:01
0:14:44

5:10
26
Thomas Schoneuer
0:55:53
0:15:12
0:17:23
5:20

Guy Taylor
NTP




David Ashenden
NTP




Daniel Brecich
NTP




James Holmes
NTP