VLAA State Multi Championships - Day One

No running today, but LOADS of walking; running around (7.30am - 4pm). Today I was the Team Manager for the Werribee athletes who competed, all are pictured below, seven are from my squad. This picture was taken after all five events had been completed.

With age groups U9-U11; U12 girls competing today and I wanted to watch most of each five events of my seven kids. First up were the U10 boys which were Connor & Bailey, both boys threw a PB and both more than 2m, Bailey finished 2nd with 27+m and Connor nearly 15m. Below is Connor's first throw of 13m, which exceeded his PB and his next two also improved his PB.



Below is Maddie, U10 girl who finished 15th overall and PB in her LJ and 800m.



Not a great day for Teagan, not 100% fit, not 100% healthy and just had a bad day; her best event (hurdles) didn't even help too much today, lacking in rhythm and wrong leg leading...ended up 15th overall for the day, which was a good result considering.



The youngest of the group Demi, competed in her first Multi's and didn't have a great day, she struggled in the strong winds, her 100m & hurdle were seriously affected into the headwind, her discus was back a couple of metres but she tried her best. Her 800m (her best event) ended with a great result, 3:09 (2 sec off PB) and winning the second heat and moved up to overall 11th for the day. Below is Demi just prior to her race.



Bailey was experiencing his second state multi's, last year he finished 8th and his goal was finish in the top 5, which he did, 5th overall, which was great. A PB in discus, LJ, 1 sec off his 800m, in horrible conditions his hurdles and 100m were seriously affected, but he did manage a well controlled 800 and finished in 2:52.



Victoria (I missed her on my camera somehow) an U10 girl, wanted to experience her first State Champs and I suggested the more relaxed Multi's. Victoria can run a good 200 & 400, hurdles & discus are NOT a favorite event, but she agreed and had a GREAT day, five PBs and finished 13th overall.

Around Cup Day, Scott (U11) & Harley's (U14) parents approached me and asked if their son's could train with me for a few weeks to see how they enjoyed a structured training regime, after 3 weeks they asked if they could stay, which of course I was very happy with. Scottie loves to sprint and knew that the group were made up of predominantly distance runners, but he said he wanted to see improvement in those longer events, which was always going to be easy as control fixes most youngens. Two months later, he has improved his 800m by 9 seconds, his 1500 by more than 40 sec and his 400m by 4-5 sec. One day I noticed that he could throw a discus too, so the Multi idea grew one day before entries closed. He finished 6th in the State!

A great day for the training group here in Warrnambool and also in Werribee, one of the U13 girls who I predicted was about to get some very good PBs, ran a 15 sec PB in her 800m, crossing in 2:45, well done Elyse.