Recent Results
BEACH SPRINT CAPTAIN ANNUAL 2006/07 REPORT
A big finish for the sprint team, following a difficult season. We gained some great new talent, which will fill the gaps caused when some of the team had to drop out due to work and study commitments. In addition, a number of competitors from other sections in the Club stepped up to the plate in sprint events to have a go and boost the Club pointscore in different championships.
Our senior ranks were a bit thin this season, with the loss of Anthony Bradstreet, Pat Delaney, Morgan Burrett, Shelley Fletcher, Sarah Burns, Sara Rathborne and Nicole Fullbrook. Toby Ryston-Pratt was also unable to give his full attention to the team with ongoing work commitments. That said, Holly Teu and Nicole Robb battled on in the girls, and some of our U/17 men ran in Open events to show the Sky Blue cap in action.
In the U/19s we only had Giselle Mason-Dorrity on deck, and she was only able to compete up until State, as was Nicole Robb in the Opens. As the Club knows, both these girls are outstanding young people, and we hope they will stay involved in competition for our Club. Our U/15s and U/17s stepped up to U/19s on many occasions with excellent results, and valuable experience gained.
In the U/17s, things were looking better, with the “Dream Team” of Sam Tier, Michael Mulcahy, Matt McCann and Richard Hooper still together, as well as the return of gun Jess Langrell. They were helped out during the season by water competitors such as Flo Epper, Sarah and Fiona Knapman and Emma Davey, and the “Bradburys” Daniel Alley, Tyson Beckman, Luke Hanson, Adam Crerar, and Jack Farley.
The U/15s had new talent with the arrival of Matt White and Erick Calderon. They combined with Michael Hooper and Nick Mulcahy to form another champion Manly team. All four runners have big futures if they continue to put the effort in. While only Kate O’Shea backed up out of last seasons U/15 girls team, she had plenty of help from Oatley Baldwin, Polly Williams, Jacqui Mooy, Sarah Keelan, Eliza Davey and other water competitors. Oatley, Polly, Jacqui, Sarah and Trent Klouzal trained with the sprinters on a number of occasions, and reaped the benefits in both beach events and their own events where running is involved. That Kate gave up her beach relay in Perth to help another team shows what a great young competitor she is.
Masters were thin on the ground again this season, with only Jo Redmond gaining any success at State with 2nd in the 45-49 sprint and 3rd in the flags.
Our sprint team did it tough in the lead up to State and Nationals. We had Michael Mulcahy in Intensive Care with a burst appendix, Matt White with a serious viral infection, and a handful of the usual injury worries that go with training to be champion sprinters. Michael was eased back into training and competition, in consultation with his doctors. He had to forgo the sprints, which he had been a big chance to win, and it was a close thing for him to even run relays. Matt made a courageous comeback as well, but was still underdone in the championships. Nicole Robb was troubled by recurring injury, but gamely did her best as always. The end results speak volumes for the tenacity and determination of the whole team.
We started the season well, with Jess Langrell winning the NSW Endurance championship in the Open 5km run in November at age 17, her very first competition run after serious injury last year. (Adam Watson won the U/17 5km run the same day.)
Branch was a good hit out for those of the team able to run, as shown in the Results section. State was another example of the willingness to battle in the face of adversity, with 2 individuals and 4 teams making finals for two gold and two silver medals. Everyone did their best under trying circumstances, and that effort set things up for the big Titles in Perth. (A full list of the teams results are in the Competition Results section of this Annual Report.)
The Nationals descended into farce very early with the SLSA changing the days of sprint competition in late December with no notification. This caused huge upsets to the travel and leave plans of many athletes, and led to the withdrawal of a number of our sprint competitors, and many from Clubs around the country. Despite claims of consultation, the contempt shown for the athletes continues at the top. This is in marked contrast to the hardworking marshals, judges and officials on the ground at the National titles who do their best every year for the volunteer life savers competing at the Titles.
The final day of the titles saw the sprint competitors kept in the sun in the marshalling area for nearly three hours, as TV coverage was allowed to dictate when and if a semi or final would start. Competitors could not leave the area, in case their race was suddenly put on. To top off this idiocy, not one beach relay, nor any U/19, U/17 or U/15 race of any kind, beach or water, was shown in the eventual TV package. Our country can run the Commonwealth Games and Olympic track programs to the minute; yet looking after the beach sprints seems beyond some in the SLSA.
Topping this off in Perth was the loss of gun Open runner Holly Teu, Australia’s fastest mother. Holly had trained the house down during the season, and was a big chance of winning her sprint, until injury in the quarter finals stopped the dream. That loss left an early cloud over the sprint team, as we had had such a difficult lead up to Perth, and we all shared Holly’s hopes for success for the Sky Blue cap.
Fortunately, spirits were lifted on the last day of the titles. We got 2 individuals (Michael Hooper and Nick Mulcahy), and 6 teams into finals, for two gold and one silver medal, and 26 points in the pointscore. (Full details are in the Results section). In addition, Jess Langrell ran in the U/17 Cameron relay, and picked up a bronze medal. The highlights were obviously the three relay medals, gold in the Men’s U/15 and U/17 relays, and silver in the Men’s U/19 relay, with one 14 year old and three 16 year old sprinters making up the team. The day was made even better by the view our supporters had of the relays. The managers, competitors and parents had filled one of the seawall “battlements” on Scarborough beach, with a great view over the whole sprint area. They were able to watch as the Manly runners took on the best our nation has to offer and came away with the goods. To finish the Australian Titles on these high notes had the whole Club buzzing, and the post-Nationals function was a great celebration.
Obviously there have been many other highlights to this past season. The biggest one is the heart shown by everyone in the sprint team when the going got tough. Others outside the Nationals were Michael Hooper’s 2nd at State in the U/15 sprint, and our team winning the U/15 and U/19 Men’s relays there as well, Michael Mulcahy 2nd overall in the NSW Premiership Open sprint at age 17 and many more. The bottom line is that we overcame the disasters, did our best for Manly and enjoyed the success that brings.
The amount of time, effort and money that went into the sprint team this past season was huge. As work and study commitments affected many runners, training was often on for someone somewhere nearly every day, on top of the main training times, leading to a very big coaching workload. The runners themselves did patrols, helped with Club fundraising, studied, worked, trained, competed, still managed to get some sleep, and most importantly party hard when it was due. Our whole Club Committee was very supportive, as were the parents of our team members. Many parents took on the trip to Perth to see the team win a stack of medals, in addition to getting them to and from training and carnivals.
Financially, we were helped by Club and team sponsors including my company, which outfitted the team, and helped with costs to Perth. Cynthia Alley and Deb Hanson did a fantastic job with entries and organization, and a special thanks to them for all their work and support. Daniel Mulcahy and Al Tier did more than their share for the sprinters, and didn’t need oxygen during the relay finals at State or Nationals.
Thanks to everyone involved in the success of the team, not least the runners themselves. I’m proud of our sprint team, and I know the Club is as well.
Ben Wotton
Beach Sprint Captain/Coach
