MUAC tops the ladder at first AV Shield break
AV Shield Round 4
MUAC finds itself atop the ladder in Womens and Mens Division 1 at AV Shield after the first four rounds of the season. 45 MUAC athletes took to the windswept Aberfeldie track on Saturday, 1st November, braving the tumultuous conditions, with strong winds and occasional hail storms testing the competitors. The wind was strong enough to force the cancellation of the hammer and make the front straight feel like a sizeable hill. With such a strong turnout, the MUAC teams performed impressively, with the Division 1 Women claiming 1st to regain top spot on the ladder. The Division 1 Men suffered their first loss of the season, to the home side, Essendon, but the 2nd place will keep them firmly atop the ladder and in prime spot to qualify for the Shield Final. The MUAC women bounced back from Round 3 to fill all scoring positions in five events (200m, 800m, 3000m, High Jump, Shot Put) and the relay, leaving only five scoring spots unfilled (2 in the hurdles and walk and one in the triple jump). The MUAC men were one event back filling all scoring positions in four events (200m, 800m, 3000m and Shot Put). A dearth of high jumpers and triple jumpers was all that stood between the team and a
fourth consecutive victory. Well done to the relay runners (Ellen Schaef, Rachel Painter, Laura Constable, Al Bryant Smith, Anthony Woodward, Benjamin Guo, Junkers Zhou, Hamish Beaumont, Max Ueda, Leigh Goedecke, Nick Earl and Ian Lawford) who jumped in at the last minute to fill our relay teams for valuable points. Many thanks must go to the volunteers who helped out at the high jump in terrible conditions, especially Pete Gaukrodger, who did two long stints. The wild weather brought some strange sights including Sandro Bisetto’s high jumpers all running 800m races. MUAC’s victors on the day were Ellen Schaef in the 3000m, Sean Oaks in the Shot Put and Genevieve Lawrence in the High Jump. Stefan Urosevic, Jack Stanovsek and Daniele Zanzi made their debut for MUAC on what was assuredly not a standard day at Aberfeldie. MUAC athletes will return to action for Round 5 of AV Shield on Saturday, 15th November at Werribee.