AARON’S WHYALLA GIFT FOR KEITH

34 year old Aaron Harrison scored the biggest win of his career by taking out the 2008 Whyalla Gift last Saturday night and, in doing so, dedicated the victory to the coach who was instrumental in his athletics career of nearly 20 years. Harrison, who was a placegetter in three Bay Sheffield finals in a row in the mid 1990s, surprised the athletics community and himself by holding on as frontmarker of the rich sprint, with 2004 Bay Sheffield champion Andrew Steele almost catching him on the line and 2007 Mt Gambier Gift winner Dale Woodhams finishing fast for 3^rd place. On the dais, an emotional tribute was paid to Keith Patching, Harrison’s former mentor who passed away this year after a battle with cancer. The Gift result sets the scene for a number of big races in the next few weeks, including the Reynella Gift (November 14), Mt Gambier Gift (November 29) and Bay Sheffield (December 28).

The Women’s Gift was a close affair, with another frontmarker Zoe Kennedy claiming the sash from Emma Hill and Tamzen Filer. The trio went into the race as the three favourites after showing good form at Flinders the week before. In the 400m Women’s race, last year’s Women’s 550m Bay Sheffield runner up and 1997 Camden Women’s Classic winner Kirsty Meekins was first across the line in front of the consistent Paige White and the up and coming Ali Trewartha.

Three outstanding youngsters showed their enormous potential at Whyalla, with Casey Whitaker (70m Novice), James Boden (300m Novice) and Kostya Khudoshin (800m Open) successful. Another young runner of note, Matthew Ferber continued his fine form over the longer distances by taking out the 1600m Open and therefore qualifying for the Bay Sheffield Selected Mile race.

In other races, veterans Mark Beveridge (400m Open), Debbie Roberts (300m Over 35s) and Bob Pearce (1600m Over 35s) made the 2008 Whyalla Gift Carnival one for them to remember.

RESULTS

120m Open Whyalla Gift 1st – Aaron Harrison (11.5m) 2nd – Andrew Steele (6.5m) 3rd – Dale Woodhams (5.25m) Time: 12.48secs	120m Women’s Gift 1st – Zoe Kennedy (15.5m) 2nd – Emma Hill (12.25m) 3rd – Tamzen Filer (8.0m) Time: 14.14secs	70m Novice 1st – Casey Whitaker (5.5m) 2nd – Alex Saliu (5.25m) 3rd – Simon Thompson (8.5m) Time: 7.76secs	300m Novice 1st – James Boden (16m) 2nd – Casey Whitaker (18m) 3rd – Jarrad Dartnall (29m) Time: 34.23secs
300m Over 35s 1st – Debbie Roberts (90m) 2nd – Ali Saliu (31m) 3rd – Ian Reddaway (66m) Time: 35.96secs	400m Open 1st – Mark Beveridge (41m) 2nd – Hayden Cook (22m) 3rd – Ben Crawford (41m) Time: 48.28secs	400m Women 1st – Kirsty Meekins (52m) 2nd – Paige White (45m) 3rd – Ali Trewartha (51m) Time: 54.94secs	800m Open 1st – Kostya Khudoshin (50m) 2nd – Matthew Fallon (70m) 3rd – Christopher Ross (60m) Time: 1min 52.39secs
1600m Open 1st – Matthew Ferber (110m) 2nd – Ben Crawford (160m) 3rd – Christopher Ross (175m) Time: 4mins 8.75secs	1600m Over 35s 1st – Bob Pearce (205m) 2nd – Gary Zeuner (185m) 3rd – Geoff Troiano (65m) Time: 4mins 51.00secs

Ryan Cox Is King of the Mountain

A scorching run from Adelaide based runner Ryan Cox gained him the title of King of the Mountain in the 2008 Amfit King of the Mountain Challenge at the Whyalla Gift/Food & Wine Fair on Saturday.

Run in perfect conditions the large field headed out the oval and onto Fisk Street led by Whyalla Football League Development Squad member Daniel Kriticos and Terence Murphy. Closely on their heels were 2006 winner Shane Thiele and Ryan Cox. Cox and Thiele gradually accelerated away from the other front runners to open up a one minute gap before the serious climb started.

The two front runners were locked together on the rough winding tracks all the way up the hill to the crest. It was on the way down that Cox made his move. Over the history of this race it has been proven that it’s not so much who can run fast up the mountain but who is prepared to take the most risk and run the fastest down the mountain. On this occasion it was Cox who stormed down at break neck speed to open up a gap of 40 seconds to Thiele by the time they were back on level ground with third placed Steve George some 3 minutes further back. These positions were maintained with Cox increasing the winning margin to one minute.

In the race for the Queen of the Mountain title, Port Pirie runner Alison Williams set a strong pace ahead of Whyalla’s most consistent distance athlete Mitchell Hoffman and Alicia Rabig. In the end it was Williams’s strong surge up the mountain allowed her to coast down and finish one minute ahead of her nearest rivals.
The Baron of the Mountain (first under 17 male) was a close run affair with Daniel Kriticos and Ciaran Hollingworth Hughes racing to the line together before Kriticos stepped over the line first to claim the title. Baroness of the Mountain title (first under 17 female) went to a former Whyalla resident Jessica Strawbridge with a strong finish.

In summary it was a great event, run in perfect conditions and congratulations must go to event organizers the Whyalla Harriers team and Events Whyalla.