Illawarra Blue Stars

Illawarra Blue Stars will commence the 2009-2010 summer track and field season, Sunday 20th September, at 2.30p.m. with former and new members are urged to attend. Registrations for the new season will be taken, along with uniform orders.

Don't forget to bring your spikes ready to compete, as we will also be conducting events. Official point score will commence the following Sunday 27th September, and remember, if you cant make it for the opening day, registrations can be be taken anytime during the season. All athletes will have to re register, including the winter athletes, as Registrations have now change and will go from September 2009 to August 2010.

Blue Stars this season will be conducting a four round series with the 5km run to be on the program, along with hurdles and hammer, This allows all events to be conducted, and will give our distance athletes the same opportunity to score points as all others. With more and more distance people joining up , we hope these events are well patronised.

Summer Season Information

This year we have had to endorse and comply with the new Beaton Park Policy. Only athletes,and officials will be allowed inside the perimeter fence of the track and officials must stay for the duration of the whole event or have somebody relieve them if they need to go. Nobody will be allowed on the track otherwise and that includes coaches. This is the Beaton Park Policy and as a tennant, we are bound to abide by this.

All members, supporters etc... must come through the Beaton Park foyer and the following fees will apply:

Adult Athlete - $4.70
Child Athlete - $2.60
Concession - $2.60
Spectator - $0.70c

New Ground Policy and Council Fee structure

The World Masters Athletics Championships
got underway last week in Lahti, Finland and
three representatives from IBS were part of
the action. Gianna Mogentale, Annette
Mead and Donna Hiscox .

After qualifying third fastest for the final of the
W45 100m, Gianna took out Bronze in a time
just outside her own National record. Suffering
all week with a bout of influenza, Gianna also
picked up Bronze in the 200m and 400m, then
backed up to win Gold as part of the W40
4x100m and 4x400m Relay teams.

Competing at her first World Championships, Annette ran well in her 100m
heat but unfortunately missed out on making the final in the W50 division. The experience she gained held her in good stead when she contested the 200m sprint running a good time to finish 12th overall.

Donna contested the 400m Hurdles and 400m. After recently undergoing knee surgery, Donna could have been excused for losing heart but she ran well to finish 8th in the final of the 400m Hurdles and 16th overall in the 400m. Donna also participated in the W35 Relay teams for the 4x100m & 4x400m, placing 4th and 5th respectively in each event.

World Masters Championships

Josh Kentwell has been selected in the NSW All Schools team to contest the National Cross Country Championships in Nowra later this month.

An accomplished middle distance runner, the talented 13yo from Dapto has really come of age this season and earned his spot with an excellent 4th place finish at the NSW All Schools Championships in Eastern Creek. This result came on the back of his win in the Catholic Schools Championships and an 11th place finish in the ANSW Championships .

This will be Josh's 2nd time at Nationals after competing last season in Melbourne.

Josh will enjoy a "home ground advantage" of sorts with the Championships to be contested at the Wilandra Course in Nowra, a course he has competed on many times before.

Young Star off to National Championships

Next Sunday will see the club commence the first round of the Winter Track and Field season, to be held on the newly named Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre (Beaton Park).

The Winter Series is open to all age athletes from under 8 right through to Masters men and women, commencing at 10.00 am. The winter series is the ideal preparation for schools carnivals and athletes going overseas, whilst it is also used for off season preparation.

See Program or IBS Calendar for all events. Registrations will also be taken on these days.

First Winter Track & Field Series

18.05.09

Perfect weather made an ideal day for the club’s opening of the winter cross country season. Held on the Stuart Park course, athletes contested 2.5km and 5kms with Bruce Steele finishing in 1st spot over the shorter distance from wife Julie, with Melanie Foster fighting off Mark Haber to take out the longer distance. 2nd round of cross country will be held on Sunday 7 June over the Bulli Course - a varying course of beach, hills and grass. See IBS Calendar for dates or Program for full cross country season. Registrations will be taken at all cross country meets.

Cross Country commences in Brilliant Sunshine

18.05.09

Blue Stars recently held the club’s Annual General Meeting with the Board of Management elected to take the club into the 2009-2010 season.

The following people have been elected and it is great to see new faces prepared to put up their hands to serve on the club’s Board.

New members to the Executive are Rick Oswald taking over the role of Vice President and Anne Grimm making her debut onto the Board .

Melanie Foster will become a member of Sub Committees and has recently taken on the role on the Cross Country Committee.

Board Members will be assigned their portfolios at the next June Meeting.

Blue Stars Elect Board of Management

President:
Vice President:
Secretary:
Treasurer:

Public Officer:

Sue Sundstrom
Rick Oswald
Valmai Loomes
Bruce Steele

John Munro

Blue Stars, for the second year in a row, have been awarded Gold Status for an athletic club by Athletics NSW. Based on Membership, Administration, Competition and Events, Coaching and Officiating and Marketing and Promotions, the club scored the second highest points in the whole of NSW, behind only Asics Wests. Blue Stars scored the maximum points for Marketing and Promotion, scored 27 out of a possible 30 for Membership, and we were well up in the three other divisions. Only 6 clubs have been awarded Gold status with 5 being awarded silver and 7 scoring the bronze status. The award has been based on the 2007-08 season, with club administrators confident that the club will secure Gold status again for the 2008-09 season, when all documents are finalised later this year.

The average score for clubs was 50.94, the median score being 53.5 and Illawarra Blue Stars scoring a well deserved 75, giving us 2nd placing, a move up the ladder from 4th for the season 2006-07.

Blue Stars Awarded Gold Status

Sprinters Gianna Mogentale and Annette Mead will travel to Finland with hurdler/400 runner, Donna Hiscox to tackle the best in the world in Masters competition, commencing in August. Missing from the IBS Squad is field games exponent, Mary Thomas who has chosen to stay at home and prepare for the World Masters in Sydney later in October. Both Mead and Hiscox will be making their debut, whilst Mogentale will enter for her fourth World Masters Championships. All athletes are preparing well and are on target for some top performances in Finland. I, Valmai Loomes, have been asked on many occasions the difference between the two titles. The Championships in Finland are the highest of championships that the Masters can contest and are conducted only for athletics and conducted by the World Masters Association. The titles in Sydney are conducted by a separate organisation, conducting events in all sports for masters competitors. Many of the club’s masters’ athletes have entered for these titles, an ideal way to open up your career on a world stage.

Masters Prepare for World Championships

Four of the clubs masters high Achievers, John Van Stappen, Max McKay, Elvire Asprey and Gianna Mogentale have been honoured by NSW Masters at the recent Presentation Day, where a number of awards were acknowledged.

John Van Stappen received the Award as Best at Country Championships, while Max McKay won the Marcus Tooley Award as best in the 80-89 division.

Gianna came home with two awards, Top Female at the State titles and Top Female Sprinter for her age bracket, whilst Elvire won her first State Award to be awarded best in her age bracket.

Masters Score High Awards

The Masters Awards are a little different to many we are used to and are judged very differently, with the country award eliminating an athlete who has won the state award as being named the country athlete also.

The Masters Club will hold its Annual General Meeting this Sunday and a review of all Awards will be high on the agenda, with many believing it’s long overdue.

The Board of Illawarra Blue Stars have decided that more distance events will be conducted by the club in the summer season to enable the club to conduct a series of events that will cater for events from 800m, 1500m, 3km, steeplechase and the added 5km. With an increasing number of athletes competing in these events, this will give distance athletes the same opportunity as the sprinter to contest a distance event each week. It is also hoped that some of these events will be handicapped to enable all athletes to have hard hit outs to reach their full potential.

More Distance Events in to be added in Summer

Melanie Foster selected a tough, challenging run when she designed the now “famous Mt. Kembla run. Recently conducted as part of the Sunday cross country program, the Mount Kembla run offered a great challenge to everyone taking part but at the end of the day, each and every athlete said they enjoyed the run and the challenge. Troy Sundstrom took on the challenge with open arms, and completed the circuit of up and down hills to run the 10km, while most opted for the 2 circuit of 4km. Climbing all the way, the 1km up hill was hard in itself, but many saw the challenge of coming back down, just as much a challenge.

Mel Selects Good Course

Schoolboy/Girl athletes are reminded that the popular Illawarra All Schools will be held on Sunday 23 August, the ideal time to prepare for the combined High and Primary Schools track Carnivals. Entry forms are now available from Beaton Park and also on our web site and athletes are encouraged to ensure their entries are in as quickly as possible. It is hoped that the All Schools will be granted Athletics NSW Permit, thus enabling athletes to record times and distances acceptable for Australian Titles., thus giving the carnival the added bonus of full permit status.

Click here to download a copy of the Entry Form.

Reminder of All Schools

Mark this down on your calendar, the NSW Country titles will be held this season in Wollongong on the Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre (formerly Beaton Park) That means NO travel this season!! The Championships will be held on 16th and 17th January 2010.

NSW Country Championships

The recent Illawarra All Schools Carnival was a great success with many of our members and potential members performing really well.

Some notable performances came from Talissa Scott, Matt Lee and Emily Debrot. Talissa broke three meet records in the 16yrs girls (100m, 200m & Long Jump), Matt broke two records in the 16yrs boys (100m & 200m) and Emily broke one record in the Open division (Javelin).

Congratulations to Tara Bain, Josh Kentwell, Abbie Taddeo, Ben Hollingsworth, Talissa Scott and Caiti Takacs who were crowned Champions of their resepective age divisions.

We'd also like to acknowledge the great job our officials did to provide a quality carnival that has now gained permit status with Athletics NSW.

Illawarra All Schools

Blue Star athletes who were brave enough to come to the Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre on Sunday 27 September must have thought they were back in the winter months. Cold, terrible winds prevailed for the opening of the summer track and field season, but athletes put in some fine performances in weather that could only be described as dismal.

The first round of point score competition was conducted but the postponement of the hammer for Round 1 was due to the continual winds that surrounded the track and officials making a decision of the event being too dangerous.

Second round of Point Score will be held on Sunday 11 October with members having the long weekend off. Athletes are reminded that registrations are now open and will be all season, with athletes having to register for the season 2009-2010. All winter athletes are also reminded if they intend to compete in the summer season, a new registration is required.

Blue Stars off to a Wintery Start

A large contingent of Blue Stars ' Masters will head off to Homebush next week for the track and field series of the largest games to be held in NSW. An expectance of over 20,000 athletes will move into the Sydney Olympic sites to contest a number of sporting events including our own track and field. Three of the clubs ' athletes will back up from the World Titles in Finland including Gianna Mogentale, Donna Hiscox and Annette Mead but they will team with their club members, some making their first appearance at international level, others like Mary Thomas backing up for one of her many title event challenges. The oldest members in the womens, Elvire will compete as with Max McKay in the mens. We wish all the athletes the very best of luck and stay turned for results.

Masters off to World Games

01.1009

01.10.09

07.09.09

Josh Kentwell has secured a berth in the NSW Team to contest the National Cross Country Championships

5.08.09

10.08.09

26.06.09

Award Winners
Gianna Mogentale, John Van Stappen
and Elvire Asprey

26.06.09

09.06.09

Board of Management
Gianna Mogentale
Jodie Sundstrom
Annette Mead
Donna Hiscox
Anne Grimm

01.06.09

Athletes assemble in the town square in Lahti during the Opening Ceremony

07.09.09

Blue Stars members are urged to put in their form for selection in relay teams for the State Relay titles. To be held at Blacktown, the relays bring together club members and the club has always completed at a top level. It looks like the club will have strong teams in many divisions, with the club looking at competing in both the open men and open women divisions along with the juniors and masters.

All nominations forms are to be completed and returned to the secretary for selection no later than Tuesday 10 November 2009, and athletes are asked to read the timetable to ensure you are available for both days of competition or only one. We would love to see all our athletes making themselves available for both days so that the club can compete in a friendly and supportive manner. There will be no club activities on the Sunday of the relays. Click here to downlowd a copy of the timetable. Click here to download a copy of the Club Nomination Entry form.

State Relays - 21 & 22 November 2009

29.10.09

A top team of our junior athletes will compete in the up coming NSW All Schools and are expected to be among athletes travelling to Hobart for the Australian All Schools later in December. Both male and female athletes will contest the titles with some of our athletes already meeting qualifying times and distances for the National Titles. The State All Schools will be held at Homebush on 6, 7 and 8 November 2009 and we wish all our athletes the very best of luck as they strive to bring home the gold, silver and bronze or to achieve their own personal bests.

Athletes off to All Schools

29.10.09

Illawarra Blue Stars athletes created history in many areas when they contested the recently held Sydney Masters Games.

Many came home with their first international medal, some winning medals in events they usually don’t contest at this level, and some competing in their very first International meet. Then we had the stalwarts that broke records in their own events.

The Sydney Games gave our athletes the opportunity of competing at International level and join in the very strong friendly and supportive masters meets. This in itself an was experience for our masters, and to see and experience what other athletes can do in their respective events, is another highlight.

Bruce Steel is a testament to that when he completed against a high jumper that cleared a magical 1.90 metres.

Mary Thomas broke her own State and National record for her age in the javelin whilst Elvire Asprey and Max McKay broke records in their respective events but also broke a club record by being the two oldest masters from our club, male and female to compete in the same meet - well done.

Gianna Mogentale continued on her winning way but her impressive 800 metres left people wondering what this lady can’t do. This now gives her placings in all events from 100 to 800 in international events. Athletes scored their first ever International medal including Jodie Gibbins and Annette Mead and Donna Hiscox turned the tables on her competitor from Finland to take gold in the hurdles. Julie Steele won her first at this level by taking out silver in the steeplechase whilst Kathy Hewitt ran a PB in the 8km cross country. Kim Debrot competed well in the field events and then doubled up by competing also in the swimming. James Baker ran into the semi final of his 400 metres before his leg gave way. Bruce Steele competed well all week, whilst Mark Haber and Ron Burzacott made their debut in the half marathon and 10km. The two men missing were John Van Stappen that didn’t make the start in any of his events due to illness and Arnie Deloit who injured his back whilst contesting the meet in Canberra.

Congratulations to all our Masters on a job well done. See Athletics NSW for full results and photos.

Masters Athletes make Records

29.10.09

Blue Stars athletes waited until the final day to produce the gold at the recently held NSW All Schools conducted at Homebush. Brilliant all rounder, Talissa Scott captured the long jump title, after a strong 2nd in the hurdles, a 3rd in the 200m and a close 4th in the 100m, giving her a top championship meet. Javelin ace, Emily Debrot then “threw herself into gold” when she took out the javelin on the same last day, and then saw her club mate, Sam Haber capture the men’s 400 m hurdles. Haber’s time of 55.8 was a personnel best, and along with the girls will make the trip across the Tasman to contest the December Australian All Schools. Sprinter hurdler Abbie Taddeo came home with silver taking the 2nd in her age hurdles and also made the finals of both the 100m and 200m. Karlie Chambers ran a determined race to take silver in her age 400m whilst Kirsty Honey just missed a bronze in the 400m narrowly beaten close to the line.

Matthew Oswald and Matthew Lee were two of the clubs unlucky athletes. Oswald receiving the dreaded disqualification in the walk after finishing a gallant 2nd whilst Lee pulled up with a hamstring problem in his 200m, previously making the final of the 100m.

Kirsten Nash and Skye Ryan also ran well to make the finals of their events and should be proud of their efforts, whilst newcomer to the club, Andrew Vild made the final of the men’s 17yrs 400m along with Sam Haber.

Athletes will now prepare for state relays and then head to Tasmania for the Australian All Schools in December. For more results check Athletics NSW All Schools results.

Athletes take Gold on Final Day

09.11.09

The club’s men’s 4 x 400m under 18 team surprised the more fancied metro teams when they took gold in the recently held State Relays. The team of Ben Hollingsworth, Andrew Vild, Sam Haber and Joshua Hunt showed true relay spirit and within themselves set a target they wanted to achieve - gold. All members ran superb and combined well as a team with all 4 averaging personal best times from the fly start. Three of the team, Hollingsworth, Haber and Hunt teamed with James Grimm to then tackle the 4 x 400m under 20 the next day and were just edged out of another gold to record an improved time. Once again the backing up of the 3 from under 18 was superb, and with James running a sub 50 secs, they were a strong force. Well done men on a great effort.

The boys under 14 teams were others to bring home medals with Jarrod Twigg, Cody Bain, Mathew Oswald teaming with Athletics Wollongong Hayden Shaw to take bronze in the 4 x shot. They then teamed with Mitch Acev (Jarrod out due to other commitments) to take silver in the 4 x discus. Bain, Twigg, Acev and Oswald finished off a good weekend to take bronze in the 4 x long jump. Blue Stars would like to thank Tara Bain for her efforts in the mens teams giving them the opportunity of taking their place in the sprint teams and finishing in the top 6.

Our Masters men’s and women’s team also did well with the women 160+ taking out the bronze medal with Carmen Bain, Annette Mead , Cathy Hewitt and Donna Hiscox, whilst Elvire Asprey, Donna Hiscox, Annette Mead and Julie Steele took bronze in the first ever 4 x 100m 200 plus for women. The Masters women fought hard all weekend and just finished out of the medals in other events, but their dogged determination and backing up was a highlight. A welcome to Masters athletics, saw Melanie Foster make her debut and performed well over the whole weekend.

Masters men were impressive and once again the grit came out with Rick Oswald showing all the markings. Tony Bain, James Baker and Rick combined well with Peter Shepherd who limped over the line in the 4 x 100m with a leg injury. His place was taken on the Sunday by a gallant Bruce Steele, but all men are showing marked improvement and will be a threat in their respective divisions come Country titles. They too were just outside the medals.

Our under 16 men and women team were impressive especially the young ones who will have next year in the same age bracket, teaming with Thomas Walsh. Braeden and Reece Gibbins and Chris Twigg, Peter Lee will remain in the same age bracket. The under 18 women gave it everything wearing the dark blue, light blue. These girls always run well in relays with Claire Walsh, Claire Burnett, Toyah Edwards and Jessica Oswald all running above themselves. Abbie Taddeo had a full weekend as did newcomer Cassie Leischke, but what a shame to see the talented Karlie Chambers succumb to a bad foot injury. She will be back and although she has pulled out of the Australian All Schools, like Matt Lee, they will be back in the next part of the season. Sister Jemma also ran well in the under 16 division.

The cancellation of some of the events from 2.30 pm onwards on the Sunday was the only way for officials to go. With temperatures well into the 40’s athletes and officials alike were suffering and with health regulations now imposed, it was the right thing to do although our masters women may not have agreed as they believed they had a good team in the 160+ 4 x 1500m and were ready to take out a medal.

See Athletics NSW for full results.

Men Strike Gold

2811.09

Brilliant young athlete, Talissa Scott has been named in the Australian Junior Shadow Squad for the World Junior Championships to be held in 2010. Scott showed her great all round athletic ability with placings in the recent All Schools in hurdles, sprints and long jump, but it is the long jump that has the officials eyes keenly focussed on this talent young Kiama athlete. Will we see a 6m jump from Talissa? We hope so, and maybe at the coming up Country titles, her jump of 5.97m at a recent meet tells us the magical 6m is not too far away.

A 6m jump for a junior athlete is like the 4 min mile - once it is broken it is a milestone in an athlete’s career. Guided by ex-olympian Nicole Boegman, who believes the 6m is well within Talissa, she has improved all the time and along with her great sprinting ability and hurdling, she can develop into a very fine all round athlete.

Talissa into Shadow Squad

26.12.09

Sam Haber and Claire Burnett came back from the recently held Australian All Schools with PB’S in both events but just narrowly missing medals and a place in the final. Competition was tough and Burnett just missed the final of the 800m running a PB in the heat, whilst Haber ran a PB in the 400m huddles to narrowly miss third position.

Young walker Matthew Oswald was pleased with his placing, having no cautions and moving through nicely, whilst sprinter/hurdler Abbie Taddeo was unplaced in her hurdles and was a little disappointed as she had to contend with injuries and sickness. Skye Ryan competed well whilst javelin ace Emily Debrot finished in the top 6, but she too suffered a little and will make amends as the season progresses.

Meanwhile

Junior Primary School athletes, Jarrod Twigg and Alexandra Parker enjoyed their rep honours when they took part in the Australian Primary Schools. Alexandra coming home with third in her division of the multi events and Jarrod taking a medal in the relay for NSW. Both are promising young athletes and their performances in multi events will give them good skills as they progress through the sport to an older level, where they will then decide on their chosen events.

PB's to Club Members

26.12.09

Within our club a number of female athletes went within the 6m including Kerrie Reko, javelin ace Louise McPaul-Currey and former State champion, Vicky Piggins. All went on to represent at World Junior level – let’s hope Talissa follows suit, and from the club we all wish her well in her endeavours.

Club members are asked to put the 8 May 2010 in their calendars for the Annual Awards and Presentation evening to be held at the Ribbonwood Centre, Dapto.

The club's Winter Cross Country will also commence a little earlier, so watch this space.

For your Calendars

21.02.10

The NSW State titles for the Under 14, Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 produced some outstanding performances and many of our local athletes were among them. Under 20 sprinter James Grimm pushed the winner to a world junior qualifying mark when he ran a brilliant 100m and 200m to take the silver medal in both. Grimm has now become a consistent athlete now that he has matured, and a sub 11secs is well within him each time he steps onto the track.

Javelin aces, Claire Walsh and Emily Debrot will join the State team. Walsh making her debut in the Under 20 women's javelin at National Level.

Middle distance athletes, Claire Burnett and Jemma Chambers both ran well with Burnett making the team and Chambers just missing the qualifying mark for the 1500m. Sister Karlie came back with revenge and she too will take on the Nationals, whilst sprinter Skye Ryan ran well in the 100m to take the silver and qualify.

Ben Hollingsworth and Sam Haber ran well in their events. Haber meeting the qualifying mark for the 400m hurdles and Hollingsworth making the final of the 400m. Mat Lee showed a return to form to make the final of the 200m, whilst all rounder, Talissa Scott had good performances in the hurdles, sprints and jumps and she too will contest the National U18 division.

Walker Matt Oswald steps onto the track each time knowing he may place, but has to watch for the dreaded flag of walking. This time he came through well and he too will take them on in the National titles.

Blue Stars' depth in the juniors showed out well and truly with the above athletes but it was also encouraging to see the U14 athletes do so well which sets them up for state representation at a later date.

The U23 and Masters will contest their titles in early March followed by the Open men's and women's. All divisions to have athletes from the club competing and expected to perform well.

Summer Roles on - With Success

21.02.10

Blue Stars will conduct an Open Masters day on Sunday 28 February commencing at 1.00pm on the Kerryn McCann Athletic Centre. Normal club events will also be held to commence at the usual time of 2.30 pm for club athletes. In conjunction with the open day will be the Masters Postal Relays where teams will be formed to compete by post against other states. The local club will conduct the sprint relays over 4 x 100m and 4 x 400m and all Masters athletes are encouraged to come along and compete in a team and the individual events. Click here for the full program.

Masters Open Meet

21.02.10

New Ideas for Cross Country

12.03.10

The Winter Track and Field program, a popular event in the winter conducted by IBS, will also have some new ideas with relays to be added, junior steeplechase and junior hammer.

The program will be targeting school people to HAVE A GO on the track to prepare for the Schools Carnivals as well as for the established athletes who like to see how their preparation is going for the summer season.

The Winter Track and Field Program will held every fourth Sunday of the month commencing on Sunday 23 May 2010 at 10.00 am. Click here to download a copy of the program.

For further information please contact the secretary Valmai Loomes on 4262 8498.

Winter Track & Field Program

12.03.10

Illawarra Blue Stars will introduce new ideas to their cross country program this season with the winter season to commence on the 11 April 2010. The new ideas include:

a.   The King of the Mountain
b.   Blue Stars Road Relays
c.   New courses at beautiful places such like Minamurra and Killalea

Athletes are also encouraged to take part in the Association events and it is hoped that this season the club can produce some road and cross country relay teams. Click here to download a copy of the Winter Cross Country program for 2010.