News

April Newsletter

Published Thu 04 May 2023

Hi Team Toowong,

It’s been a while between newsletters, but with the AGM on this week I thought it would be good look back at the achievements of the summer and what awaits us this winter.

Having just finished what seems to have been the longest Summer Athletics Season ever!! Not that that is a bad thing, but I am looking forward to a chilled and relaxed XC23.

And what a summer it has been, the Little Athletics side of the club hit the largest numbers ever in its 40 year history, 509 member making us one of the largest clubs in the state. We have seen a strong interest in the athletics pathways with a much larger number of young up and coming athletes converting across to compete in their selected events in the Queensland Athletics competition in parallel with the LAQ season. All of this on the back of what was one of the most successful cross-country seasons in many years, with the club winning its first ever Brisbane Cross Country Season, and 3 of our XC young guns being selected for the Queensland team to compete in the Australian Cross Country Championships in Adelaide, congratulations again to Grace Adams, Emily Boyd and Charlotte Wallace.

All of this and we are still working through the flood recovery from this time last year…😐

Around the Tracks – Summer Championships Updates
- Queensland State Athletics Track & Field Championships
- Queensland Little Athletics Championships
- Australian Little Athletics Junior Championships
- Australian Track & Field Championships
Cross Country – XC23
Kingaroy Rail Trail Road Relay
AGM
General Business
- Fundraising and Volunteer events.

Around the Tracks – Summer Athletics Champs

125^th Queensland Athletics 22/23 Championships at QSAC were run from the 9^th through to the 12^th March. Toowong had 31 members competing from U13 through to Masters over the weekend with too many of stellar performances to single out just one, but we saw season best achievements, a number of National Qualifiers and the following medals taken home by our team.

Gold `- U13, 3000m Racewalk - Zoe Renton
Gold - U14, Javelin - Thomas Scott
Gold - U17, 5000m Racewalk - Rebecca Teahen
Silver -U13, 800m - Zoe Renton
Silver - U13, High Jump - Joshua Fowler
Silver - U13, 90m Hurdles - Joshua Fowler
Silver - U14, Triple Jump - Oliver Waters
Silver - U14, Shot Put - Thomas Scott
Silver - U16, 400m - Daon Choi
Silver - U17, Pole Vault - Sophie Scott
Bronze - U13, 3000m Racewalk - Lily Barnett
Bronze - U13, 400m - Sienna Pearsall
Bronze - U13, Triple Jump - Sienna Pearsall
Bronze -U13, 1500m - Zoe Renton
Bronze – U14, High Jump - George Noonan
Bronze – U14, High Jump - Sadie Dowden
Bonze -U17, Triple Jump - Cillian Verbiest

So yeah you could say it was a good state champs for all those who put in !!

Little Athletics State Championships were held in Townsville from the 24^th – 26^th of March this year as part of a regional hosting that is undertaken every four years. The Toowong Little Athletics club had achieved a record number of qualifiers (96 of) at the Metwest Regional Championships in early February this year at Limestone Park Ipswich. Of those who qualified, over 60 joined the club pilgrimage to the sunny north. There are once again too many to list individually, but the club hauled in 36 medals and achieved 10 Little A’s Centre records, truly amazing effort from our young ambitious athletes.

From the results at the state championships and those achieved by individuals at specific events over the preceding season. Toowong was fortunate enough to have 3 outstanding athletes selected for the Queensland Little Athletics Team to represent the state team in Melbourne for the Australian Little Athletics Championship and Junior Championships.

Thomas Scott, U13 Javelin, National Gold
Emily Boyd, U14 1500m, 5^th Nationally
Samuel Anderson, U14 400m, High Jump, National Bronze, 6^th Nationally

By Mid-April we had reached the pinnacle of our summer athletics season and for the first time in a very long time Brisbane and QSAC was home the 100th Australian Track & Field Championships. Split over two weeks the, the U20 & Opens in the first week, followed by the Australian Junior Track & Field Championships in the 2^nd. The inclusion of the under 13’s this year for the first time has only boosted our showing with the best of our Little Athletics members stepping up to the senior club for the first time. It has been so good to see the junior ranks of the club growing over the last few years and the performances improving alike. Last year we had 5 Athletes competing at Nationals in Sydney, this year saw 18 members of the club being selected into the Queensland Squad to represent our state at a National Level. Once again there were highs and lows, but either way nothing was left on the table as our athletes competed against the best in the country.

Those who achieved their best over the competition and medalled are listed below.

90m Hurdles, U13 - Felix Birchall National Bronze
4x 100m Relay, U13 - Vince Figliano National Silver
4x 200m Mixed Relay, U13 - Vince Figliano National Silver
Javelin, U14 - Thomas Scott National Gold
Heptathlon, U15 - Samuel Anderson National Silver

A couple of photos of members, Vince Figliano, during 4x200m Mixed Relay, Sam Anderson during the final event of the Heptathlon, 1500m.

Images Courtesy Qld Athletics and Michael Thomas Sport Photography.

Around the Tracks – XC23

We are less than a week away from the beginning of the winter cross country season, XC23. I was very proud to have competed with you all last season to see Toowong Harriers bring home there first Brisbane Series Cross Country Club Trophy. I would like to see us do it again 😉. First event is Minnippi Parkland, an event run by friends and previous club champions, Thompsom Estate Eastern Suburbs Athletic Club, lets make’em work for it!

This year there are 7 Brisbane Series XC meets hosted by various clubs at venues across Brisbane, as well as 3 State Championship events: All Schools/Short Coarse, State Relays and State XC Championships.

Sat 6 May – Brisbane Series #1 – Minnippi Parklands
Sun 14 May – All Schools XC & Short course XC Championships – Victoria Park
Sat 20 May – Brisbane Series #2 – Honeyeater St Park
Sat 27 May – Brisbane Series #3 – Toowong Host – CJ Greenfield Reserve, Richlands – Toowong Harriers hosting
Sat 3 June – Brisbane Series #4 – Teralba Park
Sat 10 June – Brisbane Series #5 – Anzac Park
Sat 17 June– XC Relay Championships – Nudgee College
Sat 24 June – Brisbane Series #6 – Capalaba State College
Sat 8 July – Brisbane Series #7 – Minnippi Parklands
Sat 29 July - XC State Championships (Toogoolawah)

The age group categories for the Brisbane series are as follows;

Under 8 (2016/17 born) – 1km
Under 10 (2014/15 born) – 1km
Under 12 (2012/13 born) – 2km
Under 14 (2010/11 born) – 3km
Under 16 (2008/09 born) – 4km
Under 18 (2006/07 born) – 6km
Multiclass Under 12 – 2km
Multiclass 13+ – 3km
Open/Masters – Short Course (4km), Long Course (6km)

*Please ensure you register for your specific event on the QA revsport portal by the Thursday prior to the race, registrations close at 9.00am sharp of the Friday morning prior to the event. Note also that State Championships events require no pre-qualifier and are open to everyone, so get in and have a go, Championship event require nomination to occur 7 days prior. For example the registration for the Queensland Short Course and All School on the 14^th May closes this Sunday.*

Further information can be found on the QA site
https://qldathletics.org.au/index.cfm/competition/?lev=all

Around the Tracks – South Burnett Express Rail Trail Relay

A group of Toowong Harriers faithful, organized and lead by Bruce Jones (Life member & Club Royalty) along with a bit of help from the Wallace-Freeman family headed out to Kingaroy for the 3^rd edition of the South Burnet Express Rail Trail Relay 2023. This year saw the event promoted to the Qld State Road-Relay Championships, a nice reward and recognition to the Ashgrove Rangers for all hard work they have put into making this such a great event, Thanks John, Dan and the club in making this a fun weekend for all involved.

For those of you how don’t know the event, it’s no cake walk, this 60km Road Relay split across 5-8 athletes across 3 divisions (Mens, Women’s & Mixed) along a section of the old South Burnet Rail line from Kingaroy to Wondia and back). I am happy to Say that Both our Mens and Women’s teams brought home the bacon each with a win.

The men’s team captained by long time club member and Blind Australian Para-Olympian Gerrard Gossens, along with a swag of class runners; Paul Byres, Stephen Stewart, Alex Harlow, Dennis Fitzgerald, Gary Mayor, Aidan Hobbs, and Peter Jones, and not forgetting Bruce Jones as Men’s lead cyclist, and Heather Gossens as Guide runner/cyclist smashed the old record by nearly 10 minutes, setting a New Record of 3:32.18.

A group of people wearing medals

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The Women’s team captained by Karen Wallace-Freeman completed the Threepeat now undefeated for three years in a row. The team of Karen, Meryll Fletcher, Grace Freeman, Lucinda Freeman and Karen Lee (plus not forgetting Grant Freeman, women’s lead Cyclist) didn’t have it all their own way sitting in 3rd at the 30km turn around, the ladies had to run a negative split of nearly 7minute on the return up hill section to win by just 3.29’ after 60 km and 4:53.32 of racing, Lets see if we can get a mixed team together for next years event and go the clean sweep 😊

Annual General Meeting

This Thursday the 4th of May at 7:15pm we will be holding our AGM on the clubhouse veranda. All members of the club, Senior (QA) Athletics Club and Little Athletics (LAQ) Club are welcome and encouraged to come along welcome. We have several key roles stepping down this year and are looking for new people to join our committee, bring new ideas and become a part of our legacy – in particular, Centre Manager (& Vice Centre Manager), Club Secretary, Communications Officer/s, Race Tech Officer/s, Members of the “Green Team’ Facilities maintenance and General Committee Members etc.

Our committee is a wonderful group of passionate inclusive people, who all pitch in and value the time and efforts put in by others. We would love to see some more of our Senior Club members step up to the fore along with of our parents of Junior & Little A’s athletes join the committee to start the transition of some of the ‘long termers’ out of key roles. We are a community club, that encourages inclusivity, we all have skills and passions, what can you bring, if we don’t a specific role we will find something that you can make your own.

Finally, Thank you to those committee who have indicated that they will nominate again for the next season as we continue the journey to make this club something to be truly proud of, we really do appreciate all you do!

If you have any questions about roles within the club, please do not hesitate to contact Ross on 0487710101 or Trudy 0433056991.

General Business

We have three upcoming fund-raising events at the start of the Winter Season, please stick your hand up and see what you can do to help the club that helps you.

Sun 14 May – All Schools XC & Short course XC Championships – Victoria Park, We will be running a BBQ and drinks canteen under the club marquee at the Championships. We will need a couple people on food prep, BBQ cook, Sales, Set-up and Pack down, If you going to be there competing anyway, come down a couple of hours earlier and give the club a hand to raise some funded.

Sat 27 May – Brisbane Series #3 –CJ Greenfield Reserve, Richlands, this is our Cross Country, Harriers are hosting the event, We always aim to put on the best event of the series, and to do that many helper make light work. The tasks at a hi-level are Canteen, Coarse Set-up, Course Marshalls, Start & Finish Officials, if everyone can give just a couple of hours it all works pretty well.

Sunday 4th June - Brisbane Marathon Water Station, This is an early start, but such a great way to start the day, running the water station at Queen St. and encouraging all of the athletes as they take on their ½ or full Marathon. It’s a good fundraiser for the club as well as a positive promotion of what we do as a club. We want members, young or old, to spare a few hours to man the water station from about 6.00am until around 11.00am, you don’t have to be there for the whole time. The volunteers will have to register via this link.

We will be publishing more information about these events on the Team App and facebook as we get closer.

https://vmodcui.active.com/volunteer/jobs?eventGroupId=2451631&jobGroupId=420431