Tara Murray
Western Athletics set a new record as it claimed the Athletics Victoria Tan Relays men’s event, while also claiming the Athletics Victoria premier division state title.
On September 14, the team of Will Lewis, Zayd Al Sayd, Abdillhaziz Haji Ali, Cody Shanahan, Ben Chamberlain and Liam Cashin competed in the Tan relay event.
Each member of the team runs a lap of the tan which is just under four kilometres.
Western Athletics was third after the first runner before moving into second on the second runner.
Western Athletics took the in the second last lap, with Liam Cashin to anchor the side home.
They ran an overall time of 1:06.54 to win by 49 seconds and to beat Box Hill’s record which had stood since 2012.
This cemented their position at the top of the Premier Men’s ladder, winning the premier division State Title by 21 points.
It was a hard earned feat made possible by the efforts of 16 athletes who competed during the cross country roadracing season.
It showed the depth of the club to be able to share the load when injuries, work and other commitments impacted athletes.
The sixteen athletes who competed throughout the season were Zayd Al Sayd, Peter Boyle, Ben Chamberlain, Liam Cashin, Luca Di Conza, Callum Drake, Daniel Dunstone, Brett Ellis, Abdillaziz Haji Ali, Matthew Hussey, Will Lewis, Brandon Muscat, Nathan Pearce, Cody Shanahan, Kirk Shanahan and Daniel Verlado.
Cashin said after the event it was an exciting moment for the club.
“It was really good we’ve been trying to win this for quite a few years now,” he told Athletics Victoria after the event.
“We had a pretty strong team, Bendigo gave us a good challenge in the first half but we finished pretty strongly.
Western Athletics XCR team manager Phil Dunstone said it had been six years in the making since they moved into premier league in 2018
He said it was a credit to all the coaches that had put the work in.
Western Athletics is one of only four Athletic Victoria teams out of 56 to have teams in both the cross country and Athletics Victoria shield league premier division.
With the cross country season over, Western Athletics is gearing up for the shield league season which includes both track and field events.
The club caters for under-14s through to masters and for all abilities.
The season starts on Saturday.
Details: info@westernathletics.com.au
