• Footscray, Yarraville, Braybrook Star

9th February 2010 11:05:23 AM

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Conquering hurdles ... Aliesha Newman competing in the 200m hurdles 42425

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WESTERN Athletics Club qualified five of its teams for the Athletics Victoria State finals at Doncaster on Saturday.

It won premierships in the North West region Shield at Aberfeldie with its men’s open division one, division three, Under 16 teams and Under 18 women’s teams, while its Under 18 men’s team was runner-up.

“We went into the day hoping we could merely qualify some teams for the State finals by finishing in the top two – so the results exceed our expectations,” Western Athletics team manager Peter Gavaghan said.

“There were some marvellous individual performances, several athletes doing personal best times, heights and distances on what was a difficult day, but it was the co-operation of athletes that helped.”

Gavaghan paid a tribute to the team’s under 16 women’s side, which missed out on a State finals’ berth after striving to overcome the absence of some athletes.

“Several Under 16 athletes competed in more than their fair share of events without complaint – there were some tremendous efforts.”

While lacking both pole vaulters and walkers, the division one team still managed to topple power houses Melbourne University (MU) and Athletics Essendon (AE), earning 123 points, 10 more than MU and 22 more than AE.

In the 4x400m relay, it finished 8.57 seconds ahead of the second team and 14.45 ahead of the third place getters.

The Western Athletics Under 16 men and Under 18 women also won their respective relays, and the division three men came in second.

In division three, Western Athletics were clearly superior to the other teams racking up 176.5 points to MU’s 130 with other rivals Williamstown and Brunswick barely making an impact.

The Under 16 men amassed 175 to Preston’s 141 with AE on 99 and Coburg 97.

Western Athletics’ Under 18 women were just as dominant earning 116 points with Williamstown on 75 and Keilor St Bernards on 68.

Last season the men’s Under 20 team eclipsed the opposition to win the State title while the open Women’s division two earned the State title and elevation to division one.

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