A DAY TO REMEMBER FOR THE HYDES
Flinders athletes Emily and Lauren Hyde had a day out on their home track as they provided the quinella in the main race over 800m for Women at the SA Athletic League’s raceday at Flinders last Sunday. Emily, a winner of the 2006 Loxton 1000m Women’s final and a finalist in the Flinders 800m Women’s race in 2005 and 2006, stormed home to grab her sister Lauren, a novice runner, on the line. It was a magnificent triumph for Emily after she had battled personal health issues during the last year and,following the popular win,she was embraced by her jubilant training partners. The final provided a remarkable moment in the history of the Flinders Athletics Club, with all eight finalists being trained by Flinders coaches Toby Scherier and Shane Thiele.
The Hyde family also tasted success earlier in the day, with Peter Hyde, the brother of Emily and Lauren, easily winning the 800m Under 20s final. Peter is set to tackle the older runnersnext week at Whyalla to take on the likes of Hayden Cook, Brian Golden and Matthew Ferber who all finished on the dais after the Flinders 800m Open final.
On a day which saw many backmarkers successful, 2003 Bay Sheffield champion Todd Bateman demonstrated he is on track for another tilt at South Australia’s premier footrace on Proclamation Day with a highly impressive victory in the 200m Open Bill Ross Memorial. One of Bateman’s main opponents in this year’s Bay Sheffield is sure to be the winner of the 70m Open at Flinders, Duncan Tippins, with the recent Reynella Gift title holder opting out of the Bill Ross Memorial to rest up for next weekend’s rich Whyalla Gift.
The state’s fastest female, Leanne Hodge, continued her domination of women’s sprints this season, winning the 70m and 200m double at Flinders. Hodge has displayed astonishing improvement this season and it seems only the handicapper will be able to beat her from here on in. Another eye-catching performance came from Holly Noack in the 200m Women’s final, with her effort to run 2nd made even more extraordinary considering she had only just competed in the main women’s event of the day over 800m.
Stawell two-miler winner Matthew Fenech added another race to his resume, with a hard fought but decisive victory in the 3200m Open David Abbott Memorial. In the veteran’s contest for the day, in-form Reynella athlete Richard McMahon claimed another sash as he held off 1987 Bay Sheffield winner John Turner and frontmarker Gary Ferber.
800m Women
1st – Emily Hyde (50m)
2nd – Lauren Hyde (70m)
3rd – Celeste Knowles (100m)
Time: 2mins 11.74secs
200m Open Bill Ross Memorial
1st – Todd Bateman (7m)
2nd – Michael Nitschke (14m)
3rd – Alexander Bubner (9m)
Time: 21.32secs
70m Open
1st – Duncan Tippins (4.0m)
2nd – Lyall Weir (4.75m)
3rd – Damian Tohl (6.75m)
Time: 7.72secs
70m Women
1st – Leanne Hodge (3.0m)
2nd – Alicia Wrench-Doody (5.0m)
3rd – Emma Freer (4.0m)
Time: 8.59secs
200m Women
1st – Leanne Hodge (7m)
2nd – Holly Noack (12m)
3rd – Courtney Lyas (10m)
Time: 23.69secs
200m Over 35s
1st – Richard McMahon (22m)
2nd – John Turner (22m)
3rd – Gary Ferber (35m)
Time: 23.76secs
800m Open
1st – Hayden Cook (28m)
2nd – Brian Golden (52m)
3rd – Matthew Ferber (58m)
Time: 1min 53.42secs
800m Under 20s
1st – Peter Hyde (46m)
2nd – Dillon Tee (56m)
3rd – Thomas Knight (60m)
Time: 1min 55.82secs
3200m David Abbott Memorial
1st – Matthew Fenech (175m)
2nd – Dale Engler (55m)
3rd – Michael Roeger (190m)
Time: 9mins 30.0secs