Season 2016-17 was a bumper year for Wakehurst Little Athletics Club (WLAC), being an Olympic year. 318 athletes choose Wakehurst Little Athletics Club, and wore the black and gold with pride.

Wakehurst, as a club, promotes participation and self improvement above other measures of success.  We believe that having your kids learning new skills and improving current skills should be our focus.  Seeing these fine people at training and at the track on Saturdays is inspirational.  Reflecting this, our club awards focus on those two items only – participation, and personal development measured by literally attempts/events completed, and achieving or equalling a personal best.

In season 2016-17 our athletes were again outstanding, however two athletes who thoroughly embraced the WLAC philosophy enjoyed success with the club and in competition.  In the U13G Age Group, Lizzie McMillen missed only one event in the entire year, competing in 101 events and achieving an amazing 31 Personal bests (and another 4 equal PBs).   Meanwhile in the U17B Age Group Jackson Mackie competed in 93 events through the season and achieved 14 Personal Bests.  It is results like these that personify the WLAC ethos and for that reason Lizzie and Jackson were our Presidents Award recipients for the season.

Many other athletes also had an outstanding year, and are represented as Age Group Champions for the year for WLAC.  They are:

Age Group	Season 2016/17 Age Champion for WLAC	Total Points	Events	PBs or Equal
U7B	Byron Borchert	1322	73	31
U7G	Rory Nordenson	1104	64	28
U8B	Damien Godden	1351	74	24
U8G	Jasmine Rintel	1060	60	22
U9B	Ryan Sinclair	983	85	20
U9G	Rebecca Solomon	1462	80	24
U10B	Michael Godden	1211	85	22
U10G	Chloe Dunne	1423	83	23
U11B	Mitchell Hatfield	1071	67	24
U11G	Sienna Villacorta	1371	79	15
U12B	Ethan Clarke	1181	66	20
U12G	Alexandra Sinclair	1151	83	13
U13B	Cameron Laytham	1046	61	21
U13G	Elizabeth McMillen	1737	101	35
U14B	Alexander Norris	975	59	16
U14G	Ciara Sinclair	1218	91	16
U15B	Jack Wrightson	774	42	15
U15G	Olivia Wrightson	693	39	8
U17B	Jackson Mackie	1423	93	17
U17G	Abbey McMillen	760	44	15

 

Of our 318 athletes, 93 represented the club at Zone competition, 76 of whom went on to represent us at Regional competition of which 43 will go on to represent our club at the State Championships held in March at Homebush.  While these figures are slightly down on the numbers for season 2015/16 they remain very credible and indicative of the strength of WLAC within the Manly Warringah centre, and the state.

As a fitting capstone to those achievements was, for the 11th year in a row, our athletes secured the MWLAC Colbert Shield in a literally breathtaking display of speed, winning the event by over 100m.

Each week of competition that Manly Warringah Centre needs a small army of help to run the program.  From assistance managing the volunteer army to helping on the BBQs or in the canteen, timing races, moving hurdles and other equipment, getting the gear out at the start of the day and putting it away again at the end of the day – the list is significant.  All that effort comes from our Parent body in the form of rostered Parent Duties. Each week WLAC have 18 duty roles to fill, representing 38 hours of volunteer time.

As always, Wakehurst  contributed significantly to the Age Managers ranks (5) and track officials (another 5) plus informal assistance for the IT side of things.  We also have strong representation on the MWLAC committee, and significant input to general operations.

This year, as most years, we are sorry to farewell some of our committee, for whom we will also be seeking replacements.  Leaving us this year is our long-serving and hard working treasurer, Damian Gorman, and earlier in the season our Vice President, Stewart Dowling, decided to call time on a long career with Little Athletics.  We also farewell Marianne Atherton from our IT role looking after our web site and Facebook page.  Finally, Ana Cecuk has stepped down as Secretary after 4 years in the role for which we thank her.

Jamie McMillen has agreed to step into the VP role next year, Kathryn Chaloner has agreed to take on the role of Treasurer, Cath Springall has moved to the role of Secretary, Michelle Thomson has taken a role assisting Cathy McMillen with uniforms, and Mark Lisle has stepped into the IT role looking after our web site and Facebook page.  This means all committee roles are now filled for the year.  Contact details for our Committee can be found on this site in the “Contact us” section.

Regards

Peter Laytham

President
Wakehurst Little Athletics Club