Warrnambool Results

70M Mens
1  Maki Loukeris  3.75
2  Peter Thoroughgood  4.5
3  Daniel Mouratch  4
7.74

70M Womens
1  Grace Carter  6.5
2  Kayla montagner  4.25
3  Ruby Crisp  9
8.50

120M U/18 Mixed
1  Patrick Meade  10
2  Sophie Burrows  23.5
3  Lana Toomer  20.25
13.17

120M U/14 Mixed
1  Perry Watson  12.5
2  Emma Wilson  14
3  James Moore  18.5
14.89

120M Mens Gift
1  Brad Hunt  6
2  Kevin Brittain  9.5
3  Maki Loukeris  7.25
12.53

120M Womens Gift
1  Chloe Mannix-Power  6
2  Julia Phillips  8
3  Ebony Newton  7.25
13.78

120M Masters (35+)
1  Vic Sharma  11
2  Mark Glassborow  12.75
3  Daniel Martin  12.25
13.44

300M Masters (35+)
1  Sonya Pollard  81
2  Greg Denner 56
3  Steven Hurl  40
36.42

300M womens
1  Gemma Fairclough  30
2  Ruby Crisp  23
3  Grace O'Dwyer  17
39.03

300M Mens
1  Aidan Green  18
2  Jay Blake  37
3  Dashiell Muir  12
34.26

300M U/18 Mixed
1  Sophie Burrows  71
2  Harry Mcdonough  40
3  Jack Kinnersly  80
33.78

300M U14 Mixed
1  Callum Wade  49
2  Maria Kasapis  55
3  Perry Watson  23
41.22

800M Open
1  Cameron Konnis  60
2  Charlie Sutherland  128
3  Lachlan Milligan  54
1.55.58

800M Masters 45+
1  Kim McDonough  174
2  Brendan Bailey  208
3  Christopher Brown  176
2.1.36

300M Age Graded
1Robert Mayston  69
2  Adrian Bender  35
3  Glen Stephens  49
31.78

1600M Open
1  Josh Bail  100
2  Mark Andrews  175
3  Richard Wade  250
4.14.86

1600M Age Graded
1  John Thomson  381
2  Ingred Woodward  402
3  Leo Mcmeel  258
4.9.53

300M Age Graded
1  Robert Mayston  69
2  Adriian Bender  35
3  Glenn Stephens  49
31.78

Some convincing gift wins at Warrnambool, both men’s and women’s winners will be very prominent at Easter this season.
Both runners found significant improvement from their last runs at macksville. Mannix power - lost .3 from heat to final at macksville to run 14.54, then 13.78 at Warrnambool
Brad hunt- 3rd in heat at macksville 13.75- 12.53 at Warrnambool
Maybe both have put in a good block of training over the past 3 weeks ??

Something must have gone amiss with Hunt at Macksville. His rpm’s were quicker in the 70m than the 120m. So he must of had some type of niggle or hurt himself because it’s nearly impossible for that to happen if you are flat out over both distances

Thatsthestats wrote:Something must have gone amiss with Hunt at Macksville. His rpm’s were quicker in the 70m than the 120m. So he must of had some type of niggle or hurt himself because it’s nearly impossible for that to happen if you are flat out over both distances

I did think that injury may have occurred but the gift heat was before his 70m final so it couldn’t of been

Fantastic runs from both Brad Hunt and Maki Loukeris over the weekend to take out the Warrnambool and Terang Gift.

These results will put Colin in an interesting spot in terms of how he chooses to analyse the runs (with respect to the Stawell Gift).

I dont want to put any negative light on the runners (there may be an innocent explanation) but you cant ignore Brad Hunt's meteoric improvement in performance from Macksville to Warrnambool after conveniently being granted a quarter lift from 5.75m to 6m. And with Loukeris running 12.25 at Terang does this put Hunt in the 12.0 territory already since the latter beat the former by 2.5m on the Saturday. Or perhaps Loukeris was cooked from 6 runs and didnt execute the 120 final well; but put it together for Terang (who knows). Technically Hunt earns his 0.75m lift from Warrnambool on time; but sadly Maki has run Stawell's net time without the lift, does he get the lift? What is the right answer? Good luck to the handicapper!

Amazing performances over the weekend with many of the expected runners featuring in finals. But it was exciting to see some new up-and-comers shocking some of the established athletes. Future looks bright.

Hunt and Loukeris look amazing for Stawell already but there is stil A LOT of season to go.

I also want to give congratulations to Chloe Mannix-Power and Grace Hewitt on two fantastic wins as well. We've seen a few front markers take out the recent gifts so its exciting to see the backmarker gals flex their form and take out a win.

I thought they averaged the two fastest times in his sample so 12.25 and 12.39 averages out at 12.32 for Loukeris

Eligibility criteria to receiving a Stawell Bonus Lift:

1. To be eligible for a lift, athletes must have completed 3 VAL sanctioned races, each
at a different meeting, over the 100/120m distance in the previous or current season
in their respective category, or have a handicap that is less than the novice handicap.

2. To be eligible for a lift, an athlete must not break ceiling time in winning their event.

3. If an athlete wins a second event over the 100/120m distance, they will become
ineligible for their lift.

4. The lift will be added to the athlete’s current VAL handicap for Stawell Gift races only.
Standard penalties will apply for all other events.

For the sake of clarity, in an event where the field has been lifted, such as to
accommodate an athlete who would otherwise be handicapped behind scratch, the
‘Stawell Bonus Lift’ for the winning athlete will be applied to that athlete’s current VAL
handicap rather than the temporary lifted handicap.

5. In receiving this lift, athletes may not be handicapped to a mark that places them
beyond their ceiling handicap; however, they may receive a portion of the allocated lift
so that they are handicapped to that ceiling mark. More information on ceiling times
can be found within the Handicap Regulations.

6. An athlete may not receive a handicap that is more than 2 metres from their season
start mark.

7. Athletes that are allocated a UP (Unacceptable Performance) during the season will
not automatically qualify for a ‘Stawell Bonus Lift’. Any lift applied will be at the
discretion of the VAL Stewards.

8. If circumstances prevent an event from being conducted at Stawell, ‘Stawell Bonus
Lifts’ will not be carried forward to future seasons.

9. Winners of Classic or Group 1 races will not be eligible for a ‘Stawell Bonus Lift’;
instead, they will keep their winning mark for Stawell.

Based on my reading of this, you need to look at Maki's ceiling point. Using the formula based on the start mark (average of best RPM from the last 5 seasons and next best RPM from the last 2 seasons and these can be from the same meet) = .1086 (Terang final) .1100 (Terang heat) average = .1093.

For this to equal ceiling of 12.25 he would get a maximum of 112.07m (round up to 112.25m) therefore his ceiling mark is 7.75m. My reading would be that he'd be eligible for 0.5m lift. He didn't actually break ceiling in the final he ran exactly ceiling!

This is not correct. You cannot be handicapped under the ceiling. Unfortunately for Maki he ran right on ceiling so his mark stays at 7.25 for Stawell. The rule was changed to the average of two runs for one season before being changed back to how it had always been which is the ceiling point for that season. If Maki got a half metre lift he is being handicapped to run 12.20. This can’t happen.

Sanchez wrote:This is not correct. You cannot be handicapped under the ceiling. Unfortunately for Maki he ran right on ceiling so his mark stays at 7.25 for Stawell. The rule was changed to the average of two runs for one season before being changed back to how it had always been which is the ceiling point for that season. If Maki got a half metre lift he is being handicapped to run 12.20. This can’t happen.

Happy to have it clarified Sanchez this is straight from the Handicap Regs for October 2023

Handicap Ceiling (CP) or Maximum Handicap

An athlete cannot be lifted beyond their ceiling point calculation for that event. The Ceiling point is
determined by dividing the athlete’s best RPMs (refer to Calculation of Notional Starting Handicap for
details on how this is obtained) into the ceiling time for the event. The ceiling times are available in
Schedule 1.

Taken from calculation of notional starting handicap as suggested above...

For Established athletes in Regular events, the calculated notional starting handicap is determined by
dividing the average of the athlete’s best Rate Per Metre (RPM) from the last 5 seasons and the next
best RPM from the last 2 seasons, into the starting time for that event. The Starting time for each event
is available in Schedule 1 of the Handicap Regulations.

Can't see anywhere in the current rules that reflects only the fastest time (unless it was broken). Even if that is somehow the rule, I'd be arguing it's not written in the current published rules.

Or I've missed it written somewhere....

Maki ran off 7.25m
- recording 12.25 (rpm .1086) in the final.
- recording 12.39 (rpm .1100) in the semi.

These are now his two fastest runs in his sample. The average of these gives him an rpm of .1093.
Ceiling is 12.25

His new rpm gives him a ceiling of 7.75m ie - calculates to 12.26
He can’t have 8m because it breaks ceiling being - calculates to 12.24.

He therefore doesn’t get the full 0.75m lift bonus for Stawell because that would put him under ceiling, but he does get part of it being 0.50m, Taking him to 7.75m at Stawell.

Peter Pan wrote:

Thatsthestats wrote:Something must have gone amiss with Hunt at Macksville. His rpm’s were quicker in the 70m than the 120m. So he must of had some type of niggle or hurt himself because it’s nearly impossible for that to happen if you are flat out over both distances

I did think that injury may have occurred but the gift heat was before his 70m final so it couldn’t of been

I think you will find that most runners that went to maxsville would improve (in times) at the future gifts. Track was soft, up hill and into up to 6m headwind. Great gift but not a fast location.

We declared an issue with the NSWAL steward after heat run in Maxsville and also VAL Hcper.

Val Hcper confirmed that Brads RPM was similar to Stawell run so there is no issue or significant improvement to his known form.

No poll up for Waverly, will the winner come from the Warnambool/ Terang weekend?

Thanks LG Master Splinter's been keeping us busy. Men's is up, Women's and an addtional to come!