Keilor-St Bernards reigned supreme in the under 20 men’s section of the Athletics Victoria Shield final.
The Snowdogs went into the deciding round of the season as one of the favourites, but was met by stern opposition that was unwilling to roll over and concede defeat.
Long-time Snowdogs’ coach Ron Stobaus saw his star-studded team come from behind to win the title.
“We knew we had the talent,” he said. “Seven of the 10 boys in the team have qualified for the nationals.
“We got a shock early in the 1500 metres when four Old Scotch guys beat them, and we thought, ‘wow, we’ve really got a contest on here’.
“We had Old Scotch, Sandringham and Mentone that really battled it out on the day, and we eventually got away by 2000 points at the end … quite a reasonable margin.”
Keilor-St Bernard’s had strength in depth.
The Snowdogs had athletes willing to step out of their comfort zones to compete in various events that racked up points for the team.
“We had every event covered and they [Old Scotch] didn’t,” Stobaus said, when asked the difference between the two. “We’d planned all the way through the year to cover it.
“The boys had done events that they’d never done before – Patrick Matthews did the two-kilometre walk, discus and pole vault, which he’d only done once during the season, to qualify for the final.
“Sam [Charville] did the discus that he hadn’t done before and Tim [Petersen] did the 100 metre hurdles. We had everything covered.”
The Keilor-St Bernard’s team as a whole was impressive in the shield final. The Snowdogs were runners-up in the over 40 men’s and women’s teams, as well as the under 14, 16 and 18 girls teams.
“We had 50 PBs or season’s best performances,” Stobaus said. “That’s an indication of how much everyone was putting in.”
It is a busy month for the athletes at Keilor-St Bernard’s. The cream of the crop are in the middle of state championships, with a target of reaching the Australian Athletics Championships, which begin on March 26.
Already 16 Snowdogs are confirmed to make the trek to Sydney for the nationals, including Kate Abfalter (u20 and open pole vault, u20 3km steeple), Riley Caines (u20 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles), Monique Cilione (open javelin), Millie Cram (u17 hepthalon), Wilson Cram (u15 pole vault), Madeline Feain (u20 5000m walk), Michael Giancola (u20 100m and 200m), Isabella Hynes (u20 hammer), Damien Hughes (u20 3000m steeple), Ilias Kahsay (u14 400m and 800m), Ellie Keratianos (u20 100m and pole vault), Patrick Matthews (u20 800 and 1500m), Kara Olsen (u20 high jump and 100m hurdles), Tim Petersen (u20 400m hurdles), Alex Sykes (u20 3000m steeple) and Shea Wellington (open and u23 10km walk).
