ASIDE from cross-country commitments, Western Athletics has spent the winter basking in the afterglow of last season’s Athletics Victoria Shield women’s division 2 title.
When Saturday comes, the fruits of its labour from the last campaign will be realised when it lines up in the north-west region’s top division.
“To win a state title was pretty big,” club president Adrian Jeffkins said.
“We’re a fairly young club compared to some of the more traditional athletic clubs.
“For us, it’s a big deal to be going up to division 1.”
Jeffkins has taken over from Stuart Macauley as president at Western Athletics. He inherits a club going through a “growth phase”, one that is trying to capitalise on the growing population of Melbourne’s west.
In an exciting development, the club will have an over-40s women’s team for the first time.
“The culture of the club is very strong,” Jeffkins said.
“It’s very welcoming and that’s one of our strengths.
“We’ve got a lot of parents involved actually competing.
“They’ve either come back to athletics or tried it for the first time.”
One of the athletes to watch this season is Morgan Mitchell. The 400-metre specialist recently represented Australia at the world junior championships in Spain where she achieved a semi-final finish.
“She’s very talented,” Jeffkins said.
“She had a bit of a break from athletics and came back last year and found herself representing Australia.
“She’s now been selected as part of a Commonwealth Games training squad.”
Others to watch include Amy Cashin, Luke Searle, Andrew Gavaghan and Chris Camilleri.
The track and field season begins on Saturday at Meadowglen International Athletics Track from 1.30pm.
— Lance Jenkinson
