It was a hot day on and off the track at the RACV State Relay Championships 2014 on Saturday, 13 December. With the mercury forecast to hit 30 degrees by early afternoon, athletes, spectators and volunteers alike were well-prepared for the heat. Centres started arriving through the gates at Lakeside Stadium, Albert Park at 7am and began setting up their team areas in the well-shaded north and south grandstands. 984 individual teams qualified for the State Championships representing over 64 Centres and Regions. Within the hour, the stadium was awash with colourful team banners and athletes getting their warm-ups underway.
The starter’s gun announced the official start of the event at 8:30am with the Mixed U11 4×200 Final leading the way. State Relays is always a huge timetable and with 155 individual races the 2014 edition promised a full day of racing. 155 races works out to basically a race every 4-5 minutes! That frequency of events requires a very well-oiled team of 80 Victorian officials and over 90 Centre Duties (plus all the Centre Team Managers). Fortunately, Little Athletics Victoria is blessed with dedicated and enthusiastic officials who love a good challenge.
Our Little Athletes, in turn, put in a performance that lit up the track. The warm, still weather provided ideal conditions for the relay teams, and it was no surprise when records started to tumble. The photo finish equipment certainly got a work out with plenty of close finishes throughout the day. Special mention must go to the Sunbury U14 Boys team and Sandringham U14 Girls team who both set ABP records pending in the 4×100m!! The Sandringham Girls team also set VBP records pending in the 4×100m, 4×200m and Medley relays – wow!
Crowd support throughout the day was fantastic. The cheers and roars on the home straight were deafening during the Finals events and somehow seemed to get louder in the afternoon. It sure is hard to beat the atmosphere of a Little Athletics Victoria State event.
The RACV State Relay Championships 2014 was the first Little Athletics Victoria state event sponsored by RACV and forms part of a new partnership between the two iconic Victorian brands. RACV has come on board as a Gold Partner and their support will be used to assist the grassroots community of Little Athletics throughout the State. This year’s Championships were certainly an excellent showcase of what Little Athletics is all about – Family, Fun and Fitness – and a great way to welcome RACV on board.
LAVic would like to thank everyone for their support and we look forward to our next state event – the State Multi-Event Championships 2015 – in Moe at the end of January.
Results and Photo Finish images are still available through the following link:
http://clubsonline.imgstg.com/staterelays14/Event Photos are now available for purchase through GeoSnapShot:
http://www.geosnapshot.com/e/RACVStateRelaysPlease contact LAVic directly in regards to any questions about photography.
