Mullewa Gift (WA) - September 3rd

The 2011 Mullewa Gift is scheduled for Saturday 3rd September.

Mullewa is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia, 450 kilometres north of Perth and 98 kilometres east-northeast of Geraldton.

Events:
70m Open
120m Novice
120m Gift
550m Open

Further details to follow.

Anyone wishing to enter needs to contact Athletics Western Australia.


2010 RESULTS
120m Mullewa Gift
1 Dylan Panizza 12.25
2 Brittany Pettit 23.00
3 Glenn Ross 13.00
4 Cole Unasa 10.00
5 Dane Richter 9.00
6 Bryce Teo 7.75
7 Samantha Plato 25.00
8 Matt Seaman 9.50
Time: 11.98


70m Open
1 Dylan Panizza 7.00
2 Unasa Cole 6.50
3 Brittany Pettit 13.25
4 Glenn Ross 7.50
5 Matthew Seaman 5.50
6 Scott Andrews 5.50
7 Samantha Plato 13.50
8 Josh Baharthah 6.75
Time: 7.38


120m Novice
1 Samantha Plato 25.00
2 Aldis Jaunzems 17.00
3 Matthew Seaman 10.75
4 Holly Daniels 25.00
5 Ben Clark 12.00
6 Gemma Grigg 24.00
7 Meg Crofts 27.75
8 Marie Decker 27.50
Time: 12.68


550m Open
1 Dane Richter 21.00
2 Ben Clark 40.00
4 Steven Rafty 45.00
3 Marie Decker 105.00
Time: 1-16.0

http://www.waathletics.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&catid=49%3Aevents&id=302%3A2011-mullewa-gift&Itemid=190

From the AWA website:

The first gift of the season is to be held at Mullewa, a town 450km north of Perth. This gift has its origins in the 1890's and is a great opportunity for first time runners to compete in front of a lively crowd at the Mullewa Show.

Events & Prize Money on offer:

• 70m - $600

• 120m Open - $2000

• 550m - $1000

• 120m Novice - $400

Athletes must be over the age of 12 to compete.

This year's Mullewa Gift is being held on Saturday September 3 at the Mullewa Show. Racing will start at 12.00pm with Athletes to check in at 10.45am.

Please note with the lunch time start that athletes from Perth will need to factor in the 4-5 hour drive to Mullewa. A number of Athletes in the past have chasen to stay friday and/or saturday night. Athletes will need to provide their own transport and accomodation to the event.

Entries closed 25th August.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/regional/gascoyne/a/-/sport/10172662/twins-gift-to-hero-dad/


20 year old Jack Hannan (right) after winning the
1926 Mullewa Gift.


Twins' Gift to hero dad

By Tom Davis,
Geraldton Newspapers
September 2, 2011,

Tomorrow's Be Active Mullewa Gift will hold a special place in the hearts of twin sisters Judy Hannan and Joan Cunningham.

They will commemorate the day in 1926 when their father Jack Hannan won the Gift and with it, a bounty of 60 pounds.

In those days, 60 pounds was a tidy sum, considering 412 pounds could buy you a brand new Studebaker straight six motor car.

Since their father’s passing in 1992, Hannan’s twin daughters, both 77, made a pact to one day travel north and celebrate his achievement.

Eighty-five years after Jack’s win, two generations of the Hannan family will be in attendance at this year’s Gift.

Judy and Joan and Joan’s daughter Jude Fitzgerald will watch the top WA sprinters of today compete in the $2000 120m race.

Judy Hannan felt proud to revisit the ground where her father struck gold as a 20- year-old.

“He always had fond memories of Mullewa because he won Gift there all those years ago,” she said.

"60 pounds was a lot of money back then so it was a big deal.

“Joan and myself always said we’d go to Mullewa — it’s quite a coincidence that it has fallen on the 85th anniversary.”

Tomorrow’s race, organised by WA Athletics, is the highlight of Mullewa’s Agricultural Show.

Other races include dashes over 70m and 550m.

A total of 35 athletes have nominated this year.

It’s a steady uptake compared to the 50 which took part in 1926, as reported in the Geraldton Guardian.

Its profile was highly celebrated, the Guardian reported “cameras were very much in use” during the presentations attended by Parliamentary dignitaries.

In a memoir, Hannan described the race as “the Stawell of the West,” comparing it to Australia’s most lucrative sprint in Victoria.

Fast forward to 2011 and this year’s Gift has lured a host of track stars.

Poppy Schwass, a fifthplace finisher in the 2010 Australian 100m Hurdles final, is among the nominees.

Jordan Makins has the 550m race in his sights.

Makin scooped an 800m bronze this year at the Australian Junior Championships and won the City of Perth 550m Gift last November.

Thanks Youngy.I believe one of the Scarboro beach sprinters Adam Moore saluted the judges this year.

Mullewa is one of the two main gifts left in WA and one of my favourites that I competed at from 1999-2010. My understanding was that the history only went back to the 1920's rather than the 1890's as claimed in the entry info. The gift stopped at the commencement of World War II and unfortunately didn't return until 1986.

The gift runs in conjunction with the Agricultural show, so although only 30 or so runners consistently attend the crowd can fill breaks in the program with the fair.

I love it as it is a great weekend away from Perth, and a good development tour for young athletes considering heading east for Stawell, Bay or Burnie. The grass in every lane of the 120m is fully painted in the gift colours, and there is often a local smokie who rocks up to the heats barefoot in basketball shorts, but if he makes the final spikes and blocks make an appearance!

Since 1987 winners known to most pro's include Peter O'Dwyer, Dean Capobianco, Nick Ward, Rod Buchanan (twice), Darren Rogers, Dane Richter and myself.

When i was last there in 2010 the town population was less than 800, but they were hopeful that with Geraldton soon to become a major port for mining, and the rail line going through Mullewa that the population could easily double or triple.

It staggers me that Athletics WA don't seem to have put any additional resources into it (judging by entry numbers)as the mining boom could make it a massive gift once again.

550m at Mullewa on Saturday 3rd Sept 2011.



120m Repechage at Mullewa

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/regional/gascoyne/a/-/sport/10189003/groundskeepers-son-claims-the-gift/

Groundskeeper's son claims the Gift

Taylor Courtland,
Geraldton Newspapers
September 5, 2011



Saturday's Be Active Mullewa Gift victory was a special one for Adam Moore.

It was somewhat of a homecoming for the 20-year-old who was born in Geraldton but moved to the big smoke at the age of three.

His father played football with the Mullewa Football Club and was a former groundskeeper at the sports ground, giving Moore a special tie to the victory.

The Scarborough Surf lifesaver held off challenges from the highlyfancied Cole Unasa and Bryce Teo to take home the $2000 cheque.

Defending champion Dylan Panizza failed to repeat the feat — he finished last in his heat and was again the back marker in his repechage.

Moore, who tore a quad during his heat last year, began at the front of the final field with a 16.5m handicap.

He never relinquished the lead over the 120m journey and said he was keen to come back next year to defend.

He said he could hear his challengers making ground in the final metres of the race but never gave in.

“Being out at the front you have to run your own race and you do not know where the guys are behind you,” he said.

“You just have to keep your head down and keep driving and there were some guys behind me so I just had to get to the finish line first obviously.

“I could hear a bit of a noise coming in the last 10m, so all I was saying was ‘hold on, hold on’.”

Moore, who crossed the finish line in 12.33 seconds, said he has not been in the athletics scene for long but his surf lifesaving background gave him an advantage over his competitors.

“It does help a little bit with the competitive and race side of things,” he said.

“But it is pretty different running on sand to the hard stuff.”

Nathan Cacomo also had a day out, winning the 120m novice, 70m and 550m finals. Cacomo won the 550m from Courtney Heinz and then backed it up five minutes later to win the 70m final ahead of Moore.