Mentone Athletics

Hi All,

🏆National XC Championships Ballarat 2026

Over the weekend we had the National XC Championships, followed today by the National Junior Road Racewalk Champs and the Mixed Cross Country Relays. AA and AV laid on perhaps the most challenging course used for this event with copious amounts of mud on the course and surrounds.

🔥Summary of results

INDIVIDUAL XC RACES (Saturday)

U13B (3km)
🥉Alby Phipps 9th (3rd Vic)

U13G (3km)
👉🏼 Alisha Henderson AC 34th

U14G (3km)
👉🏼 Vivienne Baker 13th (4th Vic)

U17B PA (3km with 15/20/Open)
🥉Matt Rumsey 5th (3rd Vic) - 13th All Age

U16G (4km)
👉🏼 Amy Duncan 22nd (6th Vic)

U16B (4km)
👉🏼 Hugo Mills AC 46th

U17G (4km)
👉🏼 Lily Lambert 12th (9th Aus, 3rd Vic) Team 🥈

U17B (6km)
👉🏼 Louay Benaoum 11th (8th Aus, 5th Vic)

U18G (4km)
👉🏼 Matilda Harrison AC 36th

U20M (8km)
👉🏼 Willem Duncan 21st (20th Aus, 6th Vic)
👉🏼 Lochie Fulton (Uni) 46th
👉🏼 Ollie Scott 52nd

Open Men (10km)
👉🏼 Michael Kernahan 22nd
👉🏼 Baden Mooney (Uni) 35th

Open Women (10km)
👉🏼 Jia Wen Heng (Uni) 44th

MIXED XC RELAYS (Sunday PM)

We had the following members racing:
👉🏼 Denzil Santos
👉🏼 William Miller
👉🏼 Lily Baker
👉🏼 Lochie Fulton
👉🏼 Matt Bergin

A great weekend of National Championship events and wonderful to see all ages taking part. Thanks to everyone who came along and helped out!

💛🖤 Go Mentone!

💛🖤 Our very own Seth O’Donnell is hosting a Q&A evening at PhysiPro Athletic in Seaford on Friday 28 August, and he’d really love to have a strong Mentone contingent there.

In his own words:

“Mentone is a big part of my story. It was where I properly entered athletics after coming across from local footy, before eventually progressing to national titles and representing Australia internationally.”

“The night won’t just be a run-through of results. I’ll be talking about the parts of the journey that were actually useful — training, injuries, setbacks, mistakes, racing, and the decisions I’d change if I was starting again — before opening the floor for questions.”

“I think it could be particularly valuable for the club’s athletes, juniors, parents and coaches who want to hear what the progression actually looked like behind the scenes.”

📅Friday 28 August
🚪 Doors: 6:00pm
🎤Starts: 6:30pm
📍 PhysiPro Athletic, 151 East Road, Seaford
🥤 Light refreshments and snacks provided

Registrations: https://events.humanitix.com/a-q-and-a-evening-with-seth-o-donnell

🏆 XCR RND 8: BALLARAT HALF MARATHON

A small but courageous team ventured out to Ballarat for possibly the coldest XCR event in recent memory where athletes had to battle borderline hypothermia in addition to the longest distance of the season. After being treated to perfect conditions for events held in Ballarat in recent years, the tables well and truly turned this year, but those who did make the long journey still had rewards on offer with many running pbs.

There were some strong individual results amongst our 10 participants and our teams battled hard to do as well as they could.

🔥 Team results:
👉🏻 9th for our men’s division 1 team (Michael K, Sam B, Oliver S, Daniel K and Adam B)- only 8 points off 7th
👉🏻 15th for our men’s division 3 team (Alexander R, Jordan S and Nikolaj D)
👉🏻 26th for our men’s 40+ team (Adam B and Alexander R)- one runner short of likely taking out the win

🔥 Individual highlights:
👉🏻 4th for Louay Benaoum in U18 men’s race
👉🏻 4th for Lily Lambert in U18 women’s race
👉🏻 6th for Adam Barker in 40-44
👉🏻 9th for Alexander Ruda in 40-44
👉🏻 11th for Michael Kernahan in open men’s race
👉🏻 29th for Sam Bunnage in open men’s race

Thank you to everyone who made the long trip to help us put ourselves in the mix to pick up some valuable points.There was plenty of team spirit shown on a day which really tested everyone’s resolve with the challenges to be faced.

💛🖤 There is a bit of a break until our next XCR round which is in just under 4 weeks from now on Sunday the 6th of September. It will be the new 15km event at Burnley which this year has switched venues with Ballarat. Juniors will race over 4km. If you would like to race make sure to enter by Wednesday the 2nd of September at midday. In the meantime we have the Australian cross country champs in Ballarat on the 22nd of August where many Mentonians will be in action.

💛🖤 Congratulations Seth!!!

💛🖤🥉 Congratulations Bec!!!

Henderson Completes the Sweep 🤩

Rebecca Henderson has delivered the finishing touch to an unforgettable morning for Australia, claiming bronze in the Women's 10,000m Race Walk in 43:27.46.

The result caps a memorable second Commonwealth Games campaign for Henderson, and seals a historic Australian podium sweep alongside Jemima Montag and Elizabeth McMillen. ✨

📸 Michael Thomas

💛🖤🥉 Congratulations Claudia!!!

HOLLINGSWORTH SEALS HISTORY 🥉

Claudia Hollingsworth has stormed home to claim bronze in the Women's Mile Final, stopping the clock in 4:40.20 in a sensational Commonwealth Games debut.

Unleashing a blistering final lap, the 20-year-old seals her first Commonwealth Games medal as Australia completes a historic sweep of the Women's Mile podium. 💚💛

📸 Michael Thomas