Athletics Hawkes Bay/Gisborne

Road Relay Championships

Hastings Harriers continued their dominance of the Hawkes Bay/Gisborne Road Relay Championships in Taradale on Saturday afternoon. The team of Richard Potts, Mathew Holder, Josh Barber, Neil Sargisson, Iain Murray and Stephen Smith completed the 37 kilometre course in 2hrs 2mins 54secs, to finish a comfortable 4 minutes 28 seconds ahead of the Napier Harrier Club.

Potts got the team off to a good start, recording fastest time on the 7.1 km first leg to give his team a 1 minute 56 seconds advantage over the Napier Harrier Club at the first changeover. Holder then set a new record of 16:11 for the 5.4km second leg, extending Hastings advantage to 4 minutes 43 seconds by the time he handed on to Barber. By the time Barber had completed the 6.7km uphill third leg, he had recorded fastest time, and the Hastings team held an advantage of a massive 6 minutes 15 seconds.

Mark Speakman, running the 4.9km fourth leg for the Napier Harrier Club, clawed back 10 seconds of the lead, recording fastest time for the lap. Napier then continued to eat into the lead on the fifth leg, with Kevin Fisher running 14 seconds quicker than his Hastings counterpart for fastest time and reducing the Hastings lead to 5 minutes 51 seconds. Chris Corney ran the final leg for the Napier team, taking fastest time and taking a further 1 minute 24 sec out of Hastings� lead, but at the finish line the Hastings team had extended their unbeaten run in the event to 5 years.

The Hastings club also took line honours in the women�s event, with the team of Claire Burnard, Helen Barber, Deidre Nieuwland, Karen Solari, Andrea Williams and Margaret Radich finishing 8 minutes and fifteen seconds ahead of the Napier club�s winning Junior Women�s team. It was the first time that any club had fielded an entire team of Junior Women (under 20), and both Napier and Hastings clubs did so this year. The Napier team consisting of Kirsten Foulds, Laura Smidt, Annika Edmondson, Sonya Clark, Alanna Hambleton and Sonya Harkness finished the event 7 minutes 45 seconds ahead of their Hastings counterparts, with Foulds, Smidt, Clark and Harkness recording fastest times, for the grade, on their legs. Hastings� Hayley Sherborne ran the fastest time on the third leg, lowering the junior women�s record for the leg, while club-mate Joanna Wright recorded fastest time for the fifth leg.

Laura Smidt and Sonya Clark�s winning times for the second and fourth legs were also fast enough to be quickest overall in the women�s event. Burnard, Nieuwland, Williams and Radish accounting for the other fastest times on their respective legs.

While the 37km main event was taking place, there were 10 teams taking on an 18km, 5 leg relay around the Puketapu circuit. A Havelock North High School selection of Mark Buttle, Josh Lynex, Liam Collins, and Steve Armon lead the field home, with a Hastings Harriers team of Derek Morrison. Sue Taffe, and Franc Anderson placing second. The first all junior team home was the Napier Harriers �Gold� team of Rory Diver, Lydia Diver, Dianna Best, Brendan Speakman and Hogan Green.

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