ROTORUA – Wellington Scottish made it three titles in a row in the senior men’s relay at the New Zealand Road Relay Championships in Rotorua on Saturday, while North Harbour Bays women made it two in a row.
New Zealand Road Relay Championships – 30 September 2017
It was a dominant display by the Scottish team, with Olympic 1500m rep Hamish Carson grabbing the lead on the first leg of seven, cutting out the 8.5km in 26:52, 46 seconds ahead of Aaron Pulford running for Athletics Tauranga. The next six runners for Scottish maintained the lead to the finish. Nick Horspool anchored the team home in 3:21:23, winning by over three minutes from the Pakuranga Club with Wellington Harrier Athletic in third place, another four minutes back. Horspool covered the final 10.3km in 32:32.
It was the Scottish club’s eighth senior men’s title since they won their first in 1999. Carson, Daniel Jones and Horspool had the fastest lap times for Scottish.
North Harbour Bays repeated their win from last year in the women’s race capturing their ninth senior title. Such was their dominance, that six of the seven runners had the fastest laps for the grade.
Bays won from the Hamilton City Hawks team by a big margin while University of Canterbury faded at the end to finish third.
Papanui Toc-H junior men’s team from Christchurch were another team to retain their title, with strong runs from Mitchell Small and Goiteom Gebremedihin. North Harbour Bays and Auckland City Athletics filled the minor placings.
Hamilton City Hawks were clear winners in the junior women’s relay with fastest lap times coming from Aimee Ferguson, Grace Ritchie, Samantha Corbett and Emerson Deverell. Wellington Harrier Athletics finished eight minutes back and Auckland city Athletics were third.
Hawks last won the junior women’s title in 2000, and the victory was a fitting result for manager Don Willoughby who guided the team 17 years earlier.
The Masters Men 40+ title went to Wellington Scottish, with rivals Wellington Harrier Athletic filling second place and New Brighton Olympic finishing third. Good runs for Scottish came from Simon Keller, Stephen Day and Andrew Wharton.
Wellington Harrier Athletic (M50+ for the third year in a row) and Athletics Nelson (M60+) won their masters grade titles.
Hamilton City Hawks were victorious in the master women’s race, from Wellington Harrier Athletic and Olympic Harriers. Hawks runners Marion Millward and Maureen Leonard were the fastest on their laps. Wesley Harriers from Auckland were the Men’s B grade winners and Leith Harriers from Dunedin took out the C grade title.
Trentham United won the walking section and the Social grade went to Takapuna.
Hamilton City Hawks took out the top club thanks in large to their outstanding showing with the women’s relays, winning the junior and masters races and finishing second in the senior race. Wellington Harrier Athletic and Wellington Scottish were the next best clubs at the championships.
New Zealand Road Relay Results:
Men
62.6km:
Senior: Wellington Scottish (Hamish Carson, Malcolm Hodge, Daniel Jones, Kristian Day, Scott Russell, Hiro Tanimoto, Nick Horspool) 3:21:23 1, Pakuranga 3:25:14 2, Wellington Harrier Athletic Club 3:29:18 3, Auckland City Athletics 3:30:26 4. B Grade; Wesley 3:37:00 1, Pakuranga 3:53:14 2, Sumner 3:55:46 3. C Grade; Leith Harriers 4:04:45 1, Pakuranga 4:19:34 2, Glen Eden 4:23:53 3.
Masters 40-49; Wellington Scottish (Dave Parsons, Paul Barwick, Simon Keller, Grant McLean, Stephen Day, Joseph Bulbulia, Andrew Wharton) 3:41:22 1, WHAC 3:44:14 2, New Brighton Olympic 3:45:16 3.
Masters 50-59; WHAC (David Creamer, Paul Bird, Dallas McCallum, Jono Hales, Paul Hewitson, Andrew Wheatley, Dave Carrigan) 3:57:26 1, ACA 4:06:54 2, Hamilton City Hawks 4:08:02 3.
45.3km:
Junior: Papanui Toc H (Andrew Hernandez, Mitchell Small, Dion Houston, Cameron Bartlett, Goiteom Gebremedihin, Tom Moulai) 2:29:21 1, North Harbour Bays 2:31:19 2, Auckland City Athletics 2:31:52 3.
Masters 60+: Athletics Nelson (Ian Carter, Barry Dewar, Derek Shaw, Clive Holyoake, Murray Hart, Graeme Sellars) 3:10:04 1, Auckland University 3:25:09 2, WHAC 3:27:13 3.
Walking: Trentham United (Clive McGovern, Joe Antcliff, Val Buddle, Jackie Wilson, Stephen Mair, Daniel Du Toit) 4:44:35 1, Wellington Scottish 5:12:20 2, Lake City Rotorua 5:21:40 3.
New Zealand Road Relay Women
62.6km:
Senior: North Harbour Bays (Margie Campbell, Esther Keown, Fiona Love, Annika Pfitzinger, Ashleigh Williams, Elise Salt, Lydia O’Donnell) 3:56:57 1, Hamilton City Hawks 4:09:23 2, University of Canterbury 4:13:32 3.
Masters: Hamilton City Hawks (Kirsten Milne, Helen Hall-King, Karyn McCready, Marion Millward, Katy Dawson, Maureen Leonard, Bridget Ray) 4:35:51 1, WHAC 4:41:58 2, Olympic Harriers 4:42:43 3.
45.3km:
Junior: Hamilton City Hawks (Aimee Ferguson, Grace Ritchie, Jemima Antoniazzi, Samantha Corbett, Emerson Deverell, Charli Miller) 2:56:50 1, WHAC 3:04:03 2, ACA 3:11:58 3.
Top Overall Club: Hamilton City Hawks 1, Wellington Harrier Athletic Club 2, Wellington Scottish 3.
Speak Your Mind