Hatea Harriers' men outclassed Athletics Whangarei in the annual Baton Relays showdown run over a tough 3km cross-country course at Barge Park.
Ryan Slater opened courageously for Whangarei in Saturday's event, trailing Hatea's new star, Jonny Creelman, at the start, before passing him and fighting to retain a narrow lead tothe finish.
"I knew if I had a chance of beating him, I had to go out strong with him - just keep on his tail. After about 1km I decided to push it on a hill and I got about 10 metres on him," Slater said.
"With about 1km to go I felt for sure he'd catch up and pass me. I gave it everything I had and just managed to keep some distance on him - about 5m at the finish," he added.
Hatea's Matt Andrews took his club into the lead on lap two, passing Whangarei's Ian Calder, who was coming back from injury and not up to his usual form, and on lap three Whangarei's Mike Gowing slipped further behind Hatea's Mark Turner.
On the fourth and final lap Ryan Smith, back from Auckland for the weekend and running for his old club Hatea, opened up a wide gap over Whangarei's Rob Lieffering, taking out the fastest lap time of the day in 10m 27s.
"It's always nice to have a lead from the start. It's also quite satisfying to be able to chase somebody down at the end," Smith said.
Hatea's second team of Harry Linford, Keith King, Cameron Trass and Jason Trass took third in 49m 29s, ahead of Whangarei's No2 team of Fred Needham, Luke Banks-Novak, Chris Seeley and Richard Blogg in fourth place.
It was left to LJ Hooker Athletic Whangarei's women to salvage the numerically stronger club's reputation.
Imogen Hull started fast in the combined field, striding out with the men and finishing the first lap fourth overall in 12m 27s, well ahead of her coach, masters' runner Chris Portch, who was 12th overall in 15m 53s.
"It was pretty good - I kept up with the guys at the front for a while and then they just sort of got away - Harry Linford was in front and I beat Travis Connelley and quite a few others," Hull said.
Whangarei's No2 team also triumphed over Hatea No1.
