Harriers
Surprise results were the order of the day when Athletics and Cycling Masterton held the seventh race of their cross-country series at Mauriceville last weekend.
With one more race to go, and with the best six of eight results to count, none of the grades yet has a clear winner.
The walkers grade saw the van Gervens, father Chris and son Ben, fail to take out the first two placings for the first time. Chris did win for the seventh time in as many starts but Gail Edwards showed she was progressing well after an injury break to take second, 20 seconds ahead of Ben van Gerven, who had to settle for third. Chris van Gerven retains his lead on the points table with 117 points, two ahead of Gordon Burden. Close up are Ben van Gerven (114), Michael Teahan (113) and Fleur Blake (111).
With several of the regulars missing, the A grade field was down to eight starters and it was Michael Macklin who took the spoils from Malcolm MacDonald and Derek Cox. Steve Brown was fourth and he took the maximum 22 points to lead the series on 114. Second on 109 is Martin Dransfeld.
The biggest field on the day was in the B grade where Sam Andrews-Paul blitzed her rivals, finishing over 2 minutes ahead of Chris Lewis. Picking up the most handicap points was Theresa Reynolds. Lewis leads on 105 points and second-equal on 95 are Neil Cameron and Lesley Graham. Joint fourth on 92 are Sue Bankier and Denise Baker.
Annie Jerling was first home in the C grade, showing the grit which took her to a sub-4hr marathon in Wellington. Willie Blake was 30s behind in second with another 5s to Helene Dore. Judy Brown won the most handicap points and leads the series with 115 points, one ahead of Jane Flowerday. Jim Barr, on whose property this event was held, is third on 110.
Renee Tonkin bounced back from a poor showing at her last appearance to take first place on handicap in the D grade, an effort which propelled her to the lead on 105 points. Chris Cogdale, the previous points leader, was first past the post and now holds second-equal in the series with Judy Howard. The latter had a tough battle with Rachel Lewis and Michael Scott, all of them finishing within 20s of each other at the end of three laps of the 2km circuit.
The Andrews-Paul family picked up their second win of the day when daughter Teagan followed mother Sam's example and took out the junior race by 15s from Rhys Gwyther. Oliver Lewis was third, 1s ahead of Chris Blake. Gwyther leads the points table by five points from Liam Heard with one point back to Lewis.
The intermediate grade ran 2km around a single circuit of the senior course and Matthew Heard and Lachlan Chesmar took the first two placings as they had in the previous event. However, it is Kasey Cox who now leads the series on 111 points, two ahead of Heard. Individual winner on handicap this time was Lily Moore who was fifth over the line.
The midget grade was a two-horse race, and Adrian Johnson took line honours from Ella Chesmar. The latter leads the series on 112 points and has an 11-point advantage on second-placed Travis Bartlett.
The final race is at Solway Showgrounds on July 14 with registrations from 9.15am and the first races at 9.45am.