Cross-country
Barrie Joslin's bid for the Trust House series senior grade cross-country title may have ended when race six was staged last weekend.
Joslin led the points list after race four but missed the following event due to injury and was hoping to make up the lost ground on this occasion. Unfortunately, however, he failed to finish the 6km course, with a twisted knee causing a possible medial ligament strain and forcing him to retire.
Whether he will be able to front up again this season remains to be seen.
Ben Winder, on the other hand, returned to action after also missing the last senior race and reverted to form, crossing the line in first place, Michael Macklin being adrift by well over two minutes in second.
Macklin, though, did gain enough points to move up into third position on the handicap points table with 87, while Martin Dransfield stays in second place, having reduced the difference to leader Steve Brown by seven, Brown being on 102.
The second-tier B grade had the largest field on the day, with the first 12 placegetters all finishing within two minutes of each other.
Lesley Graham showed great form in finishing second to Jochen Martens, who led from the start, and she also picked up the maximum handicap points on the day.
Neil Cameron and Chris Lewis started the race as joint series leaders and ran much of the course shoulder to shoulder, Cameron finally getting the better of their personal battle. However, handicap points were reversed and Lewis becomes the new series leader on 98, with Cameron on 94 and Sue Bankier third on 90.
Series director Willie Blake was leader across the line for the second race running in C grade, finishing ahead of Richard Hawkes, returning after an overseas absence.
Jane Flowerday was third, working hard enough to gain the maximum 22 points on offer, sneaking into prime position in the grade with 110 points, just one ahead of Judy Brown.
Blake remains in third a further two points adrift. Jim Barr earned second place points on handicap which, coupled with his maximum haul in the previous race, will possibly see him move into a major placing come the end of the series.
The closest of the grade competitions is D grade, where the top six runners are all within five points of each other. Rachel Gawith took the honour of first across the line, ahead of ultra runner Annie Hawkes and Chris Cogdale in third.
Gawith and Cogdale are now joint series leaders on 94, having moved from fourth and second places respectively, while Judy Howard drops one place to third on 93.
Rachel Lewis maintained fourth on 91 and Theresa Bartlett is one point further back. Previous leader Renee Tonkin had a hard day of it, dropping to sixth place on 89.
The walking grade was led by the unstoppable Chris and Ben van Gerven, who continued to place one-two, while harriers chairwoman Gail Edwards finished third.
Fleur Blake found the conditions tough but moved into third place in the series on 104 points, 10 behind Ben van Gerven, who trails his father by three. Gordon Burdon remains in contention in fourth on 97.
In what has probably proved to be the closest rivalry in the series, Liam Heard and Rhys Gwyther again locked horns over two laps of the 2km course in the junior grade. Heard finished ahead by 14s but it was Gwyther who claimed the superior points, inching away by another point to a lead of four points overall. With two more races in the series, and only six results to score, the final result could go either way. Oliver Lewis maintains third position, despite a rugby injury the previous day ruling him out of this race, while third home on this occasion was Chris Blake.
The intermediate grade ran one lap of the 2km course, Mathew Heard leading Lachlan Chesmar to the finish by just over a minute. Sophie Thirsk, racing for the first time in the series, finished in third place, ahead of the three Moore sisters, Hannah, Jas and Lily. Next across the line was another debutant, Flynn Register, who moved up to the 2km distance from the midget grade and placed middle of the pack. Heard maintained his series lead on 108 points with Tama Bartlett in second, three points behind.
Only three starters in the midget grade saw Travis Bartlett finish in first place, younger sister Mia second and Ella Chesmar third. Chesmar, with 119 points, leads the series over Travis by two points and Mia Bartlett is third on 103.
The next race in the series is on June 30 at the Barr farm, West Rd, Mauriceville. Registration is at 9.15am and races will get under way at 9.45am.