Athletics: Lett, Robertson take national road titles

National 10,000m track champion Stephen Lett added another title to his collection when he won the national 10km road championships in Wellington.

Second in the New Zealand cross country championships, Lett had to work hard for his 30min 58.51sec win, just five seconds ahead of Auckland teammate Jono Jackson.

Alex Parlane completed the Auckland trifecta, taking third in 31min 07.17, leaving Wellington's Stefan Smith to fill fourth with 31min 25.51sec.

Parlane made a bid for victory mid way through the race, breaking up the leading group and taking Lett and Jackson with him.

Going by instructions from his coach Jack Ralston, Lett set sail with 2km to go and paced his finish well to shut out the win.

Auckland champion Lisa Robertson took out the women's national title, clocking 34min 32.13sec to head home 2009 champion Fiona Crombie (Canterbury) by nearly 16sec.

Aucklander Lydia O'Donnell took third in 35min 17.24sec, with Nicki McFadzien (Canterbury) a distant fourth in 26min 03.16sec.

Crombie set the pace from the start but Robertson stayed in touch and hit the front with 1000m remaining.

- NZPA