Athletics: Rare double for Canterbury University

University of Canterbury recorded a rare double when it won the men's and women's A grade titles at the national road relay in Christchurch on Saturday.

An added highlight for the University of Canterbury team was Fiona Crombie breaking the 24 year-old recprd for the fifth leg.

But Crombie, the team captain, was quick to praise the performances of her team which also included Lara Phillips, Kellie Palmer, Alex Williams, Alicia Evans, Aine Hoban, Sarah McSweeney and Nicki McFadzien, and dominated throughout to deny Pakuranga a third consecutive title and record a winning time of 5hr 40min 51sec.

"All the girls had an absolute blinder. I'm really proud of them," Crombie said.

Crombie especially applauded Palmer, who opened up a three-minute lead on the second leg; Hoban, who ran into an icy blast and snow flurries on the uphill leg to the Hilltop; and McFadzien, who, at just 18, was contesting her first national senior road relay event.

No praise could be too great for Crombie herself, as she raised the bar on the fifth leg, breaking by two seconds the course record of 37min 32sec set by Susan Bruce (New Brighton) in 1985.

Second was Pakuranga in 5hr 50min 10sec, with Wellington Harriers third in 5hr 51min 10sec.

The club had plenty to celebrate as the men's team of Phil Costley, Rowan Hooper, Brett Tingay, Luke Hurring, Matt Smith, Richard Olsen, Angus Taylor and Andrew Davidson put in an outstanding performance to win a third consecutive national men's A grade title.

It now joins University of Auckland, New Brighton and North Shore Bays as the only clubs to have won the title on three consecutive occasions.

Costley, with 38 individual national titles to his credit, from 3000m to marathon distance and including the national 3000m steeplechase, got the team off to the best possible start, overcoming a strong challenge from Martin Van Barneveld (Wellington Scottish) on the first leg, and giving Hooper a 23-second advantage on the second leg.

Hooper maintained this advantage, despite battling into a strong wind and showers of sleet and hail.

Costley then had the satisfaction of witnessing Tingay, Hurring and Smith build on the team's lead before the run from Olsen on the challenging uphill section from Cooptown to the Hilltop had team captain Davidson singing his praises.

"Richie's run was just incredible," he said.

"It was pretty good for someone not known as being a hill runner, but a 1500m runner. Definitely not hills. And he was only 20 seconds outside the lap record."

Taylor, along with Davidson, guided the team home to victory quite comfortably, completing the 76.6km journey in 5hr 49min 37sec, 9min 15sec clear of second-placed Wellington Scottish, with Pakuranga third in 6hr 1min 36sec.

The best-performed Dunedin club was Leith, which finished third in the C grade competition and second in the masters women's grade.

Its masters women's team of Jan Craig, Louisa Andrew, Joy Wylie, Viv Eyere, Jill Alexander, Jan Brosnanhan, Meredith Molloy and Sue Cuthbert completed the course in 5hr 40min 10sec, behind winner Hamilton City in 5hr 18min 58sec.

Third was Pakuranga in 5hr 42min 3sec.

Brosnahan set a lap record on leg six for the masters women's grade of 40min 6sec.

Leith's C grade team of Jason Palmer, Andrew Lonie, Grant McDougall, Mark O'Donnell, Peter Green, Richard Wilson, Lachie Ashton and Neale McLanachan withstood strong challenges from Wellington Scottish and Ariki to record 5hr 4min 15sec for its bronze medal behind second-placed Napier Harriers in 5hr 2min 5sec and winner Hutt Valley in 4hr 52min 22sec.