ATHLETICS - Hatea men rule the road ahead of weakened team

Hatea Harriers triumphed over a weakened Whangarei club team to win the men's title in the Northland Road Relay Championships at Waipu on Saturday.
Three of Whangarei's top runners were unavailable for the four-lap relay, which doubled as the Athletic North Road Relay Championships and a relay for unregistered runners.
From the gun, Hatea's Ryan Smith, the Northland Under-19 cross-country and road champion, shot into an early lead, aware that he might be threatened by Takapuna runner Jack Koeden later in the race.
He finished unchallenged, however, recording the second fastest time of the day, 61 seconds ahead of Takapuna's Jack Koeden.
Spectators were surprised when Koeden turned around at the finish and set off on his second lap, but officials knew his team was one runner short. Whangarei's Tony Langton came home strongly in third place, 1 minute 49 seconds after Koeden.
With Koeden tiring on his second lap and a fast run by John Kent, Hatea increased its lead. With strong runs by Jason Trass and Kim Jepson on laps three and four, Hatea easily clinched first place and the road-relay title.
Koeden held on to second place in lap two, but Whangarei's Richard Blogg, the Northland marathon champion, closed the gap to 30 seconds. On lap three Whangarei's Ryan Slater not only caught Takapuna's Bruce Liverston, but opened up a gap of 66 seconds.
Ian Calder, the final runner for Whangarei, powered away to record the fastest time of the day, crossing the line 4 minutes and 30 seconds ahead of Takapuna's Peter Talbot.
In the women's relay, Takapuna's Lesley Ryan led from the gun and continued to draw away from Whangarei's hard-running Pamela Latter. But over the next two laps, Whangarei runners Denise Limby and Janice Powell whittled down Takapuna's lead to hand over to Ady Ngawati just 5 seconds behind.
Ngawati, the 2007 Auckland marathon champion, swept into the lead bringing Whangarei home 3 minutes and 12 seconds clear of Takapuna.