HRRL Round-up
SO near, but so far.....Stubbington's women just missed out on promotion in the Hampshire Road Race League.
For most of the season, the ladies in green have held second spot behind Gosport Road Runners and looked odds-on to take one of the top two berths. But at Sunday's Totton 10km, they were pipped at the post by Farnham Runners, who finished second on the day behind Gosport - with Stubbington fifth.
That meant Gosport were crowned Division 2 champions on 11 points, Farnham were second with 13 points and Stubbington third on 21 points.
Though disappointing, it's a measure of how well the ladies team has done this year, putting out good numbers of runners at the HRRL events. And with some new faces coming to the fold, there's no reason why next season can't be even better.
Winchester Athletic Club predictably retained their Division 1 ladies title, with City of Salisbury and Eastleigh Running Club dropping down to Division 2 next season.
Stubbington's men finished mid-table fifth in Division 1 where Winchester secured a team double ahead of Southampton Running Club.
Eastleigh Running Club and Alton Runners were relegated from the top flight, with Poole Athletic Club and Gosport Road Runners winning promotion from Division 2.
Among the B teams, Stubbington's men were sixth and the women were ninth, as Winchester completed the clean sweep of domestic team honours. Individually, Mark Le Gassick finished second in the HRRL on the back of his fine fifth place at Totton. This follows his joint winning of the individual title 12 months ago.
Alton Runners' Richard Gowan was crowned champion, eight points ahead of Mark. For the ladies, Lauren Coates, who ran four HRRL races this season, was Stubbington's highest placed runner in 52nd. Southampton Running Club's Karen Rushton claimed individual honours.
Other placings:
Men: 55th Ray Gunner, 61st Mike Harper, 68th Michael Breed, 73rd Ross Lamport, 89th Richard Thomas, 97th Andy Simpson, 109th John Rawlins, 117th Tony Allen, 122nd Tor Duffin, 127th Alasdair Ewing, 136th Chris Hall, 142nd Gordon Reid, 158th Noel Charlton, 165th Graham Bell, 195th Chris Furnell.
Women: 74th Bev Lavery, 76th Susie MacGregor, 131st Louise James, 150th Lesley Harding, 181st Kay Sadler, 206th Chris Haskell.