|
Gwent League
|
Newport Harriers
|
Incessant rain throughout the week ensured that Bridgend was once again a muddy quagmire as the Gwent League reached round three. Dave Proffitt pulled up with a hamstring injury after two laps which meant that Newport had only three scorers. Neil Hardee produced his best run yet in 17th place, defeating Les Croupiers rival Richard Bullen for the first time this season. Neil is now in 10th place overall and 3rd overall in the Vet40 category. Chris Oxley may be skipping track sessions these days but produced a good run in 57th, and overall is 28th. Darryn McAtee didn’t want to risk ripping open his adductor muscles on the slippery surface so ran very conservatively in 174th place but achieved his main goal of avoiding injury.
In the league Newport maintained 8th position. However, both Westbury and Pontypridd gained points on us and have the potential to overtake us if we cannot produce a full scoring team. If this happens we may have to rely on Bristol continuing to field weak teams to ensure our Division 1 status.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
| 1 | Swansea Harriers Athletic Club | 3786 |
| 2 | Les Croupiers Running Club | 3642 |
| 3 | Bridgend Athletic Club | 3620 |
| 4 | Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club | 3544 |
| 5 | Neath Harriers | 3348 |
| 6 | University of Bath | 3269 |
| 7 | Sarn Helen Orienteering & R. C. | 3127 |
| 8 | Newport Harriers Athletic Club | 2674 |
| 9 | Pontypridd Athletic Club | 2608 |
| 10 | Westbury Harriers | 2585 |
| 11 | Great Western Runners | 2394 |
| 12 | Bristol and West Athletic Club | 1993 |
In the absence of Ann Saxena there was a danger that. Newport would have no runners in the senior women’s race. Thankfully up stepped Rhian Loudon for her first outing of the season, finishing half way up the field in 62nd place. This didn’t prevent Newport slipping into the relegation zone and with a lack of athletes it doesn’t look too good for our women at the moment.
| Pos | Team | Pts |
| 1 | Chepstow Harriers | 1151 |
| 2 | Bridgend Athletic Club | 901 |
| 3 | Great Western Runners | 870 |
| 4 | Team Bath | 842 |
| 5 | Swansea Harriers Athletic Club | 662 |
| 6 | Stroud & District Athletic Club | 577 |
| 7 | Lliswerry Runners | 450 |
| 8 | Thornbury Running Club | 319 |
| 9 | Newport Harriers Athletic Club | 258 |
| 10 | Brackla Harriers | 63 |