ATHLETICS: Naylor victory lifts title tilt (From Bicester Advertiser)

ATHLETICS: Naylor victory lifts title tilt

10:00am Thursday 17th January 2013 in Sport By Ed Mezzetti, Sports reporter specialising in Rugby, Cricket and Athletics. Call me on 01865 425456

STEVE Naylor has the Apex Sports Chiltern League Division 1 title firmly in his sights after winning round four at Luton.

The Bedford & County athlete, from Combe, followed up his third straight Oxfordshire cross country crown in the mud at Horspath by triumphing on a different kind of course.

Naylor clocked 28mins 53secs over the 9km course to edge out Bedford clubmate Matt Janes (29.04).

“It was quite a bleak Luton course with the odd bump, so there was no real hiding place from the cold wind,” said Naylor.

“For the first lap the majority of us ran together before a leading group of three got away on the second.

“I kicked at the start of the last lap giving me enough breathing space to get away.”

Naylor now has two wins and a second place from three races, so just needs a top-five finish in the final round at Wing, Bucks on February 9.

He said: “With other results going my way I now have a good shot at both the overall and senior titles.

“I’m on four points, which gives me a five-point lead with one race to go.”

Oxford City’s Darrell Bellin-ger finished sixth in 30.07.

Clubmate Stewart Thorp came 74th in 35.57 to boost his hopes of landing the vet 60 title.

He leads the standings by 97 points from Roy Treadwell, another City athlete.

Headington Road Runner Chris Dettmar was second vet 40 home in 31.54, helping his club extend their lead in the veterans’ team event, while their seniors lie fourth.

Maxwell Robinson led Headington home, recording 31.23 for 14th place.

In the ladies’ race, over 6km, Headington’s Jude Craft (24.27) and Adrienne Hopkins (25.25) were the third and fourth vet 35 finishers respectively.

Headington’s veteran ladies have a narrow lead over Vale of Aylesbury and are set for a nail-biting finale at Wing. Their seniors are ranked fourth.

Christian Von Eitzen, from Abingdon, finished second in the under 17 boys’ race, the Vale of Aylesbury athlete clocking 20.43.

SUBMITTED CHILTERN LEAGUE RESULTS

MEN’S DIVISION 1

Headington RR: 14 M Robinson 31.23, 21 C Dettmar (V40) 31.54, 35 T Doole 33.22, 43 F Campbell (V40) 33.57, 54 D Gavaghan (V40) 34.35, 55 R Skilbeck 34.37, 64 C Payne (V40) 35.22, 86 J Griffiths (V50) 36.50, 120 L Hurman (V50) 39.12, 134 N Baker (V50) 40.17, 166 J Worth (V40) 45.02, 170 P Lister (V50) 45.44.

LADIES’ DIVISION 1

Headington RR: 9 J Craft (LV35) 24.27, 19 A Hopkins (LV35) 25.25, 20 A Lyng 25.53, 35 S Farrow (LV45) 27.41, 44 A Barry (LV45) 28.37, 59 M Fischer (LV45) 30.39, 76 M Russell (LV45) 41.20.