Lamont Marshall retained his men’s national cross country title with a commanding display of front-running on a testing course in St George’s, while Ashley Estwanik regained the women’s crown that she last won in 2011.

A revised course on a hilly loop of St George’s Golf Course put runners to the test on a warm and sunny December morning. In the early stages of the race, Marshall battled with eventual runner-up Trey Simons, and former multiple champion Jay Donawa, who was competing in the masters’ division.

Marshall steadily opened a gap on Simons during the course of the five-lap event to eventually cross the line in 30 minutes 24 seconds and take the Bermuda National Atheltics Association title. Simons was second in 31:44 and Jose Miranda third in 34:59.

The women’s race was won comprehensively by Ashley Estwanik, who zipped through three laps of the course in 20:54. The women’s event resulted in open category and masters category athletes dovetailing one another as they finished. Second woman to complete the course was Deon Breary, the masters winner, in 23:09 ahead of Tamika Williams, who was second in the open women’s race in 24:01. It was another masters runner, Vivienne Lochhead, who was next home in 24:10 before Rose-Anna Hoey, last year’s national champion and a mother-to-be, secured third place in the open division in 26:34. Third in the masters category was Mairi Redmond in 27:49.

Jay Donawa won the men’s masters title over three laps in 19:10 ahead of Christopher Harris (19.48) and Darren Dowling (23.12).

There were a number of strong performances in the junior races. Jade Johnston improved from her runner-up spot last year to claim the under-ten girls title in 16:14 ahead of Tesyah Astwood and Yasmyne Smith. In the boys under-ten race, Kahzi Sealey was the new champion in 14:52 ahead of Yari Tucker and Tommy Marshall.

Holly Bruton secured the girls under-12 title in 16:05 ahead of Selah Tuzo, last year’s under-ten champion, and Kayla Raymond, while in the boys’ race, Ryan Outerbridge, the defending champion, immediately shot to the front at the start of the race and stayed there, covering two laps of the course in an impressive 13:42, with Iziah Tucker and Robert Thomas the next two finishers.

Lindsay Palmer defended her girls under-14 title in 23:56, while Mikaela Outerbridge, who moved up into the new age group this year, gave a good account of herself as she finished runner-up ahead of Messiah Greaves. Aaron Jacobs was another youngster to retain his title, winning the boys under-14 race in 20:44 ahead of Jayden Ming and Alex Pilgrim.

Quasshie Douglas traded places with Kyrah Scraders, the girls under-17 champion last year, to win in 23:24. Scraders came home third in 24:24. Finishing in between the pair was Zakkiyah Showers, reprising her runner-up performance from a year ago. The boys under-17 race produced a new champion, with Tyler Smith powering home in 20:05 ahead of Daniel Oatley, last year’s champion, and third-placed Lawrence Fox.

In the senior masters division, Carol Griffith defended her title in 31:10 ahead of Wenda Roberts and Louise White, while Kent Richardson impressed in the men’s race to win in 22:56 from Christopher Jones and Sherman Darrell.

Results, page 14