Shanavas P M of MEG and Devaki of Alva’s grabbed the top honours in the men’s and women’s section respectively in the DAC’s K A Nettakallapa Memorial annual road races here on Sunday.

While Shanavas won the 12 km race with a timing of 38:59.00, Devaki romped home in the women’s 6 km race by stopping the clock at 24:32.00 minutes.

Despite the absence of defending champion Sunil Fatan due to injury, MEG runners made a clean sweep of the 12 km race with nine of their runners finishing in the top ten. Sappers’ Shanavas, shrugged off a lengthy injury lay-off to outwit his nearest rival Vibeen D’Silva by 20 seconds. Santosh, who had taken the lead in the first lap lost momentum in the second and had to settle for the third place.

“I started slowly as I was running after recovering from injury. Once I gained momentum, I stepped up the pace,” said Shanavas who has been training under former international Muralidharan C for the past five years.

After beginning on a slow note once the race was flagged off at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, it was at the turning at the Press Club in the second lap that the 28-year-old Hawaldar took the decisive lead which he held on till the end to emerge the winner.

With his wards winning a lion’s share of the race, coach Muralidharan’s joy knew no bounds. “After winning the Lipton International Marathon here in 2005, Shanawas was laid low by injuries. It’s good to see him back to winning ways”.

Meanwhile, Devaki triumphed in the women’s section without facing much competition.The 20-year-old BA final year student of Alva’s Moodbidri maintained a clear lead right from the start and held on to it.

While Shimoga’s Shwetha Seetharam defended her 2.5 km crown in the girls section with a timing of 9:32, S S Chandargi’s Shetteppa won the corresponding race in the boys section in 8:16.00 minutes.

Results: Men: 12 kms: Shanavas P M (MEG) 38:59.00 1; Vibeen D’Silva C A (MEG) 39:19.00 2; Santosh (MEG) 39:26.00 3.

Women: 6 kms: Devaki (Alva’s, Moodbidri) 24:32.00 1; Shridevi Patil (Dharwad) 24:58.00 2; Sowmya K P (Alva’s, Moodbidri) 25:02.00 3.

Boys: 2.5 kms: Shetteppa (S S Chandargi) 8:16.00 1; Mallesha H R (Shimoga) 8:27.00 2; Karthik Roy K (Shimoga) 8:33.00

Girls: 2.5 kms: Shwetha Seetharam (Shimoga) 9:32.00 1; Dhanushree N S (Alva’s, Moodbidri) 9:36.00 2; Shraddha Rani S D (S S Vidyanagar) 9:38.00 3.