Raghunathan, Lalita annex cross country titles in style

aghunathan timed 40:13.14 to finish ahead of Railways’ Soji Mathew (40:25.98) and PN Rao (40:32.11) of Services in the men’s 12km race.

Lalita edged favourite Preeti L Rao to the first place in the women’s 8km contest, clocking 27:41.23. Preeti, also of Railways, came home in 27:49.76 while Geeta Rani completed a Railways’ sweep of the top three places with a 28:17.72.

Railways won both the men’s and women’s team titles as well. Karnataka’s Yashaswini won the girls under-18 4km race in 13:19.53 while her state-mate Shraddharani S finished third in 13:31.45.

Results: Men 12km: TR Raghunathan (Police) 40:13.14, 1; Soji Mathew (Railways) 40:25.98, 2; PN Rao (Services) 40:32.11, 3.
Boys U-20, 8km: Rajan Singh (Madhya Pradesh) 25:02.40, 1; Sanjay Kumar (Madhya Pradesh) 25:14.68, 2; Yogendra Kumar (Uttar Pradesh) 25:15.87, 3. U-18, 6km: Uttara Kumar Pal (Uttar Pradesh) 16:52.51, 1; Ravi Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 16:59.69, 2; Sjeet Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 17:01.46, 3. U-16, 3km: Anil Kumar Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 8:21.13, 1; Harish Koranga (Uttarakhand) 8:21.61, 2; Rahul (Haryana) 8:25.84, 3.
Women, 8km: Lalita Babar (Railways) 27:41.23, 1; Preeti L Rao (Railways) 27:49.76, 2; Geeta Rani (Railways) 28:17.72, 3.
Girls U-20, 6km: Swati Haridas Gadve (Maharashtra) 19:38.06, 1; Ne-ethu MV (Kerala) 19:58.54, 2; Rekha Patel (Uttar Pradesh) 20:17.51, 3. U-18, 4km: Yashaswini K (Karnataka) 13:19.53, 1; Sobha VV (Kerala) 13:30.19, 2; Shraddharani S (Karnataka) 13:31.45, 3. U-16, 3km: Thara MD (Kerala) 9:58.18, 1; Vidhya KK (Kerala) 10:04.20, 2; Priti Lamba (Haryana) 10:10.30, 3.