TWO North-East athletics events will be combined with a Start Fitness Harrier League fixture as officials try to re-organise the programme hit by the bad weather.
The League’s third fixture at Blaydon was called off before the next meeting at Newcastle Town Moor on January 8 was postponed to accommodate the 105th North-East Cross Country Championships to be resheduled last weekend.
It has been agreed to incorporate the popular Sherman Cup (men) and Davison Shield (women) – normally held at Temple Park, South Shields – with the Blaydon fixture, which has been re-arranged for Saturday, March 12.
The winners of the two competitions, based on points from each of the men’s and women’s races, will be presented with their trophies at the Harrier League’s final fixture of the season, hosted by Tynedale Harriers at Prudhoe on March 26. Elswick Harriers’ outstanding fixture has now been re-scheduled for Sunday February 6, when there will be no optional under-11s race.
The new Start Fitness North-East Harrier League calendar is: February 6 , Newcastle Town Moor; February 26, Wrekenton, Gateshead; March 12, Blaydon; March 26 Prudhoe.
■ The North-East teams for the Inter Counties Championships at Birmingham on March 5 will be chosen after the Northern Cross Country Championships at Herrington Country Park, Sunderland, on Saturday, January 29.
Several leading athletes who missed last weekend’s North-East Championships at South Shields through injury, including previous senior men’s champions Mark Hood and Patrick Martin, both from Sunderland Harriers, will be hoping to win selection for the Inter Counties Championships, which incorporate the trials for this year’s World Cross Country Championships in Spain.
The first three finishers in each of the ten events in the North-East Championships won automatic places in the North-East Inter Counties squad and the region intends to send a full contingent of athletes to Cofton Park.
■ The Durham County Schools Cross Country Championships will be held at Meadowfield today. The leading young athletes will be chosen to compete in the English Schools Championships at Nottingham on March 19.
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