NORTH of England senior men’s cross country team champions Morpeth Harriers will be hoping to step up a gear as they take on the country’s top clubs in today’s Sauncony English Cross Country Championships at Parliament Hill Fields.

The championships have attracted an entry of 8,797 athletes, the biggest since 1995 and over 1,000 more than last year’s event at Nottingham, underlining the London course as the sport’s most popular domestic cross country venue.

The Northumbrians warmed up for the challenge by winning last weekend’s North-East road relay championship at Hetton and their chances will be boosted today by the return of Great Britain international and North-East cross country champion Jonny Taylor, the Teessider having missed the Northerns at Pontefract last month. Morpeth have named 21 athletes in their entry and are virtually at full strength.

Last year’s race was won by Bedford and County from Notts AC and Leeds City, with the other leading North-East clubs Durham City (23rd) and Gateshead (39th).

The 2014 under-17 women’s champion, Lydia Turner, who led Birtley to team victory, has moved up into the seniors but her club – the Northern champions – will still be chasing a medal-winning position in today’s event, which has attracted an entry of nearly 400 runners. A record entry of 1525 has been received for the women’s race, won last year by Charnwood’s Gemma Steel.

Shildon’s Rachel Bennett won the North-East Indoor under-15 60m championship at Gateshead, beating the new record holder in the final.

Gateshead’s former Mandale Harrier Plamedi Mukendi had clocked 7.88 secs in her heat, clipping 11 hundredths of a second off fellow Teessider Rachel Highfield’s 2010 record, and went on to record a winning time of 7.98 secs in her semi-final.

But the final saw Bennett claim the crown in 7.96 secs, which would also have beaten the previous championship record, with runner-up Mukendi timed at 8.03 secs.