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Prudhoe stages grand finale
SUNDERLAND Harriers will be
chasing a unique golden double
in the final Star Fitness North-
East Harrier League fixture of
the season at Prudhoe today.
The Wearsiders are virtually
assured of a tenth consecutive senior
mens championship, having
built up a five-point lead at the
top of Division One, while their
womens team are shoulder-toshoulder
with Heaton Harriers at
the top of the table.
If Sunderlands womens team
can finish ahead of their Tyneside
rivals on a tough course at
Prudhoe they will be the first
club to win both senior titles in
the history of the competition.
Sunderland have staged a magnificent
recovery after a disastrous
start to the season, when a
bare-bones team of six runners
finished eighth at Blaydon. It appeared
that their grip on the coveted
Sisterton Trophy had been
broken after a run of nine championships,
but Sunderland hit
back to win the next four meetings
while their main rivals, Elswick
Harriers, faltered badly as
their best runners were promoted
from the slow pack, receiving
a five minutes start, in the handicap
event.
Sunderland manager Les
Arnott rallied his troops and the
Wearsiders strength in depth resulted
in victories at Cramlington,
South Shields, Farringdon
and Wrekenton to give them 12
points, with Elswick C fourth at
Gateshead C slipping back to 17
points.
Sunderlands womens team
got off to a fine start at Blaydon,
only to be overtaken by Heaton,
who surged into a three-point
lead after four fixtures. But the
Tyneside club slipped up at
Wrekenton, finishing sixth, three
places behind their rivals, leaving
the championship balanced
on a knife edge going into the
final meeting.
Morpeth Harrier Mark Brown
was the fastest senior in the
opening three fixtures and, with
30 points, can clinch the title
today. But any slip-ups could
open the door for any one of three
main challengers, defending
champion Steve Potts (Sunderland),
Peter Newton (Claremont)
and Tony Carter (Wallsend).
In the womens championship
Sunderlands Michelle Holt has
a one-point lead over Gatesheads
Kim Simpson.
The meeting starts at 12.30pm,
with the mens race at 1.15pm.
ö Redcar race-walker Johanna
Jackson sliced over two minutes
off the UK 20km record winning
as a guest competitor in the Australian
Championships in Melbourne.
Her time of 1 hour 31
mins 40 secs makes her the only
British woman race-walker with
the Olympic Games A qualifying
standard.
ö Redcar-based Stephen Hepples
won the Pocklington Snake Lane
ten-mile road race for a third year
in succession in a time of 50 mins
37 secs, just over a minute outside
his own course record.
9:39am Saturday 1st March 2008
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