HOPES are high that tomorrow's re-scheduled final North Yorkshire and South Durham Harrier League fixture at Richmond will receive the all-clear, enabling various team and individual championships to be decided.

The postponement of last weekend's meeting looked like providing a major headache for league officials, but host club Richmond and Zetland Harriers moved quickly to re-book the course at Richmond School, hoping the weather would improve.

Now officials are confident they will be able to stick to the usual format of deciding the individual championships on the best five performances out of six, with the team titles still going to the clubs with the most points over the season.

The most intriguing tussle is in the senior men's championship, where Mandale's Rob Cole has 56 points from four runs, two more than North Yorks Moors AC's Paul Lowe, who has also four races under his belt. Cole, who has two wins to his credit, was beaten by his rival in the last meeting at Stockton, but Lowe must finish three places ahead of his rival to snatch the title.

Darlington's Bernadette Taylor has already retained her senior women's crown, with 48 points from five races, beating Quakers' Dawn Richardson, who has 39 points from five runs.

The leading positions are - Senior Men: 1 R Cole (Mandale) 56 (four runs); 2 P Lowe (NY Moors) 54 (4); 3 A Churchill (Hartlepool Burn Road) 47 (5). Teams: 1 Hartlepool Burn Road 70; 2 Richmond & Zetland 65; 3 Loftus 64.

Veterans: 1 M Grainger (Darlington) 47 (5); 2 N Orr (Darl) 29 (4); 3 T Livingston (NM) 28 (3). Vet 2: 1 C Sewell (R&Z) 35 (4); 2 M Brooks (R&Z) 30 (3); 3 A Howard (Loftus) 22 (3). Vet 3: 1 R Tribick (Scarborough) 35 (5); 2 J Kettle (NM) 30 (3); 3 M Thompson (Scar) 26 (4).

Junior Men: 1 N Zissler (R&Z) 35 (4); 2 J Fahey (New Marske) 27 (5); 3 E Richards 25 (4).

Under-17 Men: 1 A Mitchell (Mand) 40 (5); 2 R Stephenson (NM) 30 (3); 3 J Taylor (Mand) 27 (3). Teams: 1 Mandale 38; 2 Billingham Marsh House 22; 3 Richmond & Zetland 11.

Under-15 Boys: 1 D Gibson (Mand) 39 (4); 2 L Johnson (Scar) 29 (5); 3 B Walker (Mand) 29 (4). Teams: 1 Scarborough 35; 2 New Marske 28; 3 Mandale 27.

Under-13 Boys: 1 G Hawkins (Mand) 50 (5); 2 A Wears (NM) 43 (5); 3 R Pearse (NM) 37 (5). Teams: 1 Darlington 30; 2 Scarborough 28.

Senior Women: 1 B Taylor (Darl) 48 (5); 2 D Richardson (Quakers) 39 (5); 3 M Stansmore (Darl) 37 (4). Teams: 1 Middlesbrough & Cleveland 69; 2 Richmond & Zetland) 57; 3 Quakers 56.

Junior Women: 1 D Hasting-Long (M&C) 41 (5); 2 J Jackson (M&C) 40 (4); 3 A Owen (Loftus) 34 (4). Under-17: 1 J Roberts (R&Z) 40 (4); 2 C Maxted (Rowntrees) 37 (5); 3 T Wheatman (Scar) 32 (4).

Under-15 Girls: 1 J Russon (NM) 47 (5); 2 R Kitchen (Scar) 35 (5); 3 A Wheatman (Scar) 34 (4). Teams: 1 Scarborough 38; 2 Middlesbrough & Cleveland 32; 3 Mandale 19.

Under-13 Girls: 1 R Noble (Darl) 39 (5); 2 H Rodgers (Loftus) 39 (4); 3 R Gyte (Scar) 31 (4).

* The North-East men's and women's teams in today's Inter Counties Cross Counties Cross Country Championships at Nottingham have been weakened by injuries and illness. The women's team, last year's bronze-medal winners, will be without top runner Morag McDonnell, fifth in 2004, who has gone down with flu.

The championships also include the trials for the World Cross Country Championships in France and Redcar-based Stephen Hepples, who just missed out on selection for this week's European Indoor Championships, races in the 4K short-course event along with Morpeth's Nick McCormick, winner over the distance in the IAAF international in Edinburgh.