SCOTTISH international Andrew Caine may sacrifice the defence of his North-East and Northern cross country titles in a determined bid to win selection for next year's World Championships.

The 25-year-old Tynedale Harrier easily won the Sherman Cup cross country at South Shields, but the success was not necessarily a warm up for the regional championships at Chester-le-Street a week on Saturday.

Caine has toyed with the idea of running in the Reebok Cross Challenge meeting in Edinburgh on the same day over a course which will be used for next year's European Cross Country Championships.

Caine explained: "I don't know yet what I will do. I might decide not to run either event. The biggest thing on the agenda is the World Championships trial in Nottingham, which is two weeks after the Northerns."

Caine, who is studying part time for a masters degree at Northumbria University, is likely to concentrate his immediate efforts on the Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, which double up as the World Championships trial, at Nottingham on February 9, and he may try for a discretionary place if he decides not to run in the North-East event, when the first four men home win automatic selection.

Caine would be strongly fancied to retain his North-East title after a storming run at Temple Park, when he beat Morpeth Harrier Mike Morris by an emphatic 54 seconds on a testing, 9K course.

Morpeth won the Sherman Cup as they were top team in three of the four races, losing to Gateshead in the Under-15 boys' race.

Morpeth completed a notable double by winning the inaugural Durham Pine Davison Shield.

The senior women's race was won by Jarrow and Hebburn's Claire Smallwood, the reigning Durham Pine North Eastern Harrier League champion, who beat Chester-le-Street's Angie Watson by just over a minute.

Results - Durham Pine Men's Sherman Cup Cross Country (Temple Park, South Shields)

Senior Men (9K): 1 A Caine (Tynedale) 27.44; 2 M Morris (Morpeth) 28.38; 3 M Hood (Sunderland) 28.56; 4 C Sampson (Morp) 29.02; 5 R Kemp (Sund) 29.26; 6 D Swinburne (Morp) 29.45; 7 J Archer (Low Fell) 29.51; 8 T Field (Sund) 30.01; 9 C lamb (Chester-le-Street) 30.08; 10 M Nicholson (Gosforth) 30.17. Teams: 1 Morpeth 12; 2 Sunderland 16; 3 Chester-le-Street.

Under-17 Men (5K): 1 K Wilson (Morp) 17.49; 2 N Shrubb (Morp) 18.14; 3 L Timmins (Gos) 18.20. Teams: 1 Morpeth 7; 2 Tynedale 31.

Under-15 Boys (2.5K): 1 S Watson (Gates) 10.30; 2 J Young (Morp) 10.31; 3 R Floyd (Morp) 10.37. Teams: 1 Gateshead 11; 2 Morpeth 15.

Under-13 Boys (2.5K): 1 J Gibson (Gates) 11.41; 2 M Travis (Morp) 11.43; 3 R Murray (Wallsend) 11.46. Teams: 1 Morpeth 13; 2 Gateshead 15; 3 Gosforth 40.

Sherman Cup placings: 1 Morpeth 47; 2 Sunderland 160; 3 Gosforth 197.

Durham Pine Women's Davison Cup (Temple Park). Senior Women (6K): 1 C Smallwood (Jarrow and Hebburn) 22.51; 2 A Watson (Chester-le-Street) 23.54; 3 J Nutt (Elswick) 25.01; 4 C Wilson (Morp) 25.15; 5 D Hales (Durham City) 25.31. Teams: 1 Durham City 26; 2 Morpeth 27; 3 Gateshead 42.

Under-17/20 Women (5K): 1 S Crowe (Els) 21.45; 2 D Watts (Morp) 21.59; 3 R Adams (Sund U20) 23.12. Teams: 1 Morpeth 10; 2 Sunderland

Under-15 Girls (2.5K): 1 M Ferrier (Gates) 11.46; 2 D James (Morp) 11.48; 3 L Wright (Gates) 12.09. Teams: 1 Gateshead 10; 2 Morpeth 32; 3 Sunderland 33.

Under-13 Girls (2.5K): 1 S Favier (Gates) 13.11; 2 S Crowell (J&H) 13.21; 3 L Dixon (Morp) 13.24. Teams: 1 Morpeth 20; 2 Sunderland 23.

Davison Cup placings: 1 Morpeth 89 pts (only club to finish teams in all races).

l Chester-le-Street based Michael Openshaw scored his fifth consecutive road race victory when he out-sprinted Commonwealth Games steeplechase finalist Stuart Stokes in yesterday's big Leeds Abbey Dash 10K. Openshaw, who competes for Birchfield Harriers and represented Great Britain in the 2000 World Championships 5000m, won by five metres, with Morpeth Harrier Mark Hudspith in third place and Loftus AC's Stephen Hepples fourth.