TEESSIDER Ben Spencer continued his unbeaten winter run by adding the under-13 Northern Cross Country title to his North-East crown at Blackburn.

The Middlesbrough-Mandale Harrier was the North-East’s only gold medallist, beating Greater Manchester Schools champion Jack Crabtree by four seconds.

The region’s only other medallist was North Shields Polytechnic’s Michael Priestley, who was third in the under-17 race, finishing five seconds behind winner Sam Atkin, of Lincoln Wellington.

Mark Shaw (New Marske) was fourth and Shildon’s Cameron Boyek seventh.

North-East silver-medallist Chris Sampson was the region’s first finisher in the senior men’s race in 15th place, helping Morpeth to fifth in the team race. The 11K race was won by Stockport’s Steve Vernon in 39 mins 4 secs, beating Salford’s Andi Jones by an emphatic 39 seconds.

Rosie Smith, Durham City’s North-East champion, was the area’s first finisher in sixth place in the senior women’s race, won by Hatti Dean, who helped Hallamshire retain the team trophy.

Gateshead’s Mary Ferrier was ninth, a second ahead of Chester-le-Street’s Tracy Laws, who showed a huge improvement on her 33rd placing last year. The North-East’s other leading finishers were Morpeth’s Jane Mooney (12th), Middlesbrough and Cleveland’s Carolyn Summersgill (14th) and Chester-le- Street’s Maxine Czarnecka (15th).

Hannah Rank finished 28th in the under-17 women’s race to lead Morpeth Harriers to fourth place in the team event.

Selected results - Senior Men (11K): 1 S Vernon (Stockport) 39.04; 2 A Jones (Salford) 39.43; 3 T Lancashire (Bolton) 40.18; 15 C Sampson (Morpeth) 41.48; 19 A Duffield (New Marske) 42.09. Teams: 1 Leeds City 127 pts; 5 Morpeth 403; 17 Gateshead 10.65.

Under-13 Boys: 1 B Spencer (Middlesbrough Mandale) 10.54; 2 J Crabtree (East Cheshire) 10.58; 3 M Sheen (Vale Royal) 11.09; 7 T Goulding (Chester-le-Street) 11.18.

Senior Women: 1 H Dean (Hallamshire) 30.31; 2 V Wilkinson (Bingley) 30.57; 3 S Partridge (Leeds City) 31.54; 6 R Smith (Durham City) 32.18; 9 M Ferrier (Gateshead) 32.55; 10 T Laws (ClS) 32.56; 12 J Mooney (Morp) 33.03; 14 C Summersgill (Middlesbrough & Cleveland) 33.26; 15 M Czarnecka (ClS) 33.30.

Teams: 1 Hallamshire 74; 6 Gateshead 175; 7 Morpeth 179.

■ New Marske Harrier Ricky Stevenson ran his fastest-ever mile to finish second just behind Great Britain team-mate Andy Baddeley in the 15th New Balance Games in New York.

The 21-year-old Teesside University student, a spectacular winner of the televised 4K race in the Great Edinburgh Cross Country International, clocked 3 mins 56.31 secs at the Armory Track and Field Centre in Upper Manhattan.

Baddeley won in 3:55.64, an indoor personal best for Harrow’s 27-year-old Olympian.

Third was Great Britain’s Mark Draper in 3:56.80.