SUNDERLAND Harriers, denied a tenth consecutive Star Fitness North-East Harrier League First Division title last season, moved to the top of the table alongside arch-rivals Morpeth in the third fixture at Newcastle’s snow-covered Exhibition Park.

The Wearsiders, second in the opening meeting on home ground at Farringdon, avenged their defeat at the hands of the Northumbrian club in a close-fought battle, winning by only 14 points with their six counters in the first 34 finishers.

Sunderland were led home by Gavin Massingham, who was entitled to run from the slow pack with a five-minute start in the handicap event but chose instead to run from scratch with the elite athletes.

He finished fourth overall in a calculated 35 mins 55 secs, beating Morpeth’s Matthew Nicholson by 32 seconds on a course covered in places by three inches of snow.

Wallsend Harriers, who broke Sunderland’s winning sequence last year, again finished down the table in seventh place and now, after a sixth placing at Farringdon, are languishing ten points behind the joint leaders.

Wallsend’s Danielle Hodgkinson took avantage of a three-minute start with the slow pack to win the women’s race, beating fast-packer Jane Mooney (Morpeth) by 61 seconds to lead the Tyneside club to victory in the team race.

Results – Men: 1 T Walker (Gosforth, Slow Pack +5 mins) 39.59; 2 B Cross (Heaton, SP) 40.11; 3 G Bracken (North Shields Poly, SP) 40.45; 4 G Massingham (Sunderland, Fast Pack, scr) 40.55; 5 M Nicholson (Morpeth, FP) 41.27. Fastest times: 1 G Massingham 15.55; 2 M Nicholson 36.27; 3 R Floyd (Morp) 36.40.

Teams – Div 1: 1 Sunderland 58 pts; 2 Morpeth 72; 3 South Shields 176. Latest standings (after two fixtures): 1= Sunderland & Morpeth 3; 3 South Shields 8. Div 2: 1 Gateshead 45; 2 Jarrow & Hebburn 136; 3 Crook 155. Div 3: 1 Elvet 84; 2 Gosforth 103; 3 Derwentside 154.

Women: 1 D Hodgkinson (Wallsend, SP+3 mins) 30.07; 2 J Mooney (Morpeth, FP) 31.08; 3 V Booth (Sunderland Strollers, SP) 31.28. Fastest times: 1 J Mooney 28.08; 2 K Simpson (Gateshead) 29.12; 3 A Turvey (Heaton) 29.51.

Teams: 1 Wallsend 30; 2 Heaton 38; 3 North Shields Poly 56.

■ Shildon’s Great Britain international Kate Avery marked her final appearance in the Durham Schools Cross Country Championships at Meadowfield by winning her eighth gold medal, having been unbeaten previously at minor, junior and intermediate levels. The 18-year-old student at Darlington College is now aiming to win selection for the World Cross Country Championships in Poland in March.