TEENAGER Ryan McLeod followed in the footsteps of his illustrious father, Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Mike McLeod, by clocking the fastest time in the annual Elswick Harriers Good Friday Road Relays on a new course at Newburn Riverside.

McLeod Snr held the course record on the old circuit at Fenham.

The new, traffic-free route on the banks of the Tyne was used yesterday for the first time and McLeod Jnr pulled off a major surprise when he out-ran Scottish senior international Andy Caine, beating the former North-East and Northern cross country champion by four seconds over the 2.25 miles.

McLeod, who is not 18 until June, pushed Elswick into a 44 second lead on the second of the four laps, but the host club then faded away to finish in fifth place.

McLeod, who won the silver medal in this year's English National Junior Men's Cross Country Championships and represented Great Britain in the World Championships in Switzerland last month, is rapidly establishing himself as one of the region's brightest athletics prospects.

Defending champions Morpeth retained the McConnachie Cup, finishing strongly to provide the first two teams home.

Gerrard Sharp gave them the lead on the third leg and 23-year-old Mark Brown survived a nasty fall as he turned a quarter of a mile from home. Cleveland's Craig McBurney anchored the Northumbrians to runners-up position, 36 seconds in arrears.

Morpeth, newly-crowned Northern 12 Stage Road Relay Champions, are bracing themselves for the National Championships at Sutton Coldfield next Saturday.

Also competing at Sutton Park will be the National women's cross country champions and Northern four-stage road relay champions, Chester-le-Street. Yesterday their star runner, Dianne Heneghan, warmed up for the task by winning the 2.25-mile women's race, beating Jarrow and Hebburn's Claire Smallwood by a comfortable 19 seconds.