YOUNG athletes Ross Murray and Ricky Stevenson flew the flag for the North-East at the Saucony English National Cross Country Championships, winning silver medals at Parliament Hill.

Gateshead Harrier Murray, the North-East and Northern champion, was pipped in a nail-biting sprint finish for the under-15 title by only one second after leading into the home straight, while Stevenson (New Marske) was only six seconds behind the winner of the under-17 men's race.

Northern Champions Morpeth Harriers - Nick Swinburn, Jon Young, Ross Floyd and Andrew Lawrence - were runners-up in the junior men's team race as the region's depleted senior men and women returned empty-handed.

Leeds-based Alan Buckley, still wearing the colours of Gateshead Harriers, was the area's leading performer in the 12K senior men's race, finishing seventh in 40 mins 16 secs, 83 seconds behind the winner, Peter Riley (Leigh).

North-East Inter-Counties representative and former double North-East champion Dominic Bannister, National winner in 1998, was tenth (40.24) for Shaftsbury-Barnet.

The leading North-East based runner was Sunderland Harrier Mark Hood, who finished a creditable 23rd in 41.02. Reigning North-East champion David Wardle, wearing the vest of London Irish, was 75th in 42.27

The dearth of North-East entries in the senior men's race was underlined by the fact that the region's only six-man team to finish was Birtley-based Aurora Harriers in 99th - and last - place. Their first counter was Ian Hayden in 865th position.

Another North-East exile, Sonia Thomas, now running for Sale, was fifth in the women's race, 43 seconds ahead of North-East champion Rosie Smith (Durham City), who was 14th. Jane Mooney was 49th, the first team counter for 12th-placed Morpeth Harriers. The Northumbrians were just outside the medals in the under-15 girls' team event, finishing fourth, with Laura Weightman first counter in eighth place.