CROYDON Harriers' men took a great step towards 2XU Surrey League promotion thanks to a runners-up team finish at their third division race at Cranford Park last weekend.
Croydon enjoyed the first three finishers in the race, with David White notching his first ever win at Surrey League level, completing the flat five-mile course in 26 minutes and 49 seconds.
He was chased all the way by Surrey U20 team gold medallists Mark Plackett (26:50) and Peter Chambers (26:54). Meanwhile, Harvey White, 16, finished in a non-scoring seventh in 28:12 and Brendan Murphy (28:26) was also inside the top ten in ninth.
The rest of the scoring team of ten consisted of Ian Wright (27th, 29:50), Alan Burn (34th, 30:37), Simon Loughran (46th, 31:18), Colin Oxlade (62nd, 32:02), Neil Aikman (65th, 32:13) and Martin Rowe (87th, 33:03). There were a further eight Croydon non-scorers.
The result consolidates the Harriers lead on 740 points overall, more than 100 points clear of nearest challengers Dulwich (868pts) and well ahead of Full on Triathlon (1094pts), with the top two to go up in the nine team division. The final league fixture is on the February 9 at Wimbledon Common.
Furthermore, their female colleagues were in action at Mitcham in the Surrey women's league.
Stevie Lawrence did her Surrey selection chances no harm with a third place finish in the U17 women's race.
And in the U15 ranks, Emily Howe led the way in seventh place as the team battled their way to an impressive fourth placed finish.
