The Caversham senior men's team will be looking to break a drought when it contests the Lovelock Relay at the University Oval in Dunedin today.
Not since 1984 has a team from Caversham won the 72 year-old relay trophy, which honours Jack Lovelock's 1936 Olympic 1500m victory.
All six team members are on the verge of achieving senior status, having performed with distinction at national junior level, and coach Dave Stinson would like nothing better than for them to add the Lovelock title to their growing lists of achievements.
The team comprises national junior 10,000m champion Tony Payne, national junior steeplechase silver medallist Daniel Balchin, steeplechase bronze medallist Lyndon Brown and proven performers Bevan Stevens, Robert Brown and Peter Meffan.
In the wings are defending champion University of Canterbury, which will be seeking a fourth consecutive title, and Ariki, which won a record-equalling seven consecutive titles until 2006.
A win today would be significant for Caversham, and would change the landscape of Otago harrier racing, which has been dominated for 10 years by Ariki.
"I think we'd be in with a good show," Stinson said. "We have a pretty well-balanced team."
While Ariki has kept most of its top team intact, it has become a bit of a balancing act for the University of Canterbury.
The university's top five - Dunedin marathon champion Rowan Hooper, Matt Smith, Matt Ingram, Jake Coom and Dallas Bowden - will be competing in the 15km Taitapu road race in Christchurch as preparation for the Christchurch marathon and half marathon events at Queen's Birthday Weekend.
Phil Costley is preparing for the Rotorua Marathon and Andrew Davidson is away on holiday.
"We'll still be competitive," University of Canterbury coach Craig Motley said.
"They won't have it all their own way, particularly in the women's race."
University is favoured, along with Hill City, to lift the women's trophy, in a race that has been dominated by the two clubs in recent years.
Racing starts at 10am with masters events, followed by the senior women's 4x1500m at 12.30pm and the senior men's 6x1500m at 1pm.
