Julian Picked To Win Title

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30823, 7 August 1965, Page 13

Julian Picked To Win Title

<A’ew Zealand Press Association)

WHANGAREI, August 6.

The likelihood of a heavy course will make the Auckland champion and Olympic Games marathon representative, J. L. Julian, favourite to win the New Zealand cross-country championship at Whangarei tomorrow.

Wellington will be attempting to retain ' both the junior and senior titles it won for the first time last year. Adding interest to the event this year will be the presence of members of the New Zealand team which ran third behind the powerful English and French teams in the international event in Belgium last March. PYNE MISSING Apart from Canterbury’s G. Pyne, now in the United States, all of the national representatives will be competing and should be prominent. Julian’s toughest opponents will include N. I. Scott. J. L. Davies, N. E. Wyatt, and R P. Welsh. Julian won the title in 1959 and is keen to win it again He ran a great race in the international event to finish in sixth place. Another fancied runner is Davies, just home from a successful overseas tour. Fourth last year, Davies eould im-

prove bn this if conditions are not too heavy.

Welsh, the national junior' champion in 1960 and 61. made no race of winning the Otago title from his old rival, j P. Sidon. Welsh has improved j even more when in the Eng-1 lish championships he! finished fourth out of 890' runners. The “dark horse” in the field is Canterbury's new title holder, B. Jones, who now holds all Canterbury titles from one mile to 10 miles, I If ever Wellington’s B ! Everitt is going to reach the top he should do it this year He has been in brilliant form and now has the confidence to go with the leaders all the way. Junior Favourite In the junior event R Maddaford. of Auckland, is so good that it is hard to imagine him being beaten. Halberg-trained, he has been a class apart except in last year’s national when mud, the great leveller of so many sportsmen, gave Wellington’s G. Lockett and G Thorley the chance to make a race of it. However, Maddaford finally won by a good margin Thorley is a better runner this year but even so he would be hard put to keep up with Maddaford. Canterbury has some promising lads, especially its centre champion, I. Sim, of Ashburton. M. Clarkson, B. Murphy and B. Bruce are all regarded highly.