Cross-Country Teams Leave For Scotland

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31941, 19 March 1969, Page 15

Cross-Country Teams Leave For Scotland

(Special Correspondent N.Z.P.A.)

LONDON.

Free of injuries and all the runners happy with their form, the New Zealand men’s cross-country team left London yesterday for Glasgow for the final week of preparation to compete in the international championship at Clydebank on Saturday.

The women’s team also left yesterday, but the manager, Mrs L. Over e n d, of Christchurch, is studying the weather forecasts very closely.

The team's top runner, Mrs M. Sampson (Auckland), is still recovering from a mild bout of influenza and she is

apparently feeling the cold, more than any of the other runners.

However, in a relay at Stratford, near Manchester, on Saturday, Mrs Sampson recorded the fastest lap of any runner when leading the New Zealand A team to victory. South Africa was second, about 400 yards behind, and the other New Zealand side third. | Two In Best Form Both Mrs Overend and the j men’s team manager, Mr L. J. Bradshaw, of Dunedin, are happy with the results returned by their runners. Mr Bradshaw said the men were in excellent shape and following their training schedules diligently. Two of the runners—G. Thorley and E. Robertson—were probably in the best form of their careers, he said.

The women have also been training regularly, but both Mrs Sampson and Miss D. Dixey, of Christchurch, have had influenza, and Miss C. Russell, of Christchurch, is “teething”—she is cutting a wisdom tooth and this is causing her some discomfort. Since the teams came to England from France, their racing programmes have differed quite sharply. While the

I men have merely raced with • the Essex Beagles, the club billeting them in London, the

women have had meetings in Coventry and Stratford against various local international runners, as well as the South Africans. Both teams, in all their meetings, have dominated the races and relays and their respective managers are hopeful of notable results at Clydebank. Mrs Sampson is already hewing regarded as the favourite I for the women’s title, while the New Zealand men might win the teams' championship. ; In addition, R. M. Maddaford (Auckland) and E. M. Gray (Canterbury) are strong contenders for the individual championship, while D, G. Sirl (Auckland) could find his track speed very useful at the end of the race.