SHEDDAN MAKING BID FOR HARRIER TITLE

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32358, 25 July 1970, Page 11

SHEDDAN MAKING BID FOR HARRIER TITLE

ATTEMPTING to forecast the outcome of th 6 Canterbury senior cross country championship, to be held at Mairehau today, is no easy task. Although all the top men, With the exception of J. T. Power. (Timaru) and W. Lambert (Cashmere) Who were run-ner-up and fourth, respectively, last season, have entered, it is unusually difficult to judge their standards. Not once during the season have all th? leading contenders for today’s main title competed in the same race.

Notable amongst the absentees this season has been the 25-year-old E. M. Gray, who will be attempting to win his fifth successive senior championship. Out of competition earlier in the season because of a foot injury, Gray intended feeling out the opposition in the Jane Patterson Trophy race a fortnight ago at Motukarara but influenza caused his withdrawal. Although lacking race hardening, Gray is a dedicated athlete and will have laid a solid foundation in training. He can be expected to test his opposition with typically aggressive running.

Anybody hoping to wrest the title from Gray will certainly have his ability rigoroutly tested. Gray’s strongest rival will probably be J. Sheddan (Olympic), who stood down from the Jane Patterson race to concentrate on his championship preparation.

Sheddan indicated he would be making strong claims when he was the first Canterbury man to finish in the senior division of the Skellerup steeples a month ago. That day he was sixth in a

field that included many of the country’s top distance runners.

M. Clarkson (Methodist), D. F. Dixey (Methodist) and B. Taylor (University) are others with strong claims. These three finished in that order behind Sheddan in the Skellerup steeples and they repeated this order when Clarkson won the Jane Patterson race.

Others to come into the reckoning for the major placings are R. D. Robinson (University), J. D. Macdonald (Olympic) and K. Hamilton (Technical). After some indifferent performances Macdonald showed some of his farmer dash to be fourth in the Patterson event and the benefit of extra sharpening in the last fortnight might lift him a place or two.

Robinson, too, seems to be regaining some of the dash that made him an England international a few years ago. Dogged earlier in the season with influenza, Robinson was up to fifth for the Patterson race.

An early leader in the Patterson race, R. Sharpe (New Brighton), might well come into the reckoning if he can curb his exuberance in the early stages of the championship. Sharpe's downfall seems to be his predilection for trying to slip the field by setting an excessive pace in the first

mile or two. By now he might have learned that such tactics are unlikely to succeed against men of the calibre of Gray, Sheddan and the others. The depth of strength revealed by University with teams’ wins in the last three events give it an excellent chance of winning the

championship teams’ contest for the first time since the mid-19505. With Sheddan and Macdonald on form, Olympic’s prospects of retaining the teams’ honour are brighter than they looked earlier. Greymouth might also make strong claims if D. C. McKenzie, C. J. Creagh, and D. O'Connor can give Gray strong support. A total of 472 runners has entered for the sevenevent programme. The seniors will race over seven miles and a half, the juniors (under 19) and colts under 17 over three miles and three-quarters and all the women’s events and the colts under 14 race wilt be over two miles.