Today, Wallasey Athletic Clubs men's teams will be beginning the period of intense competition, when titles are gained or lost. Today's Cheshire cross-county championships are followed by the Liverpool & District championships next week and the West Lancashire championships the final Saturday of the month.
In the Cheshire championships to be held this year at Northwich, a notoriously fast, hilly course, it seems unlikely that the men will be able to emulate the 'ladies' success with an outright win.
It seems that the team may well improve on last year's third place and snatch the runners-up position.
Each team has six counters from 10 runners, the Wallasey team to be selected from: D. Lockley, J. Wright (captain), D. Lindsey, B. Smith, M. Teahan, M. Whiteside, L. Durkin, D. Hughes, C. W. Gee, M. Weatherilt, J. Lynch, R. Tarrant, D. Hanna, P. Lewis, I. Wilson.
Wirral A.C. look strong enough to retain the team title, while Wallasey should wage a close battle with Altrincham A.C., for second place. Leading the Altrincham team will be Alan Blinston, the European 5,000 metre bronze medallist; he should have little difficulty in retaining his Cheshire title.
Wallasey's strength will be in the second and third runners D. Lindsey and John Wright who should join Dave Lockley in the Cheshire team for the inter-counties cross-country championships.
It is vital for Wallasey that Barrie Smith, Mike Teahan and Mike Whiteside who appear as the other likely counters hit top form and do not content themselves in the middle of the field. If one of these three fail Mike Weatherilt, may well be the one to take a scoring position. Mike has done some running in Spain this summer and is now very determined to get back into the team after illness.
Doug Hanna could also be well up if he can overcome the mental barrier that affects him over the longer distances. Pete Lewis, another 800 metre man, could also spring a surprise.
The youths' team is of four runners; these will probably be Bob Brimage, Bob Warburton, Gary Fair and Andy Fulton. The team should be a close second, unfortunately the lack of depth will mean if anyone has a bad run there will be nobody to replace him. The number of boys is equally bad and only Gwyn Griffiths is entered. The colts appear the strongest; their team of Eddie Kanes, Neil Simpson, Steve Kelly and Davy Jones could be well placed.
Eddie Kanes, a new member of the team, should establish himself as a runner to watch, and Davy Jones could well have a bright future. These two join Neil and Steve, the two established members of the team.
Ends
Source - Wallasey News - Saturday, 02/01/1971
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