NIALL BRUTON'S preparations for the world indoor championships in March reach an important stage on Sunday when he seeks to win his first national title on the boards at Nenagh.
Bruton, now under the tutelage of Eamonn Coghlan, one of the most accomplished of all indoor runners, has chosen cross country running as a means of doing his heavy winter training.
His performances over the country were sufficiently good to warrant a place in the team which competed in the European championship at Charleroi last month but it hasn't deflected him from his primary objective of winning a world title indoors.
To that extent, his performance at Nenagh will be monitored closely, the more so since the opposition is likely to include the two Cork athletes, Ken Nason and Daniel Caulfield, and, possibly, UCD's James Nolan.
A new warm-up area is due to be completed in time for Sunday's championships, marking another important phase in the ambitious project which Sean Naughton and his corps of volunteers have undertaken with such zeal.
The expectation is that the level of entertainment on the track will match the singular commitment off it, for in addition to the men's 1,500 metres championship, there is every prospect of a good 400m race.
The man in the spotlight here will be Gary Ryan, a member of the Olympic squad in Atlanta, whose graduation from 200m competition, promises to be a source of some enlightenment for the national selectors.
Ryan intends to revert to his specialist event for the outdoor season, but encouraged by a new indoor record of 21.96 seconds in the inter-varsity tests a couple of weeks ago, he believes that he is primed for a good run over the longer distance.
There will be anxious eyes also on Antoine Burke who has just returned from a coaching course with Steve Smith in Liverpool in the hope of improving his high jump record.
The women's events on Sunday's programme are well supported, none more so than the sprints where the competitive element in the making of the new champions, promises to be finely honed.
Among those seeking titles are Ciara Sheehy, Lena Barry, Niamh Glen and Audrey Carroll in addition to the Kilkenny athlete, Emily Maher and Waterford's Aoife Hearne.
After spending much of 1996 recuperating from injury, Sharon Foley will be hoping for a change of luck when she opposes Rita Tierney-Browne in the high jump and, as ever, the hurdles events, look likely to provide some of the meatiest drama.
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