Timaru Boys’ High School walking exponent Jonathan Lord took out the New Zealand junior title at the national road walking championships at Ngataringa Bay. Lord walked the 10km in 51 minutes 59 seconds. He did, however, finish second to 17-year-old, fulltime race walker Nathan Brill of Australia, who stopped the clock in a swift 43m 58s in Devonport at the weekend. The young Australian was fifth at the world youth championships in Donetsk, Ukraine, in July. Christchurch’s Courtney Ruske scored a double, winning the junior women’s 10km title as well as qualifying in the 20km walk for the Oceania championships in Hobart in early February. Ruske won the 10km title in 56m 17s before carrying on to the 20km mark which she reached in 1h 53m 58s. Like Lord, Ruske was also beaten home in the 10km by an Australian. Tayla Paige-Billington put in an outstanding time for a 16-year-old of 51m 40s in her first attempt at the event. She is the daughter of former New Zealand and Australian walking champion Jenny Jones-Billington.