Julian Matthews

Julian Francis Matthews (born 21 July 1988) is a New Zealand middle distance runner who represented his country at the 2016 Summer Olympics..

Julian Matthews
Matthews (right) at the 2016 Olympics
Personal information
Birth nameJulian Francis Matthews
NationalityNew Zealander
Born (1988-07-21) 21 July 1988
Nelson, New Zealand
Height1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight73 kg (161 lb)
Sport
SportTrack and field
Event(s)1500 m
ClubThe Very Nice Track Club (Ann Arbor, U.S.)[1]
Coached byRon Warhurst[1]

Early life

Born in Nelson in 1988,[2] Matthews was educated at Nelson College from 2002 to 2006,[3] representing the school at basketball as well as athletics.[4] In 2006 he won the New Zealand secondary schools 1500 m title.[5]

His grandfather, Trevor Wright, was a national basketball coach, and his mother played basketball for New Zealand; thus Matthews took up basketball as his first sport, and eventually was included into the national junior team. He changed to athletics because he wanted to have more personal control, that is, to move from team to individual sports.[1]

United States college career

Auburn University

In 2008, Matthews took up an athletics scholarship at Auburn University in Alabama,[5] where he ran cross country and track. He placed 175th at the 2008 NCAA championships 10 km cross country, and 38th in the same race at the NCAA South Regional meet.[6] On the track he achieved a personal best of 3:46.79 in finishing fourth in the 1500 m at the War Eagle Invitational meet on 17 April 2009.[6][7]

Providence College

After a year at Auburn, Matthews transferred to Providence College in Rhode Island.[5] In the 2009–10 season, he finished 176th in the NCAA championships 10 km cross country and 9th in the NCAA championships 1500 m (outdoors). On 10 May 2010 he ran a personal best time of 3:43.95 for the 1500 m at the Swarthmore Last Chance meet.[6]

The following season, he came 130th in the NCAA 10 km cross country.[6] At the Boston University Valentine invitational on 14 February 2011, Matthews became the 34th New Zealander and second person from Nelson (after Rod Dixon) to run a sub-four-minute mile, recording a time of 3:58.57 indoors.[6][8]

In the 2011–12 season, he was 93rd in the NCAA 10 km cross country, recorded two sub-four-minute miles (one indoors and one outdoors), and was a member of the Providence team that won the distance medley relay at the Big East championships.[6] Representing Tasman, he won the 2012 New Zealand 1500 m national championship in Auckland, recording a time of 3:54.37 in a slow, tactical race.[9]

In his final year at Providence, Matthews improved his personal best for the mile to 3:58.14 on 14 February 2013, won the 1000 m races at the Big East championships and URI Sorlien Invitational meet, and was a member of the winning distance medley relay team at the New England championships.[6] He graduated from Providence College in 2013.[10]

2014 Commonwealth Games

Matthews qualified for the New Zealand team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow by twice meeting the 'B' qualifying standard for the 1500 m, first running 3:38.59 on 13 July 2013 at Heusden, Belgium, and then 3:38.20 at the USATF high performance meet in Eagle Rock, California, on 15 May 2014. In his 1500 m heat at Glasgow, Matthews finished fifth in a time of 3:40.33 and progressed to the final as a fastest loser.[11] In the final, he clocked 3:41.84 to finish ninth.[12]

Personal bests

Matthews' personal best times are as follows:[13]

Event Time Venue Date
800 m 1:50.22 Gainesville, USA 15 May 2009
1000 m (indoor) 2:24.80 New York, USA 15 February 2012
1500 m 3:36.14 Swarthmore, PA, USA 17 May 2016[14]
Mile (indoor) 3:58.14 Boston, USA 14 February 2013
3000 m 8:17.25 New York, USA 27 May 2013

References
  1. Julian Matthews Archived 19 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. nbcolympics.com
  2. "Julian Matthews profile". Glasgow 2014. 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  3. "Athletics" (PDF). The Bulletin. Nelson College: 7. April 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  4. Nelson College Old Boys' Register, 1856–2006, 6th edition (CD-ROM).
  5. Lautenslager, Greg (5 June 2014). "Matthews is set to carry on climbing". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  6. "Julian Matthews bio". Providence College. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  7. "War Eagle Invitational full meet results". Auburn University Athletics Department. 18 April 2009. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  8. Lautenslager, Greg (15 February 2011). "Matthews runs sub-4". Nelson Mail. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  9. "Winning strategy pays off in Matthews' title race". Nelson Mail. 26 March 2013. p. 16.
  10. "Matthews to direct pace for top juniors". Nelson Mail. 14 March 2014. p. 21.
  11. Geenty, Mark (2 August 2014). "Matthews, Nick Willis progress to 1500m final". stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  12. "Willis snatches bronze and Matthews ninth in 1500m final". Athletics New Zealand. 3 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  13. "Profile of Julian Matthews". all-athletics.com. Elite Ltd. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  14. Nelson's Julian Matthews meets Olympic Games 1500m qualifiying (sic) standard. Stuff.co.nz (2016-05-17). Retrieved on 2016-08-23.
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