Athlete John Borican Dies of Puzzling Malady Negro Who Won Many Championships Also Was Talented Oil Painter BRIDGGETOX, N. J Dec. 23, (&) Dr. J. Franklin Reeves, the family physician, said today that a post - mortem examination showed that John Borican had died from pernicious anemia. BRIDGETON, N. J, Dec. 23. iJP) John Borican, one of America's great natural athletes, died last night. - The powerful body which carried him to numerous world track records and national championships had wasted away to a mere 110 pounds through an ailment which his family said specialists were unable to dagnose. "They don't seem to know what's the matter with me, or maybe they don't want to tell me," Borican said recently at his apartment-studio in New York. "You wouldn't know me anymore." All sports came easy to Borican. a perfectly proportioned, six-foot Negro. Only a . few months ago, weighing 170 pounds, he had run off with the National A. A. U. 800-meter outdoor championship. Borican came into his own in the track world rather later than mo?t middle distance greats. He was 29 and although unbeatable between the 600 and the three-quarter mile he never attained his dream of be-ine the first Negro mile champion. The year 1941 saw Borican gain the national decathlon and pentathlon championships. He received a master of arts degree at Columbia university and was a candidate for a Ph-D. when he died. Borican was an accomplished oil painter and his portraits hung in several exhibitions. Three months ago Borican began to fail. , Bulldogs Use