AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

CHAMPIONSHIP METING. NOTES ON THE EESULTS. Following is a list of tho 1919-20 amateur athletic champions of Canter- i bury:— W. H. B. Buckhorst—High jump and 120 yards hurdles. , F. W. M. Cowlishaw—Putting the shot. L. B. NeiUon—«Bo yards. V. B. Powell—Long jump J. H. Parker—loo yards and 220 yards. W. M. Stewart—One mile walk. C H. Taylor—l4o yards, one mile and 440 yards hurdles. The first post-War Canterbury Championship Meeting has passed into history. And lasting history it will make, for no more successful fixture could possibly have been hoped for in a province where amateur athletics were practically dead four months ago. The wonderful revival that the tail-end of the seaV son has witnessed may be credited: first, \ to the organising enthusiasm of those \ - old-time athletes connected with the Canterbury Centre N.Z.A.A.A.; second, to the readiness with which the pick of the younger performers settled down to lome form of training; and, third, to the appeal which clean, amateur sport always carries for the average Colonial, be he young or old. Ho New Zealand standard was beaten on Saturday, and only one—lo l-ssec for the hundred—was equalled, but the general standard of performances was high, for all that, and—which gives far greater cause for rejoicing—strong fields . -were the order of the day. Judging from l what has been achieved in the past few m months, next season should be a record [ one for the sport in Canterbury; and \ the province should be capable of holdV ing its own at the New Zealand Cham- \ pionship Meeting, which will probably i be held on Lancaster Park. Among tie Sprinters. By winning the 100 yards cliampion- * ship in 10 1-usec, J. H. Parker k (H.5.0.8.A.A.C.) registered the only K standard performance of the day. Parker has been keeping down to 10 1-usec V and 10 2-usec for the last couple of Wf months, and it would not have been surprising if he had run "evens" in the \ championship. Had he been pressed, it \ is quite possible that he might have done \ so, for, with two or three yards in hand \t the finish, he did not dash at the tape fcuite so fiercely as he has done in some recent handicaps. But, at the same time, Parker, in the final, knocked 2-ssec off the time for his heat. There was no other man in the sprints to approach Tiim. A. McLeod (C.A.A.C), who ran Becond in the hundred, did not appear to be in the best of form, and C. M. '"Walden (C.A.A.C.) was handicapped by an injured foot; but, in any case, Parker is faster than either of those. G. Helcy, who ran second to H. E. Wilson in the 100 yds championship of Wellington, won in lOsec, was beaten by Walden in a 10 4-ssec heat on Saturday, but managed to ft home on the Canterbury lad in the final. B. N. Howell (Canterbury College), who was clocked to run the hundred in 10 3-3 see at the Timaru Boys' High School about five years ago, is not up to that standard to-day. In the final of the 220 yds, which was i again easily Parker's race, one noted the verv casv running of the Wellingtonian, G. Heiey, who tilled second place. Walden could 'have been third in this event had he rot eased up a couple of. yards from the tape, apparently under the impression that he was beaten, and • so allowed R. B. Penlington (Canterbury College) to pass him. Quarter and Distances. "You may win the club championship next year,'' sympathised a friend to a ' member of the High School Old Boys' Club on Saturday evening, "if you can unearth someone to beat Taylor." "Yes," was the reply, "and the man ► who beats Taylor will need to be a good r one." Ik That old boy was not far wrong. C. *V H. Taylor, mile, quarter-mile, and quar-ter-mile hurdles champion of Cantei--1 bury, will not be easily beaten over the "X distances. His mile in 4min 40 l-ssec — Vfonsidering that he was not particularly framing for that distance—stamps him fcs something beyond the sterling middleJistanee runner which he had already 1 proved himself to be this season. With hfig eye on the quarter hurdles, later in theV afternoon, he was wise to let the hall-mile alone on Saturday; but his wisdom in selecting the hurdles is open to question. His time over the three-feet obstacles (62 l-ssee) was 11-osee outside of the New Zealand standard for - the old 3ft 6in hurdles event; and Taylor js not a hurdler. Of course, a man does not need to be a hurdler of the 120 yards type to win the 440 yds event; but Taylor would be well advised to find his speciality, and not to wander too far from it. L. B. Neilson, half-mile champion of Canterbury, has no reason to be ashamed of his defeat in the mile. His running days are practically all before him yet; and already I he is, next to Taylor, the best distance amateur in Canterbury. Both Neilson 1 and Taylor, by the way, were very substantially responsible for the Canterbury A.A. Club's victory in the relay race on Saturday. Second place in the 440 yds championship was a reward to G. L. Tapley for waiting for that one event. Tapley, Hk. who is something of a high juniper and ■ \ a hurdler as well, could have competed \ in handicaps on Saturday, but he elected to enter in the one event only, and to reserve himself for it. W. A. Ford, who was second to Neilson in the 880 yards, has not yet regained his pre-War form. I Wonderful V. B. Powell. A bov of 15 years is long jump championoi Canterbury! At the Christ's College sports in October, 1918, V. B. Powell, then 13 years old, jumped 17ft fijin, so breaking an "under 14" college record which had stood for 32 years, At the Garrison Sports in the following arch, the same boy cleared 19ft Oiin, ..hich was hailed as a New Zealand record for an athlete of that age. At the 1920 Garrison Sports three weeks , ' • ago, Powell cleared 18ft only; but that a waa n»t commented on, for a boy may anew no improvement for a year or two. ■ Now, this same schoolboy has come out, m ..'• ' at tfceeloso of Til day on the track, I | aad has jumped 20ft lOin—only two I *■" inehes short of the New Zealand ■ standard—and beaten a past New Zea- ■ m land ehampion (A. McLeod) for the championship of Canterbury. ■■& On Saturday, Powell won the 200 yds ofldary schools' championship in Dk l-Osec, ran second in the secondary (nun in 17 2-ssec), and finished from scratch, senior cadets' handicap. in the final of this hunW when lie made his winning long His first effort was 20ft 3Jiii, did not get beyond 20ft again in ■ first round. As one of the three he had three more jumps after first round, but he had'to off to in the hundred before he could take those. It ivas the second of the L~~. extra jumps that won him the cham- ■ *"*

pionship. Powell paces off the length of his run, and can generally rely upon finding the take-off board. In his winning jump he got it beautifully, right on the outer edge, so that not one inch of the jump was wasted. The boy champion conies fast up to the board, and has made so sure of his take-off that he hardly glances down. He jumps high and gets his legs well forward —and he wins. A jump equal to Powell's winning effort carried J. H. Wicks (N.S.W.) into third place in the Australasian championships last January. Junipers and Hurdlers. Beyond Powell's, there was no| "respectable" long jump on Saturday. A. McLeod (C.A.A.C) and J. H. Parker (H.5.0.8.A.A.C.) filled second and third places, but neither was able to reproduce his best form. As was anticipated, the high jump proved an easy thing for W. H. B. Buckhurst (H.5.0.8.A.A.C.) who cleared oft 54iu "not out." Buckhurst is a very easy juniper, and he has rather a neat way of tucking his legs under him. At the same time his style is not one that will seriously threaten the New Zealand record. It is a pity that some of the present-day younger jumpers could not be given a chance to study American methods over the bar, for the typically British "scissor" jump, with its several modifications, does not enable an athlete to do anything which is likely to rank him with the world's best. But every writer who has attempted to set down just what the American method is has his own explanation of the various movements, and, in endeavouring to translate these explanations into action, the novice becomes hopelessly tangled. Failing practical demonstration by a coach, the high jumper can learn most from photographs; but it requires a series of these, or, better still, a motion film, to give a full lesson. It was a pity that C. E. Low, holder of the Christehurch Boys' High School record of oft 5-} in, did not turn out for the high jump on Saturday. As it was, only four contested the championship: and it was singular that three should. tie for second place at. oft 4in. These three, J. Carrick (H.5.0.8.A.A.C). P. .T. Thompson (Wellington) nnd J. IT. Hall (C.A.A.C.) all failed six times with the bar at oft Sin; then, as all had other events ahead, they decided to remain even without lowering the bar to sft 4Ain Thompson, whose speciality is the hop, step and jump, was known as a jumper in South Otago before he removed to Wellington. Carrick was the most economical jumper in action on Saturday, just clearing the bar at each successive height. Buckhurst again demonstrated his superiority in the 120 yds hurdles, which he won in 17 2-ssec. There was a slight bungle in the running of this event. There were three lines of hurdles and seven entries. The draw provided for two heats (of three and four starters), the two winners, with second from the faster heat, to contest the final. One of the three entrants for the first heat did not appear, and two men were serif off. Then the starters made two more heats of two runners, evidently forgetting that two men from the fastest heat were to qualify for the final. As it was, four starters ran in the final over three lines of hurdles. That, circumstance did not affect the result, but it was 6till not a satisfactory arrangement. J. Carrick followed Buckhurst home, showing a considerable improvement upon his hurdling at the Garrison Sports earlier this month. In England as a TLA.F. cadet last year, tho champion was credited with 16 4-sscc. for the hurdles. His is the bent-leg action; if he can cultivate tho straight-leg style of hurdling, he will be in New Zealand championship company at once. Carrick was also second in the 440 yards hurdles, where his better style enabled him to stick close to a much faster runner, C. IT. Taylor. Tho Walk and The Shot. Outside of the Garrison Sports, there has been no competition for walkers in Canterbury this season; yet a field of eight turned out for the mile walk championship. Included in that number was the veteran, 11. S. Alpe, who received a round of applause on his appearance: but Alpc is not a sprint walker, and he did not complete the mile. W. M. Stewart (H.5.0.8.A.A.C.) went to the front right away, although P. S. Skoglund (Canterbury College) raced after him. Stewart's style was the subject of some adverse comment, but he was allowed to stay on and win. F. J. Lcggett (unattached) was called off after about threequarters of a mile, when he was (lose up to the leader. Two Canterbury College men," A. W. Page and I). G. Wilson, fought it out for second place. "Wilson still feels his War injury, but his walking savours of old times, and in 'the race up the straight he drew well ahead of Page. Last year's Christ's College champion, F. W. M. Cowlishaw, easily outdistanced the opposition in putting the shot; but his best effort (33ft lOin) was still far behind the New Zealand standard. Second place was filled by W. Coomb's, who will be representing Canterbury College with the shot and hammer at the inter-University tournament on Easter Monday. —SPIKE. OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS. I'rze.i AsKori'i'ion. DUNEDIN, March 29. The Otago amateur athletic championships on Saturday were favoured with bright, sunny weather, but a strong wind prevented any New Zealand records being lowered. The university club won the championship banner for the mo -t club points.