AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume 1, Issue 3, 9 February 1914, Page 10

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

THE DOMINION CHAMPIONSHIPS, ••; A TALE OF SLOY/ TIMES. Only one standard certificate That is the tale of the Domißkm , amateur athletic .championships, decided at Dunedin on Saturday. Before the meeting new records were on the cards, but they remained" tliere.' '•'"', ,s It is evident, from the telegraphed reports, that the track was too heavy for the making of anything like fresh records. In each of the track -events the time was well outside the New Zealand record for the distance. The only contest in which a standard •certificate was gained was the hammer - throwing, in which M'Holm, the' big policeman from Napier, one of r the Wellington centre's representatives, registered 138 ft 4in. The standard is ' 130 ft, and the Australasian record is 147 ft s£in, established by M'Holm at , Auckland recently. As I anticipated, tlie 'Canterbury representatives in the sprints, A. ' M'Leod and L. Brinkman, wer<? 3«t equal to winning the 100 yds. ,' H.~ T. Martis, a young Wanganui spriri er, who revealed hitherto unknown calibre in a race with Mark, the Au-cldamler, at Wanganui last month, carried -too many guns for the Otago and Cantcr : bury men, although his time was bnt- : , side the standard. Allowing for ftthe condition of the track, it is evident from the ease with which Martia won the 100 yds and 220 yds- and from '* his other performances lately, that -the Wanganui man is likely to develop inlo a sprinter of real "class." The 440 yd- must have provided, a lino race between C. S. Thomas (Canter- - bury) and J. Wilton (Wellington*), "with Thomas making the running and leading to within a few yards of the tape, and then losing to - Wilton by only a few. inches. On previous perfornmtu'ns Thomas should have wo% and "eroatett "? a record in doing ro, but the time- in Vhich Wilton won was 3 l-ssec outside Thomas's best performance. Even in Wellington it was admitted that oa performances Thomas was very likely to defeat Wilton, who won the 440y<ls" championship last year. But the fates ruled otherwise. , , . v However, Thomas won the. half-mile with ease. As he was in splendid form when he left for Dufledin, it can fairJy be assumed that the condition of the track was dead against record-break-ing, for the time for the half-milo was 11 3-ssce outside the Dominion record, arid 9 4-ssec slower than the standard time. And Dormer, in winning the mile, was 22 l-ssec t outside the time which he recorded in" beating Power at Auckland a few weeks, ago. Beatson's defeat by Hudson in the three miles must have surprised Otago enthusiasts. Hudson. (Wellington) is a young, runner of decided 'promise. y Writing of him before the meeting, a. Wellington critic said:—"As game>s the proverbial pebble, and a thorough stayer, he has not yet matured, but ho is certainly the most promising three-, miler we have just now. His' ISini'n -37 sec at the last a university tournament in a gale of wind was a striking per-- .. formanee, and his 9min. oOsce for two miles at Masterton on New Year's Day gives him a splendid chance .against' Beatsori in the three miles to-day, if ■only he is allowed to run fresh. Faster than the Australasian eUampion, and probably just as good a stayer, he has not Beatson's rugged strength, and the lack of this may tell against him in; a punishing Be that as it may, with favourable weather conditions, Beatson will have to do in the near neighbourhood of 15 minutes to win.-" In winning the broad jump, with 19ft 8-iin, M'Leod (Canterbury) was 3-Mn short of the standard, but 9in ! .bot-\.. ter than the second man, Reid (Otago), so it is evident that the general quality of the competitors in this event was not particularly good. Pratt (Canterbury.) was expected to do much better than running unplaced in a 120 yds hurdles race won easily in 17 2-ssec. Cook. (Canterbury) seems to have had a good win in the 440 yds hurdles, but he was 4 2-ssec outside the standard. What ; need is there to treat of other events in which the .same tale of., performances under the standard is toldf Obviously the conditions were not of the best, and so it is that the New Zealand championships of 1913-14 add but a dull page to the history of amateur athletics - in the Dominion. STOP-WATCH.