SPORTS AND PASTIMES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10279, 10 December 1924, Page 3

SPORTS AND PASTIMES

t SWIMMING. ASHBURTON CLUB’S EVENTS. Another series of races were decided at the Borough School bath last evening. The attendance of the public showed an improvement. The events resulted: 66 2-3 Yards. —H. Lewis (3sec) 1, J. Ramsey (3sec) 2, D. Lawson (4sec) 3. Four started. Gross time, 47sec. 33 1-3 Yards, juniors.—First heat: Hastie (13sec) 1, N. Milsom (ssec) 2. Time, 35sec. Second heat: G. Field (scr) 1, J. O’Malley (lsec) 2. Time, 25sec. Final: O’ Malley 1, Field 2, Milsom 3. Time, 34sec. 33 13 Yards, ladies. —Miss B. Millicliamp (scr) 1, Miss H. Smith (lsec) 2. Three started. Time, 28sec. Springboard Dive. —J. Pawson 1, J. O’Malley 2, N. Milsom and A. McCallum (equal) 3. TENNIS. TECHNICAL SCHOOL CHAMPIONSHIP. The Technical School tennis championship was played off during the last Aveek of the term. The draw Avas considerably upset by wet weather, and on break-up day the finals of both the singles and doubles championships remained to be decided. The games resulted in a number of surprises, some of the reputed strongest players going out quite early. Finally the doubles fell to Misses Barbara Donaldson and Margery Thompson. In the singles Miss Margery Thompson scored a someAvhat spectacular Avin over Miss Ida Watson, a very strong player. The results of the games Avere as f ollow: SINGLES. First round—M. Crowther 1- v M. Thompson 3; R. Bell 4 v M. Mactier 6 ; M Henderson 0 v B. Donaldson 4; M. Wells 1 v E. Alexander 4; M. Hydes 0 v. V. Burro Aves 4. Second round—A. Gibson 2 v. M. Thompson 4; M. Mactier 1 v W. Drummond 3; B. Donaldson 1 v. I. Watson 3; W. Drummond 1 v E. Alexander 3 Third round—E. Alexader 0v I. Watson 4; T. Thompson a bye. Final—l. Watson 1v M. Thompson 3 ' DOUBLES. M Henderson and' I. Watson 3 v D. Smallbon.e and M. Buxton 1: M. Henderson and I. Wat son 4 v. /-•.Gibson and M. Crowther 1; B. Donaldson and M. Thompson 3 v I. Watson and M. Henderson 1. BOXING. McDonald v. rowe. INVERCARGILL, Dec. 9. Lackie McDonald (Dunedin), middleweight champion, met Vic Roive (Australian) in a 15-round bout. The fight Avent the full distance, and the result was given as a draw, but the decision mer with a mixed reception. McDonald led throughout, and although RoAve was very clever on defence, McDonald s extra aggressiveness Avas much in evidence. CRICKET. MATCH AGAINST MALVERN. The Ashburton County Cricket Association will play its first representative match of the season to-morrow on -{he Domain Oval against Malvern County. Special interest will be taken _in the performance of the local team in view of the Adsits during the holidays of such formidable sides as the NeAV Zealand Nomads and Auckland, and to-mor-row’s game should be of considerable benefit both to players and the selector. An excellent AA’icket has been prepared, and everything points to an interesting day’s cricket. Play commences in the morning. The following are the teams: Ashburton County.—N. Tasker, J. B. Nieoll, L. Grieve, S. Revelley, H. Fraer, B. McSherry, C. Brady, S. - Willis, R. McGregor, R. A. Johnstone, ■ and H. Millichamp. Malvern County.—M. L. Page, J. Gunn, C. H. Withers, W. Owen, A. Roper, P. Bulnois, J. Wright, N. Kaye, E. Frew, G. Revelley, and D. Summerville. AMATEUR ATHLETICS. SATURDAY’S CARNIVAL. Should girls indulge in athletics ? ! This question has been threshed out in public, in the Press, and in debates; but it is doubtful Avhether any finality : will ever be reached. Perhaps the best way of deciding the matter Avill be for : those Avho are interested in the subject < to attend the sports carnival, provided ; by the local Athletic Club at the Oval : on Saturdav next. At the meeting a ■ ladies’ 100 yards handicap will be run, ; and should prove most interesting event. The prizes for this event are : the largest ever given for ladies’ races in New Zealand, and as it has been decided to make it post entry free, it is to be hoped the field will bo a large ; one, and so repay the local club for the interest taken by them in ladies’ , athletics. Christchurch is sending doAvn a' fairly large contingent, and , hope to carry off the honours; but the local girl runners have to be reckoned with, as there are several in Ashburton AA-ho compare most favourably with those seen out in Christchurch. FIELD OF SPORT. I NOTES AND COMMENTS. ATHLETES TRAINING HINTS. (By Ci Onlooker.”) Athletes are in hard training for the sports carnival on the Ashburton Domain on Saturday. The indications are that the running events Avill be contested by large fields, while the field events are likely to be more attractive than usual. The fact that amateur cycling has spurted a little of late, due to the efforts of the more enthusiastic, is encouraging to the club. 1 Cyclists will have four events to contest, including the half-mile Canterbury championship. The programme is well endowed 1 as regards trophy values.

I Ashburton competitors at Christchurch on Saturday did not break the tape, but performed well nevertheless. C. Campbell and Gerald Nicoll filled second places in running events, losing by inches. Both ran well. Nicoll did tiie half-mile in 2min. 6 3-5 sec, which is one of his best runs. The relay team was not a strong one and had no chance with the place-getters. W. S. McClymont ran third in the 10U yards scratch race, won by A. L. Lewis. McClymont was not in his best form at this meeting ,however, as was evidenced by his running in the relay.

W. G. Kaulagher, of the Auckland 'Varsity, is at present staying with Matt Farrell. Kaulagher is a fine stamp of athlete, his forte b?ing jumping. He performed well at Christchurch, but the handicap ho was conceding kept him in third place. Kaulagher will be in action in Ashburton on Saturday.

The trials conducted on the Domain last week to pick the A team to defend the H. F. Nicoll cup for the medley race, an inter-club event, created much interest. The selection was: f. mile, J. C. Sutherland; i mile, J. Robilliard; 220 yards, C. Campbell and W. S. McClymont. Sheer merit won each man his place. Sutherland beat Nicoll by the narrowest of margins after the running had been all apainst him. He was pace-maker for Nicoll until the last IGO yards, when Nicoll spurted and took the lead. In the last few yards Sutherland came again and got home by inches. Sutherland 1 had arrived from Willowby about 20 minutes before the test after having pushed a bicycle against a stiff nor'-wester. Jack Robilliard, put up one of the. gamest finishes witnessed for a long time to beat Campbell and McClymont by inches in the J-mile.

At a committee meeting of amateur cyclists it was decided that prize money should be ' awarded as follows :—Road races, first 30s, second 15s, fastest time, 20s; track races, first 20s, second 10s. A 27-mile road race is to be held towards the end of the season. The aggregate points cup in connection with local races is to be awarded on the following basis:—first: seven points, second five, third three, fourth one, fastest time in road races, two. These points are to bo taken from Wednesday December 10 and will include both track and road races.

It has been found advisable to utilise two separate blocks for the amateur road races, viz., one block starting at the west end of Walnut Avenue thence to Racecourse Road, thence west to Farm Read South to Winter's Road, thence to West Bait back to Walnut Avenue, about thres miles, and the block Beach Road to junction with Wakanui Road to East Belt back to Beach Road.

Bowling for Tinwald on Saturday in a cricket match against St._ Stephen's, C. Butterworth took five wickets for _ 26 runs in the first innings and eight wickets for eight runs in the _ second innings. He completely demoralised St. Stephen's batsmen. At one stage there was a perfect procession, Butterworth dropping four wickets with four successive balls, the hat trick and then some! To top off his day's work he made 64 runs for his side, his being the highest score.

I Following up a series of notes on atheltes methods of training, a few hints concerning stride shoaild not be out of place. Do runners realise .'-the true value of length of stride? This is a most important item in running, especially long distances, and with a view to helping local athletes to> realise this fact these'few notes are penned.

In a mile a runner will take on an average 900 strides; if these strides can be increased by only one inch it means about 25 yards to the competitor. Some of the runners seen in action this season do not extend the leg to the full stride, and if this can be overcome times will improve according-

One of the worst offenders in thi: connection is J. Sutherland. This man runs with leg very much bent, and it is the writer's opinion, with practice, Sutherland could very easily increase his stride by from 3 to 4 inches or in other words from 78 to 104 yards in a mile. Taking 5 mins. as the time for running a mile, this means an' improvement of from 13 to 18secs. in time. Sutherland's time for the mile on Gala Day was 4min. 52sec, which could be reduced to at least 4min, 40sec. without any more effort on his part. This point is worthy of the closest inspection by all athletes. That length of stride does not depend on length of leg is borne out by looking at the measurements of those very fine runners A. B. Postle and B. R. Day. Postle whose leg measured 411 ins. in length had a stride of 7ft. 6in., whereas Day, with a leg of 40|in. had a stride of Bft. 4in. Certainly one must bear in mind when considering these two runners that Postle was more of a sprinter than was Day.

One of the reasons why G. L. Nieoll is such a very fine half-mile runner is the fact that he has a long easy stride and utilised at all times the full length of the leg. Should he desire to increase his pace he lengthens his stride, whirh is the ideal to be aimed at. In sprinting the stride is inclined to shorten, but it should be the purpose of all runners to try to overcome this. Short striding wastes energy.

For those who desire to lengthen their stride here is a, method which should prove advantageous. On going to the track first just loosen the muscles by gently trotting, and having accomplished that easy task then exercise each leg by a stretching exercise, undertaken by putting up first one leg and then the other in exactly the same manner as the straight legged hurdle jumper takes his" hurdles. That will be followed by the actual striding practice, taken round the track. Much will depend on the balance of the perform or. The method most advantageous will be a forward tilt of the body to such an angle that a step must be taken and that position should be maintained. Particular attention should be paid to the position of the feet, which should be straight, and the carriage of the head which should be reasonably upright; eyes looking at the ground • well ahead. Take the usual length of stride at first then increase very slightly. Do not over-stride; do not take steps too quickly; maintain balance. This practice can be taken just as frequently as a man can get to a track. If ho 'is one of the men to whom stride lengthening is an impossibility it can do no harm: many case it will go towards bettering his style. If it should add a single inch to the stride of any mile runner then his improvement will be tremendous i hese notes will be continued next week when action and physical exercises will be discussed.