AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 72, 26 March 1930, Page 14

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

EAST TAMAKI MEETING. FORM OF COMPETITORS. / ' ' PAPATOETOE ARRANGEMENTS. (By "JAVELIN.") FIXTURES. April o.—Papatoetoe A.A.C. Considering the hard state of the track, some excellent times were registered at the East Tamaki Amateur Sports Club's annual meeting on Saturday last. The Auckland and New Zealand sprint champion, A. J. Elliott, was a starter in the 120 yds handicap, but tlip rough track was not in his favour, and he failed to qualify for the final, Avon by A. Dawson (15yds), the young Papatoetoe runner. N. Funnell, who is a consistent performer, finished in second place, just ahead of R. C. Willey. Both of the latter were on the eight yards mark. . ~ .. A Rough Furlong. The 220 yds handicap was a trifle on the rough side, a big field being'bunched from the start. Rounding the bend the competitors were massed, together, but G. "McLeod (14yds) came away nicely to wiii by a yard, from G..C. Mitchell (22yds). The back-markers' had'a poorshow of winning owing to being hemmed in on the bend. L. H. Meredith, wh,o always seems to be in the limelight, is running better thaii " ever since his return from the championships. He ran a beautifully judged race in the 440, which he won in 52 2-ss—an excellent time for the track. Meredith showed up to better advantage than T. E. Henry, the scratch man who stood him up 3yds, as the latter failed to get up with the limit men. The event was won on the tape, the Auckland Clnb man just heading D. T. Mitchell (32yds). Comfortable Win.

A comfortable win was> scored by A. Bellingham (40yds) in the half-mile. He is a likely sort, and reproduced the form which carried him to victory in the mile at the January meeting of the Papatoetoe Club. L. C. Barker (25yds) did well to get up into second place, just ahead of IJV Crum (3Gyds). B. M. Murray won

the 120 yds hurdles with case from the syds mark. R. Callinan (syds behind) was second, and D. Kerr-Tayor (Gyds behind) third. The placed men gave good exhibitions over the sticks.

Papatoetoe Carnival, The Papatoetoe Club will hold its third carnival of the season on Saturday week, April 5. ■ The programme that is

being arranged will be attractive, and include events from the short sprints to the mile. The principal race will be the half-mile Auckland provincial championship, and a field of at least six competitors is assured. Nominations for the meeting close at noon next Saturday. Officials of the club are working assiduously in efforts to make the meeting the best of the season,- both so far as catering for competitors and the public is concerned. School Records Shattered. Some fine running was witnessed at the Mount Albert Grammar School sports last Friday, when eleven records were broken. The outstanding performer of the day was T. Sawer, winner of the senior championship, who won the 100 yds, 220 yds, 440 yds championships, and the 120 yds hurdles, and was second in both the hop-step-and-jump and the long jump. His best performances were in the quarter-mile and the hurdles, in which he established new figures.' A stylist over the hurdles he covered the distance in 15 3-5s —fine time for a youth —clipping 2-5s off the previous best time made by E. It. Ewen in 1924. He covered the 440 in 53 3-ss, or l-5s better than T. S. Finlayson last year. The Sawers are apparently a family of runners, for his young brother, was runner-up for the junior championship, won by Clarke. Other excellent times were put up by Coney and Briggs, runner-up and third respectively for senior honours. Records were established by them as follows: — Coney, 220 yds handicap under seventeen, 24 1 -ss, and 440 yds handicap under seventeen, 56 2-ss; and Briggs, 440 yds open handicap, 57 2-ss, and 880 yds championship, 2.11 l-os. Championship Faults. Referring to recent criticism of the conduct of the championships at Wanganui, "Sprinter" in the "Wellington Post," says:—

"A wrong jvaa clearly done J. T. Fleming (Wellington) when the judges missed him in the final of the 220 yds championship. The writer was in line with the finish. Golding was about four feet ahead of • Jenkins, with Fleming just behind his team mate and inches ahead of last year's title winner, A. J. Elliott. And yet Elliott got third place! It is not difficult to understand how this happened. The judges

were right up against the finishing post, and it stands to reason that from the position they were occupying it would be an easy matter for them to miss a man finishing up against them in a close contest. As the writer used to. mention in this column quite frequently a few seasons baqk when some rather doubtful decisions were given in Wellington, the only proper way to judge a race, and particularly a sprint event, is for the officials concerned to get several yards out from the finishing posts. In many cases it will be found to make all the difference in the world."

ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. P. HILLABE—G. W. Smith was not. according to the records, the first man in the world to run 440 yards over hurdles (3ft Gin) in 60s. Smith first broke 00s for the 440 yards hurdles at Auckland on December 20, 1901, when ho covered the distance in 595. But his most formidable New Zealand rival, A. H. Holder, of, Wanganui, was first on the field to break 60s for this event, accomplishing the feat at Auckland on February 13, 1897, in 5S 4-ss, then a world's record. Later, on February 1, 1904, at Melbourne, Smith captured the world's record for the event by covering the distance in 58 2-ss. Tommy Roberts' best effort in the 440 yards hurdles was 61s, with which he won the N.Z. championship in 189G, the time then being a record. George Smith visited England in 1902 and ran at Stamford Bridge, winning the 120 yards hurdles event in 16s.