AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 185, 7 August 1930, Page 10

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

CLARKE'S FINE SPRINT.

Owing to the football matches at Eden Park no competitions were held for three weeks for the members of the Auckland Amateur Athletic and Cycle Club. However, last Saturday the pack again met at the Domain under ideal conditions, the turf being the best for the season. As is customary the programme consisted of a sprint, a steeplechase and two Held events. It is interesting to note that the sprint and tlie steeplechase were won by A. Clarke and ,T. Nicholson respectively, both being veterans of the club. The sprint, which attracted a large field, was run in throe heats and then the final. Kltkwood, Willey and Turnbull were the winners of the heats and they were respectively chased to the tape _by Funnell, Roper and Wheeler. The time for the second and third heats was 7 4-ss, while the time for the middle heat was Ss. Turnbull ran an exceptionally good race in his heat and won slackening up on the tape. The six finalists were soon off the mark and at 50 yards Clarke had a gooi lead, with Turnbull starting to gather up speed. It proved very interesting to watch Turnbull gradually lessening his leeway from Clarke, but finally, the latter gained the verdict by inches with Wheeler a foot away third. The distance for the steeplechase, which was run over the Inner Domain course, was Increased to three miles. The steeplechase proved an easy win for J. Nicholson, who put in his initial appearance at the Auckland Club's winter competitions. After the first lap Nicholson set out in earnest to cut down Clarke, who had a lead of over 200 yards. lie did this in remarkably fine style and, with a lap and a half to go, he had the lead. In that position he was never headed, and he went on to win with an ever-widening margin, finally winning by over fifty.yards from the second man. In his filial sprint up the straight he showed that he had never been pressed and that he had plenty in reserve. The baby of tho club, G. Hill, ran an exceptionally good race to gain second, and was rather unfortunate in having a more experienced rival ahead of him. He made fast time in the first two laps and tried to stick to the heels of Nicholson, but the latter used his experience to shake him off. Hill has run some good races, especially for a y-outh of 17. and has been placed on three occasions this season. Cooper, the scratch man, was set a hard task but he maintained his reputation by gaining third place. He had to do practically all his own pacing in the early stages and when he caught tho middle men they let him do the pacing.