AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 253, 26 October 1933, Page 20

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

LABOUR DAY SPORTS. PIPE-OPENER FOR PERFORMERS. The 1933-34 track season in Auckland kicked off with a good all-round sports gathering at the Domain. Credit is due to the Auckland Club in staging the'meeting and thus enabling atnietes to commence their active racing. From this date I onwards the promises to be an , exceptionally busy one competitively, and all men will be soon down to hard train--1 ing. i At a gathering such as last Saturday's it r is always difficult to controla big crowd, ' especially on a ground like the Domain, J where there is no natural arena or banked j enclosure. Nevertheless stricter control r will have to be exercised in the future, in fairness to both athletes and spectators, f By and large, however, it was a most enjoyable day's- outing, marred only by the 1 keenness of the chilly wind. Technical fielded a splendid new sprinter in G. Hiscock, who, only 15 years of age, t won his heat in 10 3-5s off the* small mark ,' of 4yds and repeated his victory in the I j final, when he recorded the same time. He 1 shows very much promise indeed. A. B. . Anderson, who, peculiarly enough, was second to Hiscock both in the heat and r final, was off the same mark and ran determinedly. A. C. Bridle, who was also off r the same mark, came in third, and is very ' j fit for this time of the year. • j The starter's gun not only gave him 5, quite a lot of trouble, but was dull in its I report. The regulations re firearms are 3 1 very strict now, and it is most difficult 1 j to sccure a really satisfactory gun for the 5 purpose and keep within the law also. ; W. G. Thompson, who is one of the most consistent winter sprint men, secured a > nice win in his heat of the 100 yds Labour 5 Day Handicap, when he recorded 10 3-5s 5 off 7%yds. He was second in the final to I Funnel], who showed up so well early last I season. Sayers ran well to take third place. ' A. J. Elliott, without any training, ran well, but was "climbing" and really took . the run as a practice jog. 1 In the 220 yds great enthusiasm was displayed over the fine running of A. J. ' Sayers, the ex-Auckland Grammar School , star. He runs easily and strongly, and off | 10yds gave away quite big starts, but came ' home to a nicely judged win in 23 l-ss. Anderson repeated his success by scoring another second in a final. 'Funnell was again well up and came third out of a big ; field of 12. The quarter-mile had to be abandoned ; owing to lack of entries, but the half-mile drew a splendid field. Norman Cooper, making a reappearance ii> active competition after many months' spell, was indeed the hero of the meeting. Cooper is perhaps paying more attention to his training than any other athlete in this Dominion. His trainer is a very capable one and much good would be done if all athletes could only interest someone to take a similar interest in' their welfare. When the gun went Cooper, who was on scratch, took his time in the first lap and therein made a mistake. That old campaigner. Bi'ily Savidan, showed that when a scratch man secures a handicap, it is the correct thing to make use of it. Running off 12yds, Savidan was soon up with the big handicap men, and during the last lap went right after Whitmore, who was well in the lead. Cooper wns moving up, but Savidan kept his lead into the straight after passing Whitmore, and although Cooper cut it down by over half, he could not catch the wily distance star, who recorded 2.4 for the distance. J. Valder ran Well all last season, and was getting right on the back marks. He finished very fast and looks to be one of the best middle-distance men around this season. In the two-mile steeplechase Cooper profited by his experience and was out to make a race of it. So well out, however, were the limit men that it seemed almost impossible that the back-markers would win through. Hurdling beautifully and running strongly and well, the blonde star rah a ■wonderful race, and although tired he won nicely by a big margin. This was surprising in view of the fact that Savidan was only conceding him 3s start. It looks as if the races between these two old friendly rivals will be stirring contests this year: And it will be no surprise if more than one Dominion record goes by the board. Gordon Hill struck a hurdle badly and spoilt his chances in the race, but Birtwhistle ran a good solid two-mile, coming in five yards behind Savidan, who secured second placc. The ladies were out again, and Miss G. Thomas, from the comparatively small mark of 2%yds, secured a popular win. She shows great promise, and should be well to the fore as the season goes on. Miss Dawson was second, running strongly, whilst Miss J. Armour, the well-known Girls' Athletic Association's sprinter, was third off 3yds. Neville McCarthy is showing great promise as a distance walker, and has all the attributes to make a real champioVi. He gave a good exhibition and won easily. He should be a real threat in the mile cham- . ponship this year if he gets down to it hard enough. Eric Laird walked very fairly, and well deserved his second place, whilst the new performer, Alf Clayton, showed not only promise but plenty of pluck. Gus Rogers had too hard a task before him. Walking will flourish, but care , must be taken that the style is scrupu- . lously fair. This is more important at the' beginning of the season than at any other ; time, as bad habits once gained are hard : to break away from. 1 Sergeant Finch followed up his winters 1 successes by scoring no less than three wins during the afternoon. A. C. Bridle ] again was well to the fore, and to be 1 beaten by only 2in from the scratch mark j was a great performance. Jack Tipping j was also those mentioned, as he ; secured a third in the shot and a second in the discus. Jack is the Centre's delegate 1 on the Military Sports Association this 1 yofir. . * In throwing the javelin K. Gillespie dis- j played a nice style and threw the shaft f very creditably 139 ft l%in, to win with the j aid of his handicap. He has been well ( coached by Gilmour, the tall Canadian, who performed so well last season. Gilmour is away down South just now, but may be back for the big events. Billy Savidan was in a new role as a javelin thrower, but running is certainly his lo*~g suit. The warmer weather is coming, so it behoves all athletes to begin to tram hard. 1 There's no time, like the present.