THE PROVINCIAL TITLES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 50, 28 February 1935, Page 23

THE PROVINCIAL TITLES.

keen country candidates. GOOD PERFORMANCES BY ALTON. Never before have there been so many outside entries for the provincial championships, which are being held s at the Domain next Saturday. Towns like Dargavillc, which have never previously been represented, are sending down over 20 competitors. Whangaxei has a big muster, and over at Thames, Tauranga and Rotorua dozens of athletes hitherto unknown to Aucklanders are making the trip. There waa no doubt that there was room for improvement in the running of the British-Finnish meeting, and since the 16th there have been a number of measures taken in hand to speed up and brighten the sports. Strong measures are being taken, especially with anyone who trespasses on the athletic field itself, and police aid is being enlisted. Athletes themselves can help a lot, and must be ready to go off the track right after their' event is over. Tho races between Bainbridge and Elliot in the sprints, and the half-mile clash between Kedgley and Sayers should be the feature of the meeting. Great interest will be shovvn in the appearance of Miss Mary Mitchell, the brilliant Dargaville girl athlete, who recently broke the New Zealand long jump record. She can throw the javelin 81ft, and is capable of 17ft in the broad. The competition amongst the ladies will be keen indeed. The fields in the 440 yds hurdles and 440 yds fiat are the biggest on record, and heats will have to be run. There will be some tired athletes on Saturday night. N. Tunnel! won Lymidale's 120 yds hurdles from Greep and May very easily. He had a great race with Ray McGregor in the 220 yds, and looked a certain winner entering the straight. McGregor came along the home stretch like an express, and the verdict was a dead heat in a most exciting race. .

W. McCombie is running splendidly now, and although McGregor held the lead into the straight in the 440 yds championship, McCombie showed real finishing power by winning with a foot margin. RiHy Briggs won the three-mile title easily in 1(3.3 1-5. Arthur Lydiard broke the junior mile record when lie ran 4.57, and this is the result of real keenness. Bill Baker is another keen junior, and he won the hop, step and jump. Miss Hill won the javelin with 50ft, and is reported to be capable of 70ft. She has a chance on Saturday. The outstanding event in Dominion athletic circles is, of course, A. B. Coleman s Dew three-mile walking record. The Taranaki champion actually the great Harry Kerr's figures of 21.26 3-5, which have stood since 1911, by a margin of 15 l-ss. This works out at around 7.3 for each mile, and is a wonderful performance. With Driscoll, Coleman _ and Cameron in the field at Wanganui the walking will be very fast, and should be a feature of the programme. Aucklanders are naturally proud of the performances of Mont Alton, of the Diomede, during the last two weeks. At the Wellington championships he cleared away to win the three-mile title in 14.53, which was considered very fast owing to the bad conditions prevailing. Last week lie was in Christchurch, and he not only won the mile Canterbury title, but defeated the Centenary Games star Cecil Matthews by over 100 yds in the three-mile event. The time was 14.42 2-5, which showed that the Aucklander was not wasting any time. He will be racing foxAuckland at Wanganui, and Cooper and he should be capable of bringing home valuable shield points. The meeting at the Show Grounds last Saturday night was efficiently conducted by the Lynndale Club, and added greatly to the enjoyment of the gymkhana. Tony Fraser, of Rotorua, ran well in his heat, and should be well up in sprint events on Saturday. He moves very strongly. Les Barker had a nice mark in the mile and ran with good judgment. It was a good race for the spectators. Tn the 440 yds the three placed men came down the straight together, and Ball shewed his real speed wlum he lunged for

the tape in the last five yards. Ernie Kedgley was close up from the back mark. The track was naturally rough after the parades and horse events, but 1 lie whole gathering was run well up to time, and athletics should become a feature of the show programme. If any club is unlucky it is Otahuhu; they had to postpone their "best run meeting in the province" two weeks running. A feature of this week's meeting will be the special challenge Relay Cup, for which five clubs have entered. The distances are SBoyds, 440 yds, 220 yds and 100 yds, and the winning team keeps the handsome cup for one year, and each team man receives a miniature cup. There will be more championship relays at Otahuhu after the championships.

East Tamaki's meeting on March 9 will draw its usual big number of athletes as there is no more jiopular gathering in the province. The horso events and splendid jumping add pleasant variety to the usual athletic events.