SUBURBAN ATHLETES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 299, 17 December 1937, Page 15

SUBURBAN ATHLETES.

DEFEAT THE CITY. LECKIE IN GREAT FORM. JUNIORS WITH BRIGHT FUTURES— BRASSEY AND AYLING.

(By MELANION.)

The attendance at the first of the City ▼. Suburbs pennant challenge athletic matches was very disappointing, but a well varried and highly interesting programme aroused the enthusiasm of the handful of spectators who were in attendance at Sturges Park last Saturday. In an £mpire Games trial J. G. Leckie was in magnificent form with the hammer and he certainly made hie selection in the team to Australia secure. The light rain and slippery turf did not aid him in any way, but with a perfect effort he hurled the hammer out to 151 ft lin. This effort would have secured third place at the last Games, tut taking a line on the present standard of hammer throwers in the Empire Leckie has only to repeat such a performance to have an excellent chance of -taking the major honour.

Of the other athletes two juniors caught the eye, Braseey, of the Otahuhu Club, and Ay ling, of Manurewa. Both these boy<s were prominent at the last secondary school sports and they are fulfilling the promise they showed on that occasion. Brassey is somewhat on the short side, but is well developed, and his forte seems to he the quarter and half. He has enjoyed most success up to the present in the sprints, but

he is winning these races on hie natural speed. With a little attention to his striding over the 440 yards and 880 yards, Brassey may well flash to the fore at the junior championships in these two races. Ayling is. more powerfully built th»in Braseev and he, too, seems cut out to feature as a quarter and half miler. He has a rather peculiar arm action and certainly a poor body carriage which mnet hamper him considerably. He runs with great heart and possesses a fine finish. Whye in a New Light. There is no better-known athlete thaa George Whye but he has earned his reputation as a half miler and most people would hare been surprised had they imagined that he was a most promising hurdler. On Saturday he competed in the 220 yards hurdles and on the day showed that he has only to give some attention to hie training' and he will be a threat to the best ve have here.} Whye received two yards from B. P. Coleman in the final of the race and he kept him going right to the tape. With his height and great strength, the Otahuhu runner may be a surprise to the recognised hurdlers over both the 220 yards and 440 yards hurdles. Papakura Runner Wins. G. Osborne recently carried off the honours in an open handicap race and oa Saturday J. Forrest, of the same cluh, using the same tactics, intentional or otherwise, won the mile easily. With his long start to help him, Forrest opened up a big gap which the field could not close up appreciably. The ex-Auck-land half-mile champion, h. H. Johnston, raced into second place, but he was obviously not certain of his ability to stay the race out, else he might have been closer up to Forrest. The latter should not develop the habit he showed, of turning and watching the rest of the field. The finishing line is the only thing that matters.