RECORDS BROKEN AT ATHLETICS

Press, Volume LXXXVI, Issue 26032, 8 February 1950, Page 6

RECORDS BROKEN AT ATHLETICS

Nelson Beaten In Three Miles

D. WHITE (CEYLON) WINS HURDLES

From Our Own Reporter AUCKLAND, February 7. The second day of the British Empire Games athletics at Eden Park to-day fulfilled expectations of outstanding performances.

An Empire Games record was established in the discus throwing by the Australian, I. M. Reed, whose winning throw was 156 ft 7in, beating the 1938 record of 146 ft lOJin set by E. Coy, of Canada, at Sydney. A record was also made by Duncan White (Ceylon) when he did 52.55ec in the 440 yards hurdles. A New Zealand record was established by Miss Shirley Strickland (Australia), who won her semi-final of the 220 yards in 24.6 seconds, one-tenth of a second faster than a performance at present awaiting recognition by the New Zealand champion. Miss D. Parker. Mrs Dorothy Tyler and Miss B. Crowther, both of England, equalled the women’s Empire Games high jump record of sft 3in, but Mrs Tyler retained her title on a countback. She was a former co-holder of the record with Miss M. Clark. She won the title in 1938 on a countback and lost the Olympic championship in 1948 similarly. The weather was perfect with only a light south-westerly breeze and the track was again fast. In contrast with ’the opening session on Saturday, the programme proceeded without a hitch and a crowd of about 30.000 saw much good racing and spirited competition. The most dramatic event of the programme was the three miles, won by the tall, long-striding Yorkshireman. L. Eyre, from the New Zealand Olympic limner. W. H. Nelson. The winner is. a fine type of distance runner combining speed and stamina, the one developed by mile - running and the other by cross-country racing. Eyre has been a member of England’s team in international cross-country competition and has run a mile in

4min lOsec. being third in the English championship. He is also Yorkshire three-mile champion. He is 24 years old.

Nelson made a gallant attempt to repeat C. H Matthews’s double of the last Empire Games and although he was left by his three team-mates to make most of the running he was ever in the picture.

Parlett Takes Half-mile As was expected the half-mile final resulted in a win for the 24-year-old English runner, Harold Parlett. who has a victory to his credit over Arthur Wint and has returned Imin 51sec for the distance. This was a race of changing fortunes but always 'Parlett was within striking distance, and though challenged strongly by the two Canadians. J. W. M. Hutchins and C. W. Parnell, he responded well. The Otago and New Zealand champion, C. Simpson. did not run with quite the same dash as on the first day and his time was Imin 56sec. The 440 yards hurdles final produced the splendidly contested race that was expected and the Ceylonese hurdler. Duncan White, runner-up at the Olympic Games, had to produce an Empire Games and New Zealand record of 52.55ec to win from the New Zealander. J. M. Holland, whose 52.75ec was also better than the EmEire record of 52.95ec. established by oaring (Canada) in 1938. The New Zealand record of Holland, which was awaiting recognition, was 52.65ec. The Broad Jump ' The broad jump produced performances in line with previous Empire Games performances, if not up to Olympic standards. The winner. Neil Price, of South Africa, cleared 24ft in his best effort, and showed consistency throughout. Price astounded athletic circles recently when he cleared 25ft OJin. which gave him fourth place in the world’s long jump rankings. W. B. Hough, who holds the New Zealand record of 24ft, gained second place with 23ft 7Jin. and the Canterbury jumper, D. Dephoff, who was also very consistent, filled third place with 23ft 3in. Price’s winning jump was four and threequarter inches below the Empire record. New Empire figures were established in the discus throwing in which I. M. Reed (Australia), the winner did 156 ft 7in The star performer in the Fijian team Mataika Tuichakau. who is a 26-year-old school teacher, gained a popular second place with 144 ft 4jin. The Australian women were prominent in the 220 yards women’s event, three of them qualifying for the final. The Olympic Games star. Miss Shirley Strickland and the slashing young Miss Marjorie Jackson, winner of the 100 yards on the first day. winning in 24.65ec ano 24.8 sec respectively. Miss Strickland had a desperate battle with the South African champion. Miss Daphne Robb, in a semi-final, and her ’ time was only onetenth of a second slower than Miss Decima Norman’s Empire record established in 1938. Misses Strickland, Robb, and Jackson should have a battle royal in the final on Thursday, but s as Miss Jackson had something in reserve she still looks like being hard to beat. Eyre Beats Nelson

W. H. Nelson, u’ho had raced brilliantly to win the six miles title on Saturday gave another grand display of welljudged running'in the three miles, only tc be beaten by England’s crack r ler. L. Eyre, who nursed himself very carefully until the last lap, when he opened up with a burst of speed that would have done credit to a quarter-mile runner. Hoskins (New Zealand) took the load off Nelson’s shoulders when he led for half a mile, at the end of which ft. T-rguson < Canada) took control and ..pened up a gap of 10 yards on Hoskins, who was followed by Merrett < Australia ). Eyre. Nelson. Forbes (Scotland! and Taylor (New Zealand). Taylor had run up to the leaders after losing JV yards early At the beginning of the fourth lap . cl■on went to the front and from then on uai always in the first three. Nelson and C. Louisich (New Zealand) took turns •t pace-making and always handy were Eyre and A. H. Chivers (England*. K Macdonald (Australia), and Merrett. So they raced for the greater part of the

journey, Nelson doing the hard work in front after his team-mates. Hoskins, Louisich, and Taylor had failed him. Nelson had been setting a good pace and it was not until two and a half miles had been covered that Eyre moved up to him for the first time. The pair cut at one another for a full quarter-mile, after which Eyre jumped into his stride and proceeded to make a one-man race of it. Nelson made a great attempt to pace it with the flying Englishman, and in doing so he left himself without much reserve at the finish, while Eyre was going well within himself. Nelson was kept doing his best by England’s second string, Chivers. who finished particularly well.

England filled first and third places, as New Zealand had done on the opening day. While Nelson’s form was good, the other New Zealand men, like the rest of the field, found the pace beyond them. Taylor was of little use to New Zealand. After losing ground early he dashed up to the field like a champion. In the last half mile he lost stretch and after the placed men had passed the post he put in a brilliant sprint, which, had it been produced earlier, might have earned points. Really a miler, Eyre did not break any records, yet in the excellent judgment he showed and the brilliant last quarter he ran, he displayed all the characteristics of a highclass runner.

One of the surprises of the day was the defeat of D. R. Batten in the semifinal of the 220 yards. In his heat Batten came home at his leisure in 22.45ec, and the manner of his win suggested that he would make a brave showing in the semi-final. Batten drew No. 1 at the start and when the field straightened up for home he appeared to have a rare chance. C. Parker, New Zealand’s second string, raced past Batten 160 yards from home, and both were well beaten at the turn by Australia’s D. Johnson and A. K. Gordon. D. R. Jowett, New Zealand's junior champion, raced with credit, for he won the first heat in 22.45ec and finished second to the champion, Treloar, in the semifinal. in which he did 22.1 sec. Treloar had little trouble in vanning the heat and semi-final, each in 21.7 sec, the fastest tiiT.e of the day over this distance. D. A. Pettie (Canada) won his heat in 22.1 sec and qualified for the final by running third to Treloar and Jowett. Again Treloar showed himself to be in world class. Of the six runners to qualify for the final Australia has three. New Zealand two, and Canada one.

White Takes Hurdles Title D. White (Ceylon) finished third to Goodacre (Australia) and Hubbe (South Africa) in his heat of the 440 yards hurdles, but it was quite plain that he could have beaten both the leaders had he tried. He was content to qualify. J. M. Holland won the second heat comfortably, with G. V. Gedge (Australia) just ahead of the English crack, H. Whittle. In the final White showed his form in the heat to be all wrong, and after giving a finished display of hurdling he beat Holland in the race to the tape in 52.55ec. In each of his races at the meeting. Holland has shown a tendency to mix stride when approaching the hurdles, and this failing cost him the title to-day. He was beaten by inches, and was well ahead of Goodacre and Whittle at the finish.

The time of Imin 53.1 sec for the halfmile, registered by Q. J. Parlett (England), has twice been bettered at the Empire Games, but few better races have been seen. N. T. O. Wilson (New Zealan) set out at a merry pace and led i from Parlett. For a furlong the field raced in close order until C. W. Parnell (Canada) and S. D. Booysen (South Africa) cleared away from the field. J. W. Hutchins assisted Parlett to bridge the gap, with Wilson coming into the picture. The last 100 yards was a battle royal between Parlett. Parnell. Hutchins, and Wilson, Parlett winning bv the nari rowest of margins, with the other three almost in line. Only the judges were in , a position to give a correct decision. Results were:— WOMEN’S 220 YARDS First Heat.—Miss M. Jackson (Aust.), 24.8 sec (New Zealand record) 1; Miss A. Shanley (Aust.), 25.35ec, 2; Miss L. Rowe (N.Z.), 25.55ec. 3. Second Heat.—Miss S. Strickland (Aust.). 25.35ec, 1; Miss S. Cheeseman (Eng.), 25.8 sec. 2; Mis§ I. J. Hart (N.Z.), 25.95ec. 3. Third Heat.—Miss D. Robb (S.A.). 25sec, 1; Miss D. Parker (N.Z.), 25.45ec, 2; Miss V. Johnston (Aust.), 25.45ec. 3. First Semi-final.—Miss Jackson, 24.95ec, 1; Miss Johnston, 25.65ec, 2; Miss Rowe. 25 Bsec, 3. Second Semi-final.—Miss Strickland, 24.6 sec. 1; Miss Robb, 24.95ec, 2; Miss Parker. K. 3. MEN’S 220 YARDS First Heat.—D. Jowett (N.Z.), 22.45ec, 1J. Archer (Eng.), 22 9sec, 2; W. de Gruchy (Aust.), 22.95ec. 3. Second Heat.—D. R. Batten (N.Z.), 22.4 sec, 1; A. Gordon (Aust.), 23sec, 2; B. Shenton (Eng.), 23.1 sea, 3. Third Heat.—J. Treloar (Aust.), 21.7 sec, L C. p ®£ ker <N.Z.), 22.65ec, 2; N. Stacey (Eng.), 22.8 sec, 3. Fourth Heat—C. Lewis (Eng.) won, but was disqualified for running on the line. Placings then were: D. Pettie (Can.). 22.1 sec, 1: B. Johnson (Aust.), 22.1 sec, 2: D Dawai (Fiji), 3. First Semi-final.—Treloar. 21.7 sec, 1; Jowett. 22.1 sec. 2: Pettie. 22.1 sec. 3 Second Semi-final.—Johnson. 22sec. 1; Gordon, 22sec, 2; Parker. 22sec. 3. 440 YARDS HURDLES First Semi-final.—G. Goodacre <Aus.), 53.25ec, 1; G. Lubbe (S.A.), 53.45ec, 2 D White (Ceylon). 53.45ec 3. Second Heat.—J. Holland (N.Z.), 53.45ec. 1: G. Gedge (Aust.), 53.95ec, 2; H. Whittle (Eng.), 53.95ec, 3. Final D. White (Ceylon), 52.55ec (breaks Empire Games record) ..1 J. Holland (N.Z.). 52.75ec (also breaks record) .. .. 2 G. Goodacre (Aust.), 53.1 sec .. -.3 THREE MILES L. Eyre (Eng.). 14min 23sec .. ..1 H. Nelson (N.Z.), 14min 27.8 sec .. 2 A. Chivers (Eng.). 14min 28.1 sec .. 3 A. Merrett (Aust.), 14min 34sec 4 K. Macdonald (Aust.). 14min 35.95ec .. 5 C. Lucich (N.Z.), 14min 41 sec 6 BROAD JUMP N. Price (SA.), 24ft .. ..1 W. Hough (N.Z.), 23ft 7iin .. ..2 D. Dephoff (N.Z.), 23ft 3in .. ..3 K. Forsythe iN.Z.), 23ft 3in .. ..4 H. Whittle (Eng.), 22ft Bjin .. ..5 K. Olowu (Nig ). 22ft B|in .. ..5 880 YARDS H. Parlett (Eng.). Imin 53.1 sec .. 1 J. Hutchins (Can.), Imin 53.45ec .. 2 C. Parnell (Can.), Imin 53.45ec .. 3 N. Wilson (N.Z.). Imin 53.75ec .. 41' C. T. White (Eng.), Imin 53.95ec .. s'i C. Simpson (N.Z.), Imin 56sec .. 6j’ DISCUS THROW I < J. Reed (Aust.), 156 ft 7in (breaks Em- |. pire Games record) .. 11] M. Tuicakau (Fiji). 144 ft 4Jin .. 2 ; S. Sigfusson (Can.). 142 ft Bin .. 3* < K. Pardon (Aust.). 134 ft lOin 4‘, A Redmond (N.Z.). 132 ft BJin .. s’’ R. Trangmar (Rhod ). 128 ft 9in .. 6 WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP - Miss D. Tyler (Eng.). sft 3in (eauals her own Empire Games record) .. 1 • Miss B. Crowther (Eng.). sft 3in (also * equals record, but placed second 1 on a count-back) .. .. 2 i Miss N. Swinton (N.Z.). sft lin .. 3'l Miss D. Manley (Eng.), sft .. .. 4 (