Ski-ing Men’s Slalom To Australia, Women’s To N.Z.

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28697, 22 September 1958, Page 7

Ski-ing Men’s Slalom To Australia, Women’s To N.Z.

(From Our Own Reporter)

CHATEAU TONGARIRO, Sept. 21. The Australian men’s ski team made a bold showing on the first day of the inter-Dominion contest at Mount Ruapehu today, and narrowly beat the New Zealand men in the slalom event. The New Zea-

land women’s team, however, averaging only 18 years of age, made up for the failures of the men, and had a most convincing win.

The slalom is the first of the two events counting towards the interDominion title, which is at present held by New Zealand. The other event, the downhill, will be held tomorrow. if the weather permits. Today’s slalom was held in bleak weather; slight rain made the snow slushy on the surface, and a layer of ice underneath made the running treacherous. The last competitors had to race across this surface of ice, swept clear of snow, and falls were very frequent. The first runs were made by the women, and all the New Zealanders were outstanding. Miss Patricia Prain, aged 19. made two finely-con-trolled runs, with perfect parallel turns. Her best time was 43.1 sec, less than two seconds slower than that of the Australian women’s captain, Miss Christine Davy. Miss Davy is rated among the top 20 women skiers in the world today, so the performance of the young South Island champion was excellent.

Miss Davy gained the fastest average time of the women, and her ski-ing was a delight to watch. Her skis took her cleanly through the slalom flags as if they were running on tracks. Fortunately for New Zealand. Miss Davy stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Australian women and apart from two solid runs from Miss Nan Dixon, none of the others were impressive. While Miss Prain was the most outstanding New Zealand woman. Misses Elizabeth Keane. Patricia Hall, Anne Latham, and Cecilia Womersley all did well. So fierce was the competition among these four that Miss Womersley’s times, although better than two of the Australians, did not count in the results.

The New Zealand women won the event by the large margin of 25 seconds. The Australians will need to take almost all the major placings in the downhill tomorrow if they are to win the women’s section.

The New Zealand men were not at their best, and by taking fastest time, W. Day. the Australian Olympic skier, gave encouragement to a team which was rather disheartened

after the defeat inflicted by the New Zealand women.

Day threw himself into the gates with such enthusiasm and speed that it seemed certain he would fall, but for the 45 gates of the course he had complete control, and crossed the line almost four seconds faster than the first New Zealander. W. Davy, D. Collman, and W. Dyson also rose to the occasion, and gave Australia a slight lead. There was one change in the New Zealand team as originally selected. D. Dorflinger (Egmont) was unable to compete, and was replaced by the Auckland doctor, M. R. Laird. Dorflinger was sorely missed, since he is one of New Zealand’s finest racers on icy snow. Laird made two very bad runs, falling on several occasions and losing valuable seconds. The most consistent runner of the New Zealand men was W. F. L. Hunt, who was second to Day. John Willis, the 20-year-old Canterbury member of the team, was the only other who showed style in his skiing. Although he is the New Zealand champion for 1958. R. S. A. Chaffey’s ski-ing yesterday did no justice to that title. He took a heavy fall on his first run, and this seemed to unsettle him.

The New Zealand men were 11.3 sec behind when the times of their six best runners were set against the Australians. If they can make a better showing in the downhill tomorrow’, the trophy will be safely held in this country. In the following results, the times of the six fastest men and four fastest women, which count towards the inter-Dominion trophy, are given.

New Zealand: A. Latham. 43.8 sec 52.25ec; P. Hall. 46.55ec, 68.5sec* P Prain, 43.1 sec. 47.25ec; E. Keane 49sec, 47.55ec.

Australia: N. Dixon. 51.7 sec, 53.4 sec; D. Hyde, 51.2 sec. 57.55ec; J Tinsley, 76.1 sec, 53sec; C. Daw, 413 sec. 43.45ec.

Totals: New Zealand. 100 per cent.; Australia. 93 per cent.

New Zealand: J. Willis, 57.75ec 57.75ec; R. S. A. Chaff ey, 66.1 sec, 54 sec; W. F. L. Hunt, 52.35ec, 53.75ec - G. Collier, 70.4 sec, 100.5 sec; o’ Clearkin, 55.55ec, 80.7 sec; S. Yates 68.5 sec, 77.25ec.

Australia: W. Davy, 60.5 sec, 75sec; W. Day 4 49sec, 50.9 sec; D. Collman. 53.8 sec, 79.1 sec; W. Dyson, 56.75ec. 63sec; G. Paynter, 71.2 sec, 74sec; J. Robertson, 62sec, 87.8 sec.

Totals: Australia, 100' per cent.; New Zealand, 96.58 per cent.