ATHLETICS Miss Sloper Close To World Record

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29099, 11 January 1960, Page 10

ATHLETICS Miss Sloper Close To World Record

Miss Valerie Sloper came within fractions of an inch of the world’s official shot put record for women at the Ashburton Athletic Club’s post entry graded scratch meeting at the Ashburton Domain on Saturday. On her fourth put Miss Sloper pushed the 81b 13oz weight out to 54ft Ilin, to be only seven-eighths of an inch short of the official record held by the Russian, G. Zybina.

Miss Sloper was in fine form and gave one of her most consistent displays of top-class performances, her worst put being 51ft Bjin. The first two of her six attempts were both 53ft 2in on the third she added another 6jin, and sent the fourth soaring out for the record breaking distance, adding 10? in to her national record. On the fifth attempt she slumped by comparison to 51ft BJin, and on the final one she was on the improve again with 52ft 3in. Unfortunately for Miss Sloper the conditions of competition will not entitle her to a record, although they in no way detract from the merit of her achievement. To assist Miss Sloper the Ashburton club had specially installed a concrete throwing circle but it had set the surface of this flush with the surrounding ground level instead of three-quarters of an inch down and in addition the diameter of the circle was a half inch over the regulation maximum of 7ft. World Ranking

With further improvement by Miss Sloper likely in the two months leading up to the titles she must be regarded as a certainty for the Olympic Games in Rome later in the year. Her 53ft 9in in the Pat Boot memorial meeting just before Christmas is believed to place her second tn the world with the shot for 1959 behind the Russian, T. Press, who achieved 55ft 6in in a match against America and also had a 56ft 7in in a Russian athletic training camp, although it is not known if this latter performance was done in competition. In third place came a German girl with 53ft 3in.

The highlight of the track events was the half-mile with the fourth meeting this season between Canterbury's G. Hack and M. Earwaker (Southland) resulting in Hack beating his own provincial record of Imin 53.35ec by O.lsec. The race followed the pattern of the previous two matches between these two during the Christmas-New Year holiday period, with the former national champion. Earwaker, racing out in front from the start in an effort to take the sting out of Hack’s final sprint. These two. with J. D. Macdonald and Wade, both of University, soon outdistanced the rest, of the field with Earwaker leading through the quarter-mile in 55sec. With a little more than 220 yards to go Wade set the leaders off into their final sprint and with 120 yards to go Hack drove past Earwaker to go on for a 15-yard win. Road Race Gruelling Although the meeting was favoured by perfect conditions on the day. performances suffered a little by the track having lost its fire after the rain during the week. In the 12 mile road race from Chertsey. however, it was the trying heat that took the sting out of the runners. But for the cooling effect of the head wind they would have found conditions almost impossible with the sun beating down and the sealed road throwing the heat up. The race was won by G. Wilson (Olympic) after an interesting tussle with the Olympic representative. A. W. Richards (Technical). Wilson's time was 66min 18sec. Wilson took the lead from Richards after the first mile and went away for a 150 yard lead in the middle stages, with the rest of the seven competitors well strung out. Richards caught Wilson again at nine miles and after a three-quarter mile duel Wilson gradually drew away again to win by 43sec. The sealed handicap was won by R. Earnshaw (Shirley), who took third place. Having her first run since a recurrence of a leg injury before Christmas. Miss F. Mcßeath, the holder of the women’s national half mile record, was content just to have an easy run tor a try out. Winning in 2min 46.75ec, Miss Mcßeath was accompanied for most of the distance by Miss D. Lagrosse Surprise The senior 220 yards races provided a surprise with J. Neither (Technical), the winner of one of the B grade sections, returning a faster time than L. Jones (Technical) in the senior A race. For the first time this season Jones looked as if he was really trying for time but was officialy credited with 22.55ec. O.lsec slower than Neither. Jones had the better of the 100 yards, though, winning the senior A in lOsec from Neither. Several athletes from other provinces competed and of these Miss N. Bond (Otago) won both the 75 and 100 yards races for women and was second in a 220 yards against under 17 men competitors. Another Otago runner, A. Potts, had no difficulty in winning the mile in 4min 18.8 sec. Otago representation was not as strong as in former years for the four by 440 yards relay, which resulted in a comfortable win for Canterbury in this unofficial inter-provincial contest. Abbreviations used in the results are:— (T) Technical, (A) Ashburton,

(HS) High Schools, (U) University. (SC) South Canterbury, (S) Shirley. (Wai) (Waimate), NB (new Brighton. (M) Marist, (TH) Toe H. (St. B) St. Bede’s. Results: — MEN Senior A Relay (4 x 110 yards).—Technical 1, Ashburton 2. High School 3. Time. 44sec. Road Race (12 miles).—G. Wilson (O.). 66min 18sec, 1; A. W. Richards (T.), 67min Isec, 2; R. Earnshaw (S.). 71min 48sec, 3. Sealed handicap: Earnshaw 7min 43sec (handicap), 64 min ssec, 1; Wilson, Imin 53sec, 64 min 26sec, 2; Richards, scr, 67min 1 sec, 3. Mile Walk.—W. Chadderton (H.S.) 1, R. Chadderton (H.S.) 2, D. Chadderton (Southland) 3. Time, 7min 35.65ec. Javelin.—R, G. Ball (U.) 1, A. Grayburn (A.) 2, B. Hutchens (S.C.) 3. Distance, 186 ft lOjin. Long Jump.—G. Peters (Waikato) 1, C. W. Keeble (U.) 2, A. Olliver (A.) 3. Distance, 2Cft 3in. 220 Yards.—L. Jones (T.) 1, C. Courtney (T.) 2, C. Maguire (Southland) 3. Time, 22.55ec,. Relay (4 x 440 yards).—Canterbury (G. Hack, P. G. Morrissey, P. Cates, G. Wade) 1; Otago (B. Fox. A. Maguire, C. Maguire, S. McCrostie) 2. Time, 3min 31.6 sec. Shot.—R. G. Ball (U.) 1, B. R. Mann (M.) 2. A. Harbott (M.) 3. Distance, 44ft Sin. High Jump—G. Peters (Waikato) 1, C Keeble (U.) 2. M. Smith (A.) 3. Height, 6ft. Mile.—A. Potts (Otago) 1, B. Curie (S.) 2, R. J. Stevens (U.) 3. Time, 4min 18.8 sec. Discus.—R. Ball (U.) 1, A. Harbott (M.) 2. J. Cain (A.) 3 Distance, 150 ft lOJin. 120 Yards Hurdles.—M. Smith (A.) 1, D. Leary (E.C.) 2. Time, 16.4 sec. 880 Yards.—G. Hack (T.) 1, M. Earwaker (Southland) 2. J. D. Macdonald (U.) 3. Time, Imin 53.25ec. 220 Yards Hurdles.—P Cates (A.) 1, R. Ball (U.) 2. Time, 25.35ec. 440 Yards.—L. J. Morrissey (H.S.) 1. P. Cates (A.) 2, C. Courtney (T.) 3. Time. 50sec. 100 Yards.—Section I: L. Jones (T.) 1. J. Neither (T.) 2, C. McGuire (Otago) 3. Time, lOsec. Section II: P. Davies (H.S ) 1, A. Olliver (A.) 2. D. Cameron (A) 3 Time, 10.6 sec. Senior B 440 Yards.—D. Sykes (H.S.) 1, D. Cameron (A.) 2. D. Ede (A.) 3. Time. 53.Isec. 880 Yards.—B. Smith (T.) 1, B Curie (S.) 2. T. Dean (Wai.) 3. Time. 2min l.Ssec. 220 Yards.—Section I: M. Earwaker (Southland) 1, A. Olliver (A.) 2 J Davies (H.S.) 3. Time, 23sec, Section II: J. Neither (T.) 1, D. Minards (T.) 2. P. Davies (H.S.) 3. Time 22.45ec. Junior Relay ( 4 x 110 yards) New Brighton 1, Ashburton 2. Time. 48 9 sec. Javelin.—D. Whitemare 1. J. Unwin 2. Distance, 141 ft 2in. Long Jump.—J. White (M.) 1, J Unwin 2. Distance, 18ft Bin. 220 Yards.—D. Mackenzie (U.) 1 P. Bulfin (T.H.) 2. D. Fox (Otago) 3’ Time, 22.65ec. Cook L R - Lucock (H.S.) 2, B. Molloy (A.) 3. Time. 4mm 41.3 sec. Discus.—J. White (M.) 1, A McAusland (N. 8. 2. Distance, 131 ft o',?in. Shot Put.—J. White (M.) 1 A McAusland (N. 8. 2. Distance. 42fl lOVzin. 440 Yards.—B. Fox (Otago) 1, B Patterson (A.) 2, S. Boyd (A.) 3 Time. 52.65ec. High Jump.—J. Chadderton (T.) 1, E. Hobbs (SB.) 2, L. Unwin 3. Height, sft Ilin. 100 Yards.—F. Haworth (H.S.) 1 P. Coops (N. 8. 2. J. Dench (H.S.) 3. Time, llsec. 100 Yards.—D. Mackenzie (U.) 1, T. Pateman (T.) 2, B. Fox (Otago) 3. Time. 10.3 sec. 880 Yards.—D. Clements (U.) 1. P. Moro (M.) 2, D. Douglas (U.) 3. Time. 2min 2 6sec. Under 1? 220 Yards.—l. Behrns (A.) 1, B. Flatman (N. 8. 2, F. Bruce (A.) 3. Time, 24.75ec. Mile.—B Milne (St.B) 1, A. Allabaster (N. 8. 2, A. McAusland (N. 8. 3. Time, smin 12.4 sec. 880 Yards.—P. Taylor (T.) 1, P. Allabaster (N. 8. 2. L. Fitchett (N. 8. 3. Time, 2min 7.lsec. 440 Yards.—F. Haworth (H.S.) 1, P. Taylor (T*) 2, M. Pender (M.) 3. Time, 53.8 sec. Long Jump.—J. Dench 1. Distance. 18ft l>/ 2 in. Under 15 Long Jump.—K. Simpson (T.H.) 1. Distance, 16ft 8 l / 2 ln. 100 Yards.—K. Simpson 1, K. D Shipley 2. L. R. Prebble 3. Time. U. 220 Yards.—L. R. Prebble (A.) 1, L. D. Shipley (H.S.) 2, L. Shearer (A.) 3. Time. 26.45ec. WOMEN Senior 80 Metres Hurdles.—A. MacDonald (U.) I, L. Duncan (T.) 2. Time. 12.5 sec. Javelin.—A. Howman (T.) L J Ryan 2. Distance, 117 ft lOin. Shot—V. Sloper (T.) 1, L. Duncan (T.) 2. J. Ryan 3. Distance. 54ft Ilin. High Jump.—S. Jameson (Til.) 1. Height, 4ft sJin. 75 Yards.—L. Bond (Otago) 1, L. Duncan (T.) 2, A. MacDonald (U.) 3. Tiflie, B.Bsec.