Interesting Cycling At Dunsandel Sports Meeting

Press, Volume C, Issue 29402, 3 January 1961, Page 3

Interesting Cycling At Dunsandel Sports Meeting

The Dunsandel Sports Association's annual meeting was held at the Dunsandel domain on Saturday. The fields for the various events were not as big as usual, but the standard of racing was high. The major part of the programme was taken up with cash cycling events. In these the competition was very keen.

In spite of recent rain the track was covered quite deeply with dust. This thick dust made the track’rather heavy. Another factor which contributed to the slower times was the strong wind down the back straight. R. Harrison won three of the five cycling events—he competed in, including the. half-mile North Canterbury championship. Although he qualified for the final of the half-mile handicap he was unplaced in the final.- From the start the front men. B. Yaxley, W. Woodgate and N. Woodgate set a solid pace. R. Lucas, off 40 yards, soon left his co-marker, G. Milner, and rode well to link up with the leaders. The front men did not slacken their pace and this gave the back markers little chance. In the final Sprint Lficas gained the lead and held on to beat N. Woodgate, with W Woodgate in third place. Harrison, in the final of the one-mile handicap, moved away very smartly and was soon up with the leaders. Going down the back straight for the last time he appeared to be in a very bad position. Coming round the bottom banking he made a forward move wide out, and from this position went round the field and gained the decision from G. Wallace and N. Woodgate. The back men in the two-mile wheelrace gave the race to the front markers off 380 yards. These limit riders, J. Shimmin, W. Woodgate and B. Yaxley rode well and maintained a steady pace to keep away from the middle markers. , The final of the half-mile North Canterbury championship was interesting. Coming into the straight for the .finish Wal-

lace was leading Williams, who was just outside him. Harrison was badly placed behind Wallace. As the leaders neared the finish Williams moved up on Wallace -a little wide and Wallace also moved out a little. Harrison saw his chance and with a brilliant last minute sprint slipped through on the inside to gain the decision by inches.

In the last lap of the one mile and a-half handicap Harrison showed excellent judgment. Going down the back straight for the last time he drew wide out from the field and started to make a forward move. Entering the straight he was still fairly well back, but rode strongly to get up and win in the last few yards. R. Lucas, who was finishing fast, held on for second place just ahead of N. Woodgate. R. Watson, a local runner, ran well to gain two firsts and a second in three races. In the 100 yards he was just beaten by G. Reid. In the 220 yards North Canterbury championship Watson turned the tables on Reid and won comfortably. In the 440 yards event, within 10 yards of, the tape, he was trailing Reid, although gaining with every stride. Over the last few yards Reid made a greater effort and stumbled a little. This gave Watson his chance, and he breasted the tape inches ahead of Reid. The Dunsandel women’s team could consider themselves very lucky to win the 4 by 110 yards relay from Belfast. The Belfast number one runner went off at great speed and gained between 15 and 20 yards on the Dunsandel runner. At the first changeover, disaster struck Belfast, for the number two runner dropped the btaon. Dunsandel then went away to an unbeatable lead. The last Belfast runner after giving Sway nearly 50 yards ran strongly to be only 20 yards behind at the finish. But for the dropping of the baton Belfast would undoubtedly have had a very easy win. Results were:— CASH CYCLING Half-mile Handicap.—First heat: B. Yaxlcv (lOOydsi 1, N. Woodgate (80 yds) 2, R Harrison (30yds) 3, R. Lucas (40yds) 4. Time, Imin 4sec. Second heat: W. Woodgate (100yds) 1, G. Milner (40yds> 2, E. McCann (75vds) 3 Time. Imin lOsec. Final: Lucas 1 N. Woodgate 2. W. Woodgate 3. Time, Imin 2sec. One Mile Handicap.—First heat: B. Spicer (150yds) 1, B. Yaxley (200 yds) 2. J. Williams (80yds) 3, R. Harrison (60yds) 4. Time, 2min 10 sec. Second heat: P. Cook (120yds) 1. D. Skilling (170yds) 2, G. WaUace < 120yds) 3 N. Woodgate (170yds) 4. Time, 2min Bsec. Final: Harrison 1. Wallace 2, N. Woodgate 3. Time, 2min 14sec. Two-mile Wheel Race.-—W. Woodgate 1, B. Yaxley 2. J. Shimmin 3. Time, 4:22. Half-mile North Canterbury Championship.—First heat: R. Harrison 1, B. Yaxlev 2, M. Wildermoth 3, P. Cook 4. Time, yis. Second heat: E. McCann 1. J. williams 2, R. Lucas 3, G. Wallace 4.* Time. 1:17. Final: Harrison 1, Wallace 2. Williams 3. Time. 1:14. One-half Mile Handicap.—R. Harrison (75yds) 1, R. Lucas (100yds) 2, N. Woodgate (220yds) 3. Time. 3:17. Half-mile Junior North Canterbury Championship.—B. Spicer 1. W. Woodgate 2, B. Yaxley 3. Time, 1:15. Half-mile Consolation Race.—E. McCann (30yds) 1. P. Cook (15yds) 2. M. Wildermoth (scr) 3. Time. 1:18. Novice Events Half-mile —P. Smith 1. K. Wilson 2, K. Campion 3. Time. 1:10. Half-mile.—P. Smith 1. D. McClelland 2, K. Wilson 3. Time, 1:10. Half-mile Consolation.—A. Shaw 1, D. Cook 2. M. Wilson 3. Time. 1:14. Women’s Half-mile.—J. Shaw 1. P. Robinson 2, M. Robinson 3. Time. 1:23. ATHLETICS 100 Yards.—G. Reid 1, R. Watson 2, I. Munro 3. Time, 10.5. 220 Yards North Canterbury Championship.—R. Watson 1, G. Reid 2. B. Reid 3. Time. 25.5. 440 Yards. —R. Watson. 1. G. Reid 2, D. Johnston 3. Time. 57.0. Womens Relay. 4 x 110 yards.— Dunsandel 1, Belfast 2. Time. 58.5. DANCING Highland Fling.—Novice open: June Hayes 1, Christine Walker 2, Palila Jamieson 3. Under 8: Judith Burrows 1. Jan Townley 2, Nola Loach 3. Under 10: Sandra Stewart 1. Judith Burrows 2, Vivienne Lucas 3. Seann Triubhais.—Ten and under 12: Rosemary Armstrong 1, Wayne Coughlan 2, Robyn Pollock 3. Twelve and under 14: Janice Rae 1, Ann Wilson 2, Patricia Gleeson 3. Open: Brian North 1. Suzanne Dobbs 2. Rhonda Webb 3.

Gillie Callum.—Twelve and under 14: Ann Wilson 1, Janice Rae 2, Patricia Gleeson 3. Under 10: Vlvianne Lucas 1. Christine Paterson 2, Susanne Lucas 3. Open: Suzanne Dobbs 1, Rhonda Webb 2. Brian North 3. Irish Jig.—Under 8: Judith Burrows 1, Jan Towley 2. Nola Loach 3. Ten and under 12: Robyn Pollock 1. Rosemary Armstrong 2. Bruce Moore 3. Under 10: Sandra Stewart 1, Robyn Burrows 2. Vivianne Lucas 3.. Open: Suzanne Dobs 1. Rhonda Webb 2, Brian North 3. Sailor’s Hornpipe.—Ten and under 12: Rosemary Armstrong 1. Cheryl Leonard 2. Robyn Pollock 3. Twelve and under 14: Janice Rae 1, Ann Wilson 2, Patricia Gleeson 3.