Lay Unable To Run In Chch. Contest

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30939, 21 December 1965, Page 23

Lay Unable To Run In Chch. Contest

The Australian sprint champion, R. Lay, who was to race against New Zealand’s leading speed men over the 100 yards and furlong at Rugby Park on January 4, is now unable to make his scheduled South Island tour.

However, the international atmosphere of the Christchurch meeting—the first major event on the Canterbury athletic calendar—will not be lost.

A large contingent of athletes from the Melbourne Power House Club will definitely compete and there is the promise of some titanic struggles in the best traditions of international athletics when they are matched against Canterbury’s best performers. Lay is still suffering from muscle tightness following a recent thigh injury and his doctor has advised him not to race for three or four weeks. This information was contained in a letter received from Lav by the secretarv of the Canterbury Athletic Centre (Mr I. D. Teague) yesterday.

In the letter Lay says he does not want to jeopardise his chances in the forthcoming New South Wales championships by placing too much strain on his weak leg too early. He is not available for his other two New Zealand meetings. Nelson on December 28 and Temuka on January 3, either. His eleventh-hour withdrawal, which was not entirely unexpected, should not affect the Christchurch evening meeting greatlv. The centre is contacting the sponsor. Butler Bros., Ltd., to discover whether it should seek another prominent athlete from Australia to replace Lay. The matter will be discussed at the centre’s quarterly meeting this evening. MAGUIRE CERTAIN

But regardless of the outcome, the success of the meeting is assured. The Otago sprinter, C. J. Maguire, who equalled the New Zealand record for the 100 yards of 96sec for the third time a little more than a week ago. is a certain starter. His clash with the New Zealand sprint champion, A. G. Steel, and former champion, D. W. Mac-

kenzie, will renew a long standing rivalry. At the triangular meeting between Canterbury, Otago, and Southland, Maguire just edged out Mackenzie in the 100 yards, while Steel was a close third. Both Mackenzie and Steel recorded 9.7 sec, a tenth of a second slower than Maguire, but tremendous performances for so early in the season. MELBOURNE MEN It was widely agreed that Maguire jumped the gun on this occasion and so his next meeting with the two Canter-

bury sprinters will be extremely interesting. There will also be the “unknown quantity” in the Melbourne Power House athletes to contend with. D. Minards, who has been showing splendid form this season, and L. Jones, a former Canterbury sprint champion, are others who will add spice to the feature sprints. A number of nationally prominent athletes will be competing in other events. Among them will be the Olympic 800 metres bronze medallist, Mrs M. A. Stephens (nee Chamberlain), the New Zealand women’s 220 yards champion, Miss L. Hurrell, the New Zealand women’s javelin champion, Miss S. A. Flynn, and many prominent provincial champions.