G. Hack Brilliantly Beats Wellington Half-Miler

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31275, 23 January 1967, Page 17

G. Hack Brilliantly Beats Wellington Half-Miler

The 28-year-old Canterbury half-mile record-holder, G. F. Hack (Technical), showed that he was far from a spent force when he brilliantly beat the Wellington champion, P. Marks, during the twilight track and field meeting at Rugby Park on Saturday.

Hack’s time of Imin 53.25ec was outstanding and indicated that he would once again be a strong contender for the New Zealand 880 yards championship in March. It was the best performance over the distance in Canterbury for some time and it was Hack's best for seven years.

“Seven years ago, almost to the week, I did lmin 53.25ec,” a jubilant Hack said after the race. “This is the one I have been hoping for. I had decided that if I did not do it tonight it would not be worth carrying on,” he said.

One of the few New Zealand athletes to break lmin 50sec for the half-mile, Hack is well on the way to making a successful comeback after about two seasons away from serious competition. His Canterbury record for the distance, set more than seven years ago, is lmin 51.8 sec. Hack had every reason to be pleased with his performance. Had it not been for the strong north-west wind which sprang up shortly before the race his time could have been even faster. He ran a very well judged race M. Gleason (Old Boys) set the early pace with Hack and the University runner, R. Tweedie, was tucked in behind. Marks, the favourite, made a poor start and was last as the field went into the back straight. He was forced to sprint through to the front bunch and this undoubtedly took something out of him.

The field, closely bunched, passed half-way in 56.556 c. As they went down the back straight Marks made his move. He went past Tweedie and Hack to lead. Hack, calling on his reserves of stamina, went after him. Coming into the straight for the final run to the line Hack drew level with Marks and. slowly inched ahead to win by a few yards. Hack said he had not had to work too hard during the race, although he had struck a bad patch in the middle stages. What had pleased him most was that he had regained his sting at the finish. “This is the first time since I started running again that I have had it at the finish,” he said. Mile Record The wind robbed the New Zealand junior mile champion, R. Tayler (South Canterbury), of a chance Of lowering R. A. Maddaford’s national record for the distance of 4min 7.3 sec. However, the stocky Lovelock club runner ran most impressively in the junior invitation mile to win in the new Canterbury record time of 4min 11.5 sec. This clipped l.Ssec off A. G. Pyne’s record, set five years ago. The second man home, D. Armishaw (Technical), also showed good form. He rah at Tayler’s shoulder for three laps and finally finished in 4min 13.6 sec, only just outside the old Canterbury record. The national sprint champion, A. G. Steel (Old Boys), made his first competitive appearance over 100 yards at the meeting but finished out of a place. The race was won by the promising first year senior, A. Tweedie (Old Boys), who just edged out D. W. Mackenzie in lO.lsec.

Later in the meeting, Tweedie produced his best form to win the 220 yards in the excellent time of 21.8 sec, only a tenth of a second outside Mackenzie’s Canterbury record. Mackenzie was a close second and showed flashes of his old form for the first time this season.

Miss L. Hurrell showed good form in the women’s 100 yards, winning comfortably in 11.2 sec from Miss B. Poulsen.

Six Miles To Sim The last minute withdrawal of the Canterbury champion and record-holder, E. Gray (Greymouth), because of the Strongman mine distaster—robbed the invitation six miles of much of its glamour. In spite of this

the race was not without interest. I. Sim (Shirley) produced a scintilating sprint to snatch the lead from the favourite, R. Alcorn (Methodist). His winning time was 30min 59.65ec. Alcorne was second, 4sec slower. Third place went to the Toe H runner, T. Preece. The rest of the field was lapped by the first three runners. A notable feature of the meeting was the performance of the Technical club’s four by 110 yards women’s relay team, which beat the Canterbury record of 49.65ec by 9/10sec. Two runners in the team were under 16. The Technical B team also broke the record by onefifth of a second. Abbreviations used in the results are:—Ash., Ashburton; Ch., Christchurch; H.S., High School Old Boys.; L., Loyelock; M. Marist; Meth., Methodist; N. New Brighton; H., Hornby; O. Olympic; Ric., Riccarton; S., Shirley; St. A., St. Andrews; T., Technical: T.H., Toe H; U., University; V.U., Victoria University. MEN'S EVENTS Senior Six Miles.—l. Sim (S)., 30:59.6, 1; R. Alcorn (M.), 31:3.6, 2; T. Preece (T.H.), 31:15.8, 3 . 100 Yards.—A. Tweedie (H.S>.), 10.1, 1; D. W. Mackenzie (U.), 10.2, 2; L. D’Avey (L.) 3. 880 Yards.—G. Hack (T.), 1:53.2, 1; P. Marks (V.U.), 1:54.6, 2; T. McGillivray (T.H.), 1:55.0, 3. 220 Yards.—A. Tweedie (H.S.), 21.8, 1; D. W. McKenzie (U.), 22.4, 2; L. D’Avey (L.), 22.6, 3. Two Miles. —K. Hamilton (T.), 9:8.2, 2: B. Welch (Ash.), 9:5.2, 2; R. Allen (H.S.), 9:16.0, 3. Javelin.—D. Leary (Ric.), 185:5, 1; D. Weightman (Ash.), 184:6, 2; K. Nicolle (T.H.), 171:0, 3. 4 x 110 Yards Relay.—H.S. (Langham, Daniel, Jolly, Robinson), 45.7, 1; Toe H, 46.0, 2; Marist, 48.3, 3. 100 Yards Handicap.—Heat 1: P. Consedine (M.), 10.6, 1; J. Kirk (T.H), 10.7, 2; P. Baillie (T.H.) 3. Heat 2: K. Graske (T.H.), 10.6, 1; M. Mene (T.), 10.7, 2; P. Shone (M.), 3. Senior B 880 Yards.—V, Laurenson (U.), 2:1,2, 1; P. Sutherland (H.S.), 2:1.3, 2; J. Dzenis (T.), 2:1.8, 3. 220 Yards.—M. Mene (T.), 23.5, 1; P. Sutherland (H.S.), 23.7, 2; P. Consedine (M.). 24.0, 3. 100 Yards Handicap.—K. Graske (T.H.), 10.5, 1; M. Mene (T.), 10.6, 2; P. Consedine (M.), 10.6, 3.

10,000 Metres Walk. —J. Cleary (Ch.) 1, D. Spence (T.H.), 61:59.3, 2; D. Quigg (T.H.) 3. Junior A 440 Yards. —D. George (L.), 50.8, 1; S. Jolly (H.S.), 51.2, 2; D. Campbell (T.H.) 3. Mile.—R. Tayler (L.), 4:11.5 (record), 1; D. Armishaw (T.), 4:18.6, 2; J. Tomlinson (N. 8. 4:26.4, 3. Discus. —M. Perreau (T.), 136:8, 1; I. Dalzell (Ric.), 125:0, 2; D. Sheard (U.)» 120:0, 3. Junior B 440 Yards.—A. Gilmour (T.), 52.0, 1; G. Langham (H.S.), 52.2, 2; N. Daniel (H.S.), 54.3, 3. Mile.—J. Shirtcliffe (N. 8. 4:39.8, 1; C. King (O.), 4:43.5, 2: P. Williams (M.), 4:46.3, 3. 100 Yards.—G. Langham (H.S.), 10.4, 1; J. McDermott (M.), 10.7, 2; D. Campbell (T.H.), 10.7, 3. Under 17 Discus. —I. Dalzell (Ric.), 138:5, 1; H. Ruffell (St. A.), 125:8, 2; P. McGlinchy (T.), 119:6, 3. Mile.—J. Sheddon (O.), 4:33.4, 1; M. Radcliffe (N. 8. 4:33.4, 2; B. Wernham (O.), 4:33.4 3. Under 17 B 100 yards.—P. McCone (T.), 10.1, 1; G. Kilday (T.H.), 10.7, 2; H. Ruffell (St. A.), 10.9, 3. WOMEN'S EVENTS Senior 100 yards.—L. Hurrell (T.), 11.2, 1; B. Poulsen (T.), 11.5, 2; A. Horsnell (T.), 3. Long Jump.—B. Poulsen (T.), 17:81, 1; L. Sinclair (T.)» 16:111, 2; D. Shipley, 14:8, 3. ..Javelin. —S. Flynn (T.), 133:10, 1; L. Sinclair (T.), 112:8, 2; D. Charteris (T.), 112:2, 3. 4 x 110 yards Relay.—Technical A (Poulsen, Hurrell, Johns, Green), 48.7 (Canterbury record), 1; Technical B, 49.4, 2; Technical C, 52.8, 3. B Grade 100 Yards —M. Stephen (T.), 11.9, 1; L. Sinclair (T.), 12.0, 2; E. Hughes (O.), 3. Under 17 100 Yards. —L. Johns (T.), 11.6, 1; A. Demouth (T.), 11.8, 2; C. Green (T.), 3. Long Jump.—L. Johns (T.), 16:4}, 1; C. Green (T.), 15:5i, 2; A. Demouth (T.), 15:3}, 3. Under 15 100 Yards. —L. Anderson (T.), 12.0, 1; R. McFarland (H.), 2; M. Truscott (T.), 3. Long Jump.—L. Anderson (T.), 16:3, 1; R. McFarland (H.), 15:6, 2; I. Bradford (T.), 15:14, 3.