CYCLING Litolff, Fitzgerald And Stockwell Win Titles

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31595, 5 February 1968, Page 17

CYCLING Litolff, Fitzgerald And Stockwell Win Titles

The strong, sharp sprinting of M. W. Litolff, which brought him two gold medals; C. B. J. Fitzgerald’s first centre title in eight years; and B. G. Stockwell’s junior five-mile win were highlights of the Canterbury hard track cycling championships at Denton Park yesterday.

The day ended on a contentious note, however, when Litolff’s 10-mile win, was the subject of an appeal. J. H. Cleaty, who led at the furlong mark after G. A. Duff had taken the field through the bell, claimed that Litolff came through the guttering to pass him on the inside. Cleary, moving up the track, unsettled R. D. Mann, who was coming round him and but for this, probably would have won his fourth championship over the distance. Fitzgerald, who had been on Litolff’s wheel, said he did not follow because there was no room. The appeal was declined.

The appeal committee was evidently satisfied that Rule 127 (4) was not contravened: “Riders overtaking shall pass on the outside unless the riders being overtaken are manifestly riding wide outside the racing line.”

ATTACKING MCI There was a lot of attacking In the 10-mi|e. At half-way, ", W. Thorpe, Cleary, Litolff, W. G. Kendall and Duff were away. They were gathered in, and a mile later, Thorpe was by himself with A. J. Hood and Litolff chasing. Then, two miles and a half from the finish, Hood, Litolff, Cleary and Fitzgerald took off and Mann had to chase to get on. The pace slowed before the sprint finish. Fitzgerald’s victory in the kilometre time trial, the first event yesterday, was one of the most popular. A consistent performer, and the winner of four New Zealand place medals, Fitzgerald had not previously won a title of any sort, although he has five silver medals. He finished especially strongly to beat Cleary by O.Ssee after holding his time most of the distance.

Cleary caused a big shock in the semi-finals of the sprints when he jumped Litolff with more than 300 yards to travel, gained at least six lengths and won by this margin. In the succeeding races, however, Litolff’s strength in the straight took him to two. narrow wins. Equal second-fastest qualifier in the pursuit, Cleary was the outstanding all-rounder. GRIAT FBRFORMAHCI

The rider who had to be most admired, however, was Stockwell. Still not completely recovered from a crash and illness, Stockwell was equal fourth in the time, recorded the same time as Cleary In the individual fiursuit, and crushed the field or a great breakaway win in the junior five miles. Attacking throughout in the first half of the race—although he recently had two pursuits— Stockwell broke away with just

over two miles to travel, poured on the pace and never looked like being caught. Eventually, B. A. MacDonald and D. M. Dixon took off together and in spite of a late challenge by B. B. Chisholm and P. D. Brydon, held on for the minor placings. Brydon caused a minor, surprise when he beat A. A. Paviell twice in three races to win the final of the junior sprints. Brydon dashed away early to win the first; Paviell came round him to win by a very very narrow margin the second: and Brydon, leading out again in the third meeting, held on narrowly this time for his decisive win.

The boys' championships were dual triumphs for B. E. Knight, who out-thought G. M. Howes in both the quarter-mtle and one mile. In both events, Howes tried to ride off Knight and bridged too many gaps in the mile. Knight came round him easily in both races. The semi-finals of the individual pursuit, and the finals of this and the teams’ pursuit will be held at English Park on Wednesday evening. Papanui and Avon will meet in the teams’ pursuit and the seml-flnal draw of the individual event Is Cleary v. Stockwell, and A. J. Hood, v. W. G. Kendall.

Cleary and Mann will also ride-off for third In the senior sprints. Saturday’s riding was abandoned because of rain. Abbreviation* used in th* results are:— Papanui (P.), Avon (A.), Timaru (I.), Hornby (H.), Bang!ora (B.). and Mairehau (M-). OFBM IMO-Metr* Timo Trial New Zealand record, (open) H. J. Clarke, Australia, 1:11.8, (resident) W. D. H. Dalton, 1:113, (overseas) Dalton, 1:10.8, (junior) J. A. Dean, 1:12.6, Canterbury record, G. E. Hill, 1:13,4, (junior) M. W. Litolff, 1:13,9.

Placings (juniors indicated with asterisk). —C. B. J. Fitzgerald (P.), 1:17.3, 1: J. H. Cleary (P ), 1:18.1, 2; M. W. Litolff (A.), 1:18.6, 3; *B. G. Stockwell (P.), A. J. Hood (T.), 1:19.4 (equal), 4.

MMO-Metre Individual Pursuit New Zealand record, W. D. H. Dalton, 5:4.2, (junior), D. A. Comparini, 5:12.0: Canterbury record, J. H. Cleary, 5:10.5, (junior) S. J. Stephen, 5:16.8.

Quarter-finals (qualifying times in parenthesis, juniors marked with asterisk).—Hood (5:27.3), 5:43, beat *D. N. McEvoy (H., 5:53.7, 5:54; Cleary (5:33.4), 8:35.4, beat W. W. Thorp (P., 5:49.5), 6:41; Stockwell (5:33.4), 5:38.4, beat P. I. FriSken (A., 5:49), 8:43.9; W. G. Kendall (P.. 5:37.2), 5:43.8, beat B. J. Hogan (P., 5:45). 5:45.8. 4000-Metre Teams' Pursuit New Zealand record, Olympic squad, 4:49; Canterbury record, Avon A, 4:53.2. Semi-finals. Papanui A (Cleary, R. D. Mann, Kendall, Stockwell), 5:20.5, beat Timaru (Hood, G. A. Duff, B. A. Mac-

Donald, J. I. Ryder), no time; Avon (Litolff, Frlsken, B. J. Timms, D Jones), 5:25.5, beat Papanui B (Fitzgerald, Thorpe, Kendall, p. D. Brydon), 5:30.8. 2000-Hetr* Tandem Final.—Avon (Litolff and Timms) beat Timaru (B. Ensor and B. A. MacDonald). 12.8. SENIOR SOO-Metr* Sprint New Zealand record (open), P. Bartels, Australia, 11.5; (resident), D. Hillary, V. L. Newlove, 11.8; Canterbury record, M. W. Litolff, 12.9.

Heats.—Mann (P.) beat Timms and J. I. Byder (T.), 14.0. Litolff beat Fitzgerald and G. B. Lienert (T.), 14.0. Cleary beat Frlsken and Duff, 14.0. Basolection: Duff beat Byder and Lienert, 14.0. Quarter-finals. Mann beat Frlsken, 14.2. Litolff beat Ryder. 13.4. Fltigerald beat Duff, 13.*. Cleary beat Timms, 15.0.

Semi-finals. Cleary beat Litolff, 12.*. Litolff beat Cleary, 13.4, 14.2. Fitzgerald beat Mann, 14.4, 14.4.

Final.—Litolff beat Fitzgerald, 13.8, 13.9. Ten Mlle*

New Zealand record, J. A. Bigwood, 30:11.2; Canterbury record, T. Cameron, 21:39.8. Final.—Litolff 1, Cleary 2, Mann 3. Time, 23:45.0.

Junior 800-Metre Sprint New Zealand record, V. L. Newlove, 12.0: Canterbury record, A. Davie, B. R. Hazeldine, 12.4. Heats.—D. M. Dixon (P.) beat D. N. McEvoy (H.), 14.5. R. A. MacDonald (T.) beat B. R. Chisholm (P.), 14.1. A. A. Paviell (A.) beat G. B. Ireland (P.) and W. Meggltt (T.). 14.0. Reselectlon: McEvoy beat Ireland, Chisholm and Meggltt,

Quarter-finals. MacDonald beat Ireland, 14.3. Pavioll beat Chisholm, 14.6. P. D. Brydon (P.) beat Dixon, 14.1. McEvoy beat L. A. Fairbrother (T.), 15.0. Semi-finals. Paviell beat McEvoy, 14.6, 14.1. Brydon beat MacDonald, 13.6. 13.6.

Final—Brydon beat Paviell, 13.3, 14.3. Paviell beat Brydon, Final For Third.—MacDonald beat McEvoy, 14.3, 13.3. Five Milos New Zealand, Canterbury record, J. H. Cleary, 10:39.0. Final.—Stockwell 1, MacDonald 2. Dixon 3. Timo. 11:52.8.

BOVS Quartar-Mllo New Zealand record, J. A. Dean, 30.0; Canterbury record, P. D. Brydon, 31.8. Semi-finals.—Heat 1: -G. M. Howes (T.) 1, K. D. Wapp (H.) 2. G. A. Smith (M.) 3. Time. 33.5. Heat 2: D. Hamilton (T.) 1. B. E. Knight (H.) 2, P. Neale (B.) 3. Time, 33.0. Final.—Knight 1, Howes 2. Hamilton 3. Time, 32.9. Ono Mlle New Zealand record, N. J. Crafar, 2:9.3; Canterbury record, B. A. MacDonald, 3:15.5. Heats.—Heat 1: Howes 1, Wapp 2, G. Hannam (T.) 3, P. L. Paviell (M.) 4, Hamilton 5. Heat 3: P. Neale (R.) 1, G. Goodall (T.) 2, Knight 3. A. V. Barford (M.) 4, Smith 5. Final.—Knight 1, Howes 2, Wapp 3. Time, 2:21.2.