Grass surface will suit Canterbury athletes

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 31923, 26 February 1969, Page 15

Grass surface will suit Canterbury athletes

'THE chance of winning a place in the New Zealand team to contest the Pacific Conference Games in Tokyo next September has provided the Dominion's leading athletes with probably the greatest incentive they have ever had. A team of up to 35 will be chosen and for the first time finance will not be considered. Although there might be a special selection meeting in Wellington on March 22 for border-line cases, the national selectors will obviously be most influenced by performances at the New Zealand track and field championships to be held at Hamilton on Friday and Saturday. Because of this, competition in all events should be extremely keen and the absence of some top distance runners, with the national cross-country team in Scotland, seems unlikely to detract from the standard of the meeting. Last season Canterbury’s team performed only moderately well at the New Zealand Championship meeting, held on Dunedin’s all weather track. The senior men brought back one individual title, the javelin, which R. G. Ball won for the sixth time. However, the women restored the balance with five titles. One of the reasons for the failure of the men to win more titles was their lack of experience on an all weather surface. At Hamilton the track is grass and this should prove to be to Canterbury’s advantage. With suitable conditions, the province should double its total of gold medals this time

The biggest medal winner promises to be the New Zealand decathlon champion, Miss B. Poulsen. She will defend her shot title and will be a leading contender in the long jump, the 100yds and the 100 metres hurdles. As usual, some of her strongest competition will come from other Canterbury women. In the shot she will have to contend with Miss D Charteris, who appears to have regained much of the form which won her selection for the 1966 Commonwealth Games. Miss Charteris has had the edge on Miss Poulsen at provincial level this season and must be regarded as the favourite to win this title as well as the discus championship which she already holds. However, Miss Poulsen seems assured of at least the silver medal and on performances so far this season will have a grand chance of winning the long jump. She has regularly, if narrowly, beaten the reigning champion, Miss V. Gilmour, also of Canterbury. Miss Gilmour won the title with a leap of of more than 20ft last year and may be saving her big effort up for its defence. The two outstanding Canterbury women will have to contend with strong opposition from Auckland’s Miss M. Snow, a former titleholder, who has been regularly jumping more than 19ft this summer.

In the women’s javelin, Miss S. A. Flynn should be able to get near her best of 155 ft and win her fourth national title as well as a place in the team for Tokyo. Her main opposition will come from Miss S. Goodsir (Otago), who has been throwing more than 140 ft in recent competition. In the men’s section, Canterbury’s chances appear rather brighter than usual. R. G. Ball will be attempting to win his seventh jave-

lin title and although he finished only third in the provinical championship should do much better at Hamilton. His strongest competition will come from Auckland’s R. Paterson and his two Canterbury teammates, M. Stewart and D. C. Leary. All are capable of more than 200 ft. Stewart, with a throw of 223 ft 6in at Waimate, has the best distance to his credit but Paterson has recorded a throw of only 6in less.

Stewart may, unfortunately, be below his best because of a recurring hip injury.

The great progress made by K. Hamilton this season suggests that he has a chance of winning the three miles. R. A. Maddaford (Auckland) winner of the title last season, is away with the cross-country team and J. Power (Canterbury), who was runner-up, has withdrawn from competition. Hamilton’s times are certainly right up to championship standard. There will also be a new mile champion. D. Sirl (Auckland), the title-holder, is another top distance runner away with the crosscountry team. Canterbury's sole representative will be the young Temuka athlete, J. Sullivan, but he is not among the main contenders. The six miles field will be without a defending champion too and although Canterbury’s R. Robinson was beaten in his provincial championship he must stand a chance of a major placing. The event is expected to be won by M. Ryan (Waikato) but he has been resting for part of the season and may not be at his peak. The winner of the 100yds last season, C. Daley, injured himself earlier in the season and will not compete. He will be unable to defend his 220 yards hurdles title either and this gives the Canterbury hurdler, K. Simpson, a wonderful chance of taking the title. Simpson was runner-up last season and if he can get the measure of Auckland’s R. Pownall should win. Pownall specialises in the shorter 120yds hurdles

event and Simpson will probably be too strong for him over the furlong. Canterbury might also win the quarter-mile hurdles. D. Stevensen now lives in Whangarei but he spent the first part of the season in Canterbury and this entitles him to a place in the provincial team. After a rest from competition last season, Stevenson is hurdling better than ever and should improve on the third placings he has gained on two previous occasions. His main rival will be G. Reddell (Otago), the defending champion. The outcome of the quarter-mile sprint is uncertain. D. W. Mackenzie (Canterbury) has the fastest time of the season to his credit, 48.4 sec, and on a grass track might regain the title he lost to G. Atcheson (Auckland) last season. His main rivals promise to be his team-mate, A. W. Tweedie, and Atcheson and R. Clarke (Auckland). All have run the distance in less than 49sec. The senior 220yds sprint should also be of considerable interest. D’Arcy will be the favourite but Tweedie, who has a time of 21.5 sec behind him, will definitely be a leading contender. Atcheson, too, will be in the field. He won the title last season in 22sec. On the grass track Tweedie should have a slight advantage with his driving style. The others, used to competing on smooth all-weather surfces, may find themselves upset by the softer surface, especially if it rains.