Ice-skaters in form for Aust. races

Press, 26 July 1976, Page 3

Ice-skaters in form for Aust. races

By

BOB SCHUMACHER

Exciting and even com-l petition in the senior men’s) section, the dominance ofi John Adams in the intermediate grade, and strong performances by the Westland representative, Ans Kremer, highlighted the New Zealand short-track iceskating championships at Little Lake Jda yesterday. The Canterbury seniors, Dean Cade and Mark Atkinson, who had a spirited duel for the provincial short-1 track aggregate three weeks ago, renewed their rivalry, j But they did not have] matters all their way. Neil! Hawker (Canterbury) and Ken Howie (Invercargill) added impetus to the competition, and in the 500 m and 1000 m. the skaters were| separated by less than one) second. All four have been included in the national team to race against Australia for the Tasman Trophy in late August, and their form was encouraging. Conditions at. the lake at the week-end were ideal and times, generally, were considerably better than at the Canterbury championships. Atkinson, who was narrowly beaten by Cade for the provincial title, asserted his superiority in three of the four races. The 20-year-old New Zealand small-track champion had little to spare j at the finish, but he got in I the telling strides. Hawker, i Cade, and Howie all had a turn at being runner-up ini the remarkably close racing. I The inclusion of Adams,] who had monopolised!

the intermediate races, and the Australian, Vic Bagdon, in the 3000 m gave a touch of class to the event. Bagdon, a regular member of the Australian test speed team, and Adams, who is New Zealand’s fastest and most fluent skater, soon pulled clear of the field. With five of the 15 laps remaining, they were 60m ahead of Cade, Howie and Atkinson, who were keeping close company. Bagdon waited until the penultimate lap before sprinting hard: he took Adams on the outside with 300 m remaining and opened a gap of 3m. However, Adams instead of waiting found new reserves of stamina. He closed the gap and made his challenge 150 m; from the finish. Bagdon h ’d him for several strides, but the determined 17-year-old Canterbury skater lifted his speed and sprinted to the: finish 5m clear. Bagdon was competing unofficially and earlier he had won the senior 1500 m comfortably. He was very impressed with Adams’s progress. The strong Miss Kremer was at her best in winning the three women’s races. She lacked the basic speed to beat Sue Phillips (Canterbury) over 200 m and 500 m at the provincial championships, but it was a different story yesterday. Miss Kremer reduced her times by more than one second over the shorter distances and that was sufficient to reverse the placings. Miss Phillips fell in the 500 m and was unplaced, but she skated strongly for second over 1000 m — a distance which;

normally taxes her stamina. In winning the 1000 m by a wide margin, Miss Kremer returned the good time of Imin 53.35 e—an improvement of 20sec on her winning time in the Canterbury championship. She should be capable of improving her national records at the longi track titles today and tomorrow at the lake. I The Auckland junior, Ross (Jensen, was an impressive [winner of the three junior I event s. ; Abbreviations, used in the (results are: iA.I Auckland. (C.) (Canterbury, (I.) Invercargill, (W.) I Westland. . Men Senior.—soom: M. Atkinson iC.'i, 50.2 sec I: N. Hawker (C.), 50.4. 2; K. Howie il.i, 50.3, 3. 1000 m: Atkinson. 1:46.4, 1; D. Cade (C.), 1:46.8, 2; Howie, 1-46.9, 3. 1500 m: Atkinson, (2:44.1, 1: Howie, 2:46.9, 2; Cade, 2:47.0, 3. 3000 m: .1. Adams (C.), 5:38.3. 1; liowie, 2; Cade, 3. intermediate.—2oom: Adams, 20.5. 1; M. Howie (J.I, 21.9. 2; P. Lemin il.i. 22.9, 3. 500 m: Adams, 48.8, 1; Lemin, 55.5, 2; Howie, 55.7, 3. 1000 m: Adams, 2:5.3, 1; Howie, 2:8.6. 2; I. Chaney (C.l, 2:10.7, 3. 1500 m: Adams, 3:4.5, 1; Howie. 3:6.6, 2: Lemin. 3:6.8, 3. Junior. —200 m: R. Jensen (A.), 22.5. I; M. Orbell (A.). 22.9, 2; D. Edwards (C.), 23.5, 3. 500 m: Jensen, 56.6, 1; M. Sturgess (A.), 37.3. 2: Orbell. 57.3, 3. 1000 m: Jensen, 2:0.8, 1: Orbell, 2:4.6, 2; I. Riley (C.), 2:6.2, 3. Women Senior. —200 m: Miss A. Kremer (VVJ, 23.5. 1; Miss S. Phillips (C.), 23.9. 2: Miss D. Cade iC.), 24.1, 3. 500 m: Miss Kremer. 55.0, 1; Miss Cade, 59.0, 2; Miss A. James LA.), 59.7. 3. 1000 m: Miss Kremer. 1:53.3. 1: Miss Phillips, 1:59.0. 2; Miss Cade. 2:10.2. 3. Junior. —200 m: Miss K. Thomson (I.), 26.8, 1. 500 m: Miss Thomson, 1:4.4, 1. Relays Senior (4 x 400 m) —Centaurus. 2:42.4, 1. Junior <4 x 200m).—Centaurus, 1:36.2. 1. Invitation 200 m—R. L. Schumacher (C.), 46.1, 1.