Scatter disqualified

Press, 6 March 1978, Page 17

Scatter disqualified

The controversial dis-1 qualification of the ixew Zealand! record-holder, Graham Scatter - (Cancernuiyi, in tne national : 20km road walking championship - in Wellington on Saturoay cast i doubts over the standard of judging and provided another headacne for the Commonwealth Games athletics selectors. - Scatter, recently returned from a period of racing and training in Europe, was in an unbeatable position Imin 12sec ahead of his nearest rival when he was told he was disqualified just 4km from the finish for allegedly not locking nis ngnt leg. It was a shattering reversal for Scatter, whose technique is vastly superior to many of those who went iinpenalised. The race lie was highly favoured to. win went instead to his greatest rival, Mike Parker (Otago), ill the good time of llir 35min 47.8 sec. Ross Pilkington (Auckland) was second in ihr 35min 54.25ec and the Isle of Man Commonwealth Games walker, Allan Callow (Canterbury), third. Callow, a walker of considerable international experience was appalled. “I find it very hard to accept that his disqualification was justified,” he said, emphasising that he had not seen the incidents leading to it. “I am convinced it was unfair. You can find faults with anybody if you look hard enough. The course was rough and it was impossible I to walk properly on some parts. The place where he was disqualified was particularly bad. 1 freely admit that I wasn’t walking there.” Scatter was still very upset hours later. “I am always very reluctant to criticise the judging because it. hits against the sport. But my disqualification was an injustice. I was bloody robbed,” he said. “In England, the judges looked very closely at my technique and were satisfied. In 53 races while I was there, I was disqualified only once, and that was for something quite different. My leg does lock. It does so minimally. I have a short, rapid stride. But there is no doubt about whether it locks or not. I have photographic evidence to back this up. “They set out to knock me out and they did,” Scatter said. “I am so disappointed because this was a perfect race for me. Everything was going to plan and if I had maintained my pace I would have won by more than 3min.” But Scatter, who has recorded the fastest times in New Zealand this season from skm to 30km, has refused to give up his quest for Games selection. He will comnete in a 30km Games trial at Dunedin in two weeks. “I will just go down there and show them what I can do,” he said. It was not all gloom for Canterbury walkers. A schoolboy. Hamish Riach. led the field back to Newtown Stadium in the junior 10km walk, winning well in 51min 21.2 sec. Roger Miller ' (Canterbury) was second. A former Canterbury decathlon specialist Roger Knaggs, 11.32 s and a third placing in the . 2 nf *m I (Wellington) gained an upset win

.in the long jump with a splendid., I leap Of 7.14 m. This put him i ahead of the highly regarded for- i mer champions, Kerry Hill h (Auckland) and Roger Davis I (Southland). I. Sandra McGookin (Otago) re-’’ tained her women’s javelin title but she was under constant pres- ■ sure by an unknown Canterbury ' girl, Nola Perkins, from Westport. Mrs McGookin’s best throw was 46.30 m; Miss Perkins, who is . 17, was not far behind with 45.86 m. She had the satisfaction of beating a former national champion. Jan Bishop (Canterbury) and the reigning Canterbury champion, Barbara Ovenden. Miss Bishop was third with 41.44 m and Mrs Ovenden fourth with 41.04 m. Although troubled recently by a back injury, Bernie Harland (Canterbury) still finished second behind Murray Cheater (Auckland) in the senior hammer throw. Cheater threw 59.62 m and Harland 55.36 m. but both were well short of the Games qualifying standard. Graham French (Waikato) is the new national sprint champion. He won the 100 m in a tight finish with the defending champion, Steve Erkkila (Auckland), , and went on to win the 200 m title as well. French was the 1 junior champion last season. Kim Robertson (Auckland) matched this performance in the women’s sprints, winning both events narrowly from Wendy ’ Brown (Northland). Joe Leota (Canterbury) marked his first national meeting with a fine win In the junior 100 m in Another Canterbury junior to shine was Terry Lomax. Already the winner of the men’s senior high jump, he took an unusual double when he won the junior 1 title with a leap of 2.06 m, equalling his listed New Zealand junior record. This topped his performance in the senior event by 6.lcm. An attempt to clear the Games qualifying height of 2.10 m failed narrowly. John Park (Wellington) and Peter Renner (Canterbury) fea- ■ tured in a photo-finish for the junior 5000 m title. After exam- '■ ining the photo, the judges awarded the championship to 1 Park, indicating that there was no more than 2cm between the ■ two. Notwithstanding his defeat, ■ it was a fine run by Renner, who 1 had won the junior steeplechase ; the previous day in New Zealand I record time. 1 This race was actually won by i an Australian visitor, Lawrie Whitty, who led most of the way, I recording 14min 19.55. He was ig--1 nored by the two behind, deeply , involved in their tactical battle t for the title. _ . I Richard Goldstone (CanterI bury) has been badly upset with. I injury this season and did well z to finish second in the junior 400 m in the outside lane. r Nigel Wilby (Canterbury) - scored a fine second placing in 1 the junior 1500 m to R. Thurlow j (Otago), and the Ashburton 1 sprinter, Dave Wilson (Canterr bury), was third in the junior 400 m hurdles. . - The Canterbury junior men , were outstanding, winning the H. 1 L. Towers Shield, for scoring the most points, by a wide margin 1 from Auckland. Auckland, how-

ever, won the aggregate championship, from Canterbury. Results of the points contests were:— Senior men. — Auckland 66, Canterbury 45, Wellington 33, Waikato 21, Otago 20, Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay 6, West Coast North Island 6. Southland 1. Women. — Auckland 58, Wellington 22, Waikato 17, Canterbury 16, Otago 9, Northland 6, West Coast North Island 6, Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay 1. Junior men. — Canterbury 76, Auckland 34, Wellington 23, Otago 23, Waikato 19, Northland 5, Hawkes Bay-Poverty Bay 5, West Coast North Island 4. Aggregate. — Auckland 158, Canterbury 137, Wellington 78, Waikato 57, Otago 52, West Coast North Island 16, Hawke’s Bay-Po-verty Bay 12, Northland 11, Southland 1.