ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 80, 28 December 1907, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

■\ ■ ■. : (By MERociiT.) COMING EVENTS. ' January 15. —W.A.A.C. Evening Meeting, Fobruary I.—N.Z. Championships at Basin Reserve. Fobruary B—liutt Valley A.A.C. Meeting. February.—W.A.A.C. Summer Meeting. Fobruary 29 ' and March 1. —Australasian Championship at Hobart. Tho officials of tho Centre have every reason to- bo satisfied with the results of. the meeting,' last Saturday, nevertheless they cannot be complimented on tho arrangements, except.those of tho day, that brought about thoso results. Tho feature that calls for most criticism was the advertising, or rather the lack of it; in fact, in view of the lack of method in bringing the meeting under the notice of tlio public, ono can only wonder that tho attendance was as satisfactory as it was. Tho streamers on tlio tram cars, which should havo been about the st-reots at least on tho previous day, did not show up at all until late on Saturday morning, when, as by that timo of day, tho majority of pcoplo .havo their afternoon arrangements made up, they wore practically useless. Previous experience, particularly in tho case of the P.N.A.A.C. meeting last season, has shown that tho attention of tho public has only to be drawn to theso gatherings to onsuro good gates, and that tho money invested in judicious advertising coiiios back with good interest. It is moro than, likoly that a further outlay of £10 last WQek would have resulted in another 1000 shillings being taken at the gates. In pleasant contrast was the actual management of the sports on tho ground. Tlio events were, started to timo and kept to timo, tho notice board was accurately and speedily attended to, afternoon tea was pleasantly dispensed, and such matters as required the attention of the referee or stewards wero dealt with at once aiyl equitably., Fortunately these last were few,i though one or two regrettable incidents occurred. Tho most! unfortunate of theso happened in the third .heat of the 220 yards, when one of the runners earned disqualification for blocking an opponont near tho tape. The runnor in question has to my knowledge always shown himself a clean performer, but the case under review was so flagrant that tho referee,had no option but to disqualify him. It was all the more regrettable for being so unnecessary, if such an action can ever bo necessary, as the offender must have got his second placo";aud qualified for tho final had ho gono for the tape instead of taking the steps ho did to block tho third man. Another broach took placo in the final of tho ono milo bicycle raco, the offenders in this instance being tho three back markers. The front men had established a good lead, and instead of trying to reducc tho gap, apparently because no ono of tlieni was willing to tako tho pace, tho back division was content to loaf tho distance out and not have a "go" at all. To put it mildly, tactics such as these aro 'questionable in the extreme, and had a lot to do with killing intorest\in cycling in the past 1 . The Thomdon Club aro fortunate, howovor, in having officials with backbone enough to assort themselves, and ihe delinquents-are to bo dealt witli for offending on this occasion. To come to the actual performances—that which stood out as the best for tho day was Kerr's 'threo -milo walk. Four started, M. Tracy on 500 yards -being tho limit man. Fitzgerald pulled out after about a mile and left Korr with a long dreary gap between himself and Cashman, who started off 480 and was making the going very solid. Kerr put his first milo behind him in 7min. 3sec., and at the beginning of the seventh lap caught Cashman, who stuck to him for nearly another round. The paco was too hot, "howover, and ho dropped out, and Kerr set sail for Tracy, who thcij had about 150 yards lead. His timo for the 2 miles was Mmin. 34sec., and he was going so well that it was apparent ho had the raco in his pocket, as Tracy was showing signs of wear and appeared to be troubled rath a, stitch.

.With nearly two Japs to go, the scratch man took the lead and finished strong in 22min. 20sec. This is 'JO seconds inside the New Zealand championship of standard timo, and 43 seconds outsido I). Wilson's New Zealand record, and considering the lack of pacing for the last half-mile and the rough going at the hack of tho track is a sterling performance, and Kerr thoroughly deserved tho ovation he got from tho crowd. Tho noxt performance in order of merit was McKay's shot put of 36ft. Gin. —7 in.' more than his winning effort at the last championship meeting. .McKay's ''putting has no pretensions to style whatsoever, and with proper coaching could be considerably improved; in fact, if ho conld be placed un-:' dor Arthur Skinner's tuition for' a littje while I should not bo surprised if lie coulcl add two or three fcot to this by February 1. Fama and Burge carried off the honors in tho running. Tho former has been hiding his light under a bushel, and being liberally treated by the handicappers, annexed two sprints, 100 yards open and 220 yards bracelet, and after winning his heat ran a gobd second in the maiden. He started off .'B} yards in the' 100 yards, and won his heat in-10 l-sth sec. and the filial in 9 4-sth sec. In the bracelet event lie had 15 .yards, and won handsomely in 23 2-oth sec., two performances which stamp him as being well abovo tho avoragc. Burge started off the mark in- the halfmile and had hard luck in not getting tho verdict, being beaten by inches by Turton, a promising young runner who had 45 yards. The finish was so close as to appear to be a dead heat; in fact,. I understand the judges had difficulty in -separating the two, so Burgo may bo said to have clocked" 2miu. osec., tho >£11110 recorded for the distance. In tho mile, however, he. made 110 mistake, and taking tho lead at the. fountain, wound up a headily run. race by a ten-yard win in the good timo of 4min. 44 2-oth sec.. By theso performances ho makes good. his claim to be tlio Centre's.first string for tho' half and milo at tho. championship meeting as far as Mr. Gosling is concerned. . A meeting between Burgo and Fisher over tho-half milo would-bo well worth seeing, and if _ tho latter can get his injured foot right in time I should like to see this brought about some evening by - .the Centre for this reason. The province has Henderson.. to win tho two sprint distances, and as tilings arc at present ho may fairly bo relied upon to. do this. A good ouartcr and half-miler,. however,:.is. very badly wanted, and if Fisher- can. beat Burge •over- the half it lyould bo. a good thing ; for -him to Undergo :a-preparation for ; these- two events only. One -can-quite: -.uiir derstand his . desire to defend- his. title as 220 yards champion, but if ho could-.be in-, duccd to forego tho sprint event in favour of tho ■ other - two it would strengthen the Centre team immensely, and, moveover, I am convinced that, properly prepared for a half-mile, Fisher is the man to give-Burge all .ho can do with over this distance, and perhaps a little more. However, to return to Saturday's meeting, Harry Henderson's two runs showed that he is getting into his tmo form again. He ran two very close thirds in his heats, and in tho 220 yards made a'fine effort at tho cornor on the inside, but appeared'to get pocketed by the- leaders swinging in after entering the straight. ' The condition of tho track'and tho times that wero registered, 9 4-oth sec. and 23 2-stb sec. respectively, precluded any possibility of his win-\ ning, but his performances will go far to : wards making him favourite for -the sprint-bvonts'-at 'tho big meeting next'month;-•; The three-mile' fun was ..productive", of 7a sterling, performance by Frank Wilton, the', harrier champion. A field of fourteen turned out, tho limit , being 230 yards with Mulcaliey on scratch. When, two miles had been covored ..Wilton took the lead . from Bennett, with Press, the Road Race winner,. in close attendance, and thenceforward ho novov looked, back. His timo was given as lCrnin. lOsec., and to tost him., oyer- the full distance, he was given a "second tape, his handicap allowance (60/ yards) further on, and . tho : gross time was > .given, -as lCmin. 23sec., ,a very crcditable'. : performance. . The second and. third men, Bennett (200ynrds^, and Press (130 yards), ran a doggedrace,,-in .-.true road raco style, but lacked',, the- necessary dash for track running.. Mulcahey' finished fourth and lost his chance by not getting up closer in the earlier stages. As generally.supposed, E. E. <Fisher's illjury did not allow him to compete'and many were tho expressions of sympathy givon vent to on his appearance on the ground with a limp and a big stick. It must have boon very galling for him to be ail onlooker -'after his steady preparation, and for his and tho Centre's sakes it is. to be hoped lie makes a speedy and- thorough recovery. • ■ . ■ ... Any account of the meeting tfould be incomplete without reference to the excellent" work .done by "Doric" Leslie with tlie gun. Ho got through a! heavy day With patience and tact, and was never beaten and what higher tribute can a starter be given?, The bamboo pole used in the vaulting gavo every satisfaction, and now that the -is up-to-dato in this department, I would again draw attention to tho necessity of following suit in tho hammer-throwing branch by converting the implements to be used in future from, the straight handle to tho cross grip. I liavo to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of - a draft programme of the forthcoming championship meeting, together with the conditions governing the same, from Mr. B, A. Guise, lion, secretary of the Centre. In addition to the fifteen compulsory championship events three handicaps : are included in tho list, entries for which aro down at lsi.each. There is.also a.mile relay raco for teams of four men representing any one centre, witli an entrance fee of 4s. per team.- .. Tho handicap. distances aro 75 yards, 300 yards, and 1£ miles. . . A desultory discussion of a boated nature took place at tho last meeting of the"oxccutive of the Centre,' anent the proposal of the Now Zealand Council that the various centres should assist in 'financing tho Now Zealand team to Hobart. At the Council's last mooting Mr. Batchelor 'suggested that each centre bo asked to contribute £5 and it was resolved to notify the contres t-o this effect, and that the levy would be subsidised to the extent of £2 for every £1 thus collccted. One of the local Centre's delegates designated. this idea as "the. most -impertinent proposal that- ever emanated from a governing body." It is. reported that W. Trembath, the Gore amateur, who competed- so successfully in the handicap events at the Now - Zealand Championship Meeting, and at various .meet-, ings since the classic is about to join tho ranks of the cash runners and will compote in his first professional ovent, tho Mataura Sports, on Boxing Day. It is hard to realiso tho truth of this, for Trembath had given it out that ho intended to got into form for the Now Zealand Amatour Championships in February at Wellington, and was anxious to qualify to represent New Zealand at the Australasian Championships ill Hobart early next year.