ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 110, 1 February 1908, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

(BY Mbrcdht.) ■ COMING EVENTS. i To-day.—N.Z. Championships (Basin Reservo). Feb. 5. Y.Jf.C.A. Evening meeting. 1 Feb. B.—-Hutt Valley A.A.C. meeting (Provincial championships). i Feb. 29 and Mar. 2. Australasian Champion- , ships (Hobart). 1 • ! July. Olympic Games (London). By the time this appears in print, the day 1 or tho nineteenth championship meeting uii- ' dor tho auspices of the N.Z. Amateur Athletic Association will havo dawned, and in tho interests of the sport and the public it is de-vout-y to be desired that tho day will be worthy, of tho occasion. Tho: visiting'competitors havo all arrived at the time cl "writing, and have been intro(.need to track, and havo boon endeavouring to. accustom themselves to\its little peculiarities. The rise in tho straight and tho genoral roughness of the back' stretch have not mado a very favourable impression, but as iiM5 tho best available these little eccentricities must be borne with. Kerr and Cook, the hurdler, put in ail early appearancQ 011 Monday, and got to work right away. The former is in thoroughly good fix, .but is not this time going after any record breaking, having wisely mado up his injiui to take no chances with hts gait. Thero is no doubt, that if he can satisfy Captain •JJatchcior with his mode of progression, lie can win to-day, and bo sure of his trip to Hobart ; and this being so he would bo foolish, both on his own and his Centro's'account, to run the risk of disqualification in pursuit or tho elusive, record. Cook, has boon exercising over tho hurdles 011 the college ground, and is fencing well. Ho is .slow at- getting out'of the hole and loses time getting to tho first hurdle, but once lie gets into his three strides his pace becomes very evident.. Ho is not- so clean in bis jumping as some of our former 1 champions, but will prove good enough to win in tho present company. I also noticed Holmden at work," and was taken with his style of jumping. «At present, howovcr, he lacks the necessary pace to become a top notcher, but I would .not be surprised to see him- develop into* a very, useful hurdler if he sticks to the'game and does, a bit of sprinting in between whiles. A competitor whose appearance will bo looked for with perhaps more interest' than any. other of the visitors, is ."\V. J.. Trembath, of «°r6. He has entered for the 220, 440, arid 880 yards events, and must* havo a big chance in all three. I am inclined to think, however, that hewill make the two .long distances his main objectives, and can see nothing to beat him in.the half mile if he can reproduce his southern form. His performances in Dunedin last Saturday are an excel'lent index to his capabilities, and as such. I will give them. Ho won tho lOOvds. championship of Otago in 10 2-osec., tho 440 yds. handicap from scratch in 52sec., and the half-mile handicap in 2min., also from' 50 it .will be seen that lie is absolutely in the'first flight. Interest in the hammer-throwing event will be accelerated by'tho late entraneo of v\. H. Madill, the'present New Zealand record holder of the event and winner of thrcs Now Zealand championships. . Madill won his first championship 111 Wangaum in.the IS9S--99 season, with a throw of 121 ft. 3in. and' the next year■with 13Gft. 4Jin., a New Zealand record. In 1901-2 lie. aiain annexed tho event., this, time with 129 ft. lin., and last year performed with success-in Canada. Wallace, tho present champion, late of the Auckland A.A.C., is representing Wellington', to-, day, .and last year won at Christclmrch with 127tt. lin. He was coached in tho art by Madill, and the meeting of the two will be a battle of iriants indeed. . ? a i rry ' Henderson may be said to havo tho 100 yds. in his but his claims to the: 220 yds. will be very.strenuously, opposed. Fisher, the; present holder, has been hampered in his work by the sprain in his foot, but is still .very much to be considered,, while Trembath and Stubbs are each likely to put in a jviiininj blainv. Y : ■'■'■'• / Though the field for tho quarter-milo is small, thero being only .four entrants, the racing in this event should be tho best of the day. Trembath on present form looks the! likely winner, but W. H. Pollock, who, it will be remembered,, won the distance on the Rosorve in 1904, and Fisher, who ran second last year, will both. take ,a lot of beating, while tho fourth man, Cunningham, a young local runner,' making his first appearance' in' championship' events,-' is just at present at the top .of his form and has not yet shown us of what he is really capable. He is bound ■to put up a good performance. To sum up, I append my fancies for the various events, though, of course, the anticipations are likely to ho upset by some of tho ■ men .who have entered for several distances deciding at tho last moment not to start in those for which I have selected them

100yds.—Hendersou, Goodbohere, Bridge. 220yds.—Henderson, Fisher, St-übbs. 440yds.—Trembath, Pollock, Fisher. Half-mile.—Trembath,' Burge, - Gosling. Ono.mile. —Burge, Moore, Gosling. Threo miles. —Wilson, Murray, Mulcahey. 120 yds. hurdles.—Cook, Murray, Callaghan 440 yds. hurdles.—Murray, M'Grath, Cook, Milo walk.—Kerr, Stubbcrfield, Goiv. Throe mile walk.—Kerr, Stubberfield, Fitzgerald. ; ,

• High jump.—Orbell, M'Kay, Callaghan. Broad jump.—M'Kay, Dawson, Hubbard. Polo jump —M'Kay, Callaghan,. Wallace. Shot putting.— Thomassen, M'Kay, -Wallace. ' . '

Hammer-throwing.—'Wallace, Madill, Thomasseti. All-rouud championship.—M'Kay. :

Since his last appearance here in December, Kerr has divested himself of his,moustache, and the "juvonile lead" appoaranco he .now wears has in several cases obtained for him the'stony glaro of lion-recognition from his friends in town. It is unlikely, however, that the public will fail to'recogniso him when ho turns out in tho walks to-day, and it is difficult- to imagine exactly what will happen should the walking judge disqualify mm on account of his stylo," in which fcho man in the street in Wellington absolutely refuses to see any fault.

Apropos of this, and for tho information of that section of, the public tliat is not clear as to '/what; constitutes/walking under , olio rules/of the Australasian, Amateur Athletic Union, I give' the- conditions.- governing ; tho ■samo in full" T"

Definition.—Walking is a succession of steps, and in contradistinction to running (wherein both feet may be off the ground at the same time), in walking thero must always bo contact with the ground with some portion of one of the feet.

Rules.—ln track races the following code of rules governing walking must be adhered to, or elso disqualification will ensuo:— (1) Thero shall always be contact with the ground with some part"of one of the feet. (2) Tho heel of tho foremost foot must touch tho ground before the toe of tho other foot leaves the ground.

(3) As the heel of tho foremost leg toiiches he ground that leg must not bo bent.

(4) Tho body must be kopt strictly upright.-Non-complianco with this rule'will only bo allowed if, in the opinion of the judge or judges, such non-compliance arises from some causo beyond the control of tho competitor. . It might bo a good move to mako it compulsory for all bodies holding sports to havo tho above printed in a conspicuous placo in any programmo which contains a walking race. By so doing tho public would become edncatod with regard to what is required, and when the public know what is necessary they would make competitors extra careful, and keep officials alivo to their duties.

Tho 1 team to represent the Dominion at tho Australasian Championships at I-lobart on February 29 and March 1 is to bo picked immediately after to-da.v's meeting, and will probably leavo Lyttelton in tho Marama on February 14, going via the Bluff and arriving ill Hobart on February 20, which will loavo a nice margin for topping off training operations. It is intended,, if possible, to bring tho team back via Sydney, so tho trip will bo one worth striving for. - The visiting athletes and to-day's competitors are being entertained by the local centre at n smoke oonoert iu tho Oddfellow's HalK to-niaht, ■

Taking advantage of the presence in Dunedin of tho Now Zealand ropresotatives en route for Hobart, the Dunedin A.A.C. is to hold a big sports gathering 011 February 15; at which the piece do 1 resistance will bo a half-mile invitation raco between Hector Burk and his rising young rival Trembath. This race would be worth.going miles,to.sco, as they are, or will then bo, both capable of breaking two minutes 011 the;'cinder-track, and it will be tho best .winding >up for ■Trembath that can bo imagined,*- provided. :ho is selected to make tho big" trip.'. 'What is thought'of' tho young champion in tho south is evidenced by tho following notes 011 his last Saturday's performance ■by • "Amateur," .of. the "Otago >» : = - "Of course the groat performances i,y,Trom> bath oil Saturday and l 'the times-his - races wero run in, for bo it'remembered'it was.a grass track with awkward corners and-.-not a last cinder track, havo set-all-tho'wiseacres comparing tho (Joro ■ is, not yot 20 —with Burk, and ;tnany and' varied aro tho expressions of opinion'on tho chances should the pair moot again. Of course ovory--0110 remembers Burk's'.great. half-mile" 1 at Cans brook at tho Shrub.b-Duffey' meeting, v when, after silencing tho Victorian—AVhcatIqy—tho Duncdin champion had to raco for lur. life to defeat Patrick,'• and won on the tapo in tho fast time of-l]iuh..sS-l-ssec.-Biit Trembalh's race 011 Satiii-'daylAVas',"in'thti,opi-nion of many good judge's','faster than'that; incro is an undoubted difference 1 between grass and cinder, all in favour, of tho latter,and wlnlo Burk ran on tho outside,'and so coverod more ground than necessary,' yet, in his race at tho Shrubb:Duifey meeting, he had tho last ounco sque,ezcd'.out of him to dei a 5 10 s PC«'y 'Varsity;flier, while ou 'S'ntur-' day Trembath, who ran ; a'. beautifully-judged race, won fairly easily, at'tho : -imisii,'.'there being no one to push him"out at..that stage. Of cqjirse Burk is a hard m'an. to' bcat whon fit, and yet tho perfprmauco ,pf„tho.'.Goro athlete x on Saturday,; combined, witir the fact that bo is in the pink of condition, induco Amateur' to think that.-tho,. chances,-aro'iii his favour should the pair mqet." _ However, this afternoon-we. will be ablo to judge for ourselves.

"It is so considerably a, portion of the Englishman s creed that his countrymen arc easily first in all fiold. sports) that, many-wlio take httlo enough interest in-games wiir.ba'thnilimg there is .something."dangerously "amiss with tlio youth of the. , country .' when they learn that the laurels of nearly every pastimo have been carried iicro'ss tho-Ghannel or oversea. Tho 'youth, of the country' ..will find it a now sensation, to. b<* reproached, under this head. Only a very short; tiino ago discussion raged around, (j-.iite another'"aspect of the games question'.7:..l!aK too 'much-time, and attention were giyen : :,it.. was. said,..to sports, and all-manner. of(gt-omy. forebodings were hold forth if hoys and young men did not turn their attention less ,to the playing fields and more.tt-tho serious things of life: It would bo ridiculous to suppose that last' year's defeats in one. pastime and 'another can be attributed to that: "agitation." Tho point most worthy of notice is that/whether, the cry is raised that wo; play too much;'or that wo arc losing I ..bur old-time skill' in play, the storm passes over the'heads- of those who should bo especially concerned. A few young i/ien who-find their greatest• interest in playing games may possibly pause to reflect whether they-arc overdoing it, or those who are representing England. may- : train and try the harder to/ win '.'tho day; hilt the great rank -', and file, - "who "watch" gdmes...,year-iii': and year out, but never think " of. : playing . them,re-, main unmoved. If the, interest 1 that has been aroused by English reverses should-iu-,duco those people" to attempt something for tho national supremacy in .sporf by .placing instoad of watching. f WB should' owe a considerable debt to colonialaud foreign winners of' this year's championships—"Daily. Graphic." '. ' •