MEMORABLE RACES EXPECTED

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 143, 13 March 1931, Page 2

MEMORABLE RACES EXPECTED

Big Athletic Meeting To-morrow

-INVITATION SPRINTS AND MILE

(By

“Hurdler.”)

Given fine weather, to-morrow’s big meeting at Athletic Park should be the finest of the season. It will be the second occasion on which Wellington athletic patrons will have the opportunity of seeing the visiting American athletes in action, the first, at which James Carlton also appeared, having been marred considerably by a heavy wind. To-mor-row, however, if fine weather prevails, the meeting should provide the crowd with plenty of thrills.

Simpson, the sprinter from Ohio, is on the scratch mark iu three special invitation sprint events. Against him will be as select a field of sprinters as has been assembled together in front of the same starter this season. C. H. Jenkins, provincial champion, and the best sprinter in New Zealand, is the nearest man to Simpson, and the handicaps indicate that the two will turn ou some- first-class finishes. The distances of the sprints are 50yds„ 100yds., and 120yds. Jenkins’s respective marks in these races are Iyd., 2yds„ and 3yds. The Ohioan will have to be in form for the occasion. ■ In addition to Jenkins and Simpson, leading sprinters »rom other centres will also perform. Valk. of Otago, Strange, of Manawatu. F. H. Stephenson, junior provincial champion and representative, J. T. Fleming and H. Le Grove, both well-known Wellington performers, and Pierson, the Southland champion, who arrived yesterday. are also handicapped in the three invitation sprints. The crowd will certainly get its money’s worth as far as class sprint events are concerned. Field of Milers.

Apart from these races, another sensational attraction will be the one mile flat, with a field consisting of Rufus Kiser, of Seattle, U.S.A., Gordon Bayne, of Pctone, national champion, Randolph Rose, Australian and New Zealand record-holder. R. H. McDonald, of Wairarapa, C. Gibbons, C. McCarthy, and C. Prosser, provincial three-mile champion. Kiser, it is safe to say, will be even more anxious to acquit himself well to-morrow than he was at the national championship meeting at Dunedin. Bayne, by his consistently brilliant running this season, has won the reputation of being head and shoulders above everyone else in the milers’ ranks. And although those two performers can be expected to attract a large crowd and give it plenty of thrills, Randolph Rose’s presence on the track will probably do even more. Rose enjoys wonderful popularity with followers of athletics in Wellington and ail over New Zealand. To have Rose performing at a meeting makes that meeting oye to look forward to. ‘ He is on a pedestal by himself, and it is extremely hazardous for anyone to predict the result of a race iu which he is competing. For these reasons, to-morrow’s mile, which has been billed as “the greatest mile of the season,” should stay for a long -while in the memory of those who attend the meeting at Athletic Park, The captain of the American team, Harlow Rothert, whose class quickly became an open secret when he broke the Australian and New Zealand record with a practice throw the day he landed iu New Zealand, is to compete in the shotputting, javelin, and discus events. Roth- j

ert has bettered record performances wherever ho has appeared, and did so in both the shot-putt and the discus events at Dunedin. His fine style is always impressive. The remainder ■of to-morrow’s programme will see all Wellington’s athletic talent in action. It should be a great, meeting, with many contests to remember. Lower Prices of Admission. The Wellington Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association did the right thing on Tuesday evening when it passed the motion proposed by Mr. J. O’Sullivan aimed at reducing the admission charges for the meeting at Athletic Park to-morrow. There is no doubt whatever at times like these that where circumstances permit admission charges should be kept as low as possible, and it seems likely that by making admission to the ground to-morrow 1/- instead of 1/6 the centre will make much more of a financial success of the meeting than it did at the recent Carlton-Simpson meeting. Admission to the grandstand is to be 2/6, instead of 3/- as at the last meeting, but reserved seats will remain at 3/-. These figures include amusement tax. The centre has decided that permission to broadcast the meeting, if sought, should not be granted. Kiwi Chib Notes. The Kiwi Club twilight meeting is being held next Monday, March 16, at Athletic Park. A very interesting programme has been arranged, which is as follows: — 100 yards open, 120 yards junior, 600 yards open, one mile open, 880 yards walk, one mile junior cycle, 880 yards open cycle, high jump, discus, 100 yards women’s, women’s handicap relay, men’s relay (Heenan baton); 880, 440, 220, 220. All the members of each club are now st the top of their form, and should bring forward very keen competition for the Heenan baton relay race. Owing to the termination of daylight saving on Sunday it will be necessary to start Monday’s meeting at 5.45 p.m. sharp. Arrangements have been made for an inter-club competition between the Miramar, Athletic, Olympic, and Kiwi athletic clubs, to be held at the Miramar polo grounds on Saturday, March 21, commencing at 2.15 p.m. A full programme of scratch events has been arranged. Admission is free. In order to stimulate interest and foster club spirit this club has been conducting a series of events each week in the form of club competition. The events have been keenly contested, and the members have greatly benefited by this form of training. Here and There. Athletes are reminded that entries close to-day for the open events to be decided at the university inter-faculty sports meeting at Kelburn Park on Saturday week. These arc the 100 yards open, 880 yards open, and 100 yards junior. Those who intend making the trip to Motueka at Easter are asked to advise the secretary of the Wellington Club immediately. Don Evans will not be a competitor at Athletic Park to-morrow. I