ATHLETIC NOTES

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 168, 12 April 1935, Page 8

ATHLETIC NOTES

Past Season’s Results YEAR OF UPS AND DOWNS How the Clubs Fared (By Hurdler.) Coming Events. April 13 —Combined Bible classes, Kelburn Park. Easter Saturday—Nelson A.A.C.. Nelson. Easter Monday—Motueka A.A.C., Motuoka. Easter Monday—N.Z. Universities’ Tournament, Dunedin. Inter-Faculty Sports. The students of Victoria University held their annual sports gathering on Kelburn Park last Saturday. The management of the meeting was not in any way a credit to the organisers. The competing talent was the worst for many a year; only three competitors, Bowie, Eade, and Morpeth, coming anywhere near national standard. It is time that the officials of the club made some endeavour to lift the club out of its present low state and place it on the plane of a few years back, when there were brought out such good athletes at C. B, Allan, L. A. Tracy, D. Priestly, S. Ransom, F. H. Stephenson, and many others. It seems that the majority of students think only of the inter-faculty sports, and commence training a few weeks previous to the gathering. Bowie’s performance in the 120 yards hurdles makes him look a good proposition for the New Zealand, title. Holderness, a champion hurdler from Hawke’s Bay, was not in form, but nevertheless ran two good races R. Morpeth is a distance runner-, who will make good, and he is bound to run well up at the tournament. S. G. Eade is walking well, and has a good chance of getting a couple of championships. .The team selected to represent the varsity at Dunedin is an extremely weak one, and so I cannot expect many points to come Victoria’s way. End-of-season Review. The athletic season for 1934-35 will definitely close next week, and "Hurdler” takes it on himself to review past operations. • . The Wellington centre has had a disastrous year financially; in fact, the worst in its existence. The Canadian and British meetings both resulted in a loss. The championships and Dewar Shield gatherings, nowever, show a slight profit, but not near enough to cover the expenses of sending the Wellington team to the national meeting. Another big expense was the paying of the full charges, in having- the centre represented at the 1 New Zealand cross-country championships held at Dunedin. However, finance is not everything in the world of sport—it is the encouragement to compete that counts, ana the centre can rest assured that the sun will shine again and a bumper season next year will be full recompense for the past set-backs. Activities of Clubs." - . - ' The Wellington Amateur Athletic Club , made the most progress, and fully deserves the high position gained during the For a young chib the Combined Old Boys made a really creditable showing, and judging from the results, especially ju the junior ranks, this club will gain still higher honours in a few years’ time. The Kiwi club kept up its membership, but did not meet with near the success of previous years. The Athletic club has fallen back to a certain extent and should make strenuous endeavours to get more of its old members on the committee. Too much work has been shelved on to that untiring worker, V. Clifford. The women’s branch of this club has also slipped. The Scottish Harrier Club (summer branch) started off a couple of years ago with great eclat and for a time certainly did well, but this season it has lost ground both in numbers and performances, and would be well advised to concentrate on harrier activities. The Olympic club has not made any marked progress, but the members have been held well together, and, provided C. Brown and J. Watt hold the reins again next year, better results are certain to be secured." The Miramar club is silently building up from among the juniors in its district and if these members stick by the officials a strong club will appear in a year or two. It is to the Credit of this, club that it has met all outstanding liabilities and will start off with a clean sheet. The Petone club seems to concentrate more on its cycling branch, to the detriment of the athletes. In a district such as Petone, where so many youths live, this is a false policy. However, lam now informed that Mr. L. Price has taken the problem }n hand and has a great number of juniors under bis capable guidance. Struggle in Lower Hutt. Many a stronger club (han Lower Hutt would have been indllned to throw in the towel long ago rather than go on suffering the reverses that have come to its lot. But it still keeps the flag flying and it now looks as if the untiring officials will win through. It is difficult to understand the poor patronage given to athletics by the people of the Hutt Valley. A big sports gathering was staged on Boxing Day, one that would have done credit to any organisation ; but because of the poor support the club's finances were crippledSeasonal Summing-up. To sum up, the actual number of competitors under the control of the Wellington centre has increased, but the enthusiasm and keenness shown by club members in previous years has sadly fallen away. There have been more actual sports gatherings than ever before, but the entries have not come up to expectations. A large number of competitors have adopted the habit of entering for events after the entries have officially closed, even going as far as entering on the ground. This practice can easily be stopped by refusing nil latecomers. Clubs could also do a lot to stop such an unsatisfactory procedure, by making their members keep more in touch with general activities. Dashes. The Nelson and Motueka clubs are much disappointed with the action adopted by A. R. Wilson, the erack mile runner, in not fulfilling his promise to compete nt their Easter gatherings. Peter Munro, the New Zealand shot and discus champion, is not retiring from netive competition ns previously stated. In fact, he i.s keener than ever, and intends to devote more time to training. The certificates won at the last Wellington provincial championships are not available. The combined Bible classes of Wellington are holding a sports gathering on Kelburn Park to-morrow afternoon.