The Athletic World

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 45, 17 November 1936, Page 14

The Athletic World

Wellington College School Champions

(By

SPIKE.)

WELLINGTON COLLEGE won the ’ ’ McEvedy Shield by two points from Silverstream College in the 15th annual Wellington combined secondary school championships at the Basin Reserve on Saturday. The college has now won the championship 12 times. Silversteam College, last year's champions, were running equal with the winners, 364 points each, prior to the final event, the SSO yards senior relay, the result of which gave Wellington three further points and Silverstream one. The strength of the placed schools in the three different grades may be seen from the following table of points: Senior: Wellington, 22J ; Silverstream, 8; Hutt, 5; Scots, 141; Rongotai, 3. Intermediate: Wellington, 6; Silverstream, 16J; Hutt. 4s; Scots, 0: Rongotai, 10. Junior: Wellington, 11; Silverstream, 13; Hutt, 11; Scots, 2; Rongotai. 1.

On the whole the junior and intermediate talent was stronger than the senior, a fact attributed to the large number of boys of 16 to IS who are leaving school to take up positions. The junior boys performed extremely well, particularly zV. C. Lees (Hutt), who won the 220 and was second in the 100. His time for the 220 was only 3-ssec. outside the .1932 record. A promising boy is K. Dunning, who won the 100 yards under 14 in 12 l-ssec., equalling the record. The performance of G. Hunter (Hutt) in setting a new high jump record of sft. "jin. was exceptional. After clearing the bar at this mark Hunter attempted sft. Sin., but the gap was too great. R. A. Longley (Wellington College) was up against a stiff northerly breeze and a heavy track in his attempts to beat his own 1935 times of 4.40 for the mile and 2.2’3-5 for the half-mile. Running with an easy style, he left the field behind immediately in both races, and finished with plenty in reserve, 50 yards in front. The first lap of the 880 was run in 55sec., the times for the two distances being 2.4 4-5 and 4.42 4-5. The mile was 9sec. faster than that of the 1936 Sydney schools champion. C. V. Adams (Wellington College) won both the senior sprints. His weight and strength are valuable assets. Fast times were run in all three championship relays. The senior 880 yards was won by Wellington College in 1.36, three-fifths of a second outside the record. Silverstream won the intermediate (440 yards) in 48 2-5, only one-fifth of a second slower than the record, and the junior (440 yards) in 51 2-5, 1 2-ssec. slower. The conduct of the meeting reflected considerable credit on the officials of the Secondary Schools Athletic Association, of whiehMr. V. Walls, of the Technical College, is secretary.

Australian Boys’ Performances. The remarkable performances of Australian schoolboy athletes are only partially explained by the fact that the age of the performer may be anything up to 20 years. At the Sydney G.P.S. annual meeting last year L. Wall jumped 22ft. lOin. in the long jump and 6ft. 2-}in. in the high jump. At this year’s meeting, held last month, the times for the 100 yards was 10.6 sec., “the slowest for five years.” P. Hardcastle (Scots College. Sydney) won the under 16 high jump last year with sft. 71in., and this year, at the age of 16. ran 120 yards hurdles in 16Tsec. A. Butters (St. Joseph’s College) won the half-mile this year in 2m. 3sec. Running the 100 yards in lO.lsec. on October 31, dim Dunn, 15-year-old St. Aloysius’ College (Sydney) boy, broke all Australian records. He is described as the greatest Australian boy sprinter of all time.

Lovelock on Training. In bis talk to 150 athletes at Hataitai last Wednesday, J. E. Lovelock revealed himself an apostle of common sense. Some of his views, as for example,, on diet and massage, eame as a surprise; but on reflection his ideas were seen to be backed by sound reasoning, as well as by his own outstanding success. An account of the first part of the talk

.appeared in “The Dominion”, on ThursI day morning. Following is the substance of the portion dealing with trainIng:—Warming up: Go out thoroughly clad, especially on a cold night, I', " trousers must be worn. Jog hall, a dozen times round before the training proper. Sprinters, as well as distance men. must do this. Too many of them imagine they should merely do half a dozen cashes from the holes. Give the body a chance to build up instead of making it dead tired. Again at the end of the training, take another jog or two to enable the body to cool down. Sprinters should aim for (1) strength; (2) toning up of the muscles; (o). style; i.c., the most economical method, including' starting and finishing. ..... Middle-distance men aim for (1) stamina; bv getting fit and by jogging work. Then cut down the distance and increase the pace. Also vary the distance, lengthening it for stamina and shortening it for pace; (2) speed; first by jogging. The slow work docs actually produce -meed; then by a judicious mixture of fast and slow work. Practice putting on the speed required (a) to pass an opponent; (b) to pass an opponent in the final dash. Working with other middledistance men, practice the following:— JOO vards, gradually increasing pace; 200 yards flat out; 100 yards grading down’ again; (3) pace judgment; work through the training schedule with a stop-watch. The sense of pace may take two vears to acquire, but in the end it can lie secured to within a fifth of a second of what is wanted; (4) style; this is simply finding the most economical method of getting between two points. Many styles are foolish —swinging arms about, lurching along, wasting effort. Simply get relaxed and comfortable. Cut down the back leg and arm movements. It is falacious to say that a long stride is best. The medium is the most economical, and there is also more control because the body is better balanced over the feet. In answer to a question. Lovelock said It did not matter where the arms were carried, so long as they were relaxed and comfortable.

Inter-club Meeting on Saturday. Fifteen events are on the programme for the Wellington centre’s first interclub meeting at the new Hataitai Park, to be held on Saturday. The first event is at 2.30 p.m.. The programme is as follows :—1 mile cvcle handicap ; 7t> yards handicap: 75 yards women’s handicap; 75 yards junior handicap; SSO yards handicap; 1 mile walk handicap; broad jump handicap; shot putt handicap; 2 mile cycle handicap; medley relay (post entry) ; boys’ sack race handicap (post entry) : girls’ race handicap (post entry) ; high jump handicap; men’s sack race handicap (post entry) ; women’s relay.

Entries for Johnsonville. Entries for the Johnsonville meeting on Saturday, November 28, close at James Smith’s, or with Mr. A. C. Kitto, Friday. Cycling races are included on the programme. and a special attraction for athletes is a cup presented by the Johnsonville R.S.A. for the competitor gaining most points.

Kiwi Club. _ Last Wednesday week the Kiwi A.A.C. held an “opening night” at the new ground at Hataitai. This is the first time such a function has been attempted by the club, and it proved highly successful. The main i<l£ a was to bring all the members together and give new and jun’or members the chance of becoming acquainted with their officials and fellowKiwi. The chairman of the mangemeiit committee. Mr. M. B. Furlong, outlined the club's activities, and exhorted new members to help maintain the high standard of club spirit achieved by the club. Talks on training were given by the club captain, Mr. J. Gilmore, and the coach, Mr. E. M. Watson. A number of novelty events under the floodlights, in which all present took part, concluded a very successful gathering. There was an attendance of approximately 40 members, which augurs well for a keen season. The club has this year enrolled 25 new members, and is out to gain a high place on the championship ladder.