ATHLETIC TITLES

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 143, 14 March 1938, Page 14

ATHLETIC TITLES

N.Z. Championship Meeting SECOND DAY RESULTS Canterbury Competitors Excel Dominion Special Service. Christchurch, March 13. Two wins and five second places were the total of Wellington’s successes at the jubilee amateur athletic championships ol New Zealand on the Lancaster Park oval yesterday. Wellington won the interprovincial relay w T ith an easy victory over Auckland and regained _the high jump title, G. Hunter clearing sft. Ilin. The Canterbury athletes exceeded all expectations, taking points in almost every event and winning the interprovincial shield with 40 to Otago s 31, with Auckland third and Wellington fourth. The meeting was notable for the evenly balanced competition, in which every province took part, and for the good, though not brilliant, standard of the performances. The exceptionally heavy season through which the champions have come of necessity robbed the meeting ot some of its highlights. Having trained to the peak of their form three months ago in competition for places in the Empire Games team and having travelled to Sydney and put everything they had into their efforts there, the leading athletes came to the championships rather as an anti-climax. That is probably why no record was broken on the track. It may also explain the, defeat of several titleholders. , . ■ The Lancaster Park oval was in good order but not fast. The afternoon was warm and fine, with brilliant sunshine. A north-east breeze blew against the sprinters. The display and ceremony that seems inevitably to be finding its way into New Zealand athletics was associated with the opening of the meeting. The teams marched round the arena in formation, following the band of the First Canterbury Regiment, and came smartly to attention opposite the main stand, then C. H. Matthews, the Canterbury captain and Empire champion, advanced to the microphone and, holding hie arm aloft in the fashion of the Nazi salute, recited an oath in the name of the King-Emperor pledging the athletes to compete for the glory of the sport and the provinces. The only ceremonial feature missing was the liberation of thousands of pigeons. This softening note after the military atmosphere of the march past and oath-taking was a notable success when introduced at Dunedin in 1935. Bowie Below Form. The athletes having been dismissed from the parade, Mr. H. I. Austad, chairman of the council of the Amateur Athletic Association, declared the programme open, and the hurdlers got down to the business of the meeting. P. F. Bowie, Auckland, holder of the 120 yards title, failed to find his true form, and was hard pressed by the young Canterbury champion, C. K. Bradwell. Bowie won by half a yard in 15 4-5. In the 220 yards hurdles Bradwell * entered the straight with a clear lead from Bowie, and carried on to win in 26sec. by half a yard. J. Hamilton (Wellington) cut Bowie out of second place. The sprints were expected to settle several arguments. G. Quinn (Hawke s Bay-Poverty Bay), the Empire Games representative, was too fast for the titleholder, W. J. Fitzsimmons (Hawke’s Bay). Quinn was definitely on top of the field, though his one-foot victory might not suggest it. Only a movie camera can finally decide, whether G. C. Gordon (Canterbury) beat Fitzsimmons into second place. The judges said he did, but photographs suggest he did not. Quinn's time, 10 2-ssec., was below the usual standard, but the race was run into the wind, and Quinn was still feeling the effects of a muscle damaged, in Sydney. In the 220 yards he was again champion, but was hard pushed by the Wellington candidate, C. Robinson. These two broke away from the field and fought out the finish, of which Quinn got the better by one foot. Fitzsimmons was two yards away third. . The crowd greeted the arrival of the quarter-mile. contest with anticipation of a good race, and nobody was disappointed. The Empire Games representative, H. J. Tyrie, led the field away at. furlong, speed for the first half of the journey. These tactics, learned at Sydney, are likely to build him into a record-breaking quar-ter-miler if he can develop a sustained finish, but on Saturday he was unable to do so. When the Aucklander M. C. Baker ranged alongside him in the straight, he was lacking in the finishing effort required of a . champion, lhe Aucklander in a desperate battle got to the tape inches ahead. Baker ran a solid race and scored a victory full of merit. C V. Evans (West Coast, North Island), ran third, 12 yards back. Baker's time, 49 4-ssec..was one of the best recorded at the meeting. Unusual Half Mile. The half mile was an unusual race. The Canterbury man, C. Cameron, went to the front from the gun and set a hot pace over the early stages. Then O. Waters, the Canterbury mile champion, dashed to the front at the bell at a pace which he obviously could not maintain. V. P. Boot, Empire champion, meanwhile was holding his place in the middle of the bunched field, but down the back straight he opened out his familiar big, powerful stride and went away from the rest of the runners to carry on with a determined effort down the straight and record 1.51 2-5. Evans emerged from the ruck round the back bend in a manner reminiscent of his old record-breaking runs to take second place, 15 yards away. McLachlan, the Otago champion, was third. C. H. Matthews steadily unwound clockwork speed in the three miles to record ,the time of 14.27 2-5. A popular feature of the race was the performance of E. J. Johnston -(Canterbury),'a former Otago cross-country representative, who finished second and recorded 14.53.

The 440 yards hurdles was a triumph for the Canterbury Empire Games representative, A. T. Anderson. Though neither was at his best, both Anderson and the Aucklander, 11. D. Ball, were in good form. Anderson came round the last bend with a clear.lead from Ball and held on to it to finish well and win by half a yard in the time of 55 4-5. A. A. Cameron (Otago) was not quite at the top of his form, but scored a safe victory in the-hop, step and jump with 46ft. lin.

Cameron took second place to M. R. Spillane in the hammer throw. Spillane improved upon his own best New Zealander’s performance with a throw it 157 ft. Ilin.

D. Herman, the young Canterbury champion, excelled himself in the shot putt, beating the title-holder, K. Guy (Wellington) by one inch, the distance being 40ft. 9jin. The High Jump.

Tlie high jump reached a greater height than usual. G. Hunter (Wellington) took the title at sft. Ilin., failing at Oft. The spectators enjoyed the contest between the dark-skinned Otago representative L. Vosailagi and the Hawke’s Bay field champion E. Phillips. Both cleared sft. lOin.

Two Aucklanders, C. P. Clegg and D. Gillespie, took charge of the javelin contest. Clegg won with 100 ft.. sin. Boot strained a muscle in his foot warming up and it developed more painfully after the half-mile, preventing him from running in the relay. This deprived Canterbury of the victory that had been confidently expected. Wellington was given a handsome lead by C. Robinson tjver the quarter-mile and carried on to win comfortably from Auckland aiid Canterbury. The Wellington team was Robinson, J. Eastwood, J. Sutherland and T. MeCai'hin Boot has been obliged to cancel all bis remaining fixtures this season. Miss K. Cullinan regained the national

100yds. women’s title she won at Wellington four years ago, getting the advantage by inches from the brilliant Canterbury runner, Miss S. Oliphant, and the Empire Games representative, Miss D. Lumley (Auckland). Miss Callinan s time was 11 3-ssec. Miss Oliphant was undoubtedly the most impressive of the women athletes. In the 90yds. hurdles she attracted attention with her powerful striding, easily beating Miss R. Tong (Hawke's Bay), the New Zealand representative who was third at the Empire Games. Miss Oliphant's time was 13 l-ssec. Detailed results (by Press Association) are as follows: — INTERPROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD. <» Canterbury. 40 points 1 Otago, 31 poiuts - Auckland. 2<> points ..... 3 Wellington, 20 points, 4; Hawkes Buy. Id points, 5; West Coast (North Island). 7 points, 6. QUEENSLAND SHIELD. Most Points in Standards. Canterbury 1 Otago 2 PARADE OF ATHLETES (SPEIGHT ' CUP). Canterbury. 91J points I Auckland, 914 points t Wellington, S9i points ’ JDead-lieat for first. Canterbury and Auckland will jointly hold 'the Speight Cup. Women’s Championships. 100 YARDS. First heat: D. Lumley (Otago). 1; S. Oliphant (Canterbury), 2; B. Crampton (Wellington), 3. Time, 11 4-5. Second beat: K. Cullinan (Canterbury), 1: V. Rollerton (West Coast), 2; S. Krel't (Canterbury), 3. Time, 11 4-5. Final. K. Cullinan 1 S- Oliphant - D. Lumley : 7 Won by Inches, with the third two feet away. Time, 11 3-5. , 400 YARDS RELAY. (Four JlO Yards.) Canterbury (K. Cullinan. D. Strachan, S. Oliphant, L. Brooks) 1 Auckland 2 Otago o Time, 50 4-5. Won by eight yards. 90 YARDS WOMEN'S HURDLES. S. Oliphant (Canterbury) 1 R. Tong (Hawke’s Buy) 2 E. R. Munro (Auckland) 3 Won by two feet, with the third a yard back. Time, 13 1-5. Men’s Championships. ' 120 YARDS HURDLES. P. T. Bowie (Auckland) 1 C. R. Bradwell (Canterbury) 2 L. C. Woodward (Wellington) 3 Won by 18in. Woodward was live yards back. 100 YARDS. V G. Quinn (Hawke's Bay) 1 G. C. Gordon (Canterbury) ............ 2 W. J. Fitzsimmons (Hawke's' , Bay) ... 3 Time, 10 2-5. Eighteen inches only separated the first three men. 220 YARDS HURDLES. C. R. Bradwell (Canterbury) 1 J. Hamilton (Wellington) 2 P. T. Bowie (Auckland) 3 Time, 20. Won by 18 inches. 220 YARDS. G. Quinn (Hawke's Bay) 1 C. Robinson (Wellington) 2 W. J. Fitzsimmons (Hawke’s Bay) .... 3 Time, 22 3-5. Won by a foot, with Fitzsimmons two yards back. 880 YARDS. V. P. Boot (Canterbury) 1 ! C. V. Evans (West Coast, North Island) 2 i 11. McLachlan (Otago) 3 i Time, 1,54 2-5. Boot won with comparative ease. Cameron (Canterbury) went to the lead from the ’ gun and .started in the manner of a 100 ’ yards sprinter. He made the pace hot for : the first lap, but Boot, with a beautiful i easy action, swung along in fifth posii tlon. Coming out of the straight for the , last lap, Boot made a fast, burst to run t into second position behind Cameron. Boot stayed there until about 300 yards from 5 home. Then he opened out. So did C. V. 1 Evans (West Coast, North Island), who > made a bold bid to follow the champion ; home. 440 YARDS. . M. C. Baker (Auckland) 1 , H. J, Tyrie (Otago) 2 ; C. V. Evans (West Coast. North Island) 3 L Time, 49 4-5. Baket won by six inches, ! beating Tyrie over the last few strides. ) 440 YARDS HURDLES. > A. T. Anderson (Canterbury) 1 ; H. D. Ball (Auckland) 2 L J. Hamilton (Wellington) 3 Time. 54 4-5. Won by a yard. ; . PUTTING THE SHOT. ■ D. Herman (Canterbury). 40ft. 9Jin. .. 1 ’ K. Guy (Wellington), 40ft. SSin 2 - J. N. Stewart (Otago), 39ft. 3lin 3 ! ONE MILE WALK. • R J. Watson (Otago) 1 ■ D. Kingston. (Hawke’s Bay) 2 ; F. W. Dukes (Canterbury) 3 ) Time, 0.59.' Won by 10 yards, with Dukes , well back. 1 HIGH JUMP. • G Hunter (Wellington) oft. Ilin 1 , E. Phillips (Hawke's Bay), sft. lOin, ... 2 L. Vosailagi (Otago), sft. lOin 3 l Hunter failed at Oft. Phillips and Vosailagi both failed at sft. lOin..- and Phillips won the jump-off. THROWING THE JAVELIN. 5 C P. Clegg (Auckland), d9ot't. sin 1 1 D. Gillespie (Auckland), 178 ft. 4111. 2 i L. Pearson (Canterbury), 163 ft. 3in 3 > THREE MILES. ’ C. H. Matthews (Canterbury) 1 3 E. J. Johnston (Canterbury) 2 , Time, 14.27 2-5. The only men to finish. - Matthews won by 200 yards. I A deep roar, of applause came from the crowd as Matthews, double winner at the Empire Games, made a great sprint up the 3 straight to win the three-mile ehampion- - ship with the greatest ease. Three only - started in the event, A. Dare taking the I lead from E. J. Johnston and Matthews. . With ten laps to go Matthews went to the ' front and gradually increased his lead. ’■ He covered the first mile in 4min. 47sec. 0 and was swinging along with perfect :- rhythm. Dare had pulled out,in the eighth [ lap. Matthews increased his lead all the ■_ time. He covered two miles in 9min. 23sec. j In the last lap Matthews increased his a stride and raced up the straight to win by •' I 150 yards from Johnston, who was also f given a warm reception as lie finished. The " time was comparatively slow. " ONE MILE MEDLEY RELAY. h Wellington (J. Eastwood. C. Robinson, ■- J. Sutherland, T. McCashin) ! 1 i- Auckland ; d Canterbury .••••• ’j””,.? ,i Time, 3.3* 1-5. Won by five yards, with J inches separating second and third. O HOP, STEP AND JUMP. n A. A Cameron (Otago). 4flft. lin. ..... 1 » H. W. Wilkins (Canterbury). 44ft. IOJIu. 2 ~ E. Phillips (Hawke’s Bay), 44ft. Bin. .. 3 9 THROWING THE HAMMER. , M. R. Spillane (Otago) 1 A. A. Cameron (Otago) J e H. Cloak (Canterbury) 6 i- Distances: 157 ft. Ilin., 127 ft.. 103 ft. 3in. if Spillane’s throw was 2ft. 4Jin. better than tlie best New Zealanders performance, which he himself established at Dun- ■; edin last year.