On the Track

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 139, 9 December 1922, Page 14

On the Track

(By " Sprinter.")

ATHLETES ACTIVE

MUCH KEENNESS BEING SHOWN

LADIES OFF THE MAB-K.

COMING EVENTS.

December ll—Evening Meeting, Athletic "F.S. Club. December 18—Evening'Meeting, Caledonian Society. December"^'and 27—Caledonian Sports Gath- , ./ ering. December 20—Sports at Mangatninoka. December 30—American team arrives in Wei- .; lingtoß, . . ' . • ' '" ".■ .January I—Meeting at Paraparaurau.- ---■ January I—Meeting at Masterton. . ' January. 2—Slauriceville Sports. ' ; January 6—Americans compute at Wellington ; January 13—Athletic F.S. Club, Athletic "Park. January 22 —Meeting at levin. January 22—Meeting at Hasterton. January 22—Meeting at Wanganui.

An unusual amount of activity among athletes Was apparent during the week, mainly in the way of preparation for to-day's big meeting, in which performances will furnish the first real indication of the strength of opposition that this centre can provide against the invasion of the Americans.' Young athletes are coming out in increasing numbers, and they aro doing sufficiently well to niako tho experienced men of the (rack realise that they will have to look to the laurels and settle down in earnest to ' the business that will help to keep them in tho front division. The scheme for coaching has been taken up enthusiastically,' and as the result of a meeting of those interested, to have been held at the Basin Reserve after tho sports meeting to-day,. it is expected that the ■ services of quite a number of competent men will be available without delay—men who are very keei> to assist in the advancement of "the sport. Among them is "Jimmy 'Wilton, one of the finest quarter-milers ' that New Zealand has produced. He is t now on the retired list so far as running is concerned, but his book of knowledge, bnlarged by his experiences with the New Zealand Army athletic team, is open to all who are willing to learn, and from it a lot of good should result. The . same may be said of those enthusiasts who were mentioned in last week's notes, and of others who have expressed their willingness to assist in that department ''■ of the sport which has been so long neglected—coaching. Increasing interest on the part of tlie public has also; been very marked, particularly, ia the attendances at the evening meetings. Amateur " athletics give (hem what they are seeking during the summer months, and all that-the local officials can supply in the way of sports meetings will be welcomed. The centre has already mapped out a good' programme, and it is to be hoped that nothing will be encountered to prevent it being carried out in full. Final , arrangements' for the visit of the Americans are now being made. That is the j outstanding event of/ quite a number al- i ready in store. ' ■ j Not the least impprtant of the special attractions is the appearance of ladies on'the running track. The members of the newly-formed ladies' branch of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club have j been so keen that'to meet -with their demands for a race the club had to provide an event' for them at this weok's evening meeting.- Although this was .done at short notice'there were eight, ladies on the mark, all of them attired in a type r of gymnasium costume, neat in design iind attractive in appearance, and all of them of fine athletic stamp. One oE the number wore spiked shoes, and in her action on the mark and in the sprint ■ -was equally as good as' that of many ! of the male sprinters. Needless to say . that competitor won the race, but the others, without the running shoes, kept in close attendance with her. From these, and numerous other young ladies • who are coming forward to test their athletic ability, Wellington should be able to, include in its amateur athletic records some performances that will compare very favourably with those of the lady athletes who recently competed at the Women's Olympic Game 3.

NOTES ATSHD COMMENTS. H. X Wilson was a competitor at their week's evening meeting, but he had little opportunity of appearing at his best. In a 50yds dash"he just failed to reach. Malmanche to whom lie was conceding two yards, and in the final he could not .' cci up amongthe placed 'division^ The. ('hurdles" champion also had a run in the 300 yds handicap, but was apparently out to find his stride for to-day's meeting. By the time the Americans arrive he should "be at the top of his form, ■as he now appears to, lack notmng an condition, and.!he has'secured the services of 'a''good trainer.' in Rawlinson. "Wilson may also have the assistance oF F. Juno, the maD who was largely responsible for the flue performances of the New- Zealand Army athletic team. That enthusiast is now in' Wellington,, and was. present at the last evening meeting. If Mr. Juno can spare ■ the time he would be'a very valuable adcl'ition to .the ranks of' those rten who 'ara taking up dxity as. coaches under, the scheme- brought forward by Mr. 'S. Hall. Among the new . runners at • the Wel r ' lington Club's evening, meeting, v/ae H. H. Higgins, and he' signalled hia first | f appearance by;easily annexing the 60yds race aiid winning"'a. heat of the 300 yds h.andic3p just as comfortably. His time in the .fin'al| of the 50yds was 5 1-Ssec, but he started from the Syds mark. The handicapped is bound to writ© him, ; down as a back-marker. . ! L. C. Elliott is shaping very well, and on Monday he was placed. in'both the sprint events. He should not 'be long ill breasting the tdpe in a final. L. Richardson and. H. . Malmanche are.a pair of sprinters' who will'do .1 big;,, share .towards making contests, keen during the season. There is not much ijetween them, and H. Wilkins can also claim to bo. nearly on a- par with thorn.. B. Poutaiwert:; is on. the improve, and should do well in handicap sprints. C. fiowe has not, shown a return of his form last season, but he ie _ apparently not overdoing matters at this early, stage;-a little- improvement, on Monday evening's effort would have found him inithe placings to-day. If H. • Underfill!, who, in the., writer, s opinion, ran third to F. S. Hill on Monday, and who finished fourth in the final of tha ■ 50yds, can be tfftert in hand by a competent coach he .will..develop into a fine sprinter. Coaching on sound lines will also bring C. N. Louis to the front ranks of local athletes. L. A. Tracy is improving ©very day, and George Davidson, if his health is good enough this season, will have to do his best whon the championships como along 1, particularly in the furlong. It was noticeable in the 300 yds handicap on Monday evening that a number of the .competitors were not " all out." ,The handica-pper is too old an athlete to be misled by such form. The Wellington Club followed the. successes of the other clubs which have ccn'ducted evening meetings this seasonideal weather (the sport has been most fortunate in this respect), excellent entries teen competition and a largo attendance." The usual band of energetic officials were present. .', X M. Griffen made a surprisingly good slewing in tbe mile oyenfc on Monday evening, and before half tho distance has been covered 'he looked all over- a • winner:: Moore, Barclay, arid M Kinlay were alao started from the scratch Rark.'bnMiej.-cpuld not mea«rure strides

with Griffen, who gathered in the last of 1 the handicap men a furlong from the tape and ran home an easy winner in tho splendid time of 4min 36 l-ssec. Moore, and Barclay are not; doing as well as expected so far this season. R. Hideling is coining into the limelight aa a distance runner, running very well on Monday when he ran second to Griffen. Others showing up are: Bowler. M'Oormiclc, Hose, E. Rose, and Austin.

It was surprising to find Tunnington among the>milers on, Monday, but perhaps he was only out'for a gallop. Peter Munro, Australasian champion and record-holder at putting the shot, started the season this week by sending the weight 43ft lin, under conditions which were not of the best. D. Brown, with a handicap of 6ft, just managed to beat the. champion by a couple of inches. ' ' .

M'Aliken, of the Otagb 'Varsity, has returned to Hamilton, and is expected to be a competitor at meetings in which the Americans will appear. , Results of the South Sydney Club's recent championship events were:—44o yds, K. Rowling, 54isec; running high jump, A. W. Winter, sft 6in; running hop, step, and jump, A. W. Winter, 45ft lOiu; throwing the javelin, W. F. Payne, 152 ft s^in; mile walk, R. G. Paice, 7min 47see; and three mile 3 run, F. Guider, 15min 41 l-ssec. The outstanding features were the defeat of M. J. Mackenzie (the N.S.W. cross-country champion) by Guider in the three miles run, and tha victory of .K. Rowling •in the quartermile, in which R. E. White was second and T. H. Ferguson (440 yds champion of Queensland) third.

In tho Botany Harriers' four test events the most notable feature was' a doad-heai in the 880 yds between H. R. Turner (State champion) and H. S. Grandemango in 2min ssec. J. JL. Hodgkinson won the 440 yds in 53 4-ssec, E. V. Bennett the 440 yds hurdles in 62 4-ssec, andF. Wilkes the running hop, step, and jump at 43ft sin. ' ?.

The annual report of the Christchurch St. Patrick's Sports Association, a copy of which has come to hand, discloses a very satisfactory result, of last season's activities, and shows the body-to be one of the most financial in the" Dominion. The total receipts were, excluding guarantors' money.—Season 1919-20, £452 9s lOd; season 1920-21, £670 ,19s 3d; season 1921-22, £989 18s Id. Tneso figures showed that the'association had the confidence 1 of' officials, competitors, and the public, and had filled a 'long-felt want in the alhletic life' in. Christchurch. The total receipts were £989 18s Id, and the expenditure £910 lls lid, leaving a balance 0f.£79 6s 2d to start the coming season with, total assets over liabilities being £244: 2s 2d. The. association was now on a sound footing, and the prospects for the coming season were the. brightest. Several offers of trophies had already been received. . Thanks were due to the number of men who again offered to act as guarantors to the extent of £1000, and to Mr. G. Ryan for donating'£2o to the general hind. One passage in the report states:—"We congratulate you on the success of the.annual^ sports meeting, which, without fear of contradiction; was one of the best ever held in New Zealand, A record was established in the number of competitors, namely, 360, and the entries totalled 815.'' For the amateur events, large entries . had been re-.! ceived, and some, very fine running was ' witnessed, among the competitors being 0. H. Taylor, the Australasian champion. The secondary and primary school events showed 1 an increased entry, and keen rivalry was witnessed "between tbe various 5ch0015...., a . ;'. , „. i • " RELAY^RACING.' •; Relay racing is likely to be one of the most interesting 1 features of the various big sports meetings this season, and it is satisfactory to note that/.a good deal of attention is being paid to its development. This is not only noticeable in the open class of amateur athletics but also in the primaiy and secondary schools. Ability in the change-ove? ,of -the baton within the twenty yards allowed for -the; purpose will be one of the most,; important factors in the registration of'good performances, and that is the part of the race that should be.carefully studied and practised. It was unfortunate last season that New Zealand's opportunity of testing ability and speed' with' the Springboks was lost, but an idea ;of whatf will be required.of a New Zealand team when another chance comes of competing with outside 'countries is given by the remits'of the five American A.A.U. relay ; championships, which wore decided; at Newark under conditions that were not'very'^aYdurable. The results were as follow : — '

440 yds Relay (four. men, each to run 110yds).—Won- by New York A.C. in 43 3-lOsec. \ ' .. :

SBoyds Relay (four men, each to run 220yds).—Won by the Meadowbrook A.C. .'(Philadelphia), in lmin 29sec.;; . ;• One Mile Relay (four men, each to run 440yds).—Won by New York; A.C.,- in Smin 21sec. ... ; .. . . ...'., ...i „ Two Miles Relay (four men, each to run 88Qydsy—Wod by New York A.C, in 7min 57' 2-ssec. • . • ,

Dour Miles -Relay-(four, men, «ach to run one mile). —Won by Boston Athletic Association, in 18min 42sec. When here early in the year, the South African team established records for this.part of the world a,t two of'the above 'distances (states "Argus" in, the ''Sydney Referee"). "In, New Zealand the" Springbok team covered 440 yards' in 44 4-ssec, whilst in Sydney they' covered the mile in 3min 32 2-ssec, both being "straigh*" and not "medley" ' relays. Incidentally, an average of 60isec per man, on a Tain-soaked track, is fairly hot travelling—and the New Yorkers did this in the mile relay.

U.S.A. CHAMPIONSHIPS. A notable absentee from the Senior National Championships' of' the A.A.TJ. of U.S.A.: a* Newark was C. J. Paddock. A complete list of the results has come to hand, and is as follows: —• 100 YaTds.— R. M'Allister (New York Pdlics). Time, lOsec. 220 Yards.—J. A. Le Coney (Lafayette University). Time, 22 1-lOsec. 440 Yards.—J.. W. D'riscoll (Boston A.A.), 49 1-IOsBC. 880 Yards.—A. B. Heiffrioh (New York-A.C). Time, lmin 56 3-10 sec. Milk—Jbie". Ray (Illinois A.C.), 4min ITsoc/ ' ■ "Five •Miles.—R. E. Johnson (Pitts'burg), 25min 33sec. , Three Miles Walk.-^-W. Plant (Morningside A.C.), 21min 50 1-lOsec. 120 Yards Hurdles.—Earl J. Thomson (Los Angeles A.C.), 15 3-10 sec. 220 Yards Low (2ft 6in) Hurdles.—J. C. Taylor (New York A.C.), 24 3-ssec. Eunning Broad Jump;—D. Hubbart (Cincinnati Gym. and A.C.), 24ft 5 l-Bin. P.unning High Jump,—D. Y. Alberts (Chicago A.A.) and Harold M. Osborne (Illinois A.C.) tied at 6ft 5 l-Bin. Alberts won the jump-off. ■ ' Pole Vauli^E. Knourek (Illinois A.C.) and R. Spearrow (Multnomah A.A.C.) tied at 13ft. Knourek won the jump-off. Eunning Hop, Step, and Jump.—D. Hubbard (Cincinnati Gym. and A.C), 43ft liin. i ■ Putting 161b Shot.—P. J. M'Donald (New York A.C), 46ft 11 7-Bin. .Throwing 561b % Weight.—M. 1 J. M'Grath (New York), 35ft lOin. Throwing 161b Hammer. —M. J. M'Grath, 155H 9in. • Throwing the Discus,—A. R. Pope (Multinomah A.C), 145 ft llin. Throwing "thu Javelin.—X Hanner (Stanford University). 193 ft, 2^in.