On the Track

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 23, 27 January 1923, Page 14

On the Track

DAY,

JPOSTPONEMENT AT MASTERTON

JQE&B3C&N& A3* iWASTCS-ANXJI.

comma events.

Jaiwa^'27— ■Americans at Gisbome. . . February a—Americans at Auckland. Febnaty 7—Americans at HamUtoa. Tebruaty 10—Americans at Palmerston North. Febrnaiy 10—Meeting at Masterton. February 14—Americana at v New Plymouth. ■Febrainy 2*-New Zealand 1 Championships, at W-efficgton. Aajecteans at Auckiand. .

(Br M-SEBarm},"}

locfte two important meetings in the

{Wellington district on Anniversary Day,",

*£felates, .officials, and public were subjected to much, disappointment on-ac-■cotiafc of the unfavourable weather. Conditioms mas to bad in the Wairarapa ihat the Masterton meeting, which had Attracted a particularly good, ejrtry from Wellington athletes (Including members pf the ladies' branch of the Wellington , Amateur Athletic Club), was called off. The decision coald not have been other-wise,-and it was most unfortunate for the officials in the Wairarapa, who bad done, everything possible to make the gathering one of the most successful held in the snl>centra. The Wellington party, numbering .about tbirty, left, town by the early morning train, and was keenly aisappointed to find on arrival" a^Masterton that the weather was so bad as to necessitate a postponement. The trip, however, was not without enjoyment, as the Masterton enthusiasts set therdselves out to partially compensate the'visitors for the disappointing announcement that greeted them" at the end of the train journey. The* stay' of several hours in Masterton was made very enjoyable by the provision of a dinner and a dance, 1 and those who^made the trip had little cause for regret. All speak highly of the hospitable manner in which they^were 'treated by the" Masterton people. .'lt is probable thit the meeting will be held on; 10th February. - - Conditions at Wanganui, where the Americans were fulfilling their third engagement of the tour, were. most unpleasant.'; From .Sunday. evening until noon on" Monday rain fell without intermission, but there was, a break early in the afternoon, only, to be followed by further rain showers at intervals during the remainder of the day. As a result, the sports were not concluded until, aboat i 6.30 p.m. There was an attendance of about 1000. ' . Commenting upon the Americans' performances, the "Wanganui ' Herald" states:—The running track -was very soft, and record-breaking performances ■were out of the question, but some remarkably fine running was witnessed. M; Kirksey, the crack American spririter, was in splendid form, and he won the 100 ysrds, 220 yards, and 75 yards special race, giving away good starts in each case. He was clocked to run the 100 yards both' in his heat and the final in 10 l-ssec—great running on the sodden track, and he must have done a tit better than evens had the conditions been favourable to fast time. ,'He got tome by .inches only, in the 100 yards ifrom G. H. Weir, -who had 5i yards, and' ran exceptionally well, the soft going suiting his short strides. In the ' 220 yards final, Kifksey was np w^th the limit men 40 yards from the tape and ■won nicely from ■C. Gardiner, off 19 yards, in 23sec. In the 75 yards special race,' the Bpeedy American put in a fine ' bit of sprinting, his finishing effort being ■- a brilliant one, and he beat G. H. Weir, who had 34 yards, by a foot or so. It may be said that Kirksey ran up to his reputation as one of the world's greatest sprinters, and if the weather had remained fine; would have put up some wonderful times. C. Krogness won the long jumpi with a leap of 22ft l^in, "but in:>the high jumg,-could«*rfot manage the sft ljin which h.e was set to do to win, ': th© greasy state of the track being , against him. In the 120 yards iiurdles .he ran a'particularly flne.crace, but just failed, by: inches only, /to concede .16 yards'to Fred Packer (who also had one 1 hurdle less to.jump). Krogness was a 'couple of yards away "at'the 1 last hurdle, bat then came with a , rattle, Packer finished stronglyj' however, and got. the. vefaict'by iiiehes ohlyr 'The time recorded was 15 4-Ssec, so that Krogness must have done equal to 1£ 'yards better than 16sec on .the sodden track—a performance of hinh -class. He must have done about 15 T-ssec had the conditions been favourable. The greasy state of the ground handicapped J. W. Merchant.m the field events, and he could, not. Jget near his best performances at. shot-put-ting or , javelin-throwing, though he threw, tbjs hammer 154 ft sin,';conceding a start of 70ft to P. Norris and 60ft to J.. ' Dillon. In the shot-patting his best ef- " fort'was 42ft 3iin, and lie was beaten by J Billon, who did,3sft 6in and had a handicap of .10ft. At Wellington Merchant •'threw the javelinMsoft 2in, but'jyester-' V -dayXcould not do- better than 13<Wt 6m, and; consequently failed to .get a^ place, - G Walker,«witfc :a thro^ 'of.' 101ft.:-10jn <; ; and 'a,himuicap;-:of 40f ;, tM.5| dJYent. "r ; * ;■ ■■ *": s^'i'-' '■*■*&*■' •/ '-■/■'" '-■■;' ■f. - The "troubles which\ have faCed" 'the New Zealand Council in connection with, the' touT -of the American -athletes have had a ; very pleasing'result for the WeilinHxm'' Centre, although the local, officials 1 are in no way. fcleasd at the action of other centres in, .cancelling tneir -applications for visits fr9m the Amen- ' "cans:- I'■'■ The council has -now decided, ' after-having endeavoured to'assist Otogo to the 'best of its. ability, to allocate the New Zealand championships to- Welling-. ' ton. The meeting is -to be held -on the, 24th February, and it will lie.one of the '• most important taken place in "' the Dominion, as the Australian champion,'Carr, and the Americans will be competing with New Zealand s best tal- - tent Wellington's '.' acceptance of the championships, and matters in connection ■"' with other local meetings, including the xrabyincial championships,, are to be considered at a meeting of-the centre on Monday evening. ■■„'■' "■■ '■ ; ■'■■■' '-" y ? Motif. "DAN":;MASON^:'.;' ■ ; 'i?ews,of ;"Dan"'li. Mifeon, one of the s . ■ ' finest middle-distance runners that New ■ . Zealand has produced, will be ol interest ,' to local athletes and enthusiasts. After - that'notable runner's return from active service some.three years ago, he has pot "foeen-seen or heard of as a-competitor on the track. As ho had run as a professional prior to the war, an effort was made'in .Wellington, Mr. "Dorrie" Leslie being one of the prime movers, to ha-Te Mason re-instated,; but there was a hitch, inithe; Negotiations,• and as ■&'■ result the New Zealand track'has-lost an athlete who was likely to be one of its . stars and probably a world-beater. Mason as still iri the-Dominion, and: there may yet be ~a-possibility of removing the. tjan. which las /cut oat three seasons from a. highly-promismg' career. / On "his per,- < 4 formances as a member of the.New Zealand Army Service team, Mason, would i ibe a worthy representative of. New Zealand at the Olympic Games. J ' - The Auckland "Star,' referring to the iact that Mason was -in Auckland % last weekj. states -that, unfortrniatelyi very little' was seen of Mason by -Hfe -Dp- ■ . minion public. 'After.a couple of years' competition among, tHe "prOB" of the Dominion, he joined;, the N.Z.EJF., and prwed himself in the first flight at "the , •various .eewice .and' inter-allied athletic

meetings held in the British Isles and on the Continent. Ma-son has a'remarkable record, and oat of forty odd starts was diefeatedi but twice, and he was twenty of his. first twenty-one races. He commenced rutftiing ■at Home early in ■1918, and on his first appearance at Stamford Bridge was liberally handicapped on a, 50yds mark. It was an easy thing for Mason, whose performance so impressed the handicappers that he never afterwards received a handicap. This, however, did not prevent him from winning event after event from a quarter of a mile to a mile. Mason's pet distance was the half-mile, ■ and it is doubtful if any other New Zealander has a better list of performances than him over this distance. In 23 starts over the distance he was defeated but once and then by no less a celebrity than the British A.A.A. champion, 'A. G. • Hilly The time was lmin 57eec. Mason put" up excellent time, aad after aboat six months at'- Home could always be depended upon to break two minutes. His best time was lmin Sisec, which he. registered in defeating Hill at Stanford* and though the English.- champion {urned the tables on him in Scotland, Mason won the ace by defeating him a week later at-Celtic Park, Glasgow, in lmin 55 I-ssec, lowering the Scotch record by. 3-ssec.' "At Paris in July, 1919, he competed with distinction •at the .American. Interallied Olympic Games. He,, won his neat^ in the 1500 (metres'" and'"'his' heafc''*and 'final in' the 800 metres,: the final in lmin 55seo, which" broke.'the French record by a second...For this performance he received from the hands of the' Trench Premier a ■gold;'medal" and'a :sixty guinea chronometer watch from the Italian - Minister of War. .Two months later Mason represented the Army. • against the Navy' and Air. Force, at inter-service sports, and he- won the quarter arid half-mile championships. > Apart from his defeat by Hill the only occasion .on which he was defeated was in '.a; quarter-mile, at Stamford at the American : British. Empire Service sports, when he' ran second in 50sec. On the same day he: won the half and-mile, arid: only lost'the quarter by bad judgment, being beaten on the post after obtaining the lead. Though he was partial to the half, Mason ran some good mile races, his best time being 4min 2ftsec,-.which he registered when he won that event at the British International championship gathering at Stamford Bridge in September, 1918, beating the holder of the championship, A. H. Nichols.

.'On. his return from service ; Mason was approached to apply for reinstatement to -amateur circles) f<jf although he had been running amateur abroad he had incurred the professional stigma before he left the Dominion. There was some hitch over the matter, and Mason did not tender his papers to the N^Z.A.A.A.A. He has now retired from the traolt and is at present resident at Whangarei. Standing close on six feet, Maeon is a splendid type of athlete, and 18 still a' young man. " He_ speaks with pride of his trainer, Frederick Benjamin, who is now living in Auckland and would be an acquisition to' Auckland amateur circles. . "STILL GOING- STRONG." H. S. Alps, who has had an interesting career as a walker, and who is now well. .up. ,jn years, left Wellington this week for Ghristcimrch, to undertake a walking tour to "the West Coast and I back to Ghristchurch —another of his "stunts" in aid of the Blinded Soldiers. For: some time past, he 'has been, training' in Wellington, and bn many occasions, was to be seen out in the main roads leading to the city. ;He would journey out to, the - Upper Hutt or other towni ships by train, taking" just; sufficient I money to cover his expenses on the trip j out, and he would.return by road, walk- ! ing. the whole distance. It was when he: I was eight years | old that H. S. Alpe. fir3t became associated with the track, "and aa a schoolboy he won the walking championship at the school sports in Christchurch. When about twenty-two | -years of age he was in Hawera, and for" I somes years he won most of the two and ! three miles > Walking events. He was beaten on only two occasions, by Kerr at Eltbaiii, and by "Dorrie" Leslie at Wanganui.-. In 1887 he walked from Woodville to Wellington, covering 100 milas in 22hrs Msec—claimed as a record for New Zealand.. He also claims to be tlie holder of all New Zealand walking records from 5 miles to 10b miles. _£arvice with the Eighth New Zealand Contingent (to South Africa) and inline American Spanish War kept him away from New > Zealand. for some considerable time. In later years, after being J'turned down" for service in the Great War,' he was persuaded by old sporting friends in Christchurch ' to l try to break some of his previous records. Some of lis efforts we're;.as-follow: —1000 miles (cul'lecting £1000 on the journey* for Patriotic funds); five^-miles, 45min 45sec and 45min ;10 3-Ssec; three miles, 23min 10 3-ssec; fifty-four miles, 'llhrs llmin; ei^ht miles, lhr' 15 mm; eight miles (Wellington to Petone),; 72min "12sec;, fifty^four ..miles: (Ashburtg.n to Ohristchurch),' lOhrs Slmin; twenty-one'miles (Upper-Hutt to.Wellington),,3hrs 27min; twenty-two' miles (R-angiora "to Christ.chicrch), 3l!rs 30 mm; five miles, 45min "2 Wsec; thirty mile's <Ly]ttelton to Christchurch, via Sumner and New Brighton), 4hrs 31 Mm 7sec. Alpe wae unfortunate ■• ia losing many of his trophies ..won during his early ■ career. A number rof cups (including.three of gold) and gold,; and. siiver..'.meda.ls went down in the wreck.of the Coronui in the French Pass.. At that time he was serving on the vessel.' He was at one thne welWmown on the tracks in Wellington, Auckland, New, Plymouth, Hawera, Wanganui, -- Christchurch, and Dunedin. Among i his .potable successes were in 24 hour! walking contests with Scott, tho well-known ■ former champion, whom lie on several occasions. He also has the proud record of never having been warned or ordered off the track. In addition' to 'Walking' he has taken a keen interest ■ in ■ cricket and bowling, having won several prizes in the latter sport and having been skip of champion rinks. He was^a playing: member, of the .Kilbirnie Cricket Club 30 jears ago. - ) "ON,,1B:B WRONG s LINES."-Ilepresent-ation■ at the- next. Olympia Games, was an important item of business at'the.annual meeting of the Vjctorian'A.A: Association. Messrs. Parkinson and Ci'oll resigned as delegates to the Olympio Council, in order to op-en the way for discussion. In doing so, Mr. Parkinson inade'.it clear that he was opposed to Australian representation at the Games under existing conditions. Messrs. AKbott and Croll were elected to the vacant positions, after a ballot^ for which five candidates were nominated. They were instructed to see that a meeting pf the Olympic Council was called for. an early date,. and to urge that a representative team be chosen if material was available. The discussion brought* an interesting contribution from W. Murray, '.'ex-champion walker and runner, who has himself been a contestant at the Games. He declared that the V.A.A.A. was..working.on-wrong lines in the matter, _ and that the class of competition now being conducted was calculated to do ,no more than benefit the mediocre men and apt to make the good men betteri'- He advised class handicaps with short limits,' invitation scratch races, mid-. die distance events in which tile last man past, the'starting point in clch lap shall drop out, and more competitions for javelin and discus throwers, ajad field games- exponents generally. He saidthe motto should be: "Get tho men; the. money- wilj follpw..!i