SPLENDID MEETING

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 22, 26 January 1924, Page 18

SPLENDID MEETING

i PppVINCiAL CHAMPIONSHIPS 1 :■"." ■-,-■." ■ ■

.AGENDA PAPER FOR CON

FERENCE,

'■'"■ COMISG EYESTS. |3anuary 28—Evening Meeting, Athletic Park. I,: (Athletic Club.) - ■ . , lebruary i— Evening Meeting, Kelburn Park. I - ('Varsity Club.) February 6' and 9^-Australasian Championships, ! ,-,-at Hobart. " |February 11—Evening Meeting, Athletic Park. , _ (Sehvyn club.) February 16—Afternoon Meeting, Dewar Shield . .-. Contest, Athletic Park.

(By " Spbdjteb.")

No overseas athletes were needed to Wake this season's Wellington provincial championship meeting a success. Amateur athletics make up sport that is very popular., with the public, and, .while champions from other countries are always welcomed {or the good they do for the sport and the good' things they provide oh the track and in the field, the faasis of amateur athletics in Wellington if. not in some.other places,,is so sound l»nd the enthusiasm so keen that from the.range of clubs attached to the WelUjngton Centre an array of athletes can ,ife<s found to provide a particularly attractive sports meeting. That was the (position as far as last Saturday's chamrpipnships, were concerned; the representatives of' clubs in all parts of' the idistrict made up a : strong and formid•|able contingent of performers. But lothers were also there—Charlie Taylor, (A. L. Lewis, and C. E. Ridgen, of Caniterbury, and D. E. Scott, of Hawera, (Their, presence made the championships .doubly attractive. . On.top of that ; the ■•weather, was almost at its best, and the ' Iground and. tracks were in excellent orlder.;> One other matter necessary for the ■eiiccess of the-gathering, was good man* .;a<?ement, and. the officials saw to it that i th.?X .^yere not. wanting; in fact, to use ithe words of an enthusiast who has folpowed the sport for many years, it was one :of .the best conducted meetings Itnat has ever taken place in Wellington. Athletic gatherings, if.the conditions, are .suitable, are usually well pat- . (ionised in Wellington, and the attendance on Saturday was quite good. To I a .visitor from Christchurch the patronjage was^rreye-opener. All credit is due ;to the Wellington Centre' for the suc|Ces ; ' Sj it-. : is achieving. Its officials are 'hard-grafters,.in the. interests of tlie _ ißßort, and so., long as officials of their type are. holding the reins amateur (.athletics-.will not look back. The performances as a whole kst'Sak ■nvday were well above the average, and jthereis not'the. slightest doubt that if ithe athletes here had the advantages in rtne .matter of instruction and training las are obtainable in America, this-coun° Hry would have little difficulty in mus(tenng.a team that would make its pre |EenQe,felt-m,a gathering, of athletes of jail nations,- The merit of the- per-formances,-last Saturday is,:well jfi ns _ grated, by, the number of standards rwhicb were equalled or bettered. The list is : as follows (the-standard beine (given in parentheses):—.''" * Three .Mile Walk(23min), S. G. M'lnrtpßh, ,32rnjn 52 2-ssec. . 120 Yards Hurdles (16sec), H. E Wilson, .losec.

* '" -P.- Brpwn 38ft, 9in 12frt 8^ g th*DiBCUS ( 120 ft)' P--'MM*o ■ i?&$U; dcT l^eo), -A, L. Lewis Ifsec,, ■■with. M. Lesdbetter and L A >lracy also beatjng 10 l-6wc. . 6 .P01e Vault (10ft 6in),G. Harvey, 10ft

v 13' and Jnm P (44ft) W. Wil-!<-sstc. { q)> L- A- Tracy -51 Jump- (21ft)/ W, Wilton 21ft ■The discus throw by Ifunro was betTh« .^Present Australasian record, .ahe,Wellington champion/however, is \l ii *+£■ aud he may B™d the discus (better than that in' the Australasian jchaonpionalup, next month. M'lntosh ,'ana ii.^A. Bose were not' bustled in the Avalks-and-long-distance runs rf. ;epect:velv. M'lntosh gave a fine display !«i walking, and he is probably the best :w have had.m that department of the leport since Kerr was champion. It i s unfortunate that the New Zealand Council after the selectors had specially named (M'lntosh as the New Zealand representative if a w.alker was to be sent to ;4.?bartj should have invited Otago to .sendM'Kenzie provided the bulk of the expense was covered. Mr. A. B SievT^h 7^ Dg j?dge' Sfcated ]ast"Satur- ; day that M'lntosh was as fair a walker as he .had seen for a long time. The i\ict?r?a College man would pass with 'f !r-f DM^ m ■ Au / Str? lia ' but it if doubtful if^MKenzie (unless his style has improved this season) Will be permitted to .ccc out the full journey. M'lntosh has .improved to such an extent that a New itTch TV™* > 8y Uot be ont of' hia a each. The same can be. said of R A. Eose m regard to distance running^ and had be been pressed on Saturday he xould no doubt have beaten the standard times. His capabilities were indicated at Masterton on Tuesday, when he covered a mile in 4min. a&c, but m doing <so he lonly gained third place. p»?i, ( c! ( °1 ot the day at Athletic rark last Saturday was in the 100 yards championship final. There had been a strong opinion that Leadbetter would be .good.enough towin, as he has been running splendidly this season. Tracy was given^ a chance if h e could get away smartly, but Leadbetter's most serious opponent was reckoned to be the Canterbury crack,- A. L. Lewis. The iiace proved that the reports about the Southerner were not exaggerated. After one break, an excellent start was effect- , e.<f', and Leadbetter soon obtained a slight lead. At halfway he was still in front, with Tracy and young Jenkins close up to Lewis. The last twenty yards saw Lewis, Leadbetter, and Tracy almost in a line, and the trio provided a_ finish that was almost as good as the1 Kirksey-Carr event on the same track Jast season. The Canterbury man jumped at the tape to win by an exceeding-ly-small margin from Leadbetter, and Jracy was only inches away. It was a great finish, and the time for the ract» was- only a fifth of a second off the Australasian and New Zealand record •which was equalled by Kirksey last year. Tracy did all that was expected of him in the 220 yards and 440 yards events, and in the latter ho ran with excellent judgment: The same could not be ;Baid of Ridgen,- the: Canterbury runner; who has been doing well this season., Kjdgen. cleared away at the start, and had a big break on the field, but; hefaded out at the business end, and finished ■ fourth.

short of work, C. H. Taylor gained-a'popular win in the half-mile event."-He held a good position throughout, andj wag* assisted by easy running over the first quarter. D. E. Scott, of H_aVo?!i,..was' gather disappointing, but his perfori?au«e in junning second in .the quarter hurdles suggested that he may haye.had a chance in the 440 flat had he- elected'td take part in that race.

H.-E.-Wilson was an easy winner in the hurdle events, but the time* regia-

tered by him will need to be improved upon at Hobart. Before the 440 yards hurdles event took place he had a foot spiked, but the injury, did not affeci him to any ■ extent. Two hurdles from home ha looked like being beaten, but he had tried the leader^ and was evidently satisfied that the final sprint would beat them.

Cycling was a special feature of the meeting, and it is again becoming a very popular branch of the sport. A couple of the events were marred by spills. "HaliMiler," of the Christchurch "Star," was .not impressed with, the cycling. He made the following comment: "The cycle races run on the grass served to introduce some rather amateurish, performers^ Pace-making as we know it- in Christchurch, \va3 a thing • apparently unknown to the riders there, and they raced in fits' and starts, and it was the hardest plodders—not those using judgment—who captured the various events. In the first heat of the'mile championship a peculiar accident occurred. At the turn out of the straight one of the competitors' tires flew right off, and he swerved... and fell. Immediately a second rider somersaulted right over him, and three other riders went flying over the top of the pair. One of them struck the fence fairly hard, .and badly bruised his arm and shoulder. There was only one other spill, a rather reckless rider coming to grief at the same spot in another event."

. -Outstanding among the lady athletes wae Miss Swinburne, who captured the title of champion- from Miss Dawson. Another young lady runner of much promise is i^iss Porter, who was right up with Misses Dawson and Jackson in the 100. yards championship. Miss Swinburne #howed a fine turn of speed over the last 50 yards, and won by a clear yard and a half in the good time of 12 1-5 sec.

CONFERENCE "BUSINESS.

The order paper for the eleventh conference of the Board of Control (Amateur Athletic Union of Australia and New Zealand), to be held at Hobart during the second week in February, and,at which New Zealand will be represented by Messrs. J. M'Holm .and H. E. Wilson, i§ of- considerable length, and indicates that the delegates will- have much to occupy their attention. The business will include consideration of the followr ing notices of motion from the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association :

(1.) That a;request from the New Zealand Council be submitted on the question of Australia v. New Zealand championships being held alternately in Australia and New Zealand every second year between ,teams representing the various States of Australia and a team representing New Zealand, and that the programme be limited to nine or ten events to be mutually arranged, the. cost of transporting the' visiting, teams to be borne by the visitors and not to be a charge against the meeting; these contests to take the place of the present Australasian championships. "^

[2.) That it. be a recommendation' to the Board of Control that where practicable the use of the word "Australasia" be discontinued m favour of the words "Australia and New Zealand."

The conference will be asked to confirm the following records passed by the executive:—Putting 161b shot, P. Munro, 46ft iin, at Christchurch, 10th December, 1921; 120 yds hurdles, 10 flights oft 6in, H. E. Wilson, 15 l-ssec, at Wanganui, 11th February, 1922; 220 yds flat, J. K. Ayres-Obsferlaak (South Africa), 21 4-ssec, at -Wellington, 25th February, 1922; 220y_ds flat, E. W. Carr, 21isec, at Adelaide, 2nd January, 1922; running broad jump, B. J. Honner, 23ft 8-iin, at Adelaide, 31st December, 1921; throwing the javelin, A. W. G. Reid, 173 ft s£in; at Adelaide, 31st December,'l92l; 220 yds flat, Morris. M, Kirksey (U.S.A.), 21 4-ssec, at Wellington, 24th Februai-y, 1923; throw'}?£c 1!?1^ hammer > J- W; Merchant (U.S.A.), 169 ft 9|in, at Wellington, 24th February, 1923; 220 yds flat, N. J. Grehan, 21 3-sEeo, at Brisbane, 18th August, 1923; throwing the javelin, E. G Sutherland, 172 ft lin, Christchurch 10th December, 1921. ■

Notices of motion have been given iy the.New South Wales Association as follow:—(1.) That it be a recommendation from this State that a running hop, step, aud jump be added to future Australasian programmes: (2.) that the racing laws of the A.A.U. oi. Australia and New Zealand be brought into line as'far as possible with the similar tews of the International Amateur Athletic Federation; (3.) that records over all distances and events as recognised by the International Amateur Athletic Federation be also recognised by the A.A.U. of Australia and New Zealand; (4.) that it is a recommendation that sleeveless jerseys be allowed-r^armlets, about nine inches.

Consideration will also be given to the question of reinstatements, in view of the new rule adopted by the International Amateur Athletic Federation.

NOTES. Athletes' who happen to .be at Eastbourne during the week-ends have an opportunity of getting in jumping pracuy. The local club has a pit prepared on the Recreation Ground, and it will be available for the season. .. '

At the Auckland championships last Saturday J. W. Shirley was credited with, breaking the New Zealand high jump record. In a special jump he cleared the bat at sft 9in. (That, however, is a good deal short of the New Zealand record, aa in 1911 L. H. Kelly, of Victoria, when- competing at the Basin Reserve, cleared 6ft 1 3-16 in, and since then E. G. Sutherland has made jumps of over 6ft 9in in New Zealand. Kelly's jump also stands as the Australasian record. The effort by Shirley was probably better than that which gained for nim the title of New Zealand champion. .

F. Ivesdale, formerly of Wanganui, who was reinstated some time ago. was a competitor at the Auckland meeting last Saturday, and annexed the 440 yards hurdles championship. N. J. Gribble led for half the distance, but Nesdale then established a lead and won by three yards in 63 2-ssec. In the half-mile flat Aesdale was third, and Prosser, of "Hamilton, failed to get a place. Gribble won the 120 yards hiirdlep in 16sec. George Davidson competed in the Auckland championships last Saturday, but was not in his right form. He was not expected to be at his best, as he had a leg spiked on Christmas Eve, and the wound had not properly healed. W. L. Elliott beat him by 'a foot in the hundred in 10 sl-ssec,' and the ex-cham-pion was unplaced in the furlong, ran in 24 l-ssec. Davidson intends to compete" in thd New Zealand championships at Dnnedin, and by the time they come along he will no doubt be in better form.

C. Nicholls; a former Wellington College boy, is still Auckland's leading walker. He won the two championship events last Saturday,, -b.ut the times were poor.

T. E. Henry, a Cambridge runner, of whom the American sprinter, Kirksey, spoke very well, performed creditably at Auckland last Saturday. rHe won the quarter in 52 4-ssec, and was a good second to O. F. Partridge, of Gisborne, in the 220 yards event. The victory to Partridge should give further encouragement to the enthusiastic band of officials who are looking after amateur athletics in the Poverty Bay district. The shot, hammer, and discus events at the Auckland championships went to A. . Bissett, who was formerly stationed in Wellington. ■ His winning effort with the shot^-39ft 64in—was only 2ft less than Munro's best at Athletic Park last Saturday,