ATHLETICS

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 60, 12 March 1927, Page 22

ATHLETICS

By • Sprinter.*

FURTHER PROGRESS

SPORT IN HAWKES BAY

SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS

- From all accounts it appears that amateur athletes have come back to their own again in Hawkes Bay. Clubs have set about the task of reviving the sport in the right manner, and and public interest has once more been aroused. Good assistance has been given by the Wellington Centre of the N.Z.A.A.A., and athletes from other parts of New Zealand, who have competed at various meetings in the Bay, have also helped the sport along.

A further advance in the progress of amateur athletics inHawkes Bay was made last week when at both Napier and Hastings very successful meetings were held. An evening gathering was held by the Hastings Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club on 4th March, when the presence of Wangaaui, Masterton, and other visiting competitors helped to create a great interest in the meeting. E. K. Eastwood and P. N. Bobinson, of Wellington, competed at the gathering. The crowd which attended was the largest seen a 1 a sports meeting- at Hastings for a long while. Among the visiting rt.imers, Newton, Eastwood, Gibbons, and Johnson all ran particularly well, the first-mentioned pair finishing first and second in the 440 yards handicap. Eastwood also gained second place off 2yds in the first heat of the 100 yards handicap, but was unplaced in the final. Johnson and Gibbons were second and third in the mile handicap to Eandolph Rose, of Masterton, who showed what a great runner he is by sprinting almost the whole of the last quarter, and then with a magnificent dash at the finish running home a winner by 3yds in time which, though not equal to Eose's best, has seldom been beaten in Hawkes Bay. Eose was not the only Masterton competitor to coyer himaelf with glory for T. Oakley, the champion cyclist trom that quarter, won both the one male and two miles cycling handicaps in great style, spreadeagling his field m the mile, and giving F. Grose, the ■New Zealand champion, three of four lengths start in the last lap of. the two miles and then beating him home by several lengths. There were several other meritorious performances. The Napier Meeting. Following the Hastings meeting the Napier Amateur Athletic Club staged an excellent gathering at M'Lean Park on Saturday afternoon. Here again visiting athletes played a prominent part. Besides Eandolph Eose, there were present T.Oakley, F. Grose, Eastwood, and Eobmson. Conditions, unfortunately, were not of the best for the meeting Dawn the track a strong breeze blew, and for the runners it was hard work battling against it. Boso found that lTw-r VT enn w"?,'. °Ut °U an attemPt t0 fnTrt ♦ Vs record of 9min 3°s°e for the two miles. Eose's effort under the conditions was a particularly fine 42 i * ° CiT-. rG B d th° distance in 9mi* 42 l-ssec, 12 l-ssec outside the record. 4560, 880 yards 2min 14 l-ssec, 1320 yards 3mm 27sec, one mile 4min 41 --oaec, 1* miles Gmin .Ooscc, 1} miles nnin losec, If miles Smin 30 2-ssec, and 2 miles 9min 42 l-sscc. Eoso also won the mile handicap in 4min 37sec. Oakley Rides Well. There were keen contests in the cycling events, Oak Joy and Grose having a great set to in the throe miles Oakley winning in a fine finish by a length and a half. Grose won the heat in the half-nulo cyclo, but was unplaced in the final. After half the distai.ee of the two-mile event had been covered Grose retired. By also winning Oakley carried off the M'Cluro Cup In making the presentation of the ?7\ f° lm Mason ' M.P., congratulated Oakley on his fino performance Eastwood participated in an inter estmg contest with a relay tow of a matTT 8- , -The, y WOr° »°*° than a match for him, however, and in -i keen struggle Miss Stevens, the final taSeV" th°r lay tCam > Wed tt* tape three yards in front of Eastwood HoXwei^T; 8 ' Ja"e ' H^ton, and ■tioyio woro the members of the relay Ife. tim° f°r th° 44° ™ « Gibbons's Disqualification. Concerning the mile race at the New Zealand championship meeting, in which C. Gibbons (Wanganui) finished first, but was subsequently disqualified "Arg? Si, t o 6 well"known athletic writer of the Sydney "Eeferee," makes the following note:—Tho rules state: When a claim of foul or interference is made the referee shall have the power to disqualify tho competitor who was at fault if he considers tho toul or inter! (renco intentional or due to culpable carelessness." A Press report before me states that there was no protest by Savidan, and that tho bump was neither intentional nor due to care lessness—it is said to' have been an accidental collision between two spvore ly-run .men. I will make no further comment until fully primed with the facts, but may remark that here our referee in an exactly similar ease (with a protest lodged) some seasons back on the Sydney Cricket Ground, merely ordered the plaeings to be reversed; and again altered plaeings (also with a protest lodged) in a- somewhat similar case at the Sports Ground recently— both were happenings neither intentional nor due to culpable carelessness. Victorian Championships. Everyone was gratified at George Hyde's return to form. The crowd was thrilled a,t the brilliance of his finish in the three-mile championship. His time was 15min 18 2-ssi-c.

Although there was great applause for the Australasian mile and three-mile champion, one must give unstinted praise to the man who ran second. Jack White, the young Collingwood runner, has proved himself one of the gamest runners who ever stepped on to a track. White hung to the champion until 200 yards from home, despite the fact that he had been running in one shoe and. with a badly spiked foot. Boginning the last mile, White was accidentally spiked, and his shoe was torn off. The blood spurting from the wound bespattered Hyde's legs. W. ("Tickle") Whyte won the half-mile championship in 2rnin 1 3-ssec. The time was not out of the ordinary, but Whyte was never pressed and made his own pace in the heavy wind which was blowing early in the afternoon. We will never know just how good this runner is until we can find someone to push him in. a middle-distance event.