ATHLETICS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 137, 6 December 1930, Page 22

ATHLETICS

By "EPRINTEB"

AMERICAN TRIO

MASTERTON MEETING

INVITATIONS TO CHAMPIONS

Centres, sub-centres, ■'■ and clubs all over- the country, judging from various reports the writer lias seen this week, have become, fully alive to tho" value of having at their sports meetings wellknown athletes from outside centres. A gdod lead in this direction, has always ■been given by the Wellington Centre, and now the controlling, authorities in other parts of the country —in the smaller districts particularly—appear to be following suit, and are hot on the scent of athletes to. be tho bright particular stars at their meetings. It can be taken as an encouraging sign, giving as it does- an indication that there is no lack of keenness among officials to make fixtures as' attractive) as possible and a success financially. First American Meeting. The Wairarapa Sub-centre is ono body that lias launched out, and if all the champions and other well-known athletes tho sub-con tro lias -invited or is considering inviting. descendl upon j:Masterton for. the.big meeting on "2nd j:January, when the American trio will be making their first appearance in JSfew'Zealand, there will be a wealth of j talent.' Invitations have been sent out jto E. A. Eose, J. W. Savidan, and D. Evans, and it is reported that the subcentro is.also keen to have 0. H. Jenkins, J. T. Fleming, Miss T. Kench, P. Brady (New Zealand high jump chamjpion), P. Munro, E. G. Sutherland, J. W. M'Hblm, G. Bayne, and other wellknown Wellington athletes, besides any cyclists who desire to. make the trip. I The officials are aiming at making the gathering equal to the best provided by metropolitan, centres, and given fine weather they should not be disappointed; : . Allo-wances Must Be Made. It does not seem likely that B. A. Rose will be a competitor, but probably the'majority of the others the sub-centre has in .mind will be there, aild the Americansiywill bump up against some hot-'.competition.. Their performances, shouia they fail to do just what is expected; of■ theni,. should not be .judged top •■.-critically.'..They should not be asked'-to-.db too much, not that the visitors, specialists in their • particular; events, will overdo things. The general public, though, are apt to expect champions to be able to deliver the goods at any time, but at the Masterton meeting it should be borne in mind that Simpson and his team mates will have been off the boat at Wellington only ; ten days, after almost three weeks at sea, arid it. should, also be realised that probably not one of the trio had any competition in the weeks immediately preceding his , departure, and that grass tracks probably will bo something new to them. . ,In justice to tho visitors allowances must be made. . . ... Big Programme. \ George Simpson is expected to compete in the 100 yards and 220 yards; and provision has been made for Bufus Kiser with as 880 yds and one mile event. Harlow Eothert will have the following field events from which to select: Throwing the javelin, hammer and discus, putting the shot, polo vault, ;high jump,,.long jump, and hop, step, and jumper v Oiher events on the . programmev:>yill.i;.bV '.a 440 yds flat,'.' three, miles, 75yds and ■lOOyds. ladies, '120 yds hurdles, 440 yds hurdles,- and 120 yd? flat for the Messenger Memorial Shield, at present held by C. H. Jenkins. The Arthur Williams Memorial Shield will be presented to the individual scoring most points in foot and field events. For this meeting and the country clubs' championships on Ist January, improvements are being made to the Park Oval track, which ai; present is under special top-dressing and fertiliser treatment. ■ ... 'Simpson, Kiser,-and Ebtliert are to leav.e\ San Francisco by the Monowai lon 24th December,, and are due in Wellington, on 12th', January. ' . :.. The .Old-Spirit. . '• ■'■'-'< Except in. one. event —the walk—entries .Were very much better for the evening meeting on Monday. The entries, were" gratifying, ana with a good programme—the best to date—and some splendid finishes, it was a. good" show, and it'seemed .that the Tspirit of .-.theevening meetings of former. days had. como back. ' '- ■■"- .-• >-. .-..• ■ ■The .finishes.in-the sprint, events gave a thrill. It.was a great sight to see about seven runners hit the. tape almost in a dead straight line in the .final of the 100 yards open handicap. ' The ladies' events and several-other events were .also .very:.keenly-contested. ■.. .-■.. M'Leod Again. ' — - - The :'Miramar".Club' sprinter, B. P. M'Leod, who made an exhibition of his fellow competitors when he "romped home off tall marks at the Peltzer meeting at-the beginning of this year, was in form. He was unknown at tho beginning of this year. Oji Monday Handicapper Paris had him back to (Si yards in the hundred and 13yds in the furlong, but in each he was first to the tape, and did not appear to experiencemuch ".difficulty, in . doing it. in the 220 yards,., event. J. T. Fleming, ■ third. in his' heat of tho hundred off 3yds, ran much better in the final, gaining second place. C. H. Jenkins (scr), who won his heat in 10 2-ssee, was in the bunch who rushed at the tape together. V. 'Williamson scored another win. In each of the.middle-distance events held af-.!the three evening meetings to date ho has been placed. At the first meeting he was third oft' 30yds in the half-mile, run in 2min lsec. He received' tho same start on Monday,- and won from his co-marker, C. G.-Gibbons, in 2min 2-l-ssee. ."Sprinter's'? advice to Williamson and his coach is to pay a little more attention to style now; it would do no harm—probably it would be more beneficial—if he slackened up on some of the fast work for a while. Miss J. Murray was "the pick of the ladies,/with a win in the 75yds handicap and second, place in the lOOyds handicap. • Miss Kench, New Zealand ladies' champion, has not been a competitor at the meetings in town, to date, but no .'doubt she will be out in the ladies* events at the Hutt Club's meeting next Wednesday. At the beginning of the season it appeared likely that there would be some interest.in the walking events, but so far Gudsell and Tonkin are the onlytwo who have been seen out. As at the first meeting Tonkin led Gudsell to the tape on Monday only to be disqualified. When pushed he "lifts"; "it'.'Ts 'a pity lip cannot" get "out* of the habit, which already has proved costly this, seas''