TRUCK AND FIELD

Evening Star, Issue 20961, 27 November 1931, Page 15

TRUCK AND FIELD

[By Pistol.]

ATHLETIC NEWS AND NOTES

FIXTURES. December s.—Oamaru Club’s meet. December 10.—Otago Centre’s second evening meet. . December 19.—Otago Centre s interclub meeting. . _, February 27 (tentative). —Otago track and field championships. ■ March 11 and 12. —New Zealand track and field championships, at Auckland. FIRST EVENING MEET. Ideal conditions, good entries, and keen racing made the Otago Centre s evening meet last week one of the best ■ opening fixtures for some years. Ihe track was very hard, and the times were fair. So far as the sprinters are concerned, however, the fact remains •that in Dunedin itself the men of championship standard are few and far between, and if C. W. Pierson, of Invercargill, retains the form he showed last season there does not seem to be any-one-here capable of extending him. The 100yds was won off 4yds in 10 3-ssec, and J. O’Keefe, who caught the judge's eye, also won the 75yds under nineteen. He ran impressively in the Flying Handicap, winning from scratch in 8 3-ssec. He is a bit slow .to begin, but has a determined finish, "and with more practice in starting should improve a yard or two over the hundred before he has made many appearances. Ho is a likely sort of runner . . Caversham has a likely man m K. Miller, who won his heat of the 100yds off 3yds in 10 3-ssec, and finished a yard back in the final. He faltered a little in his stride in the final, but another week or two of training should find him an improved performer. Miss C. G. Mickle is the most imE roved lady runner in Dunedin, and er win in the 75yds ladies’_ handicap from the Iyd mark was registered in good style. She was again a trifle slow in leaving the mark but her finishing burst compensated for that. She ran through the tape like a veteran, and if she develops a bit more dash at ’the start she will keep the best of them busy from the back mark. She is a much stronger and more stylish runner than she was last season. From scratch MisS K. Marshall was not a foot behind the winner in third place, but she is inclined to throw her ' hands in the air approaching the tape, a fault she must endeavour to eradicate.

Tho Caversham representative, S. F. Corbett, came to light with a good win in the I,oooyds handicap from the 30yds mark. He was handily placed all the way, and made a well-timed run entering the straight to win by syds. He shortened a hit over the final bit, but those near him had less in reserve .than he did, and he was not seriously troubled. Corbett is a good middledistance performer, and_ with the necessary attention to training will do still hotter.

A. XI. Geddes was running from scratch, and with a lap to go looked to have a chance of being in at the finish. Once again, however, he made the mistake "of letting the leaders get too far away, and it would have taken more than he had at command to dispute the issue with Corbett. Geddes is coming along nicely, however, and his turn will 'soon come again. Anglican’s scratch team won the mile relay handicap in the good time of 3min 50sec, and a member of the winning team was D. M. Stuart, a son of the well-known Rugby administrator and selector, Mr D. M. Stuart, the younger Stuart being a most promising all-round athlete Another newcomer who ran for Anglican was JR. Nuttall, well known in swimming circles. With more attention to striding he should do well in future events. ; FIXTURE AT PALMERSTON. The Palmerston-Waiherao Club is fortunate in possessing dSicials imbued with keenness well above the ordinary, and to the country club belongs the distinction of being the first club to stage an open_ meeting this season. The heavy rain in town in the morning deterred many Dunedin competitors from travelling north, but nevertheless a highly successful meeting resulted, and the Palmerston enthusiasts have particularly good reason to feel satisfied with the performance of M. Spillane, who was second to J. G. Leckie in the Otago hammer throwing championship last season. Spillane threw the hammer 145 ft on Saturday, a throw often good enough to win a New Zealand championship, and only a few feet short of Leckie’s best on record by a New Zealander. If he maintains this form there is bound to be a thrilling tussle between him and Leckie at the Otago championships in February. Rqn. Stewart, the well-known All Black Rugby footballer, who was second to Peter Munro (leaving Harlow Rothert out of calculations) in the New\ Zealand shot putting championship at Dunedin last February, put up a better performance at Palmerston on Saturday, when he putt the shot 38ft 9in. Outside of Munro few shot putters in the dominion are capable of these figures, and certainly none in Otago. The Pacific runner, E. W. Fish, was in fine fettle, and annexed the 100yds from the four-yard mark in 10 4-ssec, tho 440yds, off ten yards, in 54 l-ssec, and the 880yds, off fifteen in 2niin 7 4-ssec. He had a great battle in tho half-mile with a solid local runner, D. W. M'Knight, and just managed to beat the latter on the post. Fish finished on in a style that was reminiscent of the form lie showed a couple of years ago, and his future performances this season will be watched with interest. The Leith sprinter, W. Smith, gave the quarter-mile field a big fright in the closing stages. He was on tho 25yds mark, and over the last 100yds came with a great burst, but could not sustain it, and finished third. He left his run a bit late, but tho way ho ran indicated that he is capable of going a good quarter if he liked to get down to it. \V. H. Masters, another Leith runner, also ran a useful race in the quarter. . Off four yards J. O’Keefe ran another good race for second place in the 100yds event, his Leith club-mate, L. Maher, being just behind him from the eight-yard mark. Tho conduct of the meeting reflected considerable credit on the Palmerston Club, and all who participated thoroughly enjoyed the fixture. COMING MEETINGS. Tho Otago Centre’s second evening meeting, which was to have been held on December 3, is now to be held on December 10, and quite a comprehensive programme has been drawn up. The events to be decided are 220yds, one mile, half-mile under 19, one-milo medley relay, high jump, 100yds ladies, and one and two-mile cycle handicaps. The Sports Committee of tho centre has wisely decided to go on with tho

proposal to hold an interclub meet, and this fixture is now set down for Saturday afternoon, December 19. It should attract a good deal of attention from the club, and the programme, which will be drawn up next week, is almost certain to be divided into A and R grades. PROGRESS IN THE SOUTH. I have received a letter from Mr Tom Clarke, of Wyndham, who speaks of athletic progress that is being made in the south. Mr Clarke was a fine runner among the professionals many years ago, but is now doing his bit to foster the amateur club at Wyndham along with several other enthusiasts. The Wyndham Club is seeking information from the Otago Centre regarding the completion of its affiliation, and the writer of the letter states that amateur athletics are beginning to boom in Southland. A club has been formed at Bluff, where a successful night meeting has been held, and there has been talk of amateur .plubs being formed at Lumsden and Tuatapere. KEENNESS IN OAMARU. Considerable keenness is being shown bv the Oamaru Amateur Athletic Club, which is seeking affiliation _ with the Otago Centre, and with a view to reviving interest in amateur athletics in North Otago a big meeting is _to be held in Oamaru on December 5, and it is hoped a large contingent of Dunedin runners will participate. To those who make the trip the outing should be most enjoyable, and the programme is a most comprehensive one, including all regular flat handicaps from 100yds to one mile, shot putting, high jump, 120yds hurdles, 100yds ladies’, hop, step, and jump, discus throwing, relay, secondary schools’ relay, 100yds secondary schools boys’ event, 75yds junior high school girls, 100yds junior high school boys, and 100yds senior high school girls. Entries will close on November 30 with Mr R. E. Dirnick, 48 Severn stret, Oamaru. NOTES. At the Southland Boys’ High School sports last week the outstanding performer was K. Uttley, the brilliant Otago secondary schools’ champion, who collected the medal for most points at the last secondary schools’ championship meeting. (Jttley won the Jooyds from D. M. Page (a son of the Otago Centre’s sub-local officer at Invercargill) in 10 4-ssec, _ the 120yds hurdles, in 16 4-ssec, whjch equalled his own school record, despite the fact that ho won as he liked, tno 220yds in 24 3-ssee, and in the long jump he did 20ft 4in. B. Crowther, the Otago secondary schools middle-distance champion, won the 880yds in the very fine record time of 2min 5 2-ssec, breaking the existing record by 3 2-ssec. In the junior division, the outstanding performer was P. M'Lauchlan, who won the half-mile in the remarkable time for a boy under fifteen of 2min 16 3- tie won the 100yds in 11 4- the 220yds in 27sec, and broke the record in the 440yds, which lie won in the great time of 59 l-ssec. With such material to call upon it is no wonder that athletics in Southland are booming. ... I). Evans is already m light training and is keen to attempt the half-mile record, on the Domain track at a meetin" to be held after the New Year (says the Auckland ‘Herald’). _ Acknowledged as the most outstanding middledistance man New Zealand lias produced, Evans will he a big attraction at this meeting, along with R. Rose. Tho ex-New Zealand half-mile champion. L. C. M‘Lachlan, commenced training some time ago, but unfortunately he recently injured his foot and may he out of action for tho best part of a month. Relay racing undoubtedly produces the best team spirit and the most spectacular events of a well-conducted meeting. A proposal is afoot t" have a Saturday afternoon meeting in Auckland, when nothing but relay events wjll be hold. America and England have proved that these events can be highly competitive, and at the same time give the average runner a chance to share the honours with the star performers (says an exchange). A good performance was put up at the Palmerston meeting by Miss R. Grant, the Otago ladies’ 100yds champion, who won tho 100yds handicap in 12sec. Miss Grant was second in the ladies’ 100yds at the New Zealand championships last February in her first season of track running, and big things are expected of her this season. The increasing activity among the clubs in regard to the track and field season is most encouraging, and no club is more deserving of praise in this' direction than Leith, which in the past has largely confined itself fo winter running. Already, Leith members have scored a number of successes on the track this season. Garnet Cabot, New Zealand walking champion, is to start training in a fortnight, and is to be bandied this year by Jim Hunter, who trained him in 1927-28, during which Cabot put up the best performances of his brilliant C£lT66r. A grant of £23 has been made by the N.Z.A.A.A. towards the purchase of field equipment for secondary schools throughout the dominion. The sum of £5 will be allocated to each of the five The notice of motion to form a MidIsland centre came up for discussion at tho annual meeting of the N.Z.A.A.A., but, as there seemed to be some differences of opinion between the various sub-centres affected, it was decided to bold tho matter over in the meantime. Meetings will.be held at Palmerston North and Wanganui to ascertain if Wanganui-Taranaki and Manawatu will link up under one banner, and a further report will bo made. Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay will remain under the Wellington centre control. The New Zealand championships next season will be held in Christchurch, which will also be the venue of the New Zealand cross-country championship next winter. <