TRACK AND FIELD

Evening Star, Issue 24016, 15 October 1941, Page 12

TRACK AND FIELD

ATHLETIC NEWS AND NOTES SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS SPORTS [By Pistol.] 15-mlte Race on Saturday. So far as track and field enthusiasts are concerned, the highlight of the interhouse sports meeting on the Caledonian Ground next Saturday will be the 15-railo race, which i» being staged to afford G. L. Austin* the New Zealand marathon champion, an opportunity of establishing a New Zealand record. To do this lie will need to improve on the standard time of 87min which, it will be recalled, he was successful,. in doing earlier in the year, though he did not succeed in having -the performance'recognised. , . There should be no hitch this time with ilia arrangements, for a field of nine runners has been attracted, and besides Austin some of the best-known road runners in the province will be taking part. Although none appears likely to extend the longdistance champion, some of them are quite capable of making the running in the early stages, and a man like Dale Fincham should still be going well at the finish. The former distance runner, C. A. Pope, will make a reappearance, and is hound to be given a popular reception.. Chris is one of the real sportsmen in amateur athletics, and in a difficult year he has made a great job of, the secretaryship of the Otago Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association. R. Hughes, A. G. Hebbard, L. Hebhard, C. McGregor, R. Dawson, and R. Weir (the 14-mile modified marathon winner) complete the field. Consistent Distance Runner. R. Hughes, the Leith and former St, Paul’s (Invercargill) long-distance runner, is entering Waiouru camp with the Tank Corps. Hughes has been a good, consistent road runner who has competed creditably across country and also on the'track in distance events. He was a competitor in the Temuka-Timaru road race this year, hut ran from a hard mark. Sporting Enthusiast. Mr Frank Anderson, who is one of the vice-presidents elected by the High School Ex-girls’ Amateur Athletic Club, is better known -for his work on behalf of amateur wrestling nowadays than for his association with amateur athletics, but he was a firstrat.) runner in his younger days, .and the experience he has had in all branches of sport, should he of great benefit to the members of the Ex-girls’ Club. Mr Anderson at one time ran with the now defunct St. Andrew’s' Harriers, who used to hold their runs on Wednesday afternoons, and while ho was a member of this club he won races over 100yds, 220yds, 440yds, and three miles cross-country. Subsequently he devoted himself to sprinting with considerable success. He is recognised as one of the best trainers of athletes in the province, and if the Ex-girls’ club can prevail "upon him to assist members in this direction they will be very fortunate. Mr Anderson has also been third man in the ring for many of the most important professional wrestling matches held in Dunedin, and there is no more capable official in the country. Mr Anderson has presented the Ex-girls’ Club with a cup to be competed for in its club championships.

Young Runner’s Successes. Eon Keller, 18-year-old member of the St. Kilda Harrier and Amateur Athletic . Club, leaves this week to enter the Air 1 Force for training as a pilot. Ho is the fourth member of his family to join the Air ‘Force; and one brother made the supreme sacrifice. Eon' is a first-year member of the St. Kilda Club, but he has had a remarkably successful season. He won the novice race, the 3-mile cross-country championship of the club, and the. 5-mila cross-country championship. At the club sports meetings he won the ’halfmile, one mile, and high jump handicaps, and at the patriotic gala at Carisbrook recently won the mile handicap from a field of 30 runners, being off the 160yds mark. In the triangular meeting between St. Kilda, Mornington, and Leith Clubs he won the mile and high jump events. Last year at King’s High School Keller won the three-mile cross-country championship, and’ in 1938-39 won the mile handicap, being third in the half-mile in both years. Mare Evidence of Versatility. Only last week reference was made in these columns to the versatility of the Caversham runner. Bob Weir, who, during the last 12 months, has won races from 75yds to 14 miles. He gave a further;’taste of his all-round ability when, as a visitor to the Chinese sports meeting at the Caledonian Ground last week, he' won the open 440yds handicap, was third in the. cycle race (on a borrowed machine), but found the apple-eating contest beyond him and finished outside a place! Bright Prospects; for Season. The High School Ex-Girls’ Club has bright prospects this season, and the opening muster on the Caledonian'Ground last Saturday was a most encouraging one. Mr H. J. C. McKenzie, the club’s handicapper and selector, gave the girls some good Sractice and hints in starting, while [r J. Anderson coached them in field events. An asset to the club should be Miss Wihsome Middleton, who ran as a ■member, of the Training College HockeyClub at the gala day at Carisbrook, showing a lot of promise as a sprinter. Club captain of the Ex-Girls’ Club is Miss J. A. Young, who ‘ was secretary last year. A real enthusiast, she performed very creditably in high jump competition last season. She is also a member of the ExGirls’ Basketball Club. The Ex-Girls and Otago Clubs subsequently combined for afternoon tea. Keen Tussle. The race for fastest time in the Otago Boys’ High School cross-country race oyer a course of a little more than three miles last week provided a very keen tussle between E. B. Seddon, who was in receipt of from the scratch man, D. Ashton, who put up fastest time last year. Seddou’s time of 17min 15sec was 4sec faster than Ashton’s and actually he finished the fresher of the two, but both boys show ■ great promise as distance runners. Ashton has been running this year with the Civil Service harriers.,

Schools Championship Sports. The gtcat work that is done by the Otago State .Primary Schools Sports Association is fairly generally known, bin, to appreciate the .'amount of organisation and work that some of its activities entail one needs to attend the sports championships. It is easily understandable that an entry' of 1,800, representative of 34 schools and one sub-association, would require considerable 'organisation, but last Saturday’s meeting at the University Oval was quite one ot tho best iu recent years. There was no hitch, and the smooth ruuniug of the proGramme reflected the utmost credit on the superin tended (Mr C. J. Parr), the secretary (Mr L. Hubbard), and the very capable band of officials, all of whom did their part well. Conditions were somewhat boisterous in the morning, but they improved in the afternoon, and while the compctitprs were favoured by the wind the track was soft. The fact that records were broken in four events and equalled in seven others is an indication of advance so far as individual performances are concerned, but more important -was tho generally high standard revealed by the rank and file. In some events records were equalled several timeSj the 50yds skip race under 33, for instance, producing one girl who broke the previous record and four others who equalled the old mark. Another pleasing feature was the tabloid event, which was very keenly contested, and resulted iu a win for Green Island, a school which has enjoyed a good year in the sporting sphere, its Rugby team haying put. up a fine record during the winter, while its representatives performed well at the school swimming sports. The championship shield was once again won by St. Glair, whose record in the athletic sports is really outstanding. This

is more particularly the case nowadays when the school is without fifth and sixth standard pupils. Anderson’s Bay performed very well for second place, and the girls from this school were among the outstanding competitors at the meeting, scoring 22 of their school’s 24 points. All in all, it was a great day, and if many of the promising athletes seen in action can only he encouraged to pursue the sport on leaving school there need be no fear concerning the future of athletics in Otago.

Otago Ladies’ Club Opening. The Otago Ladies’ Amateur Athletic Club held its official opening on Saturday, the season being opened by the patroness (Mrs A. Geddcs). Mrs Geddes is one of the great supporters of amateur athletics in this province. Associated with the Civil Service Harrier and Amateur Athletic Club first : through the activities of her son Ray, she has rarely failed to attend the club runs and important voces, and when Ray Geddes was selected to represent New Zealand at the British Empire Games in 1938, Mrs Geddes also made the trip to Sydney. Her enthusiasm for the sport should be of considerable benefit to the Otago Club. Mr S. L. Harris (coach) gave the girls some practice in starting and sprinting, and Mr A. G. Hebbard gave them some hints in shot putting and discuss throwing. . A new member showing promise was Miss Doris Sutherland, who is expected to give a good account of herself in sprint competition, bliss Pat Mutimer, • who had the misfortune to he kept off the track last season through injury, hopes to he able to take part in competition again this season. She had a run on Saturday, and intends to concentrate on sprinting for a while until she builds up her injured leg, after which she will again no doubt be seen in action in liutdling event's.

Promising Schoolgirl Athlete. In P. Breen Anderson’s Bay has one of the most promising schoolgirl athletes to perform at the primary schools’ meeting in recent years. This lass has been a consistent record-breaker during the last few years. She already had to her credit records for the-50yds (under 9 and 10), and rounded these off on Saturday by badly shattering- the 75yds (under 13), reducing the time from 9 2-ssec to 8 4-ssec a.splendid effort. She also lowered the 50yds record (under 12) from 6 4-ssec to 6 .°-ssec., A very successful afternoon culminated in her running, the last “ leg ” of the relay to enable her school to dead heat for first place. Another dual winner m the girls section was Joy Ashby (St. Clair), who equalled the record in winning the _ sUsps (under 11), and won the 50yds skip m the same class. • Evening Meetings. Programmes for the first two evening meetings of the season have been arranged, and the first will take place on November 3 Seniors, juniors, women athletes, ana schoolboys and girls are being catered for each / Monday night, and an event is to be included each week for members ot ine services. These Monday night meetings promise to provide some excellent sport. Women’s Advisory Committee. At a meeting of the Otago Centre oi the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association last month Mr L. R. McMillan brought forward a proposal that the centre should take steps to have formed a women s advisory committee to act in conjunction with the centre. The proposal was received enthusiastically by members ot the iladies' clubs, and last week the committee became an established fact. As chairwoman it has Mrs E. J. .McAnghtne, who has been a great worker for wonieas athletics in Dunedin over a long period of years, and who was chaperone of the Otago women’s team which competed at the New Zealand championships in Christchurch in 1940. Secretary is another popular and experienced athlete in Miss P. Malone, who showed by her running at the New- Zealand women’s championships in Wanganui last year that she is one of the best "220yds runners in the Dominion. Mrs McAughtrie and Miss Malone are both members of the Dunedin Ladies’ Club, and both have proved themselves ns capable administrative officials. The General Committee consists of Hisses N. Hanlin (New Zealand women’s shot putt champion and record-holder), J. A. Young, G. McDonald, K. Burns, and P. Mutiraer, and "with such a thoroughly representative committee, the interests of every branch of the sport should he encouraged. Already the committee has gone into proposals for the stimulating of interest in mterhousc, interclub, and girls’ seetndary"school compelition. If the girls’ secondary schools can he interested in a suggested secondary school athletic championship 1 meeting,- then one of the most important developments in women’s athletics in Otago will have taken place. There is no reason why there should not be a girls’ secondary school meeting. The girls arc catered for at the primary school sports, their own schools stage sports meetings', and interschool competition would be a big thing for women’s athletics generally.

Without a doubt there is much scope for the activities of tthe Women’s Advisory Committee, and it should be able to accomplish much valuable work in the near future.

Primary School Competitors. Two well-known athletic officials were represented among the place-getters at tho schools’ championship sports last Saturday by son and -daughter respectively. The name of W. Burridge, who represented St. Clair in the 50yds boys under nine, recalled the performances of his father, W. Burridge, sen., who wac a first-class field exponent and member of the Anglican Club for many years. Young Bill won a heat of his race on Saturday in 7 l-ssco .to equal the record, and after getting away badly , in the final he chased tho field so successfully that he finished a good second. Mr K. T. Emmerson. who was sports secretary of the Otago Centre some-years ago, and has been a stalwart of the Caversham Club for many years, was represented by his daughter, Gwenyth, who collected second, points for Caversham School iu the 50yds under 10.