Track and Field: Counfry Circuit

Evening Star, Issue 25950, 15 November 1946, Page 5

Track and Field: Counfry Circuit

Crowded Calendar for Athletes

Athletes in Otago will have plenty to occupy their attention over the holiday season. The Berwick Caledonian Society’s annual sports will be held on New Year’s Day, and several meetings will be held in Central Otago. The arrangements tentatively made are: Roxburgh on December 26, Cromwell on December 28, Queenstown on December 30, and Alexandra on January 1 It is proposed that the athletes should make their headquarters at Alexandra, and bus transport is being arranged to the other, centres in the Central Otago circuit.

Outstanding Competitor. The outstanding woman competitor at the Auckland Amateur Athletic Club’s first open sports meeting was the New Zealand sprint champion, Miss Burg Dowman. She won the shot putting handicap, ran second in' the 75 yards, and third in the 100 yards sprint, off scratch in both, and was third in the discus event. She would almost certainly have been placed in the only other woman’s event in the programme, the egg-and-spoon race, had she not lost possession of the egg when within striking distance of the tape. Attractive Sprinting. Running with plenty of life, L. Boddington (Kiwi), who has just attained his majority, put up an attractive performance in winning a 100yds handicap off syds ,iri lOsec in Wellington recently. Boddington, recently transferred from the south, ran second in the Canterbury 440 yards championship last season. Russian Women Athletes. In a statement on the progress made by women in sport in the Soviet Union, the Soviet Minister to -New Zealand (M. Ivan K. Ziabkin) drew attention to some recent outstanding achievements in his country. Nina' Dumblaze had 'thrown the discus 163 ft further than the official world’s record. World’s marks were also exceeded by Ludmilla Anokilla in throwing the javelin 158f.t 9Jin, and by. Tatyana Suvryukpva in putting the shot 48ft lOJin. Feodosi Vanin reduced the time for a 20 kilometre run by women by 9sec, and Yevdokia Vasilyeva ran 800 metres in 2raiii 12sec. Blinded Athlete in Form. Lieutenant Alan Somervell, formerly a noted Auckland swimnier, who was partially blinded at Cassino, is now -a popular figure at St. Dunstan’s, England. His athletic victories, which included the setting of a record time of 9sec in the 70 yards flat race for semiblinded men, resulted in his winning the individual athletic trophy, awarded to the competitor gaining the highest number of points in the athletic events. Ho also gained the Dr Bridge’s Prize, awarded to the individual trophy winner, and the team championship trophy was won by his house. In addition to winning the 70 yards flat race, Somervell won the discus event y the medicine ball throwing,! and the walking race.