ATHLETICS WEST COAST DESERVED MAHAR CUP WIN

Greymouth Evening Star, 5 February 1947, Page 9

ATHLETICS WEST COAST DESERVED MAHAR CUP WIN

The West Coast fully deserved its Mahar Cup victory on Saturday. Although there were several unexpected reverses, the province’s athletic representatives generally rose, to the occasion and gave a splendid performance 1o obtain at least one place in every event on the programme.

This was a particularly fine effort as the home team had to face strong competition from the best athletes from the Nelson, Marlborough, Buller, and Golden Bay districts. Against that, of course, West Coast had the advantage of operating on the home ground, and the fact that it was defending the cup that it had won for the first time only last year gave it added incentive.

The West Coast’s points margin at the end of the day was substantial, but it is interesting to note that the two strongest teams, Nelson and Greymouth, each won 11 events, and their representatives were first equal in another, so that the better balance of the home team, enabling it to fill more of the minor places, gave it final victory. Outstanding Meeting. There is no doubt that the contest provided one of the best amateur athletic meetings ever staged on the West Coast. Performances were of a high class, and Mahar Cup standards were equalled or bettered in no fewer than 18 events. Only one track Mahar Cup record was bettered, the Nelson women’s relay team being responsible for the fast 440yds time of 55sec, one-fifth better than the previous record. L. McDougall, the Greymouth junior, equalled his 220 yards record of 23 l-ssec, but was unfortunate in that he drew the rough outside lane and also was never seriously challenged. Several West Coast records were equalled or bettered, however, in some instances times set by leading Canterbury athletes being improved on. The Nelson runner, Miss E. Lummis, proved that she was more at home over the 220yds, and won comfortably in 27 4-ssec, bettering by two-fifths of a second the record established last year by New Zealand s champion hurdler, Miss N. Gourley, of Dunedin.

One of the Best. The Greymouth sprinter, Miss D.) < Perrin, who vanquished the speedy < Nelson pair, Miss' Lummis and Mrs. Levey, in the shorter sprints, established a new West Coast record of 12sec for the 100yds, and in the 75yds equalled the record of 9 l-ssec. Miss ' Perrin, who held both previous re- J cords, can now claim to be one of 1 the best women sprinters in the 1 South Island, for she has defeated the I best in Canterbury and the Seddon Shield districts, leaving only South- ' land and Otago athletes to challenge her superiority. Miss Perrin has run consistently well this year, though she failed to reach form , before Christmas, and some improvement in her starting j should see her further reduce the : record this year. Lack of practice is 1 not her trouble, but faulty action < over the first few yards may be re- 1 sponsible for her comparatively slow i start. Should Improve. 1 Once again, K. Davidson, of Hold- 1 tika winner of both sprints, demon- < strated his liking for the 220yds, and I won this event easily to reduce the provincial record by four-fifths of a. second to 23sec, after equalling the record in his heat. Davidson, who won the West Coast 220yds title last year was runner-up this yeai to N. R. Atkinson, of Canterbury. Not at his peak so far as fitness is concerned, he prejudiced his chances of retaining the title when he lost gi ound at the start, but in the sprint home he raced through the field, and just on the tape overtook K. Plunkett, who, when he won the national junioi sprint titles at Dunedin last season, bettered the New Zealand record. Davidson is seeking an invitation to compete against D. Campbell, the touring American sprinter, when he races at Christchurch in two weeks’ time, and, on the strength of his past performances and his fast 220yds on Saturday, he should not be overlooked by the Canterbury Centre. With the Australian champion, J. Treloar, also to run at Christchurch, Davidson should benefit by the experience, even if he is unplaced. There was a most exciting finish to the senior 100yds at Victoria Par < on Saturday. With 10 yards to go the three placed runners swept m a line for the tape, with the othei finalists in close attendance. Davidson got clear near the tape, and to make certain of the issue, threw himself over the line as his club-mate, K. Warren, and the Marlborough representative, J. Strickland, crossed with barely inches separating them. warren has improved considerably and may yet be the stronger runner over 100 yards. ... Davidson and Warren will repiesent the West Coast in the Canterbury senior championship sprints at Christchurch on Saturday. Superior Effort. As was expected, Nelson’s distance runners were a class ahead of those representing the other Seddon Slue d districts. P. Ellen, the Nelson College miler, who has recently added to his reputation in handicap events in Christchurch, proved his superiority in the senior mile and half-mile. He ran easily about three back for the first lap in the 880yds with the Greymouth candidates making the nace With 400 yards to go, however,’ he shot to the front and opened iin a gap before his opponents realSed his Mention. Fitzgerald immediately set after him, but could not reduce the Nelson man’s lead. Not to be‘‘fooled” in the mile, Fitzgerald lent close to Ellen all the way, and these two strode away about 50 yards ahead of the others, who soon began to string out. The pair set a hot pace oveJ the last lap, but Ellen showed his superiority when he commenced h s final sprint for the tape, and his burst carried him away a clear winne While Ellen proved to be superior there was much merit in Fitzgerald - performance, and it. wou ing that the standard of on the West Coast * s * s h p it first seemed. The fields in the three distance events on Sat^, day to weak, and Greymouth’s ab ™ furnish the second man each, time m dicated that lack of competition and training may have been res P°“ s in ■for the poor performances earlier in the season. Fitzgerald intends compete at the Canterbury sham-

pionships on Saturday, and his performance will be watched with interest.

D. Cotton, the junior representative for Nelson, also showed himself to be a distance runner of high standard. He ran a well-judged race, staying behind the leaders until, with a furlong to go, he raced to the front and sprinted away from his opponents. J. R. Steel, of Grey mouth, challenged sternly and overtook the leader, L. Pigou, of Marlborough, but he could make no impression on the Nelson runner.

Steel surprised when, in the final of the junior 220yds hurdles, he defeated an able hurdler in A. Hines, of Te Kinga, after the latter had had a slight advantage with less than 50 yards to go. Sprinters Disqualified.

Only one heat had been run in the first event on the programme on Saturday when one of those incidents which tend to cause embarrassment in inter-provincial relations occurred. In this instance, the “incident” was the disqualification of Nelson and Westport senior sprinters for persisting in breaking before the starter’s gun. Both D. Mitchell, of Nelson, and R. Marshall, of Buller, “broke” three times, and eventually both were ordered out by the starter, Mr. I. Steel.

This occurrence has only one precedent in West Coast amateur athletic history, Mr. Steel being compelled, about eight years ago, to disqualify a Westport woman sprinter for breaking. Though his action was considered by many of the visitors to be harsh, he was, in fact, actually more generous than he should have been, for the amended rules are definite on the point that a runner should be disqualified after two illegal starts. It was noticeable that after Mr. Steel had defined his attitude that there was hardly another “break” during the contest—a rare occurrence on the West Coast. Field Events. In the field several new Mahar Cup records were set, this following the introduction of a number of new events to the Mahar Cup programme. However, as a result of the decision of the Mahai’ Cup delegates on Saturday night, these events will probably be deleted from future contests, the programme for which will comprise only those events included in the original programme authorised by the donor of the trophy. D. R. Blundell, former New Zealand junior high jump champion and record holder, gave a splendid display at Greymouth, and was unfortunate in that he failed in his attempt to equal his own Mahar Cup record of sft Bin. Up till then he had cleared the bar cleanly and appeared set for a new record.

in the javelin throw Blundell took the place of G. C. Wood, of Nelson, who did not make the trip, and gained three points for second, though his best throw of 126 ft was considerably less than G. Bilborough’s winning throw of 135 ft 9in.