ATHLETICS.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10752, 24 November 1928, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

LABOR DAY EVENING MEET. FINE SPORT ON THE RESERVE. (By ’“Stride.”) Favored bv ideal weather conditions, the G.A.A. and H.C. submitted to track “fans” an. interesting and varied programme of events at their second evening meeting, held on Labor Day. Owing to the boisterous weather of the previous week, training operations had been practically suspended, with the result that- competitors showed no appreciable advance in form. Credit for the best performance of the meeting belongs to Lockett, who cleared slight,y over 20ft in the Ifi-oad jump. It- was anticipated that the perfect weather would entice many spectators to the, Reserve, hut such was not the case, as the attendance _ appeared smaller than at the initial meeting. The times registered were not flattering, but the track may account for this as it, was on the soft side. Handicaps wore very much astray in the cycle and long distance _ running events, the winning margin in cacti case being out of all proportion. Supervisor “Rill” .Tonkins ably controlled the meeting. Evidently the right man. in the right place. “CENTURY DASH” TO SHANKS. (LOSE FINISH IN FINAL.

For some unknown reason the sprinters did not turn out as strongly as at the. opening meeting. Good finishes were witnessed in. tho preliminary rounds of the “century dash,” whilst, the final worked out according to plan, the competitors going through the tape in a bunch.

In annexing his initial win in open company Shanks, tho High School all - round champion, ran extremely well and Showed an improvement in the final over his heat performance. As -mentioned in my previous notes, this youth has distinct possibilities, if lie wore trained and coached directly. His stylo is good hut wants polishing. Arthur Owen, jnr. L sprinted with any amount of dash to cop second place, with Frank McDonald doing quite nicely in third “possv.” .

I thought Tom Corkery ran quite a good race in his heat, showing that he is gradually rounding into form.

‘■SECOND UP” TO MISS TIER. FIRST IN FIELD OF FT\ T E. Only five competitors showed up for the 100 yards ladies’ handicap, which was easily annexed by Aliss Tier, who repented her performance of the opening meeting. Aliss Tier is~ certainly much fitter than , her opponents, and appears to have improved on last year’s form. She. should be hard to keep out of the Fteveneaux Cup team. Two diminutive sprinters, Misses Houghton and Beale, scurried along like, whippets to take second and third places respectively- It is obvious that, with the ‘exception of Miss Tier, ‘ the other lady runners are not. fit, enough to see out a hard race. I .again repeat that “coasting” over'about 130 to 150 yards will greatly assist them. MILLIER AGAIN. WINS BY LENGTH OF STRAIGHT One. cannot sa.v that the six-lap 'cycle' race produced 'any thrills', as “Doug” Milker just sat on his machine to repeat his opening win by the length of the straight. Splendidly handicapped on tho luxurious mark of 155 yards, he made the pace to suit himself and crossed the line a very lonely winner. This youth is very lit and appears to have the makings of a good handicap rider. A course of sprint work qn the track would greatly benefit him. .In-om scratch, Paddy McMahon showed he is rounding into shape by taking second nlaoo. He is certainly a great "trier” and when the time comas should be right there in defence of his track championship cup. Norm Bai appeared to make, hard work of it'to gain third “possy.” Evidently not fit yet.

BROAD JUMP EVENT. F. AJbDONALD WINS. The. Club are doing their best to' encourage held events, but so tar have not received any great support from competitors. No doubt, in time, this branch of sport will come into its own, but at present field games exponents are few and tai between. . , The four competitors in the broad Jump registered creditable performances. _____

Frank McDonald, with 27. inches handicap, made the judges mark up 21 fept, which was all that was required to annex his initial win in the amateur ranks. AVith practice he will improve and should*'become a fair, jumper. Lockett-, with an actual jump of 20ft 1-Jin, took second place, and, incidentally, showed fine jumping ability. The writer is keenly interested in this athlete and predicts that ,before the end of the season, lie will he capable of doing close to 22 feet.

MEDLEY RELAY RACE. ‘‘ H A 1 KANAE TODDLERS’‘ TODDLE FAST. A great deal of interest centred in the 889-yards medley- relay handicap and the innovation can be termed as a success, even although nothing very thrilling occurred. The baton exchanging was not of a high order, the only team to show any knowledge of this art being the “Corinth- < lans,” who had evidently practised together. • Owing to the defection of “AlcTavish” McDonald, the “Aleteors” fielded a substitute, which put them out of the race. Substitutes should not be, allowed under any consideration once tho handicaps are declared and if a team is a man short they should be compelled to stand down. .. Victory rested with the 4‘Waikanac Toddlers,” who certainly belie# their name. This team thoroughly, deserved their narrow win from the “Corinthians,” two of whose members appeared short of a gallop. Where 1 were the stars which should have been presented to tho winning team ?

DONALD DINNIE. ATHLETE OF A GENERATION. Donald Dinnio, _ tho. athlete of a generation I A writer who knew him has lately been lauding the achievements of this peerless countryman ol his, who was known to an earlier generation erf Australians. “Dinnio” (he writes in the Edinburgh ‘ Weekly Scotsman”) is an outstanding figure, not only in the limited sphere of Scottish athleticism, but among the world’s athleteheroes of - all time. His father and mother were not only superb specimens in physique; both had superior intelligence, discriminating minds, and a keen sense of parental responsibility. The father, Robert Dinnio, was 6ft in lioight and lost in weight and in youth performed feats of strength "still unsurpassed in. the annals of Deeside. Combined with this he hod scholarly culture in nature study and antiquarian loro, and was a poet of more than average merit. The mother, Ceila Hay, possessed such beauty of form as might have furnished an artist’s ideal, and menially she was equally graced. ■ Donald, was born in the village of Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, .on June 8, 1837, one of a family of 10, six sons and four daughters.' The sons averaged 6ft in height and lost in weight. The parents lived an ideal married life for the long period of 59 years. Both, died in 1892, Airs. Dinnio in May, aged 82, and the- .husband in October in his 84th year. “Not long divided!”

‘•Donald's father discerned early promise in the lad, so. before lie was aged four years he conveyed him by mail coach to Aberdeen. When aged 10 years Donald essayed the study of Latin, and at, 12 was credited as the best schoolboy in the district in Latin grammar and translation. Between the ages of 12 and 15 he remained at the school of Birse. leaving a. strikingly . handsome youth, well-equipped mentally and physically, to adopt himself to the glorious career of athleticism. In youth -Minnie followed liis father’s trade of mason. In dressing and building stone he was reputed to do the work of two ordinary men, and his feats in handling blocks of gran ill? are incorporated in district annals as iho deeds of a physical superman. They remain unqualled. “As an athlete ha matured slowly, and did not tour the games regularly till aged 25 years. Ho was about 30 ere he did anything extraordinary, and Ids fame rests chiefly, not upon a few records of outstanding merit, but! upon the wide variety of feats in which he excelled, the world-wide expanse of territory he travelled over, and . the long span of- years during which he remained invincible ' and practically unapproachable. In his primo he stood 6ft lin in height, weighed lost stripped, and had a chest measurement- 'of 48J inches. He combined a purely natural strength with a marvellous agility, and directed both from a keen mental equips ment. In such events as the hammer, ball putting,' weight-slinging, and caber-tossing, he eclipsed all previous records. -As a. weight-lifter he tested himself' ifgainst the world’s best. At the same time he was a first-class high leaper and a creditable sprinter and hurdler. “He left Scotland for an American tour in 1870, and at various periods thereafter visited Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, upholding the prestige of the homeland against rivals of every creed and tongue and color. Abroad he often cleared as much as £4OO for one day’s exertions, and altogether won over 11,000 prizes. He had probably the finest collection ctf medals and trophies ever gleaned by one man. “Unfortunately,, there is another and darker, side to the shield. The athlete-hero returned to Scotland about 1900, bordering on three score and ten, impoverished, practically unrecognised. For the last ten years of his life he fought a losing battle with the relentless Nemesis of an unkind Fate. I am writing of what 1 know and testify to that I have seen. Wo talk about living pictures! Well. Donald was the embodiment of the saddest type of personality that can be depicted on the screen of life —the tragic relic of a giant in a shrunken frame, an old man, infirm and poor. .-Bei was almost four score when he died in London, dependent chiefly upon his pittance of old-age pension eked out by public subscription raised on his behalf.”

The Ne.w South Wales cricket authorities sat in solemn conclave the other day to consider the important, sul tject of caps, and recorded its severe disapproval of players who persisted in wearing their inter-State raps in more grade matches. Also, it deprecated a tendency on the part of certain players to wear aged and revered tiles in big matches in place of the uniform covering provided by the association.