MATTHEWS AND BOOT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 83, 7 March 1938, Page 5

MATTHEWS AND BOOT.

WINS IN CANTERBURY. Per Press Association. CHRISTCHURCH, March 6. There was a sensation at the Canteibury athletic championship on Saturday when W. J. Fitzsimmons, the present New Zealand 100 yds. champion and joint-holder of the national record of , 4.55ec., was announced winner of the 100 yd’s championship. A roar of surprise''went up from the onlookers m the east stand who could see along tlie finishing tape. To them it seemed that G. C Gordon, of Sydenham, had won by a clear foot. Fitzsimmons at the finish, with other competitors, rushed to congratulate Gordon. Fitzsimmons, however, was adjudged the winner in the time of 10 2-ssee. R. A. Rodgers, of South Canterbury, was third. There was a big attendance at Lancaster Park. Despite recent ram the track was in good condition and the north-east breeze was not strong enough to help or hinder the competitors. Among the officials for the afternoon was Sir James Leigh-Wood, president of the Empire Games Association, who acted as referee.

D. Shaw, of Ashburton, a young runner who lias been coached by V. P. Boot, the Empire Games half-mile winner, ran an excellent race to win the junior mile in . 4mi)i. 32 l-ssec. There was enthusiastic applause when Boot was introduced to the crowd by Dr J. J. Brownlee, president of the Canterbury association. Boot took the 880yds title again, winning by 15 yds from Waters (Cnterbury), who put in a very game sprint 250 yds from home. Boot, who drew the outside position, went into the lead straight away and gradually increased it until* Waters made his challenge. The gap was only closed for two seconds; then Boot’s finishing burst put the issue beyond doubt. The time was lmin. 55 4-ssee., 2-ssec. inside the time in which Boot won last year.

There was continued applause when C. H. Matthews, the three and sixmile winner at the Empire Games, was introduced before the three-mile Canterbury championship. Matthews was second to last when the field sorted itself out after the start of the three miles, hut after 011 c lap lie had moved up easily into second place. Then the champion’s pace began to tell, and after three laps E. J. Johnson was just behind him, with the field 100 yds behind. Starting the fifth lap Matthews appeared to ho getting warmed up and Johnson began to fade out of the picture. At this stage both Imd lapped Richards, of New Brighton, who dropped out. Matthews’s first two miles took 9 min. 30scc. Johonson stuck to his task gamely, and though far behind Matthews he had 200 yds in hand on the field when two laps were to go. Matthews had hipped the whole field except Johnson at the start of the final quarter. Though no one was there to extend him, the champion showed a great burst over the final 200 yds. The time was 14min. 19 3-sscc., nearly a minute faster than his time in the same race last year. Matthews’s Empire Games time was 13 min. 59.65ec.