ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11842, 20 December 1901, Page 3

ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.

THE AUSTRALASIAN GATHERING. ; NOTES AND ANTICIPATIONS FOR TO-DAY'S EVENTS. The fifth amateur athletic championship meeting of Australasia will be commenced at the Domain Cricket Ground to-day, when teams from the 'three Commonwealth States of New South Wales, Victoria, and Queens- . land, and the representatives of this colony, will meet in competition for intercolonial supremacy. These gatherings were first inaugurated in 1893, when, on the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the athletes of New South Wales tried conclusion with the representatives of Victoria and New Zealand, and carried off the principal honours by winning seven of the 15 events on the programme, the Victorians finishing second with five championships, and the New Zealanders third, with three. The second meeting t was held , at Lancaster Park, Christchurch, in 1896, when the \ homo team practically swept the board, 11 championships being • retained 'in the colony, leaving only four to go back to Australia, three of which went to New South Wales men . and one to the Victorians. In 1897 the third intercolonial gathering took place at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where the local team wrested the coveted honours from the visiting contingent from this side, winning six of the events as against the four of New Zealand,, the Victorians gaining third place with three . wins, while -.the Queenslanders brought up" the' rear. About 12 months later the fourth meeting of the athletes chosen to represent the four associations interested met at Brisbane, when the New Zealand men, though comparatively weak in point of numbers, succeeded in bringing back to the island colony the'honours that had been won from 'them by the Welshmen the year before, by carrying off five champion- • ships, as against the four each secured by the New South Wales and Queensland teams. Victoria won two championships. From this it will be seen that the ' intercolonial honours have been secured on two of four occasions by the competitors I chosen to represent New Zealand, and we aro now on the eve of the fifth battle of the crack athletes of the four colonies mentioned. The Victorians will place an exceptionally strong team in the ; field, - and "are bound to make a big bid for the -coveted title, as every member of the contingent—there; aro 10 of them is a champion of the Stato from which . lie hails, and the visitors make no secret of : the fact that they are hopeful of winning. In the 220ycls championship the New- Zealand' representatives., Webster. Smith,- and Keating. will meet such a well-performed trio as H. Henderson (Now South Wales), G. A. Moir (Victoria), and H. 11. Hunter (Victoria), all j of whom can do better than" 235., while in j the'.two-furlong race, Webster and Stalker will be opposed by such quarter-mile cracks as A. A. Oxlade (New South Wales), C. Campbell (Queensland), and E. W..Mitchell ) (Victoria), the firstn'amed of whom 'is held in very high esteem by all who have seen, him run, and there are some who say that, he will'not experience any great difficulty' in getting the best part of a couple of seconds inside the time credited to Webster when he won tho 140 yds at the Nov.- Zealand meet-> ing oil Wednesday. Other events looked upon as likely to furnish tho spectators v.'it.iplenty of excitement, to-day are the 120 yds hurdles, in which Smith will meet C. H. Gardner (Victoria) and L. M. Macpberson (Victoria); the one-mile flat, in which the New Zealand crack, Simpson,; will have .to' try conclusions with the best of Australia distance runners in D'Arcy Wentworth. H. Sutton (Victoria), S. W. York (New South Wales), and G. Blake (Victoria), and., the three-mile walk, in which two old rivals in D. Wilson . (New Zealand) and A. 0. Barrett (Victoria) will again be brought together. Opinion is greatly divided as to tho orobable result of the one-mile flat, New Zeaanders strongly favouring the chances of Simpson, while tho Australian visitors to a man are confident that the winner will come from the other side. The first * race, the 22.0 yds championship, is timed to start at i quarter-past two p.m., and in. addition to i. rhe items "referred to above,- visitors to the- : Domain.this afternoon will find on tho.programme several other good races and competitions. As only firsts count, it is hardly necessary to deal with seconds and thirds, and I will therefore cast my anticipations for to-day as under: — ;• ■, 220 Yds > Championship: H. Henderson (New South Wales), _ ; _ ' Broad Jump ..Championship: H. H. Hunter or C. H. Gardner (both Victoria). : :a. • 120 Yds Hurdles Championship : G. i' W. Smith (New Zealand). - 440 Yds Flat Championship: A. A. Oxlade (New South Wales); Webster (New Zealand) next best. ... : , Putting 161b Weight Championship:. W. O'Reilly (New South Wales). Three-mile Walk Championship: D. Wilson (New Zealand). . _ " One-mile Flat Championship: W. F. Simpson (New Zealand). ' / ' . ;.V Lynx. ■

BOARD OF CONTROL CONFERENCE.

The sitting of the Board of Control of the Amateur Union of. Australasia was held at the rooms of the Sports Club last evening, Mr. R. Coombes (president) in the' chair. 7 ■ ;■

Grass Track Rcoords: Pursuant to notice given, Mr. Crawford (Queensland) moved, " That any best on record established on the grass of any ground recognised by any of the four affiliated associations, the surface ' of which is perfectly level, bo accepted, always provided that the finish be not 011 a lower level than, the start." This was adopted. Australasian Records: All Australasian records to date were revised. Those recently, accomplished and agreed.to were: —300 yds, G-. H. Moir, 32 4-5.9.; two miles, W. F. Simpson, 9m. 42 l-55.; one hour's , run, C. C. Saunderson, 10 miles 173 yds Oft 6in. It was decided that W. H. Whiting's record of 21m. for four miles on an out-and-home course, and J. McDonald's record of lOh. 9m. 40s. for 50 miles, should be recognised as road records. Considerable discussion took place over the application for the 120 yds hurdles record of 15 3-ss. by G. W. Smith (Auckland), which was recommended as an Australasian record by the New Zealand Association. Mr. MacOormiek moved, and Mr. Marks seconded, "That the record be passed." Messrs. Croll, Crawford, and Pritchard contended that the rule providing- for three timekeepers recording the time not having been complied with, the record could not be recognised. This, they said, was unfortunate, but to allow such a breach would open the way to endless trouble. The Chairman said the question resolved i itself into whether the spirit or the letter of the rules were to guide the conference. Mr. MacCormick said that the rules were framed with a view to ensuring that all reasonable proof should bo forthcoming that performances were correct. This, ho took it, was not doubted in the present case. Mr. Marks thought that if the time was considered correct they should not need to go further. Other members admitted that the time .was correct. _ The chairman summed up against the motion, which was lost by three votes to two, the voting being: For, Messrs. MaoCorimck and Marks; against, Messrs. Croll Pritohard, and Crawford. The track records of G. Blake from five to 10 miles were passed. The standard for throwing the hammer was raised from 100 ft to 110 ft. It was decided that a number of suggested: new rules' should bo drafted by the executive, to be submitted to the different associations for their approval. .. Road • Records: . Mr. Pritchard moved . That in the opinion of this conference it is undesirable that any best for road record should be recognised by this union." The motion was adopted.