ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.

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

ATHLETIC CHAMPIONSHIPS.

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL COMPETITIONS, AUCKLAND WINS THE BANNER. The thirteenth annual athletic championship gathering, under the auspices of the Now ] Zealand Amateur Athletic Association, was e held at the Auckland Domain Cricket - Ground on December 18. As expected, the 3 Auckland t representatives experienced no ) difficulty in winning the coveted banj nor, as in addition to the cham- , pious at the club's disposal _ there " were quite a number .of second strings to ' add to the points, and when the scores came k to be run up it was found that the wearers " of the black and white uniforms had put to- * gether more than double the points standing - to the credit of the next best, ■ Canterbury, 7 though the representatives of the Southern f province must be said to have done remark- [.. ably well with the small contingent sent ~ along. This makes the sixth occasion on which the banner has been won by Auclc- ' land, as against five occasions .by Canter- ' bury, and onco each by Wellington and Dune--11 din. The points were as under: — Points. j S Auckland £5i » Canterbury 36& 7 Wellington 19 e s Dunediu '3 s Coming to the competitors, it may be.said that the principal honours of-the day went £ to G.' W. Smith, who was in great form, his t ],victories embracing the 100 yds, 120j'ds cl hurdles, and 440 yds hurdles. The 100 yds was ;1 undoubtedly one of the best races of the 0 day, there being little to choose between I [1L the quartette over the first- 70yds, after which Smith began to draw out inch by inch, _ 1 ultimately scoring by about a yard from ° Hoald, who appeared to be out of the hunt l ' in the early stages, but finished ui> .hk task s with ; the greatest gameness. The 120 yds .- hurdles proved a gift to the Ancklander, who was away like a flash at pistol crack, and drawing out from his field all along, breasted the tape just as the second man was landing over the last fence. None of the official watches exceeded 165., and one or two were a tick under.', A dash of interest was lent to the 440 yds hurdles by the running of Henderson (Wellington), who ran into the lead at the fifth hurdle and stayed there for a couple of jumps, when Smith began to draw up, and, being with his opponent at the ninth fence, it was then seen that he had ' the racewhich he ultimately won comfortablywell in hand. At the same time, . .Henderson is to be '"complimented on his gameness, and a decidedly credit- ' able performance, as lie was clocked ' to do 625. for the full distance, which , entitled him to claim a standard badge. Both r the 220 yds and 440 yds championships proved , a gift to L. B. Webster, the young Wellington runner fully maintaining the reputation that had preceded him by winning the two i events rather easily. The half-mile was coni tested by a small, but evenly-matched, field, i and consequently onlookers were furnished with a capital race, the honours going to E. T. Harper (Canterbury), C. D. Cowan a good second. As Smith in the hurdles had matters all his own way, so did Simpson, of Canterbury, in the one and three-mile runs, ; both of which lie won with ridiculous ease. ' He "moves over the ground with a nice free stride, and is the possessor of staying and, ( when called upon, sprinting powers, that will trouble the Australian cracks on Friday and j Saturday. In the jumping events C. C. Laurie and C. S. Harper (Canterbury) were i out by themselves, the first-named having a walk-over in the pole jump, and dead-heating [ with Harper in the high jump the latter also winning tho long jump, with Laurie second. ' Both easily topped the standard height in the high jump. Madill also practically had a walk-over in the hammer and shot events. With the hammer lie did 127 ft with tho ' second attempt, but {ailed to reach standard ' by 3ft. while with tho 161b shot he registered ' 39ft —6in over the standard. The walking : events were judged under the .new rules by Messrs. R. Coombes (Sydney) and Mahon, the first-named being thoroughly conversant with the new rules under which tlio contests I were conducted. I n the one-mile event Bell, ; who was making bis maiden appearance in > amateur ranks, was called off in: the first round, while D. Wilson, who was making his I reappearance after an absance of two or three . years, was called off in the third round, and . .T. Dickey was similarly treated about 50yds . from the post, leaving C. J. Barr Brown to t come m alone. He walked very fairly, and . deserved credit for his success. The dis- [ qualification seemed to put Wilson on his mettle, and ho showed some of his old time dash in the three-mile race, putting in some t good work, and finishing by himself. His ■" walking was on this occasion to the thorough , satisfaction of the judge, and lie seemed to ' walk with greater confidence. The following • are the standards that were equalled or I broken : — [ Half-mile Flat: E. T. Harper (Canter- [ bury): time, 2m. ?,s.; standard, 2m. 2s. . 100Ydr, Flat: G. W. Smith (Auckland), . 10 l-55.; standard, 10 l-ss. , High .Tump: C. S. Harper (Canterbury) and C. C. Laurie (Auckland), sft Sin; standard, sft 7in. Putting the Shot: W. H. Madill (Auck- . land). 39ft; standard, 58ft 6in. 120 Yds Hurdles: G. W. Smith (Auckland), ' 165.; standard. 16 3-ss. Three-mile Walk :• D. - Wilson (Auckland), 22m. '165.; standard, 23m. 20s. Pole Jump: C. C. Laurie (Auckland), 10ft; standard, 10ft. 440 Yds Hurdles: G. W. Smith (Auckland), 61 l-55.; A. S. Henderson (Wellington), 625.; t standard, 62 3-53.