AMATEUR ATHLETICS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21879, 15 August 1934, Page 18

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

SAVIDAN CUP CONTEST GOOE) WIN FOR CRAWFORD TEAMS' RACE TO TECHNICAL Excellent conditions prevailed last Saturday when the main attraction in the harrier sport was the annual road contest for the Savidan Cup. The event, which was being contested for the third time, drew a fair field of 31 runners and, through good handicapping, a fine race and a good finish resulted. Run from the Pakuranga Hall on the Howick Road, to Ellerslie, the distance was about 5J miles, with about an equal amount of up and down hill running.

With the exception of G. Hill, W. Briggs and A. G. Harding, all the leading "distance men were competing, and ran up to form. Two fine performances were given by A. M. Atton and B. Parsons, of H.M.S. Diomede, which had only arrived in port the day before after a six-weeks' cruise.

The winner was H. J. Crawford, of the Presbyterian Club. Running from a middle mark, he quickly caught the limit men and going out alone a couple of miles from the finish, he stayed on well to withstand a strong challenge from A. M. Atton and win nicely by 25 yards. After a good race in the open steeplechase at Alexandra Park in June, Crawford was well placed in both the Onehunga'road race and the teams' race at Avondale, and being on rather a good mark in the event on Saturday, he was always well favoured. Navy Runners Prominent

Technical's Navy men, Atton and Parsons, did well in being placed second and fourth respectively, and with three more weeks in which to train before the provincial championship; they will greatly strenghten the Technical team. J. Valder was third and gained second fastest time, only eight secpnds slower than Savidan, and ran his usual good race. Savidan had a lone run from scratch to finish tenth, and never at any stage looked like catching the leaders. One of his shoes came off during the run, but he lost only a few seconds through the mishap. He moved very freely in the race and will not be troubled in the big cross-country event on September 1. The teams' race resulted in an easy victory for Technical, whose five starters all finished in the first seven. The Presbyterian team was second and Auckland third. As this race was run on the handicap system, however, the teams' result cannot be taken as a guide to the championship contest. Field Day at Mission Bay Technical held its annual field day at Mission Bay for those not competing in the road race, and had a large muster of members. W. Murray showed that he still possesses plenty of speed by winning the 100 yards, while D. Knight ran a splendid quarter-mile. The mile was won by J. Riddington, the speedy Wellington harrier, who this year won the 10 miles Vosseller Shield race. University and Presbyterian harriers both had* ordinary runs in which good fields took full advantage of the fine weather.

At the Domain the usual events were conducted by the Auckland Club, and the firmer going in the steeplechase resulted in faster times being registered generally. This event was run over 6000 yards and resulted in J. R. Angelo vanning narrowly from N. McCarthy and K. Pinson. The faster track suited Pinson, and he ran with plenty of dash to defeat G. Hill, who finished fifth, by six seconds for fastest time. The 75 yards sprint required three heats and'a final, which was won by inches by H. Rigg from Copeland and Munro. 'The winter, shot putting and discus throwing championships were also decided, and resulted in H. V. Hogg and A. E. Sutton dead-heating in the former event with 81ft. 10in., and Sutton winning the discus event with a throw of 100 ft. 2in. from A. McLean, with 87ft.