HARRIER RACING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23378, 21 June 1939, Page 20

HARRIER RACING

CLUB STRENGTH TESTED GREAT EASTERN EVENT FOUR TEAMS IN CLOSE FINISH The Great Eastern road race, first of the open scratch races to be licit! this year, was of nearly six miles, mainly of concrete road. Eight clubs entered representatives, in nearly all cases their strongest members. 'I he teams' race was closely contested, four clubs finishing with less than four points between each. Technical won with •'« points, Lynndale was second with .'57, Papatoeloe third with 41, and Atickland fourth with 1.1. Technical gave a good exhibition of team running. Lynndale was weakened by the absence of W. Briggs, who is not yet lit, and J. Perrett. Last year, Lynndale won the teams' race with 26 points, to Teelinical's 40. L. M. Watters. of the Auckland Club, the first man home, gave a brilliant exhibition of easy, power!id running. He led from the start, was never seriously challenged, and finished about 20vds. ahead of I?. Croinplon, of Lynndale, and C. Littler, of Papatoetoe, who dead-heated for second place. Waiters' time. «n.ni 4-is, was >'3ls laster than Neil's time last year. 1). Porter, of Papatoetoe, was fourth iu 32m os, 20s behind Littler and Crompton, J. Neil, of Presbyterian, fifth in 32m 'lis, and P. Best, and V. Ibbertson, of Technical, equal for sixtli place. The winning Technical team was Best and Ibbertson, sixth equal, Burt, twelfth, and Harding, thirteenth. The sealed handicap was Avon by G. Littler, who gave a greatly improved performance to finish in second place. The Papatoetoe Club won the first three places in this section. G. Sinton being second and A. Wollhourn third. It was most creditablo for a club with only a dozen members to finish in third place and defeat so strong a, club as Auckland. At the start, Watters quickly jumped into the lead, followed by I'. Savidan and Crompton, with Porter and Littler teaming together next in order, then A. Browne, of Lynndale, L. Clark, of Auckland, T. Collins, of Lynndale, and a group of Technical, runners, A. Harding, P. Best, V. Ibbertson and J. Nicholson.' At half-way, the order was little changed, but Browne, Savidan and Clark dropped back, and Collins, Best and Ibbertson moved up. A mile from home. Littler and.Porter made a strong forward move, passing Neil and Crompton. Near the finish, Crompton challenged and drew level with Littler, but could not pass him, and tlicy finished together. LITTLER REGAINS FORM OUTSTA X 1)1 XG JUNIOI\S Littler recorded his best performance for some years, and seems to have regained most of his old form. Eor the second time this month lie recorded equal time with Crompton, the last occasion being the hake Pupuke road race, where the pair tied for third fastest time. Porter, too. providing he maintains his present good lorin, should be a-touer of strength to the Auckland representative team. Both these runners. being lightly built and possessing exceptionally easy action, are seen at their best on the road, unlike A. Harding. of Technical, who did not show his real form in finishing thirteenth. He dislikes road work, and is at his best over broken, uneven country. Last year lie was the first Aucklander home in tinNew Zealand cross-country championship, finishing seventh to Wellcr. V. Ibbertson, of Technical, a comparatively new runner, gave his best exhibition to date, finishing equal with Best, who last year gained a place in the Auckland representative team. T. Collins, of Lynndale, who finished eighth, shows consistently good form, and l'\ Savidan. of Auckland, improves with every run. The latter stayed with the leaders in the early stages of the race and finished ninth, which is his best performance to date. R. Cathcart. of Lynndale. who moved up several places toward the end to finish tenth, is likely to show great improvement later in the season. L. Clark, of Auckland, Jiad his first run this season, finishing in eleventh place, but he has not yet commenced training. J. Nicholson, of Lynndale. a veteran of his club, gave an outstanding exhibition of consistent form, in spite of his years. A. Browne, of Lynndale, who ran well against a strong field in his club's road championship the previous week, was well placed early in the race, but failed badly at the finish. H. Burt, of Technical, who finished twelfth, was the best, of the juniors, but M. Halliday, a ]5-vear-old runner, of Papatoetoe, was well up at the finish of a gruelling race. The Wesley Club conducted its novice championship over a five-mile cross-country course at .Mount Boskill. A good field of 20 entered, and the first three men home, A. Bookings, R. Riddel] and R. Hadlow. in that order, were separated by only a few seconds. Hookings went exceptionally well to defeat Riddell, who began to show his ability some weeks ago bv winning the club's handicap road race of six miles. Hookings won by a few yards in .'Mm 7s, which is good time for a novice over five miles of crosscountry. The Papatoetoe Club held a road race of six niiles at Papatoetoe, the runners being despatched at intervals. The club record for the race. 33m 48s, held by 1). Porter, was reduced 20s by Porter and C. Littler, who dead-heated for second place behind A. Wellltourn. a junior. H. Thomson ran solidly, also A. Potter and G. Sinton.