ATHLETICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1107, 19 May 1893, Page 26

ATHLETICS.

After the Wellington A.A.C. abandoned the proposal to hold their meeting, last Saturday afternoon turned out most favourable, and was a good day for the Rugby Union. I journey to Johnsonville> Where the attraction was pigeon-shooling, Mr Broderick being the best of the local men. Messrs Walker and Meredith, from Masterton, were also pretty successful.

At a meeting of cyclists held at Blenheim last Wednesday week it was resolved to form a club, to be called the Marlborough Cycle club. Mr G. J. L. Kerr was elected captain, Mr A. Stedman vice-captain, Mr F. Nosworthy treasurer, and Messrs L. Brown and P. Clark committee.

By nature of its central position, Mirimar Park, at Kilbirnie, should'in time become the recreation ground of Wellington- It is abont 30 acres in extent, and will be enclosed with a wire netting fence. At present the Wellington Trotting Club have a clay-track half a mile in circumference, which should be a good bicycle track when finished. The centre of the ground will probably be used for polo, football and coursing. It is proposed to sew the ground, and plant trees, after it has been properly levelled and fenced. The New South Wales Swimmiug Association held a carnival this month, when some capital performances were done. The Boys' Race, 66yds, resulted: E. Swadling, 1; H. Pacey, 2. Time, lmin 4sec. Inter-club Handicap, 66yds, final heat: G. W. Bradford (Bsec), 1; W. Ragan (13sec), 2; G. Harrex (7sec), 3. Time, 41sec. Plunging Championship: H. Mulcahy (60ft), 1; T. J. Maloney (50ft), 2. Inter-club Handicap, 200yds, final heat: O'Grady (Scr), 1; J. Swift (llsec), 2; C. A. Madden (7sec), 3. Time, 2min 43sec. Wentworth beat the Enterprise team by 7 goals to nil for the Polo Championship. R. Prior and J. Hellings scored. The Darlinghurst Harriers S.C. were beaten in the 200yds team race by the Suburbs S.C. by 3 points. T. Meadham and J. H. Hellings lowered the world's record for 78yds (held by J. H. Tyers, England) by 1 3-sth sec, doing the distance in 48sec. Gormley also lowered Nuttall's 120yds record (lmin 26sec) by s£secs. Writing from Balcairn, John Fitzpatrick, one of the Canterbury team at the late Championship Meeting, informs me he is playing for a junior flag football team: Situate as he is in the country, chasing the leather is a fine opportunity to get in fair condition. The way Fitzpatrick ran here, with little or no training, showed him to be a game runner, and, taken in hand, I believe him to be capable of showing form good enough to put him in any team as a quarter or half-miler.

The Sydney Referee printed, and acknowledged my paragraph referring to J. King's return, and speaks of him as ' Jimmy King, of Temora.' The same paper states, mentioning his alleged 9 4-sth sec ' go' at Invercargill, that the going in this colony must be fast. King is now engaged to meet H. Cameron at Marton on the 25th inst. .

/ Mr Gecrge Watson is starter and handicapper at Pahautanui. I have not yet visited this place, and will be elsewhere engaged on the 24th inst.

The following officers were elected on Saturday last for the Telegraph sports to be held at Blenheim on Queen's Birthday:— Judges, Messrs Buick, Ballard and W. Sinclair ; starter, J. Hay; clerk of the course, B. Barlow; handicappers, W. Dempsey, F. H. Dodd, and J. Hay; secretary, T. A. Ballantine ; assistant secretary and treasurer ; G. W. Woods; committee, Messrs Cumming, Esson, Shrimpton, McHattie, Silvius, Carmine, Fahy, Potter, Henderson, Morrison and Allen.

Arthur Francis has gone to Blenheim to I train for a boxing match with B. Mahoney, which takes place there this month. I fancy Francis, and believe it will be a straight go. The fight comes off in the Drillshed on the 30th inst. Mahoney will scale about lOst, and Francis lOst 101 b. Mahoney goes over next week, and is pretty confident. The Sydney Referee gives some particulars of McManus, who holds the world's record for hop, step and jump—viz., 49ft He belongs to Cootramunda, of which district he is a native, and is 24 years of age. He stands 6ft Sin, and weights 12st —a sprint runner at that. In the long jump at the recent meeting he did 22ft. McManus ran into a place a number of times at Botany and Carrington. He has scored heavily at sport meetings in the country districts South Wales. The thirtieth annual' athletic meeting between the Oxford and Cambridge Universities was held at West Kensington on March 23. The weather was favourable, and the attendance was estimated at about 11,000. The events resulted: —looyds : A. Ramsbotham and C. B. Fry, dead heat. Time, 10 l-sth sec. High Jump: E. D. Swanwick (sft llin), 1; H. LeFleming (sft lOin), 2. Throwing 161 b hammer: C. S. Robertson (105 ft Hin), 1; F. M. Jennings (90ft 7*in), 2. One Mile: W. E. Lutyens, 1; W. F. M. Copeland, 2. Time, 4min 22sec. Long Jump: C. B. Fry (23ft 6Mn), 1; W. J. Oakley (21ft lOin), 2. Putting 161 b Weight: E. Hind (34ft lHin), 1; C. B. Nicholl (34ft llin), 2. 440yds: A. Ramsbotham, 1; C. H. Lewin, 2. Time, 50 2-sth sec. 120yds Hurdles :E. L. Collis and H. T. S. Gedge, dead heat. Time, 16 2-sth sec. Three Miles : F. S. Horan, 1; B. C. Allen, 2. Time, 14min 59 2-sth sec. Cambridge only won the mile and three mile races. In the latter, Horan, who is a natural runner, and second only to W. G. George, put up a record for the inter-University sports. He ran his ■ first mile in 4min 39sec, and second in 9min 48sec. The timekeeper (Nat Perry, of London), and starter (J. Wilkinson, of Sheffield) are professionals.