AMATEUR ATHLETICS

New Zealand Times, Volume LI, Issue 11737, 26 January 1924, Page 10

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS L6CAL MEN DB WELL MEETING AT MASTERTON

(By “Furlong.”)

Favoured with glorious weather, the Wellington provincial championship gathering was held at Athletic Park last Saturday, the 19th inst. From start to finish the events were run off in a manner that reflected the greatest credit upon the controlling officials. It, certainly is a fact that one must see > feig sports meeting in Wellington to know just how well they are controlled in this city. “Furlong” has had the privilege of attending amateur athletic gatherings in every part of New Zealand, and it is his unquestionable opinion that right here the oentre control is best of all. I place these few remarks at the head of my criticisms of the various events, because I belieye that there is always a tendency to take too little notioe of what our officials do on “the day.” The programme opened with the three-mile walk. Mclntosh had such an easy thing that he lapped the other competitors.. In view of the fact that he had no one to assist him with pace, it is surprising that he registered such a good performance. The mile also proved an easy win for him. Although lapped in the three miles, Lovatt was the most promising walker outside Molntosh, and is deserving of special mention for sticking to the winner over the last round. JHe is young, and I think will develop well. Futter should try and copy his action. Tompkins displayed good form in the one mile.

The 220yds was won nicely by Tracy in 22 l-ssec. A very good performance. By the way, this runner placed a very nioe run to his credit in the first Heat of this event, going l-sseo slower than the final, but easing up ever the last few yards. Lewis, the Canterbury sprinter, surprised everyone by finishing only two yards away from Tracy. Some few weeks back I suggested that perhaps the form displayed by this runner when he was last in Wellington was not,his best (he ran disappointingly). I was not, however, prepared to predict that on this occasion he would go 22 2-ssec. His action is quite different to that which he had before. At the time of his last appearance here he had a tendency to gallop, but I noticed on Saturday that his stride tended far more towards evenness, lewis is a strongly-built runner, and should he further develop that general smoothness of speed, there is every reason to believe that ho will accomplish big things in sprinting. The 100yds proved a great race, and here again lewis effected another big surprise by defeating Leadbetter. I confidently expected the ’Varsity mail to be first home in the short race, hut the Canterbury sprinter breasted the tape just inches in front. This finish was partly, reminiscent of last season’s historical finish in the 100yds New _ Zealand championship between Maurice ’ Kirksoy and IT. W. Carr, in so far as Lewis essaped a spectacular dive when very close Jo the tape. I do not thinks however, That the leap assisted him fn any way, and he would ho well advised to discontinue that manner of finishing, if it is a practice, since there is too great a chance of severe injury. Wilson won easily in th© 120 yards hurdles, but I was not over-impressed with the time, 16sec. He wantß a lot of work yet..

"Whyto and Lqzelle in tying at sft 6in in the high jump did not register very noticeable perfrmances. It. A. Hose accounted for both the one and three miles championships. He wflfl not extended in either race. A. C. Dufresne (Levin) ran well in the one mile, and for one untrained A. D. Priestly performed veTy creditably. I am of the opinion that Campbell should only run quarters and half miles. Mias N. Swinburne demonstrated hei ability as a sprinter in no uncertain manner when she won the 100 yards ladies’ championship. It is pleasing to note that she is fast losing that tendency to run with a sideway effort. ,Slhe is now running with the whole body well forward, that is the true sprinting form. In the pole vault, G. Harvey placed a good performance at 10ft 6in. The half-mile was an interesting race, and I think I am safe in saying that Charlie Taylor’s win in this event was the most popular one of the day. He was obviously out of form, and it was only sheer determination that took him round that last quarter, and brought him to the tape a winner. I carefully watched the field in this event from start to finish. Taylor gras certainly the only true half runner in the race; it was a pleasure to watch him sprint early to third place, and then straightaway settle down to his fine, big, even stride. After the race he assured me that he will now train on. 9honld he follow out his intention the half and the quarter at the New Zealand championships, in March, look like his. Ralph Gnllv ran well to 'get seoond, likewise W. Melrose ran a good third. Presumably the last-named runner will not he over-close to 19 yards in the next handicap quarter. A special word of praise is due W. Wilton and P. G. Thomson for their excellent performances in the hop, stop, and jump event. Wilton won at 44ft Bin, with Thomson only 2in behind. They .were not troubled by anyone else. Wilton was also successful in the broad jump. Wilson was undoubtedly lucky to win the quarter hurdles. Had Scott (Ha-y-era) known anything at all about hurdling he must have won easily, hut he was very rough over the sticks'. With very little training Malfroy ran a surprisingly good race. Wilson profited by the tiredness of both Scott and Malfroy, and risked either one of the two knocking down the last hurdle. The hurdle was duly knocked‘down, and while the leading pair were pulling themselves together for the run in, the Wellington man ran through the easy opening and won. This quarter was not an exciting avant. The only untoward “incident" being that the starter allowed Ridgen (Canterbury) to gain a five yards break on the field at the start, but this runner was very tired at tbo thick end and was not dangerous. L. A. Tracy judged nicely and won in the good time of 61 4-ssec. Tracv is convincing over a quarter but I incline to the opinion that Taylor, fit and well would beat him. Candy told me that he was not yet quite lit, he no doubt improve considerably by March next. University had no difficulty in winning the inter-club relay race. In the handicap sprints Hill anil

Guy were most prominent,. the former winning the 120 and the latter the 300. In the relay Hill ran a very creditable quarter. CJharlie Rowe was sadly out of condition, even though un trained he gave not even a glimpse of last season’s form. In the last named event Morgan, Wairarapa, was unlucky, he recorded the best throw of tho day but unfortunately slightly overstepped the mark. The half-nri*> boys walk was won by a lad named D. Fraser, the time being 4min 3 l-seec. It is interesting to note that the one mile walk at the Auckland championships on the same day was won in Bmin 4-seec. MEETING AT MASTERTON Over 40 competitors and friends from this city made the trip to Masterton last Tuesday, and an enjoyable day was spent. The attendance of the public was very poor and the Masterton club will be a loser over the meeting. The star performance of the day- was R. A. Rose’s run in the mile handicap. Though he did not win he ran tho distance in 4min 28sec. Rose also ran well in the three miles event and won easily in 15min -51 sec. C. Campbell (15yds) won the 850yds in lmin 58seo after a great tussle up the straight with W. Melrose (SOydsh Melrose (18yds) had his revenge in the quarter just lasting lone enough to win by inches from R. Gully (syds), and C. Campbell (10yds). The time was 51sec. The two last-named runners broke at the start and were penalised a couple of yards. The Messenger Memorial Shield for the 120yds event was won by J. C. Johnston (6iyds). Johnston wa» treated rather liberally by the handieapper. ■George Harvey did 10ft- lOin in the pole vault, and in an attempt for the New Zealand record just failed to get over the bar at lift 4in. The Oakley Bros, captured the majority of the cycle events from the a crutch marks. The long jumpers were of very poor quality, the best performance wUs put up by A. Black, 18ft lin. F. C. Hickling (65yds) won the one mile walking event from J. Putter (105yds). Both of these walkers showed much better form than on the previous Saturday, and walked in good style. W. Winnie, of the Lower Hutt Club, won the 220yds handicap off 16 yds. The high jump was a long drawn out affair, no less than five of the competitors clearing the bar at over sft sin. W. H. Roberts. (3in) was the winner, with an actual jump of sft 6in. W. Grantham, in jumping off a tie for third place, did sft 7in. Miss S. Swinburne proved herself a champion by winning the ‘lOOyds from scratch, and later on in the day won the 75yds race from Iyd behind scratch. Miss M. Hayvice was second on each oocasion. The ,crack relay team (Dawson, Swinburne, Wilkins, and Hayvice) had no difficulty "n winning the relay race from the Masterton team. The Eteveneaux Cup now becomes the property of the town club for the present season. The Selwyn Club were very keen to win the relay race for men competitors, and I am pleased to say that they were successful in doing so. The team was: R. A. Rose (880yds), M. Rose (440yds), A. Grigg (220yds), and E. S. Brown (220yds). J. C. Johnston, the finishing man for the Masterton Club, ran a great 220yds, and though giving Brown about 16yds start was only beaten by a yard and a half. He gave the Selwyn team a great fright. The meeting was fairly well managed, but the judging in some of the events was not -too good. The system seems rather loose to me, and wants a tighter rein kept on it. And another thing, I think the programme is too large for an afternoon meeting, and should be reduced on future occasions. The handicapping was excellent—the close finishes clearly prove this. Mr P. M. Velvin was the starter, and got' through a big afternoon’s work, more to his own satisfaction than to some of the competitors. He knows his business all right, but, to my mind, was a_bit on the officious side. Far better to get the confidence of the runners than to frighten them. The president (Mr B. Rayner), the secretary (Mr J. C. Johnston), and the treasurer (Mr G. W. Kay) worked hard to make the meeting fun smoothly, and went out of their way in looking after the comforts of the visiting competitors. JOTTINGS Evening meeting at Athletic Park on Monday at 6 p.m. “Harry” Wilkins is surely not himself. Last season he gave every promise of turning out some good. “Bet-' ter take a spell for a month, Harry I” The Payne brothers are slowly improving. C. Bowler will be ready soon. F. Gorrie deserves a win—he tries hard enough. When will little “Neil” Craig get a win. He hae been plodding on all the season without sucoess. A victory for him in open company would be very popular. What has become of W. KyleP He was to be a champion. A. Hiokling as a walker is a long way behind his brothers. W. H. Anderson, with more track running, would make a name for himself. S. W. Coppin still amongst tho missing. It is a pity that we have not a few more Griggs here—then some of the clubs would be live bodies. F. Sullivan, of the Marist Club, vaa unfortunately unable to start last Saturday. He contracted a bad cold. R. Lander is steadily improving over the sticks. F. S. Hill won the 100yds at Levin off syds (a yard too much), and L. Tracy the quarter from the scratch mark. “Jack” O’Sullivan did well as starter last Saturday. He only made one mistake, and that was when he let Ridgen get away in the quarter. Luckily for “ Jack.” he did not-win. “Gyp.” Bridge is back amongst the sports again. He will be a welcome addition to our officials, as “Cyp.” knows the game from A to Z. If the newly-formed Napier club could only get the country clubs’ championships held in their town it would be the making of amateur athletics in Hawke’s Bay- -