AMATEUR ATHLETICS

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12069, 21 February 1925, Page 10

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

“DECATHLON.”

BY

(Special to the “N.Z. Times.”) COMING EVENTS.. Feb. 21.—Australia v. . Wellington, Athletic Park. Feb. 23.—10 a.m., official send-off to H. S. Alpe, New Plymouth-to-Wellington walk. Feb. 23.—Evening meeting, Basin * Reserve. Feb. 27thi and 28th.—New Zealand championships, Wanganui. March 2.—Evening meeting, Petone. March 7.—Porirua A.A.0., Porirua. March —Evening meeting, Athletic Park. March 14.—Afternoon meeting (international cycling contest), Athletio Park. Mardh 17.—Otaki A.A.C., Otakl. PROVINCIAL CHAMPIONSHIPS From every point of view the annual contest for the McVilly Shield wag a. huge sucoess. The weather was nearly perfect, and the track in splendid condition. A southerly breeze assisted the runners, and as a result some good times were recorded. The six thousand spectators were well satisfied with the bill-of-fare, and under excellent management there was no delay between the events. Mr Collyer (groundsman) is worthy of special mention for the first-class order in which he had the ground. A WEALTH OF TALENT. The result of the various events goes to show what a wealth of athletic talent we have in the Wellington district. ,In not one single event was there what one could ' call a runaway victory True, some competitors failed to lire up to their reputations, but others seemed to come to light and provide the required thrill. To those who attained championship honours for the first, time, I offer my congratulations, N and hope that it will be a stop towards the attainment; of higher honours. The new champions are:—• I). Paris (220ydaJ. W. Kyle (440yds). O. Campbell (880yds)', E. Dunbar (120yds hurdles and jave lin). T. Vangioui (440yds hurdles). W. Roberts (high jump): C. Flett (one-mile’ cycle). C. Curtis (three-mile cycle). WELL DONE, 'WAItSARAPA I After many years in the safe keeping of the Wellington Club, the McVilly Shield was won by the Wairarapa sub-centre. Amateur athletics are in a very flourishing condition in Masterton,. and now that the shield reposes there, interest should be further stimulated. - The Wairarapa enthusiasts now have covetous eyes on the McEvedy Shield, at present held by Wellington Colege. They intend starting a campaign to raise funds in order to bring down . a large team to compete at next year’s secondary schools’ championships: They say they have the material, but at present lack the necessary cash. THE, SPRINTS. , The 100 yards resulted exactly as Sredicted in this column last week. wing to several scratchings this event was decided in one heat. From a good start, Leadbetter took the lead, and was never headed, winning by aboht half a yard from the New Zealand champion, C. Jenkns. Paris was very close up, third. •The 220 yards was a bit of a surprise. At the first start E!yle broke. At the second attempt Tracy quickly assumed the lead, which he increased coming up the straight. In most quarters there were considered to be only two in tEw race, Kyle and Tracy. Tracy, who was watching Kyle, on the inside, slackened up when he saw' the Petone hoy was well beaten, and failed to see Paris, who finished very fast, to win in the last stride. Traoy’s foolishness lost him the race. He has been running long enough now to know that a race is not won until the" tape is broken. Paris’s win was full of merit, and he is to be congratulated on his victory over such doughty opponents as Tracy and Kyle. Although a fallowing breeze assisted the runners up the straight, the time, 22 2-ssec, is distinctly good. KYLE BEATS TRACY IN QUARTER: There'was no doubt "about who won the .quarter. Of the field'of five, Kyle was first out of the holes, and was never troubled, eventually winning by ten yards in the exceptionally fast time of 60 4-ssec, which is 1 l-6sec below standard, and equals the time refistered by TYacy when he won the ustralasian championship at Hobart last.,year. Tracy was visibly distressed, and was beaten for second place on the tape by his club-mate, Davies. Tracy has only himself to blame for his defeats. No athlete, no matter who he is, can hope to cram all his training into a month, and expect to be at top form. C. Campbell would undoubtedly .have been 'second in the 440 yards but for the fact that he had competed in the 880 yards less than an hour previously. He was running well until the entrance to the straight was reached, when the effort was too much for him. *

The half mile was just “Campbell.” Running easily, he led all the way, closely followed by R. Gully. Entering the straight he was leading Gully by five yards, which was increased to 10 yards. The time. 2min dead, equalled the standard, and is the fastest time recorded . in Wellington for some years. Allen finished very fast, filling third place. ,He is a new runner who shows promise. At present he lacks experience. ROSE’S GREAT EFFORTS. The mile was looked forward to with great interest, and what a finish 1 Last week I picked Rose to win by a small margin, and a small margin it was. It was so small that Rose had a few anxious seconds coming ,qp the Straight. The second and third laps were fairly slow, which was just the lull before the storm. TVo hundred and twenty yards from home Rose suddenly spurted and opened a gap of four, or five yards between himself and Priestley. Then began the struggle which had five or six thoushnd people shouting themselves hoarse. Priestley gradually overtook Rose, and a desperate tussle ensued all the way up tho straight; but Rose managed to secure the verdict by about a foot. The time, 4min 35 l-ssec, was slow considering the runners and the conditions prevailing. Both Rose and Priestley are capable of much better time. The New Zealand champion, Dufresne, was outclassed, and retired half-way up the straight. Why he dropped out is a mystery. He was running easily in third place, and had only about 40 yards further to go. The three miles was another wia for

Rose. Dufresne, from whom great things were expected, unfortunately developed a bad attack of the stitch, and was forced to retire after doing a mile and a-half. He was going well at the time, and hiß withdrawal robbed the race of a lot of interest. D. Todd was in fine form and kept Rose going at a good hat. He opened out in the last lap, but Rose was too strong for him, and tvith a good finish won. by 20yards in 15min 26 2-5 sec. A FINE WALKER. S. G. Mclntosh won both walks. In the three miles he encountered no opposition, and won comfortably. ' In the one mile event he won by a loot after a keen struggle with W. Tonkin. Tonkin did not start in the three miles, which was before the mile. Had. he done so he might have been considered as second string for Wanganui. McIntosh is one of the fairest walkers we have, and should win both walks at Wanganui. “Mao” confided to me that the only time he ever ran was in the mile championship at Dunedin last March, when he ran very hard over the first 221) yards, but could not run as hard as another “walker” in the same race. EXCELLENT PERFOKMANCES■The English Olympic representative, E; V. Dunbar, won the 120yds hurdles by inebes from G. Williams in 16 2-5 see. H. C. Whyte, who dead-heated with Grantham in the first heat, was going well until tho halfwuv mark hut faded right out at the finish. Vangioni had no difficulty in accounting for the large field! in the 440 yds hurdles. H. Wilkins, who filled second place, had the better style over the sticks, but Yangioni’s pace on the flat enabled him to win by eight yards. Wogan was hurdling well but was apparently not in the best of condition. Contrary to expectations, ■ Peter Munro won the hammer throwing with a throw of 104 ft llin. Tho previous champion, W. Harvey, was right off colour and could only do 98ft 6in, which is yards balow what he oan do. Peter also won the shot and discus at which events he has no, serious rivals, but ih the javelin he failed to produce his best form and could only fill third place. Dunibar won the javelin with a throw of 145 ft 7in. RUNNING, JUMPING AND VAULTING. An excellent standard was attained by the high jumpers, three of whom equalled or bettered! the standard. The winner’s (W. Roberts) jump of sft Bin was a very' fine effort. T. Brady and R. McKenzie tied for second- place with sft 7‘iu. In an exhibition jump Roberts cleared sft BJin. In spite of advancing years Geo. Harvey is pole vaulting aa of old. He cleared lift, which is 6in better than standard' and only 3in below the record of lift 3in created 'by himself in 1915. Lozelle McKenzie and La Frairfcz tied for second place with a jump ofl 10ft. W\ Wilton carried off both the long jump and the hop, step and jump, with 21ft 7in and 44ft lOin respectively. D. Barker cleared 21ft lin, beating exchampion R. Oowie by lin for second place. F. Perry was close behind Wilton in the hop, etep and jump, doing 44ft 2in.-

THE CYCLING EVENTS. As usual the cycling races were full of incidents. Accidents have -been very frequent of late and the officials will have to take drastic action if this branch of the sport is to progress. In a heat of the one-mile the rider who was responsible for bringing Harrison down was disqualified. A much more serious accident occurred iu the threemile hut how it happened was not djscernable from' the press table and, no action was taken by the officials.. The unfortunate rider was P. Robinson who received slight concussion and. had to be removed! to the hospital'. He was sufficiently recovered, however, to be able to leave the institution on Monday. Flett did not disappoint his supporters who,were quite confident of him winning the mile championship. Displaying excellent judgment hr; came away at the 220yds and won by four lengths from H.. Oakley, who beat Ourtis by a similar margin. TOO MUCH LOAFING.

There was a lot of loafing in toils event, but the stewards, did not exercise their powers of calling “no race.” The time was actually ssec slower than that registered in tho “B” grade championship, and the “B” grade riders were not considered- class enough to be allowed to ride in the “A” grade. This is the kind of thing that killed cycling' years ago, and if the authorities are not alive to the position we Will see a mile race taking about five minutes with a sprint up the straight. The same thing happened in the three-mile racd. None of the riders appeared willing to take a lap and, -the winner appeared to be the chief offender. T. Oakley had the lead when the bell rung for the last lap but going d<own the back straight C. Ourtis oanue up at a terrific pace closely followed by Casey. Ourtis entered the straight with several lengths to spare and won easily. Casey just beat Tom Oakley. The time, Smin 6 8-sseo, was very slow. Oakley is capable of breaking 7min . SOsec. Flett was unlucky in this race in that he lost about 50 yards through having to pull up and ride round Robinson who had fallen. A sprint was required in order to batch the leaders and this probably cost him the race. THE LADIES. f Miss Swinburne made no race of the ladies’ 100 yards championship, winning in IT 4-ssoc, record • time. ■MSss Obliins. was yards behind 1 but managed to 'beat Mias Porter for second place. In the 120yds handicap Miss Swinburne was up with the field at 80yds but Mias Porter pulled away over the last 2oyds and won by a- foot. The relay championship was wor. by the Wellington Club, thanks to the fine quarter to Guy. ’Varsity led at the first change but Guy considerably reduced the lead and Jenkins easily accounted for Hill. Paris started two yards clear of Jenkins and' maintained his advantage to the end. OtUR. AUSTRALIAN VISITORS. Not the least attractive part of the programme was the appearance of the full Australian; team in tho handicap events. The visitor® succeeded in winning all the foot races, and liy their excellent running have established themselves firmly in public favour. Whyte’s run in the 1000yds handicap was a splendid effort, and in deadheating with . Zander he estabjished a • New Zealand record for the distance. Parker carried off both the 120 and 300 yards handicaps, Grehan filling third and second places respectively. In the 120 yards Parker broke “evens,” which would indicate that the Queenslanders are beginning to strike form. Burness, the cyclist, had the niisfortune to lose his tyre when going well m the two miles handicap, but was on the track long enough to give the public an idea as to his capabilities. At Athletic Park, this aftenoon, tho team will be seep in action against the local cracks. In addition to two special invitation races, a full programme of handicap events will ho presented. Monday’s evening meeting had to be postponed on account of the wet weather. It was held on Wednesday, which is too late for comment this week. Next Monday’s meeting will be con-

ducted ’by the Olympic Club ot the Basin Reserve. The evepts are 100 yds, two miles, -f mile cycle, three-) mile walk, ladies’ race, and ladies’ and men’s relay races • A PRAISEWORTHY EFFORT. Ih order to raise funds for the Barnardo Homes, Mr H. S. Alpo, the champion road walker, will attempt to lower previous times registered in the 4 journey from New Plymouth to Wellington. A motof-car,' lent by the Ford- Colonial Motor Cdinpany, will follow the walker. Mr Alpe and party will be accorded an official sendoff by the Mayor on Monday. February 23rd, at 10 a-m., avThe G.P.O;