IS HYDE A WONDER ATHLETE?

NZ Truth, Issue 1044, 28 November 1925, Page 11

IS HYDE A WONDER ATHLETE?

He May Be, But Rose Is Better THE SPORT IN NEW ZEALAND College Performances And Some Records (By "Starter,") By virtue of the fact that Hyde has been putting up some good performances m Victoria recently, Australians / are sounding the gay cymbals and setting the welkin ringing with shouts of "George Hyde the wonder athlete, Australia's Nurmi and so on.

Now, we grant that Hyde is a good little runner, but as for him being a wonder, well, what superlatives could we lavish on the head of our own Randolph Rose, who showed a clean p/iir of heels and a^ large quantity of atmosphere to Hyde with much regularity when the latter toured through this country last season? Rose met him on at least ten occasions m races from a mile to three miles, and it is safe to say that Hyde never really looked like a winner. THAT RECORD. When the big New Zealander put up that exhilarating' three-mile record at Wahganui, Hyde was over half a lap behind. Nevertheless, the Aussies think they have discovered a worldbeater, so let them send Hyde over 7 here m two months' time When • Rose will be racing with the American, Lloyd Hahn. Hyde will be sure of a place but we are afraid that it will be "first after the other two." The Auckland Centre has very sportingly withdrawn its application for the championships, so the meeting will now be held at Dunedin and the subsequent . year at Auckland. A feature will be the ladies' 100 yds. championship which is officially on the programme for the first time. The following are the new delegates: Auckland, Messrs Morton and Tracy; Wanganui, Messrs Wilton and Connop; Wellington, Messrs McVilly and Lai sk; Canterbury, Messrs. Guy and Austed; Otago, Messrs. Taylor and Heenan. Over half of these are new-comers. Mr. Wilton, who has represented three centres Otago, Canterbury and Wanganui. He is now fathering a scheme for a different system of electing the Council. The only comment we can offer on this is that it seenis to have taken him a long time to discover the defections m the present system. THE ATHLETIC NURSERY. Most of the girls' and boys' colleges have been having their meetings lately and reports of performances and entries from the four Centres serve to show that the breed holds good and our school athletes are as healthy as ever they were. There is, however, a distinct tendency to ask prominent boys to do too much. This is all right at the time and grand, no doubt, for the school, but a great many promising boys have been athletically ruined for later years by overdoiAs: it at school. Another point is style. ; Several boys were noticeable for their nice, even, style at the Wellington Secondary School sports. Amongst others were Anderson (St. Pat's), Hosken (Wairarapa), Price (Scots), Holmwood (Wairarapa), and Ransom (Wellington). These boys stood out, not because they were all winners but because they showed Up as natural runners, possessing possibilities that should be brought <Out by careful coaching now and training" when they are old enough to stand it. COLLEGE RECORDS. As remarked last week, there is no standard authority on secondary school performances, so m order to givft those interested some basis of comparison we publish a review of some

of the best performances of the Christchurch Colleges. Away back m 1877, F. S. Westenraat Christ's College did 10'/^ seconds for the 100 yds and it still remains unbroken. Lee, at St. Bede's, is credited with having done lOsecs., but.there seems to be reasonable grounds for doubting this. The record at Christchurch B.H.S. is 10 3/ssecs. Strangely enough, that great runner, Ronald Opie, never got his name m the B.H.S. record book. Jim Parker,' the All Black, holds the B.H.S. quarter-mile record of 63 2/5. Christ's College have produced a trio of splendid half-milers.of -late years. The record is held by W. S. Dalgety and is 2min. 6 3/ssecs. ' J. H. Nalder was a previous holder at 2min. 7sec. and Guy Nicholls deadheated one year with the former m 2min. Bsecs. ' . . Tom Milliken, the footballer, has ■ the B.H.S. mile to his credit, done / m 4min. 47secs. eleven years ago. Over the 3ft. hurdles Guy Williams, of Christ's College, registered the fine time of 16secs. last year at the interCollege sports. ■•.'..■■.' In IS9B, M. R. Lindsay, of Christ's College, cleared the . quarter -mile huddles m 72 2/ssecs. In the high jump, C. E. Low, Rhodes scholar nominee, \cleared the: bar at--sft. s%in. A fine jump for a' schoolboy, but it is possible that Stevens, of Nelson COIt lege, has bettered it. With regard to the long jump the credit, must go away down to Invercargili where R. C. MOi'gari, present N.Z. 220 yds. champion, jumped 2l;ft o^in. as a schoolboy. RECORD-BREAKING CYCLIST. The wonderful feat Of riding 100 miles unpaced m 4hrs. 37min. 23sec"s. m the teeth of a stiff breeze and despite three punctures was accomplished by a young Australian amateur named Allen Quinton m Melbourne last month. Not satisfied with establishing Australasian records for the distance, Quinton sent toppling 'the. world's and Australasian professional record made by.F. O'Keefe m April of this year .of 4hrs. 56min. and the.old standing world's amateur record of over shrs. held by Leon Meredith. Quinton may. well be proud of his performance. R. A. ROSE AT WANGANUI. The Waftganui A.A. Club acted wisely m inducing R. A.- Rose,-the :Austr"alasian champion, to visit the river city tO-day to compete at the meeting there. It is understood that Rose has done a fair amount of track work recently, and is confident of improving on the record he established m Wangahui last February over the three miles. If the conditions are favorable . Rose can be depended upon to put up a big performance. Cook's Gardens track was not so fast as it might have been When Rose ran the three miles m February m 14.451/5, but there is every chance of it being much faster to-day, m which case Rose will probably achieve his object, as lie is a wonder over a distance.