ATHLETIC CHAMPIONS

NZ Truth, Issue 1061, 25 March 1926, Page 15

ATHLETIC CHAMPIONS

r Leadbetter' s BrWiant Sprinting at Dominion Meeting NEW AUSTRALASIAN JAVELIN RECORD

(From •'Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) '■ , ' Never before -m Dunedin has such interest been centred m an athletic meeting as was ? the case last week, when the ciream of the Dominion's athletes competed for championship honours.

THE attendance on Friday was a capi- ■ tal one for an off-day, but that oh Saturday sent,, all previous records toppling. ■■■'■■ ■ . -■•■■' Undubtedly the. magnet for the 12,000 people who lined: the ground was the appearance of Rose, New Zealand's own record-smashing distance runner, whose name is at pi'esent on every lip. When he lined' up forMhe mile he was given a wonderful reception, and his determined, effortless run-' ning so impressed the crowd that he yvas cheered throughout the course of the race. The. running and the field, events were brimful of interest, but the cycle races were not 'very exciting affairs and the final of •., the mile was perilously close to being a burlesque. Some of the I'iders were obviously averse to taking a- lap and that was the cause ■of the whole trouble which was effectively dealt with by the officials. . " On Friday the track was good, though somewhat •■ lifeless, and -there was no wind; but oh Saturday a stiff breeze raked. the grounds arid this, on top of rain overnight, settled any prospect of record-smashing. ; ■. Sprints- to. Leadbetter The running of two' heats m the hundred left M. Leadbetter (Wellington), C. H. Jenkins (Wellington), L,.;C. Wililiams (Auckland), H. D., , Morgan (Otago), J. H. Murphy (Canterbury), 'and C. L. /Alien ' (Canterbury) m: the ilnal. T -:'-. :.. ■■ v ■•■' ' ' : \ '■"'■ ' ' They rose to"V- .> beautiful start, but Morgan^ faltered slightly, m the. first stride or two and A\^iS' soon a yard to the (bad. . ";,. '•• : '■, . j.''. Passing ;the half way , mark the -other five were "m line and at that point the winner could°npt be nam- . cd. ;'■■■' , ■ ■■■ ~--.. '. \ V,;'- •;."- ■ ..•■• Twenty yai-ds further oh, however, Leadbetter was -.'showing' 1 clear of Jenkins, and he -broke •the tape a yard ahead of his team -.rnate, who was inches /in front of- Allen. .. ■• L,eadbetter, ■ Jenkins, and Williams were ,alsb m the; final -of fhe 220, the other two starters being W. Kyle (Wellington), and- A. Telfar (Afest Coast, North Island). '. , \ Leadbetter was quickest into his stride and coming round.the home bend was three yards clear. Twenty, yards from .^the tape he started to > stop, and v Jenkins, with a fine finishing burst, got wrthin half a yard of him: "''j]^: '.'•'■• .'' % v ': ' ; Kyle. also finished well and was righL up with Jenking: • V ; A field ;of seven was sent on its way by the . starter hi; , the' 440, and Kyle, last season's champion; 1 was soon m the lead. ' %■''.'"'■ : rGeddes, of Irivercargill, went with

him for about 300 yards, but then faded and finished well back. -With 60 yards to go Kyle looked an easy winder, but Olsen (Otago) , came with a great run and got within a yard of him. Kyle was clocked to do 51 3-ssec. slower than the time he won it m previously. . An' Interesting 880 The fact that Rose did not start m the 880 robbed the event of much of its glamor, but it provided an interesting race nevertheless, because the positions of the six runners were continually changing. . Just after the start there was some shuffling, for places and C. H. Taylor (Canterbury) nearly came down being sent back last. . Starting on the last lap F. J. Rolf e (Otago) put a break of eight yardsj'lpn, running down the back. . • " '. Taylor was making, up his ground gradually and a furlong from home was just m behind the leader. It was then that R.GuMy (Wellington) .electrified the crowd with ' a fine sprint that took him up to the front. . ■.._• But he cbuldn't' go on with it and Taylor, won easily -by half-a-dozen yards from C. M. Olsen (Otago), who finished very strongly. The time of 2min. 4 2/ssoc. was 5 4/5 sec: slower than the previous champion took.' . The Star Events . Naturally, the greatest interest of the championships centred m ••the mile, because the field of five included Rose, who was billed to make an attack; on the- record. '■ ( ' At pistol-fire the champion immediately took the lead and was followed by .L 11. Nalder (Canterbury) , I*. 13. Jordan (O.tago), X Douglas (Otago), and F. Rolf e (Otago). At the end of a lap he held a lead . of four yards and with half the 'journey gone he. had increased this t0. 30 yards. At this' stage Jordan passed Nalder but ran with, poor judgment and stopped to nothing a lap; from home. . Running beautifully, Rose started .the final ■ quarter with a break of 100 yards on Nalder, and he burst the tape a street ahead of the latter. ' He finished brilliantly and Walked off the, '.track" as fresh as the proverbial paint. '■'...-.. The first quarter was cut out m 61 3-5 sec, the half m 2min 9 3-ssec., the three-quarter mile m. 3min 19 4-ssec, and the full distance m 4min 28sec. — great time, considering the conditions and the fact that there was no one capable"of going with him.