ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21578, 25 February 1932, Page 4

ATHLETICS

By Amateur. COMING EVENTS February 27. —Otago championships at Carisbrook. March 5. —Meeting at Mosgiel. March 11 and 12.—New Zealand championships at Auckland. March 12. —University inter-faculty meeting at Logan Park; Otago and Southland Secondary Schools’ championships at Invercargill. March 19.—Tokoraairiro Club’s meeting. March 28 (Easter Monday).—Waikouaiti Club’s meeting. OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS Everything points to a successful day at Carisbrook on Saturday—indeed, to probably the best Otago championship meeting that has ever been held, and' if the weather is fine there is no reason why this should not be accomplished. There are distinct indications that there is an awakening public interest in athletics, and the excellent performances that were registered at Invercargill a fortnight ago should have the effect of drawing a large attendance for Saturday’s meeting. With a view to brightening up the meeting and making it as spectacular as possible the centte has decided to stage a parade of athletes, which will take place immediately before the commencement of the events. / At 1.45 p.m. the competitors will line up, and, headed by the Artillery Band, will march once round the ground. This procedure has been a feature of meetings overseas for some years past, and has proved immensely popular. Keen competition should be witnessed in all the events, but the outstanding attraction of the day will no doubt be the appearance of Alister Cameron, of Oamaru, who has some phenomenal performances to his credit, and will not surprise certain enthusiasts if he is very close to the world’s record in the Hop, Step, and Jump. He is stated to do six feet with ease in the High Jump, while in the Broad Jump he is also a fine performer. The Quarter-mile, a very popular race, will probably see the Otago title-holder, A. L. Price, go down to T. Pickering, of Invercargill, who recently came from the north, and wag a member of the Wellington team which competed at the New Zealand championship meeting here last year. Pickering has been performing well ip Southland, and at the sub-centre championships beat Price by three yards, although the latter ran the best race of hig career. One of the most Interesting events of the ! day will undoubtedly be the One Mile championship, and according to present indications the first two places will lie between J. 6. Barnes and A. R. Geddes, although, in what order, it is difficult to forecast. Each has beaten the other in their last two encounters, and, if championship conditions prevail, Saturday’s trial should decide who is tjie better man. There will be other strong contenders for places, so that some close racing should be seen. In the. 100 Yards and 220 Yards events, the favourite is C„ Pierson, of Invercargill, who was reinstated from the ranks of the professionals last year, and, has some very good performances to his credit. Considering the nature of the conditions at the sub-centre meeting; he put up good runs in the 100 Yards and his heat of the 220 Yards, which he, won in his own time. _ , Garnet Cabot, who is almost at his best form, has won the Otago title in the Mile Walk for the past six years on end, and considerable surprise will be occasioned if he does not increase this record on Saturday, as his opponents will be almost the same as last year. Cabot first won the championship in 1926, his time being 6min 35 2-ssec. . .

/two notable athletes will be seen in the hammer throwing event in J. G. Leckie and M. Spillane, the former having to his ; credit the best performance for a New Zealander, which he put up on the Milton ground two seasons ago. Spillane, however, has been! doing some solid training, and has his eye on the New Zealand championship this year. Therefore, it is probable that very little will separate the two men. Competitors should note that the preliminaries of the events will_ be run off at Carisbrook to-morrow evening.

CENTRE’S EVENING MEETING One of. the .outstanding features of the evening meeting that was held by the Otago Centre at Tahuna Bark was defeat in the Mile of A. R. Geddes,_ by J. G. Barnes, thus reversing the placings Of the-previous Saturday, when Geddes narrowly beat Barnes at Invercargill, C. Pope, who was on the 60yds mark, wag leading at halfway, but Barnes , and Geddes were rapidly overtaking him, and passed him in the last lap. Barnes proved too good for his young opponent Over the final stages, and won the race comfortably by 20 yards. The time was slow—4min 48 l-ssec. C. L. Tapley (3yds). who recently returned from England, led all the way to win his heat of ihe 100 Yards, although the time, llsec, was not very fast., The second heat went to J. Henderson, oft 6yds, who also filled first . place in the final, winning by four feet from W. Pullar.

L. C. M'Lachlan is at present showing a very welcome return to form,, and put up a fine'performance in the 600 Yards Handicap, in which, he was placed second. He ran an excellently judged race, and when two-thirds of the distance had been covered he unloosed a burst of speed which enabled him to head off J. Pledger (30yds) by syds for second place. The winner was C. R. Holmes, who led all the way from the 35yds mark and reached home Byds ahead of M'Lachlan. R. O. Johnson did 45ft Step, and Jump off scratch, which should fit him for second place to A. A. Cameron at the Otago championships on Saturday. Giving away some big handicaps in the Relay, Anglican No. 1 won by''five years. This race marked a new departure for Otago in relay running, in that the halfmile came last. The quarter, run by A. L, Price, enabled Anglican to gain considerable ground on Pacific (75yds) and Leith (110yds), and a fine half-mile by Taylor, the Otago title-holder, was responsible chiefly for the victory. It will be a long time before Anglican will be beaten in the relay events. NOTES L. C. M'Lachlan scored two wins on Saturday at the Tokomairiro Amateur Athletic and Cycling Club’s meeting at Milton. His first place off scratch' in the Half-mile Handicap w r asa good performance in 2min 6sec_ considering the wind and other conditions which militated against fast times, but his performance of 4min 56 2-ssec in the mile event off 15yds was very slow under any conditions, and he will have to be in better form than this if he is to be anywhere in the race at the championship meeting on Saturday. N. North has been training for some time and has entered for the 1000 Yards Handicap at the Otago Championship meeting at Carisbrook on Saturday. He is _ also training for the University Inter-faculty sports on March 12, when he will compete in the Half-mile and Shot Putt events. North has a very springy stride and has some good performances to his credit. The Otago University record for the half-mile is 2min 4 3-ssec, and North broke 2min ssec last year. As he is much fitter this season there is every prospect that he will set up a new figure for the University. The annual report of the Otago State Primary Schools’ Sports Association reveals that good .work is being done in the schools to encourage competition in athletic's among the children, and at the annual sports meeting it was noticeable that there were increased entries fjrom the country. The association is doing valuable work among the (children, 'and if it can infuse into them an interest in athletica which will (ie sustained when they grow older the sport must benefit. It is to the children of to-day that we look for the champions of to-morrow, and if they receive judicious instruction and training in their youth there is every reason why the standard of performance in 10 years’ time should represent a considerable improvement on that of the present.