ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21910, 23 March 1933, Page 5

ATHLETICS

By Amateok.

FIXTURES March 25. —Toko Club’s Annual Meeting at Milton; Otago University Interfaculty Meeting. April I.—Pacific Club’s meeting at Caledonian Ground. April 17. —Waikouaiti Club’s Meeting. THE CALEDONIAN MEETING The Caledonian Society's meeting, which •was held at the Caledonian Ground on Saturday, was productive of some good racing under very suitable conditions. The best events of the day were the 440 Yards Handicap and the 1000 Yards Invitation Scratch Race, although the latter would no doubt have been more interesting had it attracted a larger field. A. L. Price put in a great run to win the 440 practically from scratch in the excellent time of 51sec. He has shown a considerable improvement in the last few weeks, and the way he overhauled the field on Saturday and hung on grimly to the finish proved that he is undoubtedly a runner of class. It would not be surprising, if he maintains this form, to see him take the Otago Championship for this distance next year.' The 1000 Yards Race, providing as it does a distance between the half mile and the mile, is usually an interesting event, and this was certainly the. case on Saturday. When they turned into the straight E. A. Taylor was leading by a margin, and appeared to have a good chance of victory, but Geddes came with a strong finish and proved just too good for the Anglican man over the last 10 yards. The winner of the 100 Yords, |J. Henderson, who was running off eight yards, was outstanding, and won both his heat and the final by fair margins. He has a very strong finish, and will have. to submit to, a reduction in his handicap before long. I. D. was again well to the fore in the 880 Yards Junior Handicap, which was run in 2min 2sec. Although giving a start of 75 yards to S. George, the winner, he made up the ground in good style, and was only a yard and a-half behind at the finish. The front-rankers had. it practically to themselves in the Mile, in which G. Garbutt made the best use of his handicap of 155 yards to win by 20 yards in 4min 22 4-ssec. This was not a particularly interesting race. All the field events attracted a large number of entrants, and were productive of some keen competition. SECONDARY SCHOOLS* CHAMPIONSHIPS A contributor sends the following comment on the Otago and Southland secondary schools’ championship meeting, which was held at the Waitaki Boys’ High School grounds, Oamaru, last Saturday. The track was hard, and the ground and appointments were equal, to anything in New Zealand, which assisted materially to the success of a meeting that will long be remembered for the thoroughly efficient manner in which it was conducted. Many visitors were present, including a number from Canterbury and South Canterbury, and one man from Christchurch admitted that he was on the look out for promising talent. New Zealand is undoubtedly becoming more athletic-minded, and since it is to the schoolboys of to-day that we must look for our future Olympic representatives, the importance of such a meeting cannot be over-estimated. There is now a movement afoot in the north to provide adequate coaching facilities for promising boys, and no doubt, the Otago Centre has similar ideas in mind. Three shields were competed for —the Macassey for seniors, the Oswald M. Smith for intermediate, and the Arthur Barnett for juniors. Waitaki Boys’ High School carried off the senior shield for the first time. Southland triumphed with a halfpoint lead over Waitaki for the intermediate shield, whilst St. Kevin’s won the junior shield, with Waitaki again runnersup. There were some magnificetn efforts. The Senior. 100 Yards produced real talent in F. E. Smith, Waitaki Boys’ High School (who will be remembered as running with success for the Civil Service Club during the holidays), T. M. Perkins, Waitaki Boys’ High School and Otago junior champion, and A. J. Leeden, Otago Boys’ High School. The final of the Hundred was worth a long journey to see. The field, except Smith, who dwelt, left the mark with the gun, and at o 0 yards Perkins was three yards ahead, ot Leeden, who was a yard in front of Smith. The last 20 yards saw Smith put in a fine driving effort to breast the tape four inches ahead of Perkins, who was a yard and a-half ahead of Leeden, who struck me as a better runner over 220 yards than 100. The time was 10 3-ssec, which equalled Naumann’s 1932 heat record made in Invercargill, though Naumann clocked llsec in the final that year. Smith may do 10 2-seec with a good start. He is a slow beginner, and requires about 80 yards to get going, but hie finish is solid and hard to withstand. He has been well coached at his school.. hew expected Smith to win from Perkins, his school mate, and Otago junior champion, but on the race the better lad won. Perkins is very, very fast for 85 yards, and with a little more age will be among the top-flighters in New Zealand. , Leeden is a determined runner, with a nice easy style, but 100 yards seemed too short for him. None of the other sprinters were in the same class as the first three. The High Jumps produced some good performers in Mee (W.B.H.S. Junior), M'Donald (0.8.H.5.), and Stewart (SBHS). The two last-mentioned are splendid athletes. McDonald has a peculiar style. Stewart is a .very stylish jumper. These two tied with stt oAm, record performances. Stewart strikes me as a likely champion, and I heard it said that A. A. Cameron, who was a keen spectator on Saturday, considered Stewart was the most attractive boy performer he had seen over the bar. The Broad Jump saw splendid performances by 1 • E. Smith (W.8.H.5.) and B. P. Hoffman (St. Kevin’s). Smith takes off well, and 20ft and a half inch seemed no effort to him. 'Hoffman gave a splendid performance with 19ft 7in, and is a lad who will make a name for himself in the next year or so. Shot Putting and Javelin events seem to be out of place at a bo>s meeting, though good performances were put up. More track events would be preferable to the Shot Putt and Javelin. The 220 Yards was as fine an event on a straight track ns one often sees in England. the Western States of the U.S.A., and Victoria. We have too few straigut 220's in New Zealand, as they make tor fairer running. The senior proved an ■ easy thing for F. E. Smith, who lowered the school record, which has stood for a long time, by three-fifths of a second, and even in his heat broke the secondary schools record by three-fifths of a second. In the final ho romped home by two yards from Leeden, with Perkins third. The time, 23 l-ssec, shows that the pace was on from the gun. Two private watches made the time a shade under 23 l-ssec. Though Naumann’s record was broken by a second, the officials disallowed Smith’s record in so far as the secondary championship is concerned because the trark was straight. Leeden ran well, and was unlucky to strike a runner of the winner’s class. Perkins seemed to tire at 150 yards, up to which distance he was striding level with Smith. The Junior 220 produced a stylish runner in Hoffman, of St. Kevin’s, who also showed his fields clean heels in the 100 and 440. He is a great beginner and a determined finisher, and would not surprise if lie was a next year’s senior secondary school champion. The 880 and Mile events brought to light the finest boy in this class the writer has seen for years in M'Lauchlan, of Southland Bovs’ High School. He lias a really determined style, and never gave his fields a chance, knocking aside records in each case He ran with great judgment, covered not a yard more than neces’sary, and unwound great finishing efforts. The 120 Yards Senior Hurdles produced two good performers in M'Donnld (0.8.H.5.) and Chisholm (W.8.H.5.). Chisholm is still raw, but has a really good style. McDonald is no stylist, but IS verv determined. . . The 440 Yards Junior Championship produced a runner who looks like making good in a lad from the Tokomairiro District High School, J. M’Donald. He has a nice style and grit. The 440 Yards Senior was the tit-bit of the day, being run on a U-shaped track. At the far bend Smith (W.8.H.5.) was knocked back, whilst M'Lauchlan (5.8.H.5.) also received a check. Round the top, however, M'Lauchlan tore through an opening to the front, closely followed by an Otago High School boy. Smith seemed to be pushed out a bit here. In the straight proper Smith was giving M'Lauchlan seven to eight yards’ start. He sprinted the

length of the straight, and, amidst great excitement, got up to beat M'Lauchlan by six inches in the record time of 54 l-ssec. It was a great effort. It gave Smith the championship medal of the day, and he earned it. It also gave Waitaki the senior shield. M'Lauchlan ran a great race, but just failed withstand the winner’s finishing effort. The relays closed the day’s sport. Southland, as usual, romped home with the senior and St. Kevin’s the junior. The Southlnnders hand over the baton like masters. Smith won the senior championship gold medal with 12 points, composed of four starts, four firsts, and several school and secondary records. Hoffman took the junior gold medal with four wins and two seconds. Otago seems assured of splendid talent for the future —equal to anything in both islands. PACIFIC CLUB’S MEETING In conjunction with the 14 Miles Walking Championship of Otago, which is to be conducted by the Pacific Club on April ], the club has arranged the following programme; —100 Yards Handicap, Halfmile Handicap, Broad Jump Handicap, Interelub Rqjay Handicap, and an Interclub Tug-of-war. for teams of six, with an average weight of 66 stone per team. The cycling events are as follows:—10 Miles Invitation Scratch Race, a Pursuit Race, and Quarter-mile and Two Miles Open Handicaps. THE WAIKOUAITI MEETING The Waikouaiti Amateur Athletic Club will hold its annual sports meeting on Easter Monday, when the following events will he decided: —100 Yards, 220 Yards, 440 Yards, 880 Yards, One Mile, Broad Jump, Shot Putt. Discus Throwing, Hop, Step, and Jump. High Jump, and Hammer Throwing Handicaps, besides 100 Yards Ladies’, 100 Yards Schoolgirls’, and 220 Ynrds Schoolboys’ Handicaps. The cycling events are as follows: —One Mile, Two Miles, and Three Miles Open Handicaps, One Mile and a-half Local Handicap, and One-mile Boys’ Race. The entries for this meeting close on April 8.