ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22822, 5 March 1936, Page 4

ATHLETICS

By Amateur.

FIXTURES March 7.—Tokomairiro Club’s annual sports, at Milton. , v : £ ■ March 14. —North Otago Club’s meeting, at Oamaru. ■ s, ■ ■—■ ■■ • r THE NATIONAL GAMES The amateur athletic event of , the, season—the New Zealand Track 1 and,? Field Championships—is now over,. the Otago Centre has every reason to be proud of the success which attended this year’s national meeting. The games proved a- great triumph for Otago, as it marked the first occasion since 190 G that, the province has annexed the Championship Shield and gained the honour of being the premier province of the Dominion. It was a meritorious achievement and reflects the greatest credit on the centre officials, the coach, (Mr R. 0. Johnson) land the members of the team, all of whom showed an enthusiasm add team spirit that earned for them the greatest admiration. In truth, Otago’s win was a very popular one, and its success was sportingly received by all at the meeting. The winning of the shield marks the fourth major national trophy Otago has won within the past 12 months. The province now holds the Ranfurly Shield (the Rugby football premiership), the Yaldhurst Shield (the senior swimming trophy) and the War Memorial Shield (the intermediate swimming championship. »• • •« The president of the Otago Centre; (Mr G. L. Tapley) is deserving of high praise for the work he has put in this season to bring amateur athletics to the fore in Otago. It was largely through his efforts that the impressive opening ceremony was so successful, and many innovations at this year’s meeting owed their introduction to Mr Tapley. It mijst have been very gratifying to him to see such a large measure of success coine to Otago, and to know that the 193,6 national games must rank among the most outstanding ever held in New Zealand. Another cause for satisfaction to him must have been when his young brother won the 100 Yards title in such brilliant style. The Otago Centra is also fortunate in having capable men in every important position. The successful arrangements for the meeting reflected great credit, on the secretary (Mr T. M. Brydone), the treasurer (Mr W. H. Masters) and the sports secretary (Mr K. Miller), all of whom put in a great amount t of work to ensure the success of the meeting. They received every support from each member of the executive, and also from the athletes and enthusiasts who. are not members of the centre. Certainly the, meeting went off with a swing, and everything possible was done for competitors and spectators alike. An official who earned for himself the gratitude of the large number of press representatives, at the. games was the press steward (Mr L.’R. M'Millan), who ie the ideal man for the position. With a thorough knowledge of athletics, a keen sense of i what a reporter' requires, accurate,. quick, and courteous, he is practically the perfect press steward. OTAGO TITLE-WINNERS The following' are the Otago athletes who won titles at the meeting:— A. A - . Cameron (North Otago)—Broad Jump. Hop) Step, and Jump. Throwing the Discus, and Putting the Shot.. "I B. L. Tapley (Anglican)—loo Yards/ H. J; Tyrie (Civil Service) —440 Yards. M. R. Spillane (North Otago)—Throwing the Hammer. ; ' Cameron’s 1 performance «, in annexing four titles ,is outstanding, and earns for him the distinction of .being the.greatest all-rounder in the Dominion to-day. The New Zealand standard, was passed; by the Otago)athlete : imevery betterdffi the best performance put up by a New Zealander in Throwing.the" Discus. His throw of 139 ft 3iin was l*in better than the Wellington athlete,' P. Munro’s, record throw of 139 ft 2in, established in 1930. In .the Broad. Jump Cameroqin a w no-jump 79 reached 23ft ’sin, which was two inches better than Gt-eraid Keddell’s best, jump of 23ft 3in in 1906. Cameron’s toe was .barely over The mark, and, while his. performance cannot, ot course, he recognised, .it shows that the Otago all-rounder is, capable of improving upon the best! performance by a New. Zealander. ' In the Hop, Step, and Jump Cameron covered 48ft 34in, which is a meritorious performance, and he ,ap-, peared capable of improving upon this performance, too. A close contest was witnessed in Putting the Shot. _ which Cameron won with a throw of 39ft OJin. J. M. Stewart, who hails from Invercargill, was also putting well, and his best throw was only ah inch and a-hal£ behind that of the champion. One of the most decisive wins'witnessed in a national 100 Yards. Championship was that of B. L. Tapley, who ran so brilliantly to win the title in lOsec. It was difficult to judge from the press table the distance separating the placed men, and consequently Tapley was not credited with winning by more than two feet. He was running in the far-away lane, and after the runners passed the centre of the field it appeared that Quinn and MacFarlane were overhauling the leader. A

phonograph taken pf the finish, however, shows clearly that the Otago sprinter / limit; have practically his com- «! fotTabiedead,and won by-foUr.dr five-feet. I’a.^ley; got away 6uiartly,;and-'at no stage ■ ■ dill* he look Tikei being beaten.: It was a ,-meritorious; win,- and: a.- cliipax to the ;; successful season ; experienced ( by the i Anglican sprinter; ; *;•; if JPethaps - the ‘greatest surprise at” the pieeting occurred ini ’the '44o Yards, in jj; ,-.which the Otago.'men jl; J. Tyrie and u L. Price filled first and second. places Th brilliant-'Vtyle.. .Tyrie rah well'-ip. his eat,;-but' it was ipht.vexpected that at his first 'national/ meeting; he would carry off r The title. Ruunihg stjongly throughout, ) phe’^(hyear-pld Otago- athlete fin i shed: with - ; •a great'Wrst to -win fronvihie team-mate, • A;' V L. Price)'■who' alslo finished :#all to j/ beat T. G. Broadway. Tyne’s perform- :i ance was very meritorious, and he; re-1 ceived a well-earned ovation from tho crowd. $ .'

The Hammer Throw resolved iteelf/into a. duel between M. Rl'Spillane-and';J>. G. ; < Leckie, both of whom were in good form j? despite the greasy ground. . Spillane re-1 interned the title with a throw of.fj.soft} ; lAin, and was closely followed by Leckie with 147 ft SJin. These two 'are far ahead i* of any other performer in, New, Zealand. * , JAVELIN THROWING An/ante,resting comment, on the three j-place-winners in .Throwing the . Javelin is. given by!a follower of field.,athletics, if He writes as’follows;— ;; f’'.?"', ;!' f It The winner, '• C. P, Clegg, is a finely- i f built athlete, Six feet in height, and' wellproportioned;.- He is an /enthusiastic j; 1 cricketer and, swimmer, and no : doubt fa these sports/.have,-assisted him to develop ;j : (he shoulder action that plays' so’import- f; ant n part in his athletic event,, After'; (he visit of the Finnish team,'he adopted J? the ring .grip used by Sippaln, but an;' arm injury early in The present season V f caused him to change his style;rand ;also ;i prevented him from securing the maces-; 5 sary practice., Taking a fairly long.run, he advances at increasing ' speed to the {: take-off mark, where he takes a long, hop >; as he; swings the missilp; well back before < > sweeping it high , over ‘his ;shpuldet:,)'and ij projecting ' jt, with, : a ; . very:. pronounced !i; whip. In a very sporting,manner,, hg not |!j only congratulated his opponents,Von-the ;ii excellence of their footwork, but'hhj.'also -j offered suggestions for getting better; arm ’; action. ' v, , The second man, R. W. Creeser, adopts [■ f a short run, approaching his mark with ; •a slow, springy motion, to bursT suddenly: f, into energy as the spear is hurled:with; great force to the T7oft distance. One' ; could well expect him to improve still further on this fine throw if the run ,: were faster,The arm sweep increased, and)'the head held up during, the, actual Throw, i Newall performed very consistently to - take third place, his arm action being;)' much more restricted than that of the;:first man, whose style is also more rhyth-; mic and sustained. Nevertheless, the: , Otago" athlete has shown ‘ splfehdi'd "form, ~ considering his lack training facilities, and must be counted as . one-of the best javelin throwers in New- Zealand to-day. VISITORS WHO IMPRESSED The visiting athletes who made the biggest impression were V. P. Boot (Gantetr bury). F. Sharpley (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay). C. H. Matthews (Canterbury),/!. D. Driscoll (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay), and G. Quinn (Hawke’s Bay-Poverty Bay). From the foregoing list it TyiH. lie. observed that four of these competitor;) come from the Hawke’s Bay-Poverty-Bay Centre, -which shows. what an array , first-class talent the east coast centre possesses. • •; >. i,v.'. . _By winning the Mile and HalLmilia titles Boot, the young Canterbury 'runne?; gives promise of developing into one; of the best distance performers New Zealand lias produced. He won the Mile title- in 4min 22.8 sec. and in the 880 Yards, eeeniia to have the race in hand after the- fipet 000 yards. He won the shorter event in Imih 55.25hc, which is.only O.fseo offt* side .the New Zealand record; f On jhis displayfjat Cariebrook Boot, should cOmq iiear being selected to represent iNeW 2ehr land at the Olympic Games this yeatv”' Mattnewfl gave The Dunedip: crowd ’iii indication of what he is capable ofvljiit his time was not as outstanding aa,i.tya4 expected. He is certainly the best, performer over this distance . isi New}.v2«ar land to-day, hut he waa' tended last Saturday. , ’ •gs’i Quinn, who filled second /plaisa'/ih'a'fhe •100 Yards, gained in the 220 Yardsl,>rhi<;h>li,e l There was little men fin this was' provicjed for the puMics . - •’Almost; perfect liurqliißt , j wa^;j’iVMpejßMl ■ Yard# andv 220;. titles. He ■ was- too* ‘iindi'MilhcT;: who) ‘.lent displays, j The Hawke’siv.Bay' Than covered the 120 tlie New Zealand maskable ■ coincidence . that; hdiil& jormance' wah' being': annouDC'ed; .‘Tfirqugtt The^in gratulated “by :tHe;/joiht ; bolaersr.'i)f;'(!tbd •record—-H.; E. Wilson (WellihgtonVlnM R. ■Wi'.'.Lphder;; linrdled .faultlessly,’ in. The,;-lurlonKj;,-wbfott lie won'in ,25;6sec^^qh'iiiyd ;: land record,, although both' Sharple/t.wrd; .'Pinlayson . have ..bettered, thisYbyli/w^ec' ( hie .season;- Newbiirgh was ■uiiluckyfito i'allht ,(Imlßst;)hiirdle,-.,end’-depriVhd,;the crowd of-enclose finish. '.<t> Another Hawke’s Bay TepreSehtatiViS,'#;, ID. Driscoll, gave a brilliant display'M walking to ann'ex both walk titles time. His faultless.s]fvle fair .walking earned . liiirf great from the spectators,', and- his - '-wins ; :weTe very well received.