ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22834, 19 March 1936, Page 4

ATHLETICS

By Amateur,

' FIXTURES March 23.—Palmerston Club's sports. March 28.—University Inter-faculty sports. April 13. —Waikouaiti Club's sports. OLYMPIC GAMES NOMINATIONS The New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association has deemed it advisable to nominate only two athletes—J. E. Lovelock and C. H. Matthews—to the New Zealand Olympic Association for ' inclusion in the team to represent the Dominion at the Olympic Games in Berlin. There can be no criticism whatsoever at the selection as far as it goes, but in the opinion of many it does not go far enough. Auckland will, no doubt,

be especially disappointed in the exclusion of W. Savidan from the team, and there is some justification for that feeling. Savidan has an. excellent record in long-distance running overseas, and he is reported to be in excellent form. Canterbury's complaint will be that }'. P. B„oot, the brilliant young middle-dis-tance runner, has not been nominated. Boot is a young runner who has a great future ahead of him", and it was thought that if he were given a chance at this year's Games he would develop into one of the best runners New Zealand has turned out. If he had been an American he would have been given special coaching since he first gained fame as a schoolboy in Timaru, and probably would have been an Olympic Games representative by now. It seems a pity that he should not be given the experience of competing against the world's best this year. W. A. C. Pullar is another athlete who must be considered a little unlucky not to have been nominated. He has been concentrating on steeplcchasing this season, and had recorded excellent times —times that

compare very, favourably with those put up by overseas athletes in the past 12 months. . Lovelock and Matthews are certainly New Zealand's best prospects for. the Games, but it is a, pity that financial difficulties preclude a larger team from competing. Not only would it be of great benefit to athletics in the Dominion, but it would be an excellent advertisement for the country.

PALMERSTON CLUB'S MEETING The programme for the Palmerston Club's sports ,to be held on Monday'is as follows:—100 Yards, 220 Yards, 440 Yards, 880 Yards,' One-mile, Three Miles, One-mile Walk, Junior 100 Yards, Junior 220 Yards. Junior One-mile, Women's 100 Yards, Women's High Jump, Women's Eelay, Throwing the Discus, Shot Putt, Throwing the Javelin, High Jump, Long Jump, Hop, Step, and Jump, Pole Vault, piping competitions and national dancing will also be held. The club has made arrangements for a bus to run from Dunedin, and athletes should immediately send in their entries to the secretary or to Mr T. Brydone. The track is in excellent order, -and the meeting gives promise of being one of the best yet held by the club. V. P. BOOT'S CAREER By brilliantly winning the Half Mile or.d One Mile titles at the New Zealand championship meeting at Dunedin, the Canterbury athlete, V. P. Boot, after having first come under notice as a schoolboy in 1933, has burst into the national athletic firmament as a very bright star (says the Evening Post). Like some other athletes, he has tried himself out in events ranging from sprints to longdistance running, but, although throughout his career he has achieved success, his best events seem to be the half mile and mile, and, according to a southern writer, he intends concentrating on these events in the future. * The New Zealand track championship „ meeting at Dunedin was Boot's first national championship meeting. He learnt his running at the Timaru Boys' High School. He began as a sprinter, but an injury which prevented him playing football led to him taking up harrier racii'g. And from Ix-ing a cross-country man lie graduated by degrees to the fine middle-distance runner he is to-day.

As a harrier, Boot started in 14 races, .•nd won 31 of them. In 1932 he won the South Canterbury Junior Harrier Championship and the same year won the Timiiru Harrier Club's Senior Championship, and was runner-up for the South Canterbury Senior Championship. It was not until 1933 that Boot began to concentrate seriously on middle-discance running. This concentration soon bore fruit. He broke J. E. Lovelock's mile record, which stood in the vicinity of 4min 42seo, and, in so doing, set up a new Empire Public School record of 4mln 2G 4-risec. At the same meeting he established new figures for the half mile, putting up the fast time of 2min. Oil leaving school Boot went to Lincoln College, Christchurch, where, in his first year, . he won the college athletic championship and broke records in the and one mile. Last year he followed up this performance by making fresh records for file quarter, the half,

the mile, and the 440 yards hurdles. H<£ also holds the . Canterbury College mile title. -■ ." Boot is above medium height, solidly though not heavily built, and has a splendid action. He has a strong sprint and relies on it to win many of his races. Iu future he intends to concentrate on mile and half-mile running.

OLYMPIC AND EMPIRE GAMES The annual report of the New Zea« land Olympic and British Empire Game* Association for the year ended on January 31 states as follows: The most outstanding events in the past year were the visits of Mr Evan Hunter, 0.8. E., honorary secretary of the British Olympic Association, arid Mr J. Sigfrid Edstroin, president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation and, a niember of the Executive Council of the In- f ternational Olympic Committee. \ Wi were delighted to meet these men, and the various meetings held with them clearly indicated, that New Zealand sportsmen were very fortunate to be abla to discuss various problems in amateur sport with so experienced officials.

During the year several meetings were held to .discuss nominations and standards for the Olympic and British Empire Games. It was unanimously decided that the standards which have been previously determined upon, should be strictly adhered to —namely, that in athletics a competitor should have a reasonable chance of reaching the final six with a corresponding standard in other branches of sport. The following important resolutions were affirmed:—(l) The national associations 'should bear a fair and reasonable proportion of the expenses of teams to Olympic and British Empire Games, and that in connection with the New Zealand team fop Berlin, that national associations would be expected to contribute a minimum of £SO per athlete. (2) That as the policy of the New Zealand .and British Empire Games Association is, ami has always been, not only to send teams overseas, but to encourage amateur sport in New Zealand, the association is prepared to consider on its merits any. application from affiliated national associations for the accommodation of preliminary finai> cial assistance in connection with the visits of the overseas teams. The British Empire Games Federation has decided that the 1938 Games would be held in Sydney, and it has been de-. cided to arrange that New Zealand should > be represented as strongly as possible. The guarantors for the raising of th» capital fund were unanimously elected life members of the association. The Tiiarantore were: Colonel ft. St. J. Beere, Messrs F. Campbell. T. Colttnan. W. D. Duncan, W: A. Fuller. B. L. Hammond, •T. M. A. Ilott. R. W. M'Villv, D. J. M'Gowan, A. W.-Press. G. A. Scott. A. E. Wells and H.. Amos. The gross income for the year was £6OO 10s 6d, and the expenses amounted to £lB9 4s 2d. leaving an excess of income over expenditure of £4ll 15 s 4tl. The trust fund now stands at £13.890 8s lOd, NOTES FROM PALMERSTON The following notes /have been contributed on the Palmerston Club's leading athletes:— ■ •' •• '.,'■ ' The Palmerston * branch of the North, Otago Amateur Athletic Club has enjoyed considerable sucqess. with the series of. five evening meetings, and the.club'has been very pleased with the enthusiastic attendance of the public/ ''. ' • In the senior sprinters and middle distance. G. L. Day and Bert Ockwell showed excellent form. Day.shows great promise over the quarter. : as also, does Ockwell, who is, besides, a more than average highjumper: ,-•'.'••■. ... ..". , T... G.. Pearson, .who showed such promise over.the flat and cross-country races two years ago,, is "again showing good form, and is easily the club's best distance man. He intends to have another try to gain cross-country honours this year. l . . '":.■'■'.'' ■ ' •" ":'.T. h ''"'■'■■

The club is, very fortunate ,in the number of prpmijßing;distance men it has. Fred Clearwater,- the well-known Eastern- Districts aid Otago. Sub-unions representative footballer, is a determined distance man of; more than average ability. Clearwater is an outstanding all-rounder, since he is, approaching provincial standard in both the Shot and Discus. . . .■'

J. Whitfield is showine improved form, and the rest from serious i competition should benefit' him and allow him to surpass the form that brought him B Grade Mile Championship honours in 1935. Gordon MlCnightJ who won the Two Miles at the last evening meeting, is one of the best young distance men to appear on the local track this season. M'Knight looks a distinct prospect for cross-country honours. Besides excellent stamina, MlKnight has a fine turn of speed. - Bert Johnson (a brother of E. J. Johnson) is a trier over,any distance, and it was his consistency that enabled him to gain the most points for the distance cup. Clearwater wins the cup for' the - most improved senior distance manV In the juniors, J. .Fletcher has not enjoyed so much success as formerly.. He apparently has too % many.. ■ interests. Fletcher shows exceptional promise and has rare grit. All • club members extend their congratulations to Fletcher on gaining county cricket representative: honours —an honour for a schoolboy. . W. M'Leod has improved since last year and is developing a . better stride. M'Leod won the Junior Sprint Cup. In- the junior distance events, -Ron Johnson is ' the most outstanding performer, fie has a long, powerful stride and a dashing finish. J. Murdoch is the most improved junior distance man. who trains assiduously, and' he and Johnson have staged some excellent: finishes... J. Heyes and Ray Pope (the club's assistant secretary) ■ are boys of promise. Pope, who is still at high school, is a'very promising discus thrower, and is also a county cricket representative. ■ In the field events there is a wealth of talent. The outstanding man is undoubtedly R. J. Dalgleish, who represented Otago in the New Zealand Championships. Dalgleish has profited by his championship competition. He is a good all-round athlete, having, county _ honours both in Rugby football and cricket. , , , In New Zealand the police force supplies many fine athletes, and Palmerston is : fortunate in this respect, as Constable Kelly shows great' promise in the field events in his first year. M. M'Gabe. the ex-professional champion field athlete, is giving valuable seiv vice on the executive side. He can 'still do a good putt. There are several promising girl sprinters. Miss F. Pope, who trains diligently, improves at each puting, arid with care should develop into ah-Otago representative. Miss N. Burrow, E. Badman, and E. Murdoch all are promising, but could do with attention to form. Misses E. Jones and E. Badman are two very promising high jumpers; The club's enthusiastic president (Mr Jack Ross) has rendered valuable service for amateur athletics in North Otago. Mr Ross is one of the band of stalwarts whose interest is the life of most country clubs. ■•■■•.• ■ ' ','..• ■"'-