ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23859, 13 July 1939, Page 4

ATHLETICS

By Amateur FIXTURES July 15.—Club Cross-country Championships, at Wingaiui. July 22.—Otago Cross-country Championships, at Wingatui. August 12.—New Zealand Cross-coun try Championship September 2.—Port Chalmers-Dunedin Road Race. September 16.—Modified Marathon, at Mosgiel. December 2.—Marathon Championship at Mosgiel CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Prospects and Performances Despite the rain, hail and sleet last Saturday afternoon two clubs held their cross-country championships, and interesting races were witnessed. Other clubs will hold their championships next Saturday, when the Southland Cross-country Championship will also be decided. Civil Service Champions For the fifth successive time A. R. Geddes won the Civil Service Club’s Senior Cross-country Championship last Saturday, and was not troubled in doing so. He went to the front early in the proceedings, and. running freely, was never headed. Geddes has a great record in the local cross-country championships, and should give a good account of himself in the New Zealand event at Napier in August. W. Mackinnon, who finished second, ran right up to the form that gained him a place in the Otago team last year. He has improved during the past .month, and should play an important part in the Southland and Otago Crosscountry Championships. J. G. Barnes ran a good, steady race and maintained his position well throughout to finish third. Barnes is a consistent performer, and should be well placed in the provincial races. K. Baird, who finished fifth and won the Sealed Handicap, ran his best race to date over the senior course. A firstyear runner, A. Caddie, went well to finish third in the Sealed Handicap. C. Walker, who was a favourite for the junior title, ran a well-judged race to come home a good winner. The surprise of the junior race was the performance of C. McKersey, who finished ahead of more experienced runners in T; Richards and M. Collins, two former holders of the junior title. McKersey must have set up a record in being placed second in the following club races:—The Maiden Race, Postal Cup, Railway, Cup. Junior Cross-country Championship, and Sealed Handicap As a result of the race McKersey wins the Noel Greaney Memorial Cup for the most points in club handicap races. C. Walker was runner-up. being three points behind the winner. Last year’s winner of the Junior Cross-country. T. Richards, is a little short of training, but should Improve with one or two hard runs. The Maiden Race winner, C. Greaney, ran a good race to take fourth place and win the Sealed Handicap. Momington Harrier* 'On Saturday the Mornington Club will hold its senior and Junior Crosscountry Championships at Wingatui, together* with the sealed handicapraces. •: ■ ; The 20-odd competitors in the senior event for the George Fenwick Memorial Gup have provided the handicappers with no small difficulty, as in their number is included several of the best runners the club has yet produced. C. L. Moore; who not only won last year’s race but also gained a place in the Otago team, has as yet failed to come up to form, and will have to run exceptionally well if he wishes to lead the field home. The holder of fastest time for the race, J. Callister, has this season taken, his training seriously, and honours are quite within his, reach. G. S. Munro is also showing the benefit of ■ regular training, and, although he favours the still longer distances, has some good performances over six miles and aquarter to his credit. Although T. O. Kennedy will be competing for the first time in the championships. there is no reason why he should not remain with the leaders by using his sprinting power to much advantage. Club Captain F. W. Crooke is not running as well as at the commencement of the season, and should he find the going too difficult he will have to blame an incorrectly-mapped-out training schedule. E. Lundqmst is showing the benefit derived from regular Saturday runs, and is certainly capable of gaining a place in the team. R. Wilson, who has now recovered from his leg injury, together with A. G. Ferry, are two of the most probable outsiders who may upset calculations. W. W. Taylor and F. Sanders are two very fit members who are still capable of good times over the cross-country course, while A. Gillon. F. Graveson, and J. Everett should also be well up. Talent is certainly not lacking in the junior ranks for competition for the Lucas Cup, and some close finishes should result. W. Burrows will undoubtedly be the favourite, and, after his outstanding performance in the Edmond Cup. he should not only be to the fore in next Saturday’s race, but also in the Otago championships. T. Wallace, last year’s winner, will surely be well up, but he will have to run hard to shake off the opposition provided by N. Sutherland and A. De Courcy. who have both trained solidly. W. Gardiner. N. Thornicroft.. and LBauchop. who have been going well on the weekly runs, should be in the running for team honours. With such a wealth of talent, it is quite on the cards that the hill club will be represented by two teams not only in the Otatro Senior Cross-coun-try’ Championship, but also in the Junior Race. Members are reminded that the train for Wingatui will leave at 1.40 p.m.

Anglican Titles

Saturday’s races for the Anglican Club’s senior and junior cross-country titles should both be well-contested events. L. J. Logan seems to be the logical choice for the senior title, with A. C. Marret and G. H. Davie being his most serious opponents, and K. A. Romerill would not be a surprise winner o| the handicap race. In the junior event. J. Maydon will be hard pressed to retain his title by J. Hyslpp. L. Sharpe, and F. Mitchell. On present form however, he seems the likely choice, and any one of the other three mentioned are prospective winners of the sealed handicap. Celtic United Club

The Celtic United Club's senior and junior cross-country championships will be held at Wingatui on Saturday.

The senior race should prove a hard tussle between W. Kennedy, E. Paterson, R. Carroll, R. Baker, A. E. Dyson and L. A. Dyson, while J. Daly, W. Beauchamp, E. Byrne, H. Sullivan, J', Burton and T. Gerrard can be relied on to make the pace a fast one. A strong field of juniors will be competing for the Couston Cup. H. Coomb* (last year’s winner) will be defending his title: F. Kennelly, winner of this year’s Three Mile Championship, will be competing, and F. Pettitt, runner-up in the Three Miles and third in the Mile Maiden, will be a starter. Other* include D. Ryan, a successful competitor in last year’s track season; J'. D. Clements, senior champion of Christain Brothers’ High School: E. Kennelly, B. McManners and T. O’Brien, runner-up in the St. Kevin's. College cross country championship. F. Heslm and D. Connor on their present form will also be hard men to beat, Caversham Club The Caversham juniors last Saturday provided one of the best club events ever held —only 15 yards separating the first four runners—R. Morrison. J. Flockton. L. Turner, and 1. Gerrie. These four kept together tiil the last 500 ' yards, when Morrison and Flockton began « long sprint. Flockton weakened, qveir the last 10 vards, and Morrison, who turned 16 last month, won by a foc»t, A furlong from home. Gerrie and Turner were 40 yards back, but they began a great run and failed to catch tho leaders by 12 yards, Turner beating Gerrie by a yard for third place. These four runners ran right up to form, but the wet conditions and the strong wind suited the heavier men. B, Taylor and S. Lenz ran solidly to finish fifth and sixth, and these two complete a strong team to represent the club in the Southland cross-country at Invercargill cm Saturday. The Colts’ Race was closely contested and produced an exciting finish. L. Mercier, off 35sec, forged ahead over the last 10 yards to win by a yard from D, Clark (?ssec), who finished fast to cut J. McGregor, the scratch man, out of second place. J. Beatscm and A. Knox finished fourth and fifth about five yards behind the winner. These colts have all shown steady, improvement of late and should be valuable team men for the club during tint next two or three seasons.

The club’s senior championship at Wingatui on Saturday should provide! a keen struggle between G. L. Austin and G. R. Colston, with C. McGregor a probable third. L. Hebbaxd, S. I. George. A. Barr and W. Young should! be well up at the finish. ST. HILDA TITLE

The Wingatui course will be onjh# wet side for the St, Kilda Club’s Bell. Memorial and Pope Cup races on Saturday. There will be a good, field I<j face the starter in the former event and among those who should be • prominent are N. Taylor and T. Beatson,, with R. Beatson not far back. Last vear’s winner, G. Thompson, has not been out this season, but may be a spectator. A. Smith, should his ankle be all right, will be hard to beat In the junior race for the Pope Cup, L. Hodges looks a likely Tyinner. although with R. Baldwin running well he will have keen competition. E. Fraser-' and -L. McKay are likely to upset the .position, as both members are running well. M. Spain may find the distance a' bit hard, but should .be Well up, . ;. . ; ’ , notes Still another of the Anglican Club ? n leading runners is out for the rest of the season, the unfortunate one this time being W. Donovan. He will be a serious loss to the cross-country team, and was just reaching his : best form,, and was expected to do well in both the club and Otago cross-country events. Members will join with the writer in wishing him a speedy recovery, *:■ ' The Celtic United Club has had a. number of losses this season through transfers of members to other towns. The latest member to leave is R. Thomson, who has been appointed: to a position in Wellington. He was an excellent club man, and represented Celtic United-in the recent. Edmond Cup Race. The club tendered him a farewell after last Saturday’s run. J. P. Evans, who had a rather sensational rise last season, as a quarterrmile runner, has been transferred from Wellington back to his home town. Timaru. Athletically, it is a pity, that Evans is going (says the Sports Post). He will miss the high-class competition to which he became accustomed last summer. Still, ‘he has the potential capacity to rise superior to circumstances, and just now he feels very determined about getting right to the top. Evans performed admirably ha his first season to run third in the 440 ■ Yards at the last national championships, and he has only to show the slightest improvement (and this should be natural at his age, 20) to be a very difficult man to head at next year’s big gathering. Wf)ODERSON’S EXPLANATION Hopes for Return Race The following is S. C. Wooderson’u own account of the sensational Mile at Princeton: — “I was feeling very confident, and went into the lead right from the start. The wind was very strong, and so I decided not to go out for record time. "I was hoping some of the others would come up and take a turn at the pacing. I felt very comfortable and was still confident of winning. “ Nobody, however, attempted to make the pace, so I still Held the lead. About 150 yards from home ' Rideout came up behind me. and I just lengthened my stride, as I always do. in order to keep him on the outside position. “ But Rideout bumped into me, and his elbow hit me in the ribs. My left foot struck the concrete on the inside of the track, and this threwme out of my stride, causing me to fall back.

“Before I could recover Fenske had obtained a lead. I lost several yards, and there was no opening for me to get through. I would not say it was Intentional: I do not think it was. The heat here has .not affected me in any way, and I have never felt better in all my life. “ I am certain I could have won if this incident had not happened. Rideout apologised to me as soon as the race was over. “I am very much hoping that Fenske will come over to England for a return race this season.” -• .