ATHLETICS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23865, 20 July 1939, Page 5

ATHLETICS

By Amateur FIXTURES July 22—Otago, Cross-country Championships, at Wingatui. August 12.—New Zealand Cross-coun-try Championship. September 2.—Port Chalmers-Dunedm Road Race. September 16.—Modified Marathon, at Mosgiel. December 2. —Marathon Championship, at Mosgiel. OTAGO CHAMPIONSHIPS Civil Service Should be Prominent The Otago senior and junior crosscountry championships, to be decided at Wingatui on Saturday, should produce interesting contests, although the honours in’the senior event seem almost cut and dried. After his performances of late, A. R. Geddes (Civil Service) seems an almost certain winner of the senior title, and he and his team mates should have little trouble in carrying off the Teams’ Race. But surprises, often happen, and it will be remembered that last year L. Dickison carried off the title by a fairly substantial margin. Geddes has been running even better than usual this season, and it will certainly be a great surprise if he does not regain the title on Saturday. . While it seems almost certain that Civil Service will fill first place in the Teams’ Race, competition for second position should be keen, and promises to bo the most interesting feature of the senior event, with Mornington, Caversham, and Anglican all in the running. The Mornington Club has shown marked improvement recently, and its team’s chances of filling second ■ place are fairly strong, especially after its performance in the Edmond Cup Race. The Junior Championship should provide an interesting contest contest between R- Martin (Toko) and W. Burrows (Mornington). both of whom are showing excellent form' at present. Martin won the Southland title in commendable style last Saturday, and seems to be running as well as ever. After his performance in the Edmond Cup Race, there will be many who will favour the chances of Burrows, and Martin certainly, will meet the strongest competition he has yet been faced with on Saturday. The Junior teams’ race promises to be open, with Caversham, Mornington, and Civil Service all well in the running for the honours. It should bo an interesting race whatever is the result. ... The Wingatui course will probably be heavy on Saturday after the recent bad weather, but it is to be hoped that conditions will have improved by Saturday.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS Mornington Harriers

A pleasing feature of the Mornington Club’s Cross-country Championships. held at Wingatui last week, was the presence of the founder of the club. Mr C. H. McLean, who had the pleasure of starting two unusually large fields. . Nearly 20 competitors took part in the senior race for the George Fenwick Memorial Cup. The first four men to. complete the first lap were Kennedy. Munro. Moor© and Ferry—in that order Their times were hot only very good, but were also within hall a minute of each other, which, was certainly excellent team work. This order was unchanged at the finish, although T O Kennedy had slightly increased his lead over G. S. Munro. Kennedy was not extended- and although Munro is more at home, over longer, distances, he also found the going comparatively, easy. As was expected, C. L. Moore and A. G. Ferry ran solid races. to finish, within a few seconds of each other, With training both these men are still capable of improvement. Fifth place was occupied by Club Captain F. W Crooke, who was also runner-up in the Sealed Handicap. Although the pace was not to his, liking, he will probably put up a better showing in the Otago race and may be one of the four hien to count for team honours. " .. ,

R, Wilson and E, Lundquist staged a great finish. They, sprinted together, for nearly 100 yards, the former gaining the decision by a very narrow margin, Lundquist was the winner of the Sealed Handicap in his first race over six miles and a-quarter. As neither of these men will be available for the Otago face, the team will be completed by J. Callister, who, after running a good first lap, was compelled, through a leg injury, to retire from the race. He has previously been running well and gained twenty-third place in the Edmond Cup. , F. Sanders ran well and his time was even faster than in last year’s Otago face. With longer races in- view this member should enjoy still more success. F. Graveson showed something of his true ability in, finishing ninth. If he would settle down to 'serious training he would be a decided asset to the club’s senior ranks. A. Gi.llon, W. Taylor, and J. Mafrett ran well throughout, but lost ground in the first round, .while W. Pullar and D. Paulin were certainly not lacking in stamina. , It is a pity that R. Thompson.. W Mitchell and J. Everett were unable to stand up to the distance. Here again, the necessity of solid, training may be emphasised. No fewer than 13 juniors started m the Three-mile Race for the Lucas Cup, which is one of- the best fields which has yet. contested this event The first- five men ran practically together until they branched off the railway track. Then W Burrows, who had at no stage . been extended, ran out and reached the tape with a brilliant sprint in the good time of 17min 42sec, Second man home was T. Wallace, who has lately shown marked improvement. Despite his inability to train N. Sutherland ran well to take third place. W. Gardiner sprang a surprise by defeating A. de Courcv for fourth position. N Thornicroft ran solidly and certainly earned a place in the team. First and second places in the Sealed Handicap were obtained by two colts. A. Holmes and L. Tombs, who have both been running consistently throughout the season, and with due care should develoo into very useful juniors. Third place went to M. Graveson. who ran one of his best races to date. ANGLICAN CLUB In the Anglican Club’s senior event the winner was J. C. Smith, off smin. who, after taking the lead on entering the course for the first lap, maintained his position to lead R. A. Romerill (3min lOsec) home. Romerill ran a solid race and finished with a good sprint up the straight just ahead of the scratch man, L. J. Logan, who is displaying better form than ever and in the Otago cross-country championships can be confidently expected to better his Edmond Cup performance. He also takes, for the second successive year, the Connell Cup for fastest time. The next man home was W. Norman, who beat Davie in the sprint home. Norman, unfortunately, turned at the Railway line instead of turning in at Gow’s paddocks, thus cqvering much more ground than was necessary. He ran his best race to date, and more should be heard of him. Davie ran a good race to finish fourth, and was also runnerup for the Connell Cup. A. C.'Marrett’s performance was a little disappointing and was partly accounted for. by slight leg trouble which he was unfortunate enough to experience. He should show a big improvement in next week’s race To do the course in tennis shoes and still finish full of running was the effort of J. Gunning, who also took the wrong, course for the first lap. Gunning went along Janefield road in fine style and showed that he would be a good road man should he choose to take up this branch of sport. G K. Armstrong ran a good race and, after being dropped by his fitter co-marker had to make his own running. A pleasing feature of the race was the way in which some of the older runners entered. This is most encouraging to the younger seniors, and credit must go to C. Crawford and G. Cooper for their sporting actions. The junior race again went to J. O. Maydon, this being his third successive win in this event and the ease with •which he won on Saturday, augurs well

for his showing in the Junior Crosscountry race, F. Mitchell ran another good race to finish second and at the same time take the Sealed Handicap. J. Hyslop is a promising junior with an easy style. He went a good race and should be well to the fore on Saturday. D. L. Sharpe, as in the Novice Mile, did not display his recent good form and will have to watch his tactics in future races, as he certainly has the ability to do much better. A good bunch of juniors comprising D. J. Caradus, G, Mitchell. C. Andrews. K. Payne, and H, Norman all went solid races, and considering it was their first effort at cross-country running, they must be congratulated on their performance. St. Hilda Club The St. Kilda Club's junior race for the Pope Cup, which was run on Saturday, was well contested. R. Baldwin was first with J. Hodge second and M. Spain third. Baldwin won this race last year and so will hold the cup for another 12 months. The Pope Cup was presented to the club by the wellknown runner, C. Pope. The first year it was run for was in 1937, when it was won by E. Cope, who in the same year ran third in the Otago Junior Cross-country Championship. The senior race on Saturday, the Bell Memorial Handicap, was competed for by a good field of runners. L. McKay and E. Talbot, off the limit, were together for the first three miles with about 30 seconds back to the next man. A. Smith, who was off the IJmin mark. Smith caught the leader at the Pines and led on to the racecourse for the run home. Here T. Beatson. who was running freely, came to the fore and finished well to win with about 20 yards to spare. T, Beatson should perform well in the cross-country next week, and is expected to be well up, A. Smith should also do well, as he is running well and his ankle seems to be standing the strain. L. McKay and N. Taylor are two solid runners and have plenty of determination. Leith Harriers The Leith Club’s Junior Championship,, held last Saturday, showed several runners to advantage, notably J. Dickey, W. Carter and J. Larkins. The senior event was a triumph for N. Arthur, who is eligible for the junior race on Saturday. The Leith Club has in Arthur its most promising runner in years, and with every race he shows improvement. J. Stephenson was a good second and leads in the points for the seniors’ cup.

BAPTIST HARRIERS A good team spirit prevails in the Baptist Club, and. with the recent addition of B, Robertson, it has_ been found possible to enter a team in the Otago Senior Cross-country Championships at Wingatui on Saturday. Although perhaps not capable of outstanding performances, these men should give a good account of themselves. It is gratifying to the club to be able to field a team again after a lapse of two years. During the runs of recent Saturdays, the performances of Captain H. Campbell and Deputy Captain J. Stewart have shown considerable improvement. This is due chiefly to the consistent training carried out, especially by the former. These two will, in all probability, fight out the place of first home for the club. Not far behind these men should be found H. Benfell, who, by dogged determination, endeavours to uphold the club’s reputation. The capabilities of B. Robertson over the long distances are as yet unknown, but if last Saturday’s performances are any criterion he should be found in the first four home for the club. . Saturday’s race will also test both V. Campbell and R. Graham, as this will be their first experience in interclub races. They are both capable of good performances and will prove good supports for the club. CELTIC UNITED HARRIERS Two strong teams of seniors and juniors will represent Celtic United in the Otago cross-country championships on Saturday. The senior team is as follows:—W. Kennedy, E. Paterson, R. Baker, R. Carroll, J. Purton, A, E. Dyson and W. Beauchamp. The probable junior team will be T Heslin, B. McManus, H. Coombs; F. Pettitt, F-Kennelly and D. Ryan. It will be interesting to see how Coombs will perform against Burrows, of Mornington. Coombs performance „of 17 minutes for the junior crosscountry course last Saturday was a track record, besides being 19 seconds better than the time put up last season tor the Otago junior crosscountry. His time bettered, that of Burrows by 42 seconds. ' ‘I ,■ • .

SOUTHLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS Civil; Service’s Successes 1

A former harrier runner who .was an interested spectator at last , Saturday’s Southland Cross-country Championship has supplied “Amateur ” with some of his impressions of the two races. •- , A. R. Geddes (Civil Service), who carried off the senior title, led from start to finish, running with ease for the whole journey. He gave the impression. that even a performance _in the Otago championship on. Saturday such as Dickison produced last winter, would, .not trouble him. The Civil Service captain, W. J. Mackinnon. ran a race “’out of the box” to fill second place. Hard-pressed, he displayed a strong finishing effort. R. Whittleston outran J. G. Barnes, leaving tiie veteran on the heavy going. Whittleston has hopes of being included in the Otago team this winter, Barnes, who finished 80 to 100 yards behind Whittleston. showed great heart for a man in his fourteenth harrier season. N. Coutts, who finished sixth, has the makings of an Otago champion, but does not train as he should. K. Baird, who filled twelfth place, although not up to the standard of the others, gave of his best. His place will be taken by G. Watson in the Civil Service team on Saturday. . . The Invercargill teams did not impress. A, Hind and B. Crowther gave the impression that they were not nt, J Metcalfe is a great trier and finished a short run from Coutts. Southland has a real “ star.” however, in A. Rubber, who finished third. He led the Civil Service runners a merry _ race and made Mackinnon work hard for second place. Lack of a stronger sprint robbed Rubber of a better placing. Rubber has all the makings of a champion, but at present seems inclined to' out-race himself over the middle stages of the iourney. He Has a nice, easy action. , Although not filling first or second placings, Civil Service runners were most prominent in the 3 u ?J°L? ve /?r„vnf won the teams’race. R- Martin (Toko) who won the .lumor title, is certainly the ideal cross-country runner. ne should make a name for himself m the years to come. The. Caversham juniors did not impress the commentator as much as he had expected. It seemed to him that they had taken too much out of themselves in the club champio ship on the preceding Saturday. Xur ner gave Martin a good run for the title. He feels more at home oyer a flat course such as last Saturday s. In the Civil Service team T. A. Kicn ards proved himself to be an able captain. and, while he ran a strong race for fifth placing, his encouragement to his team was an example of ideal leadership. M. Collins. tho °tag junior half-mile champion, along wim his captain, is running as a junior for the last winter, finished fourth a sum lar placing as that he filled two seasons LJo He has not been showing good form, but excelled himself on Satmday. C Walker, who finished third, was on top form, and finished full of running He was expected to have troubled M tin. but it seemed that he made the mistake of allowing the tw° leaders to make a break oyer the last miieand lost his chance. lie should be ther next year. C. McKersey, m sixth and the fourth man of the team. was valuable. These four runners finished within five seconds of each °Vor a man with so little experience of racing. C. Greaney ttenth) showed ability above the average. The sixth member of the. tear. H. Nelson, was eleventh. He is capable of a hign standard of performance. Civil Service also had an individual entrant in L Dickel. whose performance was good. The Invercargill juniors did not impress at all.