DECATHLON CONTEST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27041, 28 March 1949, Page 6

DECATHLON CONTEST

DOMINION INNOVATION OTAGO ATHLETE SECOND PA AUCKLAND, Mar. 27. Retaining a lead in points which he gained on the first day of the contest, D. Dephoff (Canterbury) carried off the honours in the first New Zealand Decathlon championship which was decided at Carlaw Park yesterday afternoon. The aggregate points scored by Dephoft were 5446. while a close competition for second place resulted in J. H. Borland (Otago) compiling 5311 points to oea, J. McLean (Waikato). An unusual feature of the contest was that the final result was in the balance until the last event was completed. J. M. Carr (Wellington), Deohoff. McLean and K. Forsythe [West Coast. North Island) all looked likely winners at various stages of the championship

DephoiT. however, earned a meritorious victory by his consistency in the 10 events in which each athlete was required to compete. The best performance in the 120 Yards Hurdles event was given by Borland, who covered the distance in 16.4 sec to earn 723 points. In the Discus Throw the general standard of performance was disappointing, only four of the eleven competitors exceeding a distance of lOOtt. Carr scored the highest points with a fine throw of 123 ft 1 Jin.

A large proportion of the competitors in the Pole Vault obviously possessed only a limited knowledge of the fine points of the event. As expected, the best performance was that of the national champion and record holder. W. Heron, who vaulted lift 2in.

The final two points of the contest were the Javelin T'niow and the 1500 Metres. Before these events Dephoff held the lead with a narrow margin of 75 points over Car>-, who led Forsythe by 10 points. Heron won the Javelin Throw with a distance of 155 ft 3in. Dcp'noff maintained his lead when he ran a fast 1500 metres in 4min 53,65ec to carry off the championship. The most noteworthy performance in the event was the fine race run by the youngest competitor, A. Wood, of Waikato, a 17-year-old athlete, who clocked 4min 39sec "to record the fastest time.

During the afternoon the New Zealand junior champion walker, P. Hellriegel. created a new national record of 6min 54.75ec for the Junior One Mile Walk. This time bettered to 4.lsec the previous record of 6min 58.8 see, held by R. H. Delanev, of Christchurch. Upon measurement, the track was found to be eight feet in excess of the correct distance, this adding to the merit of Hellriegel's performance.