ATHLETICS. NOTES BY AMATEUR,

Otago Witness, Issue 2181, 19 December 1895, Page 45

ATHLETICS. NOTES BY AMATEUR,

• . • At the test races of the Auckland Amateur Athletic Club in view of the Championrhip meeting, M. O'Connor ran a mile in 4mm 40sec, and James M'Kean half a mile in 2min 6^scc. The following beam has been chosen to represent Auckland at the meeting : — Jones (*prints) f M. O'Connor and Davis (One Mile and Threemite), Creamer (One Mile and Three-mile Walks), Roberts and Mirfciu (Hurdles), Filkington (bicycle). M'Kean will also piobably go for the Half-mile, but Brady and Beere c.nnut obtain leave. ' ."■* W. F. Bennett's running at theD.A.A.C. sports showe that he i 3in splendid nick at tha present time. I hope he will not overdo his training between now and the Championship meeting. Of that I have, however, little fear, for there are experienced hands looking after him. His mile was a first-class performance latt Saturday. The somewhat severe handicap necessitated his extending himself pretty well all through and, finishing with a fine spurt, he cat out the distance in 5 3-ssec under the club standard, aud in time which has been only once beaten in a New Ztsalacd Championship— in 1890-91 by Derry Wood, whose time then was 4min 31§5ec — and which is only 4sec longer than P. Morrison's record for the coleny. • . • In the Two-mile Race Bennett's time was not nearly so good relatively, but he oould have improved considerably upon it. He had to give some thumping starts, but it was evident from the first that the race was his. Still, he might have lost, and if King had been a bit of a. sprinter would have lost, through over-con-fidence iv the last lap. He had collared King ovpr 500 yds from home, but instead of goiDg away with the lead attended the latter round the track, and when he started to make his ran at the top of the straight he fonnd that King also had a run in him, and it was only after a sharp tussle that the Port Chalmers lad was shaken off. Bennett; might have broken the standard in this event also had he been pushed. Btsides this, he ran a fair half mile earlier in the afternoon, his time (ftooi the 25yds mark) being 2min l§see. • . • It was doubtless a disappointment to some of those present at Saturday's sports that W. A. Low did not compete in the events for which he holds the championships. The true explanation of his absence from these races is, I fancy, that he is not yet completely "keyed up." He has been training regularly bufc easily, his preparation being made rather for the Championship meeting* than for the local sports. It will be Keen thifc he would have had to travel at his very beat speed to have' won tlje Quarter and Half — in the latter, indeed, .he would have required to have beaten the colony's record — and possibly he would have been defeated. It may be that ho foresaw the possibility of defeat afld declined to court it. That he is still a sprinter as well as a champion at the middle distances he proved by running off with tho 100 yds Club Championship. The time was not so good as it wight be, and that fnct suggests that the D.A.A.C. is at Dresent b&dlv

off for gprintera. T. L. Martin has pace and style, but I am afraid will never be "up ta championship form. Kingston, however, who is at presenb stationed in Invercargill; has been showing fine form in his training, and I quita anticipate that A. J. Patrick and the othef sprinters in Chrhtchurch will get shaken up by him. " . • Cruelly hard times were experienced by O. M'Cormac'r on Sa'nrday. This fine athlete, who holds the record for the colony for both the hammer-throwing and weight-putting, has been t*aiuipg for about throe months, only to learn now that he cannot expect leave fvr tha Championship meeting, and, upon the top of that, to be sent out of town on Saturday on police duty as a member of a party searching for a man lost in the bush. He had to leave town about 6 a.m., and after a fatiguing day's fruitless searching in tbicklymatt'id bush he arrived at Carisbrook late in the afternoon. An application from him for permission to try for the standard in the Hammer-throwing was entertained by the committee, and after the trporta were over he throw 98ft 7in— not a bad performance for a man who was practically " dead beat" with fatigue. M'Cormick had beea running go well, too, that he must have bad a good show in some of the track event*. ' . * The amateur resord for hammer-throwing in the colony is 106 ft 10£ : u, pat up by M'Cormack before he left Wellington. Iv his train* ing ha frequently, I understand, beat thafe distance, throwing as much as 113 ft. K. Martin also accomplished some fine throws in his training, as much as 110 ft having been credited to bim. It will be observed that a cipital throw — better than has ever been made in a championship meeting — gained for him „ the" hammer event on Satstrday. P. Doull's put of 32ft in tho shot avent is not bo good, bat in a weal: field wonld probnbly gain a place in a championship 'competition. Martin will, like M'Cormack, be unable, I understand t to be present at the New Zealand championships ; but the authorities should take cota that he can attend—and I believe is prepared to compete on his own acccunt — at the Australasian championships. '. "Among the other competitors who distinguished themselves first mention should be made of W. H. Mackenzie, who appropriated two first prizes. The football representative was a maiden runner and, if he sticks to -the path, should turn out a good msn. No one more deserved a win than C. S. Keddell, who had come down from Oamaru on the previous Saturday, *aud was so enfchusiasticth&t he came down again, and I am glad, therefore, that he won the Ladies' Bracelet. He is a rather good sprinter end, with better opportunities, would probably be heard of. T. R. Mackay was rather ambitious in essaying to combine sprint racing with a half mile race, but he won, with the assistance of his handicap, in the latter event, 'and though his style is rather that of a sprinter, he may Und ib worth his while to have .another go at that distance. ' King is a promising longdistance runner, but was, I believe, overtrained. I expect to see him perform well in a year on two. He has his years in his favour. Tha walking events demand no comment, and tha hurdling was poor. Nichol, the winner of the. high jump, has a takiog style, and is the build of a jumper, while Maca^spy astonished most people by hi« long jumping ' . ' The Relay Race, which took the pl&e of. ■ the Steeplechase as the concluding event otthe D.A.A.C. sports laat Saturday., was ft novelty in Dunediu, but created so much interest that I shall be disappointed if, another year, a greats many clubs a<-e not represented in it. The Port Chalmers Football Ciub won on Saturday with a team comprising four of the D.A.A..C members who rtsido at " Dogfaown," and who , were all trained. Two of tbe Pirates men were untrained, otherwise T. R. Mackay would probably have gamed the race for them. As it waa, Mackay, who wa« the Pirate*' fourth man, had to concede a start of about 20rds to Collier aud Doall, and though he hud almost caught them half way through the lap he took so much out of himself that he could not raise a spurt in the straight, Had he taken things easier in the earlier portion of the lap, and reserved himself for a finish he might, even as it was, have wou the race for his team. The D A A.C. would, barring accidents, have won with its team, consisting «f C. Bowden, 8. Crawsbaw, W. C. Crane, and W. A. Low, the champion reserving himself for the laat lap, but an acoident happened to Crawshaw's knickers in the second lap that was of such a nature that he had to retire. • . • A Wellington t elpgram states that on the Basin Reserve on Saturday evening Stuact, who will probably represent Wellington at the Christchurch gatherings, ran balf a mile in 2min llsec. Perrett and Smith walked a mile in '6m in 58aec, but tho style they walked resembled more of a jog trot, and it is doubtful whether competent judges would pass such as fair heel and toe. There were no judges on Saturday night. The track was a trifle holding.