NOTES BY AMATEUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2883, 23 June 1909, Page 71

NOTES BY AMATEUR.

I On Thursday of this n-eak a. conference is to be held between the executive afficers of th 2 New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association and Ma- Richard Ccombes, the Australasian of the Olympic Gam 23, with refei-er.ee to the New Zealand representation on the Olympic International Board. This is a most desirable object, and it is hoped the conference will evolve a o c-heme whereby New Zealand will be represented. Another and important matter which will ha discussed on Thursday h the quc-srion of the New Zealand representative team for Brisbane to compere in the Australasian championships sc: down for August 18 a-id 21. Up to the present very little in-for.-iiation has leaked out respecting the pei'onncl cf the New Zealand team. So far as we w Olago are concerned, our principal hope is in Keddsll, the present New Zealand broad-jump champion and i-:cot-d-holder. In true form, Keddcll is ! a real champion, and if he can reproduce ' his 1904 condition there is no one in Australia nhoin I can esc to beat him. Of lato Kcddell seams to hay- fallen away in "taking off," but if he can improve in this he will certainly jump well in Briobane. •In addition to his jumping, Kcddell is a reasonably good "120" hurdler, and though pjrhaps not a ■'tar, he will l>erfoi - m too well to disgrace this province. Whatever happens, we may take it that KeJdsll will be one of these sskcted to rep-resent New Zealand While on the subject of the New Zealand team, an item of importance comes from Christchurch. to the effect that St. A. Murray, the big Christeburpli hurdler, will ba unable to make frb& trip to Brio- ' bane, so that the defence of the 440 Yards Hurdles Championship is bound to be ' weak. Now that this has occurred (unfortunately for New Zealand) Keddell may possibly be chosen for the bread jump and 120 and 440 jards hurdles. While a tolerably pocd man over the shorter distance Keddell cannot hope to hold his own with the best that Australia can produce over the Quarter Hurdles. However, we at this i end will be quite satisfied if h© win 3 the bread jump and performs reasonably weil in the 120. • : Looking: over the rames of those who imTje clainjft £g£ inclusion, in tfoe Nev? Zea- ;

land team, the first to come under reviewis "Woodgea-, the Wellington crack and New ZsaJia-nd champioii. For the 100 and 220 the S3leerors n-eed look no further than the trimly-built athlete from the Empire City. A top-notcher quarter man — unless Wocdger or Haskins can do fchds distance —New Zealand has not, but the Half and Mile should find a wc.rthy representative in the Philadelphia College man, Guy Haskms. Chrtstchur-ch should also furni.sh tho representative for the Three-mile Flat in Dictson, w.hoeai form in Dunedin ax- the New Zealand championship meeting and subsequent form in Christchuveh justifies the conclusion that whoever beats Dickson will have to run a wonderfully good race. Fcr the two «alks, K-err, of Wellington, has chief claim, and if in form there is no one better. T am afraid tiiat in the field events Npw Zealand will suffer in .-omparison with Australia. In ■expressir>"- this opinion I have not overlooked Wallace, of ' Auckland, for the Weight and Hammer, and M'Kay in the Pole Vault, but fh«=3 two are not quite top-notchers. Summarising tlvi New Zealand team, this is what we find: — 100 Yards— Woodier (Wellington). 220 Yards— Woodjper (Wellington). . 440 Yards— Woodger or Haskms (Lhristchureh). . , . Half-mile-Haakins (C-hnstcnurch). Mile— Haskins (Christchurch) Three-mile— Dickson (Christchurch). Walks.— Kerr (Wellington). H-urdles— Kcddell -(Ota zo»._ High Jump-OiTKll (Chrierdnxrch). Broad Jump-Esddcll (Otago). Pole Vault— M'K^y 'W ellinsrjon). Hammer-Wallace (Auckland). Weight— Wallace (Auckland). It is ~ood news 'to learn from the New I was particularly well pleased to noro v/it>h ov«tv sho-.v of ?.pproval. It » gene tSia"?r-iV.« 7,=-.lA,,rt would siro " mud;SSij fUlip «• "outeiir nthlfiics, partithat Waller be mvited to wait New ZeaI? tL ntcrcl«.b championship to he , decid-1 comPliAvs sAveral "foreign" teams a.re 3d South Canterbury has already nSSed its intention of sending down a to an action which came well within iU nroviroe Th» duties are not £d s ; d round *nd defined in ea^mm gle. It is there for the welfare of othlefafiß in their-. To simply "receive tVlt tette?of complaint in respeot to trophies xvw avoiding the M \Z°li™ mcr tba lulled, iuqi'iriss i**°Tte matter Th 9 Caversham Ha-rrier Club » to be congratulated on furnishing the winnmg team for i he Edmond Cup of 1909, w».t relating ihe succee, of tho club in 1907. V; our looal .li-staiun lunner. .t -n u» nting "Ut M'Kuifrht should be first home He ran particularly well throughout, and finishS ;n a ra..»d style. Considering the Svv state of ihe course, M'En.ght d.d well to cut out the distance .in 15m in ssec Th° Cav«r*ham Harriet also furnished ihe second man homo in Frew, who also -an -ell' Muvay. the Dunedin repre.=entahse, t"hoa-h obvioush not in his best lorm. also yin well- wh'V the two Anglican men— Notman and WiUon.-who finished rourtn anrl fifth icspectively, ran strongly. With regard to the proposal to invite K. E Walker, of Durban, to tour Australia and New Zealand at the conclusion of his visits to England and America, replies are coming to hand from the various assoc.ations in response to the inquiry by the executive officers of the A. A. tmion or | Australasia. The Tasmanian A..A.A. heartily approves the proposal, and asks for particulars as to expense likely to be charged against Tasmania. On the other hand" the N.S.W. A.A.A.. cannot at present see its wav to agree to an invitation bei'iff extended to Walker, fearing the share likely to he chargeable to this State may be more than the association can bear. I think, however (says "Prodigal"), |f £.ew Zealand and Victoria say "Yes 3Sew South Wales will join hands in the movement. It seems to be generally taken for granted Queensland will stana out of the scheme, although why I cannot say. reply from South Australia is expected. R~. E. Walker, of Durban, tried for records at ths local sport* on A.pril 24. With wind partly a : dintr he ran 180vds in 17 4-sspc. in tho 150 yd? handicap he won l,i<? heat in 14 3-ssec. and the final in 14£seo, ; which ties the best professional record. C. | Heffei-on won the 10 miles in 57Imin, and V. Duncker (ouinsr 16m*-) was Leatan a , yard in the 120vds hurdles in 16 3-&=ee. , According to South African papers Walker i has been offered £3500 a year for three | years and all expenses paid by a syndicate j to tour the world as a professional, but j refused. He also refus-ed an offer of £1000 ■ to run the Australian. A. B. Po&tle. The Rand Daily Mail of May 6 says: "Walker, j Duncker, and Postle had an enthusiastic , send-off to-day when they left for England, j Postle, interviewed by "the Press Associa- , tion, was at first reluctant to give an opinion of Walker's powers, but subse- { quently he expressed the belief that if Walker trained consistently he would win j the 100 yds English championship, remark- ' ing, 'he is a better man than Kerr, and even now I cannot pay how good he really is.' Continuing, Postle said: 'The first j time I saw him in England, when he essayed the record at Manchester, I thought him merely an average sprinter, capable perhaps of 10 1-5 or a little bit better at his test. It was not till he ran in Johannesburg that I realised how good he was. He has improved out o^ knowledge, and.

I have no hesitation in saying he is a faster sprinLer than tfie English champion Duffy ever was. In England they probably have not realised the extent of his improvement, but they will not find that this estimate, overvalues his powers. Postle was also optimistic regarding Duncker, whom he thought would give the professional hurdles champion 7yds in 120 and a beating. He was sceptical as _to Dunoker's lowering 120 yds in 15 1-5 at Maritzburg." Duneker, who already holds the hurdles championships of Transvaal, South Africa, England, Germany, Austria-Hun-gary, Bohemia, and Sweden, is off with ■ Walker after the Engl'sh championships. There is an offer from these men to visit Australia, and we are supposed to be a keen sporting community, yet hesitate to risk the outlay for seeing the very fastest runner in the world. I