OTAUTAU SPORTS

Southland Times, Issue 19770, 19 February 1923, Page 2

OTAUTAU SPORTS

FIRST ANNUAL MEETING. A SUCCESSFUL DAY. Prospects for the first annual sports of the Otautau Athletic Society were not very favourable on Saturday morning, which was cold and stormy, but in the afternoon the weather cleared and the rest of the day was fine. There were over a thousand people present and they had nothing to complain of on the score of close and interesting competition, although the programme could have been made more interesting and varied by sandwiching jumping and obstacle competitions between events earlier in the day. Still, the meeting was a very successful one and reflects credit on the decidedly capable band of officials who looked after the ground arrangements. In the running events, a feature was the good work of the starter, Mr G. Bone, who handled his fields well and showed commendable firmness in dealing with breaking runners, despite a certain amount of chip-

•n'dl seclion of the crowd. The Sheffield was won in fast time after a

..u- ><> u. cKerrett. a young runner who entered the cash athletic ranks a month or two ago and accounted for the valuable Winton Sheffield on his first performance. Diack won the furlong nicely and was unlucky to lose the quarter, a late run by Matheson catching him unawares in the last few yards and giving one of Southland’s best distance runners his first win over the shorter distance. Lawson, who scored a double win at the Caledonian Sports held at Invercargill the previous week, nearly repeated the feat, taking the half in fast time for the track, which was on the heavy side, and running second in the mile to Bone, an improving performer. The New Zealand champion, Trembath, filled the role of spectator, a poisoned arm preventing him from running. lhe bjg event on the oushcraft programme, which was conducted by Messrs T. O'Byrne and M. Dowling, was won by a maiden chopper, T. Roberts, of Round Hill, who had been showing good form in earlier efforts with the axe. G. Hammond, who hails from the Winton district, also did well, winning the 12-in Chop in very fast time and capturing the Double-handed Sawing Handicap With his mate W. Gill. N. Whipp and A. Hughes also well and both will have to be reckoned with in the future. The birch logs proviueu wore of a satisfactory quality, and there were very few tough logs, the wood having been provided free of cost by those experienced bushmen, Messrs A. and M. Hughes. In the dancing events, Miss R. Park, put up some fine performances and was easily the most successful competitor. Mr W. Stevenson judged both this and the piping section, in which Mr C. C. Selby, who was narrowly beaten for the Southland championship the previous week, won both events.

Following are the results:— Maiden Hundred of £3 10s; second £l, third 10/-:—First heat —A. Laidlaw 1; W. Allison 2. Seven starters. Won by less than a yard. Time 12 2-ssecs. Second heat—F. L. Malcolm 1; J. S. Royds 2. Six starters. Won by a yard. Time 11 4-ssecs. Third heat—L. Warburton 1; G. Fraser 2. Four starters. Won by 24 yards. Time 11 2-ssecs.

Final: L. Warburton 1; A. Laidlaw 2; F. L. Malcolm 3. A fine finish, Warburton scoring by inches, Laidlaw just ahead of Malcolm. Time 11 l-ssecs.

880 Yards Handicap of £8 and Gold Medal; second £2 ; third £1: —J. Lawson 45 yds 1; A. Wilson 50yds 2; C. A. Bone 48 yds 3. Seventeen starters. Matheson commenced slowly and did not run with his usual free action. Once round Harrington led the field, being joined by Archer 250 yards from home. Fifty yards further on Wilson had shot to the front with Lawson making a forward move. Half way down the straight Lawson put in a determined challenge and a splendid finish resulted in Lawson scoring by two yards, Bone four yards further back. Time 2min 1 3-ssecs. Sheffield Handicap of £l6 and Gold Medal; second £3; third £l. 135 yards. First heat —R. S. Harrington 11yds 1; A. Tretheway 7yds 2. Also started—F. L. Malcolm 10 yds, W. Allison 11yds. Won by two yards. Time 14 l-ssecs. Second heat—L. Blakie 6yds 1; J. Skerrett 6yds 2. Also started— A. Bulman 12yds, W. H. Shieffelbein 12yds, T Muir Won by inches. Time 13 2-ssecs. Third heat —E. H. Diack 74yds 1; A. E. Shieffelbein 11yds 2. Also start'll — W. Wilson 11yds, J. S. Royds 12yds. Won bj r a foot. Time 13 2-ssecs. —Final.— J. Skerrett (Awarua Plains) 6yds .. 1 E. H. Diack 74yds 2 L. Blakie 6yds 3 Harrington was penalised a yard before the field got away to a good start. Passing the hundred mark, Skerrett was leading and maintained his advantage to the tape, winning by a foot, inches between second and third. Time 13 l-ssecs; a slight breeze blowing on a dead track. 75 Yards Handicap of £6; second £2; third £l: —First heat —A. J. Earle scr 1; L. Warburton 54yds 2. Three starters. Won by less than a yard. Time Bsecs. Second heat—R. S. Harrington 54yds 1; G. Fraser 53yds 2. Six starters. Won by inches. A.zie 7 4 ssecs. Third heat—J. S. Royds 6yds 1; A. Bulman 54yds 2. Six starters. ' bv n te-»t. Time 7 2-ssecs. Fourth heat—A. Laidlaw s)yds 1; L. Blakie 3yds oix siuivers. Won by two feet. Time 7 2-ssecs.

Semifinals: First heat —A. J. Earle 1; R. S. Harrington 2. Aho started—G. Fraser, L. Warburton. Earle was moving slightly when the pistol went, and won by a foot. Time Baecs. Second heat—L. Blakie 1: J. S. Royds 2. Also started—A. Bulman, A Laidlaw, Won by a foot. Time Bsecs. Final: L. Blakie 3yds 1; A. J. Earle scr 2; R. S. Harrington s|yds 3. Earle again got the lx?st of the start, but it was not sufficient to enable him to head off Blakie who won by inches, inches between second and third. Time Bsecs.

220 Yards Handicap of £6 and Gold Medal; second £2; third £l. First heat— E. H. Diack 14yds 1; T. Muir 2. Six starters. Won by a yard. Time 24 15 sees. Second heat—J. W. Matheson 23yds 1; L. Blakie 13yds 2. Six starters. Won easing up bv two yards. Time 25s?cs. Third heat—W. Gaitt 25yds 1; A. Tretheway 11yds 2. Three starters. Won by half a vard. Time 25 2-ssecs. Fourth heat—W. Allison 25yds 1; J. Skerrett 9yds 2. Five starters. Won by two yards. Time 24 l-s»ecs.

Final: E. H. Diack 1; A. Tretheway 2; W. Allison 3. Matheson was penalised a yard for breaking before a good start was effected. The sharp turn leading into the straight settled the chances of at least two of the finalists. Diack ran wide and came with a good run on the outside to beat Tretheway by a narrow margin, Allison close up. Time, 24 3-ssecs. Mile Handicap of £8 and Gold Medal; recond £2, third £l:—C. A. Bone 55yds 1; J. Lawson 55yds 2; T. Henderson 65yds 3. Fifteen starters. After two out of the five laps had been covered the veteran Henderson took the lead and kept it until the last round, when Bone went after and caught him down the straight, going on to win by seven yards. Lawson came with a late run and caught Henderson napping just beating him on the post for second place. Time, 4min 50 2-ssecs. 440 Yards Handicap of £B, second £2; third £l: —C. W. Matheson 18yds 1; E. H. Diack 22yds 2; R. S. Harrington 24yds 3. Thirteen starters. There were three false starts, as a result of which several runners were put back. Diack took the lead half way round. Entering the straight Harrington moved up and put in a strong challenge, but Diack had him beaten 25 yards from the tape, only to be caught napping in the last few yards by Matheson who came with a late run on the outside to win by a foot, 14 yards between second and third. Time 54 3-ssecs. BUSHCRAFT. 15-inch Underhand Chopping Handicap of £2O and Gold Medal; second £5. third £3. First heat—S. Wybrow 20secs 1; A. Roberts 24secs 2; M. Forde 24secs 3. Also started —T. Rewcastle 24secs, D. O’Connell 24secs, G. Hammond 24secs, W. Hibbs 24secs, P. Scott 20secs. Won easily in a good log. 54sec8. Second heat—A. Miller oaecs*

1; G. Blanks Usees 2; J. Bone smcb X Also started—J. H. Dawson 24recs, T. D. Blackmore 20secs, M. Bennett 18aeca, N. Whipp Usees, J. Pont scr. Won easily after a splendid cut in a good log. Second and third almost a dead heat. Pont struck a stiff log and was beaten out of a final for the first rime this season. Time 50secs. —Final. A. Roberts (Round Hili) 24secs . 1 S. Wybrow 20secs 2 G. Blanks llsecs 3 Most of the logs in the final chopped well, although Miller was not so fortunate as in his heat and Forde was not so far up as was expected. Time 66secs. 12-inch Standing Chop of £7; second £2; third £l: —First heat—A. Hughes 14secs 1; N. Whipp 14secs 2; A. Roberts 2(teecs X Five starters. Time 54secs. Second beaU— G. Hammond 12secs 1; G. Blanks ssecs 2; J. Pont scr 3. Seven starters. Time 47 secs. The two scratch men. Pont and Miller, had a great battle for third place, several experienced onlookers expressing the opinion that it was a dead heat, but the judges placed Pont third. Time 47secs. Final:—G. Hammond 1; N. Whipp 2; A. Hughes 3. Hammond won by three seconds, Whipp and Hughes close together. Time 37secs.

18-inch Double Handed Sawing Handicap of £6, second 2; third £l: —G. Hammond and W’. Gill scr 1; J. Pont and M. Bennett scr 2; McKenxie and Blanks act 3. Six pairs competed. Won by 2 seconds. Time 18secs. DANCING. Highland Fling, (under 16 years' : Rita Park 1; Annie Mathieson 2; Jean Malhieooo 3. 8 competitors. Sword Dance (open i :—Rita Park 1; Dorie Alcock 2; Aileen Halpin 3. 9 competitors. Sailors’ Hornpipe (open):—Madge Fiaue 1; Rita Park and William Balt (equal) 2. 9 competitors. Irish Jig (openi:—Doris Alcock 1; Rita Park and William Batt (equal) 2. 9 competitors. PIPING. Marches:—C. C. Selby 1; R. C. Sutherland 2. 6 competitors. Strathspeys and Reels: —C. C. Selby 1; R. C. Sutherland and David Robinson (equal) 2. 5 competitors.