ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 19172, 16 February 1924, Page 12

ATHLETICS

(By “0.M.”) FIXTURES. February 27.—Otautau Sports. March I.—Otago Amateur Championships. March 5. —Mataura Sports. March 15—New Zealand Amateur Championships at Dunedin The Gore sports arranged for Wednesday next will not be held. Lack of entries is the trouble. Fast running was the order of the day at Riverton on Wednesday, and it was no disgrace for W. Trembath to be beaten out of a place in every event he started in, with limit men or thereabouts striding home first in most of the races. Geo. Todd, winner of the Riverton Sheffield, showed vastly improved form on the occasional appearances he made during the holiday circuit. He did not take running very seriously then, but during the past few weeks has been a constant attender at Rugby Park and so well was he going just before Riverton that track habitues had marked him down as the winner of the big event at the seaside town. W. Bews had little difficulty in cleaning up the two amateur events at Riverton. In the furlong he beat the pistol by yards and getting a good passage through a crowded field, scampered home an easy winner. His victory in the half was even more pronounced, although it has to be said that in neither event was the opposition very strong, and the two runs should do him good if he elects to train on for the Otago and N.Z. Championships in Dunedin next month. The half mile at Riverton was as spectacular a race as I have seen for a long time. W. Archer tore through the first two rounds at a decidedly warm pace, but then faded out, and it was left to Wilson and Bone to provide the finishing tussle, although spectators sat up and took notice of the back-markers, W. Trembath and J. Lawson, who were going great guns in the last round. But they were just too late and Wilson and Bone, two of the best long distance runners in the province, scooted in neck and neck, Wilson’s strong finishing spurt, already evidenced in a previous race, bringing him in the winner. Saunders, a young runner, who had run well in the mile, was third, just ahead of Trembath. J. Holloway, on a good mark in the mile, would have made no race of it, if Saunders had not been running. As it was the Invercargill runner pulled out a strong sprint in the last round and won with plenty in hand. E. H. Diack had nothing to complain of in the starts allotted him, and having recovered from the effects of a strained leg muscle, was running in his best form. He got the verdict in a great finish for second place in the Sheffield, the first prize

money for which is the subject of a protest on his behalf, and later on he won a fast 220 very nicety. A. Earle, who has been out of the winning list for some time, took on a longer distance that he is usually accustomed to by starting in the quarter, and running strongly throughout, came home by about four yards in fast time. Elsewhere, some foolish statements have Leen made about Earle’s running in this race. It is stated that he won “easily by ten yards,” whereas those who saw the finish will recollect that not half that distance separated him from Cronin. It is further contended that he was “rather liberally treated by the handicapper,” but this statement must have been made in ignorance of Earle’s previous starts oyer an extended distance. The Northern District runner has been a consistent performer here for years, and not having been one of Fortune’s favourites this season, no one appeared to be sorry that he had scored a win, even if he probably could have given away a few more yards. J. Lawson, who ranks as one of the most promising long distance runners in the country, came out for the 75 yards sprint at Riverton and won both heat and final. He hardly looked like getting beaten, although N. McMillan, who has a great finish, Was close up on him at the finish, and so was Earle. T. Maloney, wing threequarter for one of the Town Rugby team’s last year, made his first appearance in the Maiden Hundred and won the event in good style. He is a tall, leggy runner, and promises to be useful if he goes on with the game. Clyde Bone, one of four brothers, with a New Zealand and Tasmanian reputation as bushmen, won the big chop by a good margin. As showing the difference the timber makes to a man’s performance, it may be mentioned that Bone was third in the slowest heat, and first in the final, the fastest of the three heats. After the first two heats, experienced followers of the sport were reckoning on a great go in the final between Bill Pollard, Norman Whipp and R. Smith. Pollard, a very sound chopper, duly filled second berth, but Bone got in first. His win was well received, for although hardly in the same class as his brothers, Maurice and Walter Bone, it was recognised that the winner was a consistent supporter of the game, and he did not win out of his turn. Veteran Bill Pollard has been in good form this season, with a preference for the 12-inch timber. Curiously enough, his younger brother, S. Pollard, is not as good in the smaller timber as in 15-inch stuff staked down on the ground. The trouble with S. Pollard in the standing block seems to be that he has not yet mastered the intricacies of chopping upright timber. His down stroke is good and strong but his upper cut is faulty, lacking the power he gets into the downward smack with the axe. But he is a mighty promising axeman with the logs in a row on the grass, and is bound to improve.

D. Coulston, who has been chopping well this season, is steadily coming back in the handicaps, but he still managed to figure on the winning list at Riverton, taking the Standing Block from two good axemen in W. Pollard and N. Whipp % I understand he is going up to Taihape for the big meeting there next month. Sawyers were inclined to dodge an illlooking log, No. 3, in the double-handed event, but once again it was a case of appearances being deceptive. The timber cut very nicety, and later on it transpired that the log was also one-third of an inch short in measurement. Handicapper Dowling, however, reckoned that the pair that had the log, Laurie and Whipp, would have to shift along pretty fast to win in any case, so it was decided to let the slight difference go. This pair sawed very well, and cut out just ahead of Pollard Bros and Agnew and Wybrow. It was a good finish. Dr. Honner’s record-breaking jump of 23ft 9in at the Australasian Championships last week should go a long way wards getting him a place in the Australasian Olympic team. This beats the young Englishman’s, Abrahams, best effort at the British championships by }io. and Australasia has only to put a few more inches on to it to be on terms with America’s best.

There was some talk at Riverion of putting on a £lOO chop next year during the Christmas holidays. There are some keen sports at the seaside town, and I understand that a considerable amount of the prizemoney would be guaranteed, while the splendid entries obtained for the bushcraft events on Wednesday should not cause any apprehension on this score, if the suggested big event is undertaken. The prospects for a successful outcome seem to me to be good, considering the flourishing state of bushcraft sport at present. A wide circle of friends in bushcraft circles will be sorry to hear of the severe accident met with by P. Hudson at a Western District mill. This well-known Southland and ex-Tasmanian bushman has had a run of bad luck lately, having been laid up some time previously with a nasty leg injury. Hudson was a useful man with saw and axe, and a more than average boxer.

Reports of the big professional athletic carnivals in New South Wales go to show that things are booming on the other side. Emboldened by the huge success of the Tamworth Carnival, that body has decided to put on a big Botany 120 yards of £2OO, N.S.W.’s biggest prize for 25 years. The unfortunate accident to H. E. Wilson, member of the Dominion athletic team, at the Australasian Championships at Hobart looks like spelling finis to the career of one of the most brilliant hurdlers New Zealand ever produced. It was particularly unfortunate, in that Wilson had practically decided to retire last season after a brilliant' career, culminating in a 15 seconds performance for the 120 Yards Hurdles, but the record was disallowed on technical grounds, and Wilson came back again for another season with the express purpose of having another try to lower the Australasian figures. In an exchange to hand the following details of his career are given:— Wilson has had a great career in the athletic world. When a schoolboy at Wellington College he carried off a handicap hurdles event in his last year, but it was unimportant and could scarcely be taken as an augury of the wonderful career he was destined for. It was not until 1915 that he realty distinguished himself among the firstflighters, when, at the provincial sports gathering at Master ton, he ran second to Halligan, the then champion over the 120yds distance. The 440yds race he won outright. Subsequently at a meeting in Wellington the positions were reversed. Halligan won the 440yds and Wilson the 120yds. The next we hear of Wilson is when he, as a member of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, competed in athletic events in France. At a sports gathering at the Etaples base he •cleaned up the opposition in the 100yds, 220yds,' high jump, long jump, 120yds hurdles, and throwing the cricket ball. For a while after the Armistice he was in the Pay Corps in London, and while there was chosen as a member of the New Zealand athletic team to compete in the Allied Armies’ Games at Paris. Here he competed in his favourite distance, the 120yds hurdles, and ran third to Simpson, of Illinois, a world’s record holder, and Fred Kelly, another American, who were first and second respectively in 15 l-ssecs. In the English army championships, held later at Aidershot, the New Zealand athletes won every event in which they entered, and Wilson kepyt his end up in the 120yds hurdles. In the English open championships, held at Stamford Bridge, he did the trick again against all-comers. Back in New Zealand in 1920 he went with a team to Australia and there annexed the Australasian championship over the 120yds flight. Next year he won the New Zealand championship, but in Christchurch the following year (1922) he fell over in the race, allowing Buckhurst to win. Then in 1923 came Krogness, the great Yankee hurdler, and no one who was there will ever forget the great race at the Athletic Park in Wellington, when Harry Wilson cleaned him up in 15sec dead. It was a spectacle to send every onlooker frantic with delight. Subsequently Krogness beat Wilson at Wellington, but the time in this case was 15 2-ssec, and Wilson had competed in the 100yds

final and heat and a heat of the hurdle 1 race before meeting the Yank, who did not j participate in a heat even and come out | a perfectly fresh man. However, this event was not taken seriously by Wilson. The first race was the test, and this is borne cut by the times recorded. The result of the first race placed Wilson among the world’s first-flighters over the 120yds hurdles.