WAIKAKA SPOUTS

Southland Times, Issue 19457, 22 January 1925, Page 2

WAIKAKA SPOUTS

AN ENJOYABLE OUTING. INCREASED GATE RETURNS. DESPITE TRYING WEATHER CONDITIONS. The eighth annual gathering of the Waikaka and Combined Districts Athletic Society was held on the Waikaka Recreation Grounds yesterday afternoon in fine weather, but a stiff south-westerly made conditions somewhat unpleasant out-of-doors, and no doubt to some extent affected the attendance. Nevertheless, residents from the famous old-time gold dredging district were present in force, and Gore, Balfour, Mat aura and Invercargill were well represented, with the result that some six or seven hundred jieople were present, a long line of cars providing welcome shelter on the sports area from the prevailing blast for those who were thus fortunately situated. The gate receipts amounted to £26 13/-, an increase of about £5 on the figures of last year, when the weather was wet. Although the programme was rather long drawn out, and might have been concluded earlier with advantage, the gathering proved a most enjoyable one, and the good people of Waikaka have every reason to feel satisfied that they are still able to keep the flag flying in the field of sport, despite the fact that the industry which boomed the township in the hey-day of its existence has practically died out —a visitor to the district could not help but notice on all sides evidence of the systematic search for the most precious of minerals in days gone by, although only two dredges were to be seen in the valley, which now shelters what is essentially a farming community. The President, Mr W. Dripps, and an energetic Committee were most painstaking in their efforts to make the function a success, and some interesting running, jumping and field performances were witnessed during the day, not to mention the keen interest evinced in the dancing and piping section of the programme. Nevertheless, there was room for improvement in the matter of the time of commencing the afternoon’s -proceedings, and a shorter interval between each event is necessary ih the future if this gathering is to continue successfully, as everyone hopes it will. The fields in the running events were comprised mostly of runners from the district and surrounding fanning areas, but interest was lent to this section of the programme by the presence of J. Jamieson, a notable winner of the Invercargill Irish Athletic Society's famous event in clays gone by, and although it was not till late in the day that the veteran Winton athlete recorded his first successful essay on the tracks, he made his fields go “all out” to the finishing post, and was only beaten by narrow margins in two earlier efforts. The Sheffield Handicap was won by H. F. Winsloe, a young runner whecomes of a well-known sporting family, formerly resident, on the fertile Canterbury Plains, but now successful farmers in th? Charlton district. 1 A Gore lad, J. D. McKenzie, won both Flyng Handcap and Fur long, and in doing so proved himself a promising type of runner, solidly built and with any amount of determination to see a race out to the last stride. In the field events, it was very pleasing to see the Gore athlete, A. Davidson, in action again after the serious injury he sustained during the football season, and from which he hi-s made a good recovery, although he has wisely decided to take things easy in the meantime. The piping, which was judged by that experienced piper, Mr C. C. S?lby, and the dancing events, which were adjudicated upon by Messrs W. L. Milne and D. N. Thomson in an eminently satisfactory manner, produced keen and interesting competition, while in the secretarial department Mr J. Keating saw to it that everything was kept right up-to-date in this branch of sports activities. Results were as follows: RUNNING. 100 yards maiden race, 30/-, second 10/-. First heat: E. Maslin, 1; C. Nicholson, 2. Four starters. Won by half a yard. Second heat: R. Dunn, 1; E. Cameron, 2. Four starters. Won by inches. Final: Maslin, 1; Nicholson, 2. Maslin soon forged w ahead, and won by 24yds. No time taken. 75 yards flying handicap, £3 2/second 15/-, third 5/-: J. D. McKenzie, syds, 1; J. Jamieson, scr, 2; H. F. Winsloe, 6yds, 3. Five starters. Won by a foot, two feet between second and third. Waikaka handicap, of £lO and gold medal, second £3, third £l. 135 yards: H. F. Winsloe, 15yds, 1; J. D. McKenzie, 13yds, 2; J. Jamieson, 3yds, 3. Six starters. A good finish, Winsloe winning by about half a yard, inches between second and third. Time, 15sec (against wind). 220 yards handicap, 52/6, second 15/*, third 7/6: J. D. McKenzie, 15yds, 1; H, F. Winsloe, ISyds, 2; W. R. Cranstoun, BydSj 3, Five starters, Cranatoun got. a fiyiag stwt and although he caught his field, he e&uld not sprint al the finish, McKenzie hung on to win by a yard, inches between second and third. Time, 27sec wind). * 440 yards handicap, 52/6, second 15/-, third 7/6: J. Jamieson, scr, 1; C. C. Thomson, 30yds, 2; C. J. Nicholson, 25yds, 3. Four starters. Jamieson beat the gun by a good half-dozen yards and had no difficulty in winning by three yards. Nicholson walked in later. No time recorded. FIELD EVENTS. Putting the stone, a handicap of 30/-, second 10/-: W. Pope, 6ft, 33ft 114 in, 1; G. Sim, 6ft, 32ft Bin, 2. Nine entries. High jump handicap, 30/-, second 10/-: A. Davidson, scr, sft 2in, 1; M. Stanton, 2in, sft lin, 2. Four competitors. Hop, step and jump handicap, of 30/-, second 10/-: J. S, Nicholson, 3ft, 39ft 3in, 1; H. F. Winsloe, sft, 37ft 2m, 2. Four competitors. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS. Bona fide farmers’ race: W. R. Cranstoun, 1; L. Turnbull, 2; R. Burns, 3. Married men’s race: J. McArthur, 1; L. Turnbull, 2. Sheep-guessing (actual live weight 161 pounds) : W. Simpson, 16libs, 1. Single ladies’ race: Miss Gross, 1; Miss Perkins, 2. Eight starters. Mamed ladies’ race: Mrs G. McLeod, 1; Mrs W. Miller, 2. Eight starters.

HIGHLAND DANCING. Highland fling (girls under 12) t M. Murdoch 1, M. Lowe 2, D. Forrester 3. Ten competitors. Seann triubhais (under 15) : E. Halpin 1, D. Forrester 2. Seven competitors. Seann triubhais (under 12) : M. Lowe 1, D. Forrester 2. Six competitors. Sword dance (open) : H. Doyle 1, F. Miller 2. Nine competitors. Sailors’ hornpipe (under 15) : E. Halpin I, F. Miller 2. Six competitors. Irish jig (open) : E. Halpin 1, M. Murdoch 2, Eight competitors. PIPING. Open marches: J. Miller 1, G. Hastie 2, B. Parker 3. Five entries. Open strathspeys and reels: G. Hastie 1, J. Miller 2, B. Parker 3. Five entries. Consolation (marches) : B. Parker, 1.