ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 23024, 19 October 1936, Page 9

ATHLETICS

THE AMATEUR SECTION ASSOCIATION’S ANNUAL REPORT The annual report of the Southland Harrier and Amateur Athletic Association, to be presented at the annual meeting to-morrow night states: — The committee is pleased to report another successful year. At the last annual meeting in October 1935 this body was formally constituted the Southland Harrier and Amateur Athletic Association and has been recognized as, next to the Otago Centre, the controlling body of amateur athletics in Southland. This change was felt to be necessary in order to give the rulings of the former combined clubs’ committee more force in the district and, moreover, to give the committee a more definite standing in relation to the Otago Centre. There is no doubt that such a step has had much to do with the success of the year. There is ample evidence that the sport is making rapid progress in the province. Six clubs are now represented on the association. Four of them are affiliated to the centre, while the remaining two are at the present time engaged in arranging their affiliation. There is every prospect of further advancement during the coming years. The Track Season. The track season was, in many ways, a particularly successful one. The opening meeting was the secondary schools’ championships, which attracted favourable comment from other centres.

Handicap meetings were held on seven occasions during the summer, not only by the association in Invercargill, but also by the bodies at Drummond, Bluff, Ryal Bush and Winton. These latter were well supported by town athletes, a fact that should encourage them to be even more enterprising during the coming season. The progress being made in the outlying districts is more than satisfactory. A relay meeting for the George McBurney memorial trophy, donated by Mr G. Mcßurney, was held on January 18 and proved a successful experiment. As far as is known this was the first occasion on which such a meeting had been staged in the Dominion. The St. Paul’s Club won the trophy by eight events to three. This type of meeting enables every man, whether he is in the first or second grade, to play his part. The Southland championships were held on January 25, somewhat earlier than in previous years, but a large entry from Dunedin and elsewhere was attracted and the association was fortunate enough to have a fine day for the occasion. Congratulations are offered to all the championship winners and particularly to those local competitors who showed that they could more than hold their own in such strong fields' The Dominion championships had a special interest this year, for two Southland runners, B. Crowther (Invercargill) and W. J. Atley (St. Paul’s) were picked to represent Otago. The association congratulates them warmly on their performances. The Harrier Season. The harrier season was even more marked for the progress shown. Four clubs were holding regular runs, the Baptist Club being a newcomer to the harrier ranks. It is gratifying to note that there are now nearly a hundred harriers in Southland. The Southland cross-country championships were held from the Invercargill racecourse on July 25, there being record fields in each event. The open teams championship was won by the Civil Service Club (Dunedin), while the individual winner was A. R. Geddes (Civil Service). The Harrier Shield for competition among Southland clubs only was won by the Invercargill Club for the third year in succession. The junior event was notable for the first win by a Southland club in open competition, St. Paul’s beating Civil Service for the championship. B. A. Macalister (St. Paul’s) was the winner of the title. The association wishes to congratulate the successful clubs and to thank the Dunedin runners who journeyed to Invercargill to participate. Their support over the last three years has done much to raise the standard of cross-country running in Southland. The Otago cross-country championships were once again contested by two of the local clubs and considerable success was met with both in the senior and junior events. The Trust Cup road race was held on August 29 and, as in the earlier events, there was a record field. The association has to thank the Dunedin clubs for their support in this event, a support that has continued over four years and has greatly assisted the progress of road running in the province. This year there was a very close finish to the race, the St. Paul’s Club winning the cup for the third year in succession. This event brought the season to a successful close.

The association has learned much in the past year, some of it by bitter experience, but the balance has been well towards the right side. The coming year can be looked forward to with every confidence and the knowledge that Southland is now a force to be reckoned with, however small at present, in the field of amateur athletics.