ATHLETICS

Southland Times, Issue 23736, 7 February 1939, Page 11

ATHLETICS

MEETING AT RUGBY PARK KEEN COMPETITION IN ALL EVENTS Although rain had made the track heavy and the times, as a result, were slow, there was keen competition in all events at the athletic meeting conducted by the Southland Amateur Athletic Association at Rugby Park last night. No rain fell while the races were in progress, but there was a bitterly cold wind and this affected some of the performances. A feature of the meeting was the success of the scratch races, the 100 yards A and B grade and the 440 yards events. These races produced keen running and good finishes. and the spectators wert. given an indication of the runners likely to be prominent at the Southland amateur track and field championships on Saturday. This is the first time scratch races have been given a real trial in Invercargill, but last night’s races proved their worth. Considering the state of the track, the times in the two scratch sprint races were quite good, P. McMullan putting up a fine performance to win the final of the 100 yards A grade event from J. N. Sinclair in llsecs. The 100 yards B grade race was won by W. Russell, who breasted the tape about a yard in front of J. Chisholm in a good finish, also in llsec. L. W. Smith ran strongly to win the 440 yards invitation scratch race from F. W. Mayne in 56 l-ssec. Cycling races were included in the programme and in these events there were some exciting finishes. The men’s and women’s relays were again popular, although both winning teams had clearcut victories. The results are:— RUNNING 100 YARDS A GRADE (11 entries).— First heat: K. Laidlaw 1, G. Henderson 2, L. W. Smith 3. Time, 0.11. Second heat: J. N. Sinclair 1, P. McMullan 2. Time, 0.11. Final: McMullan 1, Sinclair 2, Laidlaw 3. Time, 0.11. * 100 YARDS B GRADE (14 entries).— First heat: W. Russell 1, N. Bennie 2, C. Busby 3, Time, 0.11. Second heat: R. M. Atley 1, J. Chisholm 2, T. McCormick 3. Time, 0.11 1-5. Final: Russell 1, Chisholm 2, Atley 3. Time, 0.11. ' 440 YARDS INVITATION SCRATCH EVENT (five entries).—L. W. Smith 1, F. W. Mayne 2, G. McLachlan 3. Time, O. 1-5. Smith ran a well-judged race and won fairly easily. 880 YARDS HANDICAP (six entries). —J. Metcalfe (25yds) 1, R. Dixon (25yds) 2, M. Von Tunzelman (scr) 3. Time, 2.8 4-5. Metcalfe was in the lead in the first lap, but Dixon came through to the front at the beginning of the second lap. Metcalfe challenged Dixon when half the lap had been completed and went on to gain a decisive win. 440 YARDS HURDLES HANDICAP (four entries).—C. F. Harvey (scr) 1, P. McMullan (24yds) 2, D. Jenkin (12yds) 3. Time, 1.1. 220 YARDS JUNIOR (five entries).— W. Russell (4yds) 1, J. N. Sinclair (scr) 2, J. McClean (4yds) 3. Time, 0.24 4-5. Russell took the lead in the straight and held it to the finish, in spite of a good effort by the scratch man, Sinclair. 880 YARDS JUNIOR HANDICAP (five entries). —P. Dalton (80yds) 1, W. Eastlake (syds) 2, A. Edwards (scr) 3. Time, 2.10 1-5. Dalton made the most of his start and, running well, won by a fairly big margin from Eastlake.

75 YARDS WOMEN (seven entries). — A.. Thomson 1, M. Peat 2, F. Stewart 3. Time, 0.9. WOMEN’S RELAY.—Broad Small Ltd. (40yds) 1, Herbert, Haynes (35yds) 2, Technical Tennis (Byds bhd scr) 3. MEN’S RELAY.—Boys’ Brigade Old Boys Soccer Club Soccer Club (16yds) 1, Lorneville (10yds) 2, Star Football Club (12yds) 3. FIELD EVENTS SHOT PUTT.—J. M. Stewart (scr) 30ft 6in 1, K. Kennedy (6ft) 30ft s£in 2, J. Harvey (7ft) 24ft 6Jin 3. HOP, STEP AND JUMP.—K. Kennedy (4ft) 40ft 4in 1, J. M. Stewart (2ft) 39ft 9>}in 2, R. Jenkins (scr) and P.McMullan (2ft) 39ft B£in 3 equal. CYCLING ONE MILE ELIMINATION RACE (five entries). —A. Drury 1, K. Jones 2. Time, 2.46 4-5. Drury took the lead in the first lap, but Jones came through to the front in the next lap. At the beginning of the third lap N. Hazlemore was in front, followed by Drury and Jones. In the final lap Drury and Jones contested the lead, the former winning by the width of a tyre. TWO MILE HANDICAP (six entries). —R. McDougall (60yds) 1, A. Drury (scr) 2, L. Johnson ,(60yds) 3. Time, 5.34 4-5. A feature of this race was the fine riding by the scratch man, Drury, who was beaten into second place by McDougall. Drury came into the picture in the second lap from the end, but was unable to overtake McDougall in a close finish.

TWO RECORDS BROKEN BY AMERICANS

NEW YORK, February 5.

At an indoor athletic meeting Roy Staley, of California, ran the first heat of the 60 yards high hurdles in 7.3 sec, clipping one-tenth of a second off the world record. He returned the same time in the semi-final and the final. John Borican, a New Jersey negro, ran two-thirds of a mile in 2min 39sec, shaving 4.6 sec off the world record, established in 1923.