ATHLETES IN ACTION

Southland Times, Issue 24368, 24 February 1941, Page 3

ATHLETES IN ACTION

Southland Titles

FINE PERFORMANCE BY A. EDWARDS

An outstanding programme of athletic and cycling events was provided at Rugby Park on Saturday when the Southland amateur athletic and cycling championships were held. Glorious weather and a fast track ensured a most successful meeting. The entries for most of the championships were quite good and the presence of about 12 Dunedin competitors added an interprovincial flavour to the meeting. A. Edwards, of the Invercargill Club, put up one of the best performances of the day in breaking the Southland record for the 880 yards junior championship by 6 2-ssec. The time recorded by Edwards on Saturday was 2min 1 l-ssec —a truly splendid effort. Edwards is a very strong runner, with an easy' action, and he made no race of the championship event. Edwards’s time was actually 5 seconds better than that registered by A. R. Geddes in winning the senior 880 yards championship, but it has to be remembered that Geddes was not fully extended. G. M. Webb, the promising St. Paul’s Club athlete, who won three titles at the recent Dunedin championship meeting, had no difficulty in winning the 100 yards and 220 yards championship events on Saturday. In both these events he had a comfortable winning margin from J. N. Sinclair. Sinclair came to the fore in the 440 yards championship and in a keen tussle in the final beat G. H. Bilbrough by a narrow margin. By’ capturing the three senior longdistance championships. A. R. Geddes, of the Civil Service Club, Dunedin, completed a century of wins in athletic events. This is a performance of which any athlete would be proud. J. R. Hubber, of the Invercargill Club, did exceedingly well to stay with Geddes throughout the three-mile journey. The strong finish staged by Geddes won him the race by about a yard and ahalf. One of the most successful competitors of the day was I. D. Hall, who won the 220 yards low hurdles, the hop, step and jump, the senior broad jump and the senior high jump. Hall is a former Sydney University athlete and is a comparative newcomer tc the Invercargill tracks. Judging by his performance on Saturday, he should be a valuable acquisition to the Invercargill Club. A delightful exhibition was given in the junior high jump by I. Burns Watson, the Southland Boys’ High School athlete. He cleared the bar at sft 6Ain, and his performance was one inch better than that in the senior event.

O. Drury proved himself one of the outstanding riders in Southland by winning the one mile and three-mile cycling championships. R. McDougall would probably have been a strong contender for first place in the one mile event had he not been hemmed in in the final lap. The following contractions have been used to denote the names of the clubs in the results:—(S.), Southland; (O.), Otago; (In.). Invercargill Club; (S.P.), St. Paul’s Club; (C.S.), Civil Service Club; (Morn.), Mornington Club; (N. 0. North Otago; (H.S.), Boys’ High School; (Cav.), Caversham Club; (Dm), Dunedin. Detailed results:— RUNNING EVENTS 100 YARDS CHAMPIONSHIP: G. M. Webb (S.P.) 1, J. N. Sinclair (In.) 2. These were the only starters. Webb took the lead from the start and breasted the tape about three yards ahead of Sinclair. Time, 0.10 1-5. 100 YARDS HANDICAP (3 starters): J. Strathern (Cav.) 2yds 1, H. Bennie (S.P.) 3yds 2, N. Bennie (S.P.) syds 3. Time, 0.10 3-5. 220 YARDS (4 starters): G. M. Webb (S.P.) 1, J. N. Sinclair (In.) 2, N. Prentice (S.P.) 3. Webb sustained a powerful run from the start, and headed Sinclair by about four yards. Time, 0.23 1-5. 220 YARDS LOW HURDLES (3 starters): I. D. Hall (In.) 1, J. Strathern (Cav.) 2, L. J. Dickel (C.S.) 3. Won by about eight yards. Time, 0.2 G 3-5. 440 YARDS CHAMPIONSHIP. First heat (3 starters): J. N. Sinclair (In.) 1. R. F. Morrison (Cav.) 2. Won by about 10 yards. Time, 0.53 4-5. Second heat (3 starters): L. J. Dickel (C.S.) 1, G. H. Bilbrough (In.) 2, H. Bennie (S.P.) 3. Dickel won by about four yards, with Bilbrough easing up. Time, 0.54. Final: Sinclair 1, Bilborough' 2, Dickel 3. Sinclair staged a strong finish and won by inches. Time, 0.52 4-5.

880 YARDS SENIOR (3 starters): A. R. Geddes (C.S.) 1, W. N. Burrows (Morn.) 2, J. Metcalfe (In.) 3. Geddes went into first place in the second lap and had no trouble in winning from Burrows. Time, 2.6 1-5. 880 YARDS JUNIOR (5 starters): A. Edwards (In.) 1, M. Bourchier (In.) 2. Edwards came away in the"last lap and won in convincing style. Time, 2.1 1-5 —a Southland record. 880. YARDS HANDICAP (3 starters): J. Metcalfe (In.) 25yds 1, W. J. Campbell (In.) scr 2. Won by about five yards. Time, 2.11 1-5. ONE MILE SENIOR (4 starters): A. R. Geddes (C.S.) 1, W. N. Burrows (Morn.) 2. At the end of the first lap Burrows was in the lead from Geddes, with J. R. Hubber and J. Metcalfe close up. Metcalfe dropped out in tire second lap, leaving three competitors in the race. The order was unchanged at the start of the final lap, with Geddes running very easily in second place. The leaders quickened their pace and Hubber was soon dropped. Coming into the straight, Burrows had a slight lead from Geddes, but the latter put in a strong challenge and won by about a foot. Time, 4.31 2-5. THREE MILE CHAMPIONSHIP AND SEALED HANDICAP (4 starters): A. R. Geddes (C.S.) 1, J. R. Hubber (In.) 2, J. Metcalfe (In.) 3. Geddes and Hubber went into the lead alternately throughout the race and were still together in the last lap. Coming into the straight Geddes sprinted strongly and won by about a yard and a-half. In the sealed handicap Hubber was placed first, W. Wyatt second and Metcalfe third. MEN’S MEDLEY RELAY: Otago 1, Southland 2.

FIELD EVENTS SHOT PUTT: J. Dalgleish (N. 0. 38ft 2Jin 1, G. H. Bilbrough (In.) 33ft 2in 2, J. G. Leckie (In.) 27ft lljin 3. HOP, STEP AND JUMP: 1. D. Hall (In.) 39ft Ilin 1, M. Walker (S.P.) 39ft lin 2, G. Metcalfe (In.) 37ft lin 3. SENIOR BROAD JUMP: I. D. Hall (In.) 20ft 9Jin 1, A. W. B. Walker (S.P.) 19ft Ilin 2. JUNIOR BROAD JUMP: N. Prentice (S.P.) 19ft Bin 1, G. M. Webb (S.P.) 18ft lljin 2, D. Miller (H.S.) 18ft 9Jin 3. DISCUS THROW: J. Dalgleish (N. 0. 110 ft 7in 1, J. G. Leckie (In.) 100 ft

9in 2, G. H. Bilbrough (In.) 99ft Ilin 3. SENIOR HIGH JUMP: I. D. Hall (In.) sft sJin 1, J. G. Leckie (In.) 2, G. Metcalfe (In.) 3. JUNIOR HIGH JUMP: I. Burns. Watson (H.S.) sft 6Jin 1. JAVELIN THROW: G. H. Bilbrough (In.) 144 ft 3Ain 1, J. G. Lcckie (In.) 120 ft 2in 3. WOMEN’S EVENTS 100 YARDS CHAMPIONSHIP. First heat (3 starters): J. McGrath (O.) 1, K. Burns (O.) 2. Time, 0.11 4-5. Second heat (3 starters): P. Malone (O.) 1. E. Nauman (O.) 2. Time, 0.12. Final: McGrath 1, Malone 2, Nauman 3. Time, 0.12. 75 YARDS HANDICAP. First heat (5 starters): B. Eunson (10yds) 1. N. Walker (4yds) 2. Second heat: A. Thomson (syds) 1, J. Young (3',yds) 2. Third heat: M. Thomson (51 yds) 1, D. Thomson (81yds) 2. Final: A. Thomson 1, D. Thomson 2, M. Thomson 3. Time, 0.8 4-5. WOMEN’S HIGH JUMP: Miss J. Young (Dm) 4ft 4in 1. HOP, STEP AND JUMP: K. Burns (O.) 16ft 1, J. McGrath (O.) 15ft 3in 2. RELAY RACE: Otago 1, Southland A 2, Southland B 3. CYCLING QUARTER-MILE TIME TRIAL (6 starters): R. McDougall (In.) 34 4-5 sec 1, O. Drury (In.) 35 2-ssec 2, W. Smith (In.) 36 3-ssec. 3. ONE MILE CHAMPIONSHIP. First heat (4 starters): O. Drury (In.) 1, H. Hubber (Im) 2, W. Smith (In.) 3. Won by a length and a-half. Time, 2.31 4-5. Second heat (4 starters): R. McDougall (In.) 1, A. Jones (In.) 2, K. Denton (Dn.) 3. Won by a length. Time, 2.40 2-5. Final: Drury I, McDougall and Jones 2 equal. Time, 2. 43 4-5. Drury staged a strong run in the last lap and won by a length. ONE MILE JUNIOR. First neat (4 starters): F. Mong (Dn.) 1, J. Murdoch (In.) 2, A. Waddick (Im) 3. Mong was in the lead almost throughout the distance and won easily. Time, 2.38. Second heat (4 starters): R. Reekie (Dn.) 1, C. Waddick (In.) 2, A. Pedlar (In.) 3. Waddick led into the straight, but was passed just before the tape. Time, 2.50 3-5. Final. Mong 1, Reekie 2, Murdoch 3. Mong was too good for the other riders and won by about six lengths. Time,

2.43. ONE AND A-HALF MILES HANDICAP. First heat (8 starters): C. McNee (In.) 220yds 1, H. Hubber (In.) 120yds 2, F. Mong (Dn.) 100yds 3 Time. 3.35 3-5. Second heat (8 starters): W. Smith (In.) 100yds 1, R. Reekie (Dn.) 120yds 2, W Haig (Dn ) 70yds 3. Time, 3.50. Final: McNee 1, Hubber 2, Haig 3. Time, 3.48 4-5. THREE-MILE CHAMPIONSHIP (9 starters): O. Drury (In.) 1, L. Johnson (In.) 2, H. Hubber (In.) 3. Drury soon dropped the other competitois and, riding a fine race, won by about half a lap. Time, 7.47 4-5.

WOMAN JAVELIN THROWER

BREAKS RECORD

(United Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 23. A New Zealand record and a performance that ranks second in the British Empire was registered by Mary Mitchell, of Dargaville, in the javelin throw at the Auckland women s amateur athletic championships at Eden Park on Saturday afternoon. Her distance was 125 feet 8 inches. She is the holder of the New Zealand championship and record. In the 100 yards junior men s championship K. McAnemy equalled the Dominion record of 10 l-ssec.