On Track and Field

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 119, 10 August 1927, Page 11

On Track and Field

Amateur Athletic Notes

By

“SPARTAN”

THE SEASON’S FIXTURES The following is the season’s procrainme of the Auckland A.A. and C. rlub: — . , .-♦ Saturday— Joint meeting with the > **OMhun B a' A.A. and C. Club on the Recreation Ground. . «,ct 27 —Championship meeting at AUg AJexandra Park. tem ber 3—Winter competitions (continued). tamber 10— N.Z. Cycling Road Race 10,000 metres cross-country championship. santember I—A.A.A. and C. Club, special " sports cup programme. -u-rfther I—Joint meeting with Franklin Llc j|A, and C. Club at Pukekohe. October 24 —Labour Day sports at the Domain. Kotember s—Auckland championships. CONGRATULATIONS, SAVIDANi All athletes will join in congratulating J» W. Savidan, Dominion crosscountry champion, on his tine showing at the Australasian meeting on Saturday last. Savidan did well to run second to a runner of the calibre of Hyde, and next year he may succeed in beating the redoubtable Australian. ELLIOT HITS OR MISSES A. J. Elliot, Auckland sprint champion, finished third in the final of the 75 yards handicap at the Domain on Saturday. He stated after the race that it was the first time he has ever been placed second or third in a final. ..j usually hit the tape first or miss altogether.” he said. It would seem, however, that the man who is hailed as Leadbetter’s greatest rival has acquired the habit of hitting more often than he misses. HENSHALL IN FORM From what was really the scratch mark, E. P. Henshall went very near to beating Clark in the steeplechase on Saturday. When

he was selected as emergency to the Auckland crosscountry team that went to Christchurch to compete at the Dominion meeting he was recognised as the most promising of the younger runners in the club. Henshall has performed with more than

average consistency throughout

the whole season, and no one deserves a win more than he. However, he has still a chance, and should show his mettle in the Auckland championships. NEW ZEALAND STANDARD The standard of New Zealand performances on the running tracks compares favourably with that of Great Britain, all things considered. The following is a comparison of times at the last English and New Zealand amateur athletic championships:

In considering the table it must be borne in mind that the English sprint title races were won by foreigners. The winners were:—looyds, Koernig (Germany); 220yds, Houber (Germany).

WANGANUI BEATS MASTERTON The Wanganui Harrier Club visited Masterton on July 23 and defeated the Wairarapa men in a steeplechase. The points were:—Wanganui, 17; Masterton, 20. That fine runner, E. Gibbons, of Wanganui, who ran second to Savidan on the Cashmere Hills, won the ovent, and Campbell, of Masterton, was •econd.

THE SPRINT CUP Competition for the sprint cup waxes keener and keener as the season progresses. Elliot and Roper have run neck and neck most of the time, first the one and then the other leading. Last week the points stood at: Itoper, 37; Elliot, 35; but Elliot brought up to 355 by dead-heating Mth Kirkwood in the sprint on Saturday, Roper being unplaced. A Suggestion? The Canterbury Centre of the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association at “®* erm i ne< l to carry all before it the next Dominion championship ® ee f ™£' The energetic officials of mat body are about to put into operai°r a systematic scheme for the trainmg of their athletes. n °t Auckland adopt some tu- to ensure its representatv,®B jelng in the pink of condition by tnat date? 1 following is the training h,,.., Ie for one wee k of the Canterbury Centre: Monday, September s—Three laps w jog. Exercises. Deep-breathing exercises. Tuesday—Two laps half-speed stride. T*" laps slow jog. Wednesday—Four laps slow jog. exererses. deep breathing. stride 18 *^ 1 — Tbroe laps half-speed *' our laps slow jog, exerTh lUr ? as —Best; Sunday, short walk. H * n ® Auckland Centre has already to kee P its members in diirt- ° n durin & the off season by conc «ng weekly winter sports competi-

tions, but there is just a chance that. Having gone so far, it may consider its duty done. There arc* numbers of runners in Auckland who would improve out of sight if they| were taken in hand by some competent trainer for a month or so, and the same can be said in the other branches of the sport. We have a runner of the calibre of A. J. Elliot in our midst—a man who has broken “evens” for the 100 yards sprint, and yet he is self-trained, with little knowledge of scientific starting. Xow, if he were to be coached in the finer points of the sport there is no saying where he would stop. The Olympic arena itself would be quite within his reach. There is a great deal of talent and ability lying dormant, and if this were to be brought out fully Auckland could send South a team with a strong chance of winning the inter-provincial championship. What about some such effort? Saturday's Performers H. S. Roper won his heat in the 75 yards handicap in fine style with six inches to spare, but appeared to slip in the final, with the result that he was unplaced. This is the first time this winter that he has been unplaced in 12 starts. N. F. Cooper and C. Scown, both members of the Auckland cross-coun-try team which went South last month, were on the injured list last Saturday. Sprained ankles were stated to be the cause. O. D. Mills, the Mount Albert Grammar School lad, was not in the best of form on Saturday in the steeplechase. His schoolmate, however, J. Green, performed very well, finishing fourth after running in second position most of the way. Although he fizzled out in the third place. steeplechase, F. J. Kirkwood deadheated with Elliot in the sprint for W. Watt did very well «n Saturday. He ended up second in the 75 yards handicap and was prominent in the longer distance event. F. Adams does not seem to be running as well lately as he did earlier in the season, although he finished second in the steeplechase. B. F. White put in an appearance after an absence of six weeks. He was prominent in the steeplechase for a time, but the pace in the last few rounds seemed to tell on him. G. Gilchrist ran a well-judged race in the long event, and in filling third place showed a decided improvement on past performances. G. R. Metcalfe had a day out in the field events. He won the discus throw and finished up second on the list of shot-putters—evidently he is staging a come-back, too.

England. N. Zealand. Event. min. min. . see. 100yds 10 1-10 0 9 4-5 220yds 21 4-5 0 22 3-5 440yds 4S 4-5 u 50 880yds 54 1 59 Mile .. .. 4 17 4 25 120yds hurdles .. 0 14 9-10 0 15 1-5 440yds hurdles .. 0 54 1-5 0 5S