AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 377, 26 April 1915, Page 2

AMATEUR ATHLETICS.

THE CANTERBURY CHAMPIONSHIPS. With only two championship events — the pole vault and the running broad jump—to be decided, the Canterbury Unh'ersity College Club is assured of the amateur athletic, club championship of Canterbury. It has won 10 firsts,' nine seconds, and three thirds. The •Canterbury A.A.C. lias won four firsts, six seconds, and seven thirds; the Y.M.C.A. Club one first, (the relay); and the Pioneer Club one third. The University Club stated, at the beginning of the season, that it was not in a position to hold an evening meeting without assistance, owing to its membership having been weakened, chiefly through members joining the colours. Yet now the club which was unable to liold an evening meeting without the co-operation of another club has won the premiership, while the Canterbury A.A.C., which has done much more tokeep the sport going than all the dCher; clubs put together have done, finishes; up a poor second!; Apparently the Col-; lege Club only needed to be a roused; from a quiet nap. It is hereby congratulated on its awakening. May thatj awakening be permanent! I An Unfortunate Happening. !

It was* most unfortunate that the; | championship programme was only half-; | completed at the Belgium Relief Fund. Harvest Festival.' The Canterbury 'Centre was actuated by excellent motives when, in its desire to do some-; thing more toward helping the distressed Belgians,, it offered to: hold the provincial championships meeting atthe festival, as an additional attraction to the public. But it found the result very unsatisfactory from: the athletic point of view, owing to 10 of the events on its programme having to be postponed-from the festival. At. the start,,the championship programme.was delayed by. other events which had been given prior lise of the enclosure at the Show Grounds. Then it wYis found that yearly all.. tlie : athletic ecfuipnie'tit ..whi<.di .had lieeu placed on the ground earlier by of the centie, had been removed by sbme ' persons' unknown. ; Kveii the' guard-board far the weight and . h;in 1111 or events and the, 'jumping-jojst had been removed. ThisT caused further delay. Then, when the meeting was/just hitting its stride so to speak, th' 4 .'ground was 'required for children 'a and tli«2 Citizens' Defence Corps' marching competition. 'As the latter was-likely-to last- fox - a considerable time, and other ."events? over .which the centre had no .control were also booked for' the cnclosuTfij there appeared to be no prospect of: concludelig 'the' tiiat., J So the centre executive decided 011 ■" In the. circumstances thus appeared to be the right .course,; and it met with the approval of the athletes. • As it. happened, however, the ground was vacant for a long period later in the day, through a long delay in the holding of the ceremony of crowding the Queen of the Carnival. But that could not have been anticipated by the centie executive. The centre committee does not intend to cry over spilt milk. That it-.had to contend with, difficulties other •than those already mentioned is 'jriilir. .cated, by the fact that as. kite as the • Wednesday preyi.aus.. to the festival, subcommittee the. Festival Committee -was altering the programme mapped out for. the sports, enclosure. '• Opie's Beappearance. The track at the Show Grounds was rough,' and the grass was by 110 means short, so the times recorded in the. track events were slow. . The 10Qy( t ls championship contest was looked, fqijwartl to •with keen interest, when. .it , became known that R. Opie had emerged from his retirement to compete in this. ,A very keen contest between, him. and B. Batstone, the promising you.ug sprinter who was runner-up in the I'flOyds, the 220 yd?, and the 440 yds. at the Dominion champ.ionships meeting last. month ; was anticipated. But Batstoii,e; had .joined the reinforcements for the Lypeditionary Forces. However, E. E. Di Rago gave Opie a good run, Opie got the worst of the start in the final, but he was level at 70yds, and he gradually; forged ahead. Then pi' E.ag'O ' came yerv strongly at the finish, .and ;Opie onlv just beat him. () ; D., Sea'y was close lip, in third 'NKtiirally, Opie is' 11'ot in anything like his old form, but lie looks, as if he could get back to it if he tried. ' ' ' '» Seay ran splendidly in'the 220 yds.' J. Tunnington made the pace very hot in the early part of the race—too hot to last —but Seay, running with good judgment, did not let him get too fai' ahead, .and in the straight he put on a good sprint, and won well, with Tunnington second. Some of the other competitors were affected by jostling at. a sharp bend early in the race.' This event j should have been decided in 1 heats or else the men should have run in lines — the bends were too sharp for a fairly large field to run without lines. Promising Young Athletes. Much promise was shown by E. C. D. Wit hell, who contested the walks with I). G. Wilson. It was WithelJ's first appearance at a meeting held by the Canterbury Centre, lie : is . only a youth; and he was. not able to beat Wilson, but he showed that with tuition and practice he should .'develop into a very good walker, .lie. is plucky, has stamina, and a style much better than that, of the average " new chum " at walking. His principal fault, is a tendency to carry the body too far forward. As yet, he has not grasped the

difference between the best stylo lor sprint-walking and the best style tor longer distances.. That is why Wilson boat him more easily hi the mile I than in the three miles. The field events which were decided at the Harvest Festival brought out another very promising young athlete from the Canterbury College Club, in W. Council. Corinoll is an absolute novice, with very little idea of method or style, but his strength secured for iliim first place in the hammer-throwing, first in the hop-step-and-jump, and second in putting the shot. In throwing the hammer he simply stood still in the circle, whirled the hammer round his head, and let it. go—and he threw it Sift 2hi. He did not even know what a foul throw was until after he made his first throw in the championship coiltest. Again, in the hop-step-and-.jump his movements were slow, and he showed very little idea of the best way of gathering momentum, but he recorded 41ft 2in. When Connell learns how these things are done best he should putup some very good performances. Dusk and Cold Weather. The early setting-in of darkness and the cold air affected the evening meeting at .which the championship,, programme was continued. The track at, Lancaster Park was in excellent order, but fast times cannot be expected when the runners have to contend with a cold breeze, and good hurdling.; and jumping cannot be expected when the outline of the obstacle is dimmed by gathering dusk. In the Ilalf-mile Championship \V. A;- Ford, had a good win from 11. Bigham, who had beaten him by only .two .yards ini the mile on; the preceding' Saturday! Bigham was a poor second in the half-mile; he faded' away- badly-.. in.: the straight,: 1 ...and;; it. rather,.looked as if he,,had.not.run himself out.

Reviewing all the championship' contests would occupy too much space, but reference .must- be made j to E' E.' .Di Rago's win , in . the ; Championship. Di Rago,' a "trier" jff; ever there vvas one, nViV'verV s eTl 'indeed,, showing an unexpected ability to niadii-! tain his pace over the quarter, and-fin-: jshjng strongly.. C. Young, who se-j cured second place, was 'seriously' "interfered with early in the riVc'e bv' .1: Tuii-j liingtou cutting across in front-of him, It is doubtful if Young could . have, caught Di Rago,, but that, does not excuse Tunningtom Mention should also! be made of the Petersen Shield Relay Race; • ■ The Y3LC.A./.team, consisting of. E. Jl. -,Pown,: H- Ashtyu, ; W ; Jl.n, and, A. S. Drayton,, secured a yerv fine win ih'"{hat'.'" f The 'Petersen Shield nuieh : -dSeSirfet' l ''t^op6y, it is ho])ei| that ..its-i appearand' in 1 the ,l;),ujldjng. willjgi,vp a tlie.aipa.teui 1 athle.tic. activity of that iristitiitipn. . " Tlie 'pbtfe' Vault"and';; rtin'n'ing' "brosVil jump championshi])s will be. decided at •Lancaster - Park ■1 - to-.morro>y».: ,wenitigi starting at 5.15 sharp.- . : Southland Championships. Some good performances Avere recorded in the; Southland Amateur Athletic Championships Meeting, held at Otautau in conjunction with a Belgian Relief Fund Carnival. In the hop-step* and-juiup t\ E. Robertson cleared 44ft 4in, beating the Southland standard by lft iij and the New Zealand by 4in. F. Hazlett cleared 4."> ft sin in this everit. These performances were particularly good in that the ground was heavy as a result of the rain, aud the take-off was . il.ier.efore rather slippery, ila'zlett won the 12'0yds Hurdles 111 10 4-ssec —good time on' 'a heavy'track. M. Kean threw the 101b hammer 137 ft-, which broke the Southland record and beat, thej New Zealand standard by.7ft. R. Swinfiey, l of Duiiediii, Won four,events —the 100 yds in Usee, the 220 yds. in 25 3-osec, the 440, yds in 58sec, and the half-Uiile;ih. 2inin ISsec. G..E; Robertson ran second to him in the 100 yds, ,4 ; 4oy.ds, ,and B.Boy(ls,.,Rp.be,rtso 11. Ayon the, all-round championship of Southland, carrying the Sportsman's Shield, with 39 points,'scored by means of first .place iu the hop-step-and-jump, first...in. the high jump, and second -place in. each of the . 100 yds, 440y«'ls, SSOyds, ' 120 yds ilurdles, Haiiuner Throw, and Broad Jump Championships., and. third in the 220 yds. F. I-fasslett was second with 18 points, derived fro,in first place in the hurdles and in the broad jump, second in the hop-step-and-junip and the high jump, and third in the pole vault. A. L. C.