AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Taranaki Daily News, 22 December 1932, Page 10

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

PROGRESS AT NEW PLYMOUTH ■'•'■• "■ ■■ f PROMISING DISTANCE RUNNER. .• . ■ - JANUARY MEETING 7 PREPARATIONS. K ■■••• ■' ■if, (By “Also Started.’*) Tuesday evening’s meeting was the last ; ! that the New'.Plyinouth Amateur Athletic Club will.hold: before the arrival of’the Canterbury visitors, but it is very evident that the members have ■ettled down to training and will be

reedy for the South Islanders on January 7/ With the increasing number of local campetitorsi. in addition to those of the Canterbury Bien , and those from the other Taranaki centres, this meeting took? like being a record one as far as k New Plymouth is concerned. The outstanding-performance of Tues* =' day night was that of Radford in the

£? mile event. There'were some who ; considered that the handicapper had been a little hard on him, but, as it turned out, he'would have had no difficulty in ’!•> winning from virtual scratch. With less than’a third of the journey covered his &• long easy stride carried him up to the ' ; leaders and from then on the issue was H' never ;in doubt. He and Broad took lap ; about -until "the final circuit, when \ Radford sprinted away to win by a hundred yards. More will be heard of

f thia boy. . 1 Broad also ran a very creditable .race TiSjnd did i great deal to help the winner. ; ‘ .The: -s no doubt that Saddler is game. He looked all in commencing the second

to last lap, but he stuck on and came

with a great finishing burst to take secend place from Broad right on the post ", R. Hoby anti A. J. Thomson both -fin- . ished strongly and-will be improved runners on the seventh of January. «i H| ' ’Kinsella made a very promising debut ' last week, when he finished second in the 75 yards and he showed improve- •' ment on Tuesday by winning both his V Aeat and the final of the 220 yards in

great style. With a little more experience he looks like developing into one "of the club’s best runners.

x Pankhurst went his best race- for some , „ time When he was second in the final, J•• and should be ready for Rotorua next [?. Black’s showing was not quite up to expectations, but he is concentrating on ■? the quarter mile. There is no doubt ■‘ that he has lengthened his stride and did S-V not negotiate the bend into the straight ■ too well. > What looked like being a very in- • foresting finish to the 220 yard hurdles - > was spoiled through H. L. Thomson misjudging his stride approaching the final s obstacle and losing two or three yards, .'Enabling H. F. Fookes, who fenced well .? 'ail the way, to win comfortably.

Gilmour ran off scratch in this event and put up a really fine performance, finishing right up with the third man, pinnies fencing with all his old ’ time , dash. ‘ ’

Ambury, who has only been riding during the last three weeks, carried off both the half and the mile cycle events in good style. He received a wonderful push off in the half mile, and never gave

the rest a look in, winning by twenty

yards. ' In the mile both Batten and Hawkins ■ with him commencing the final v rirrnit but-he finished too well for both of them. He is rather inclined to sit ’a little too much upright but there is nd’ question that he is a promising rider. - , r Both Batten and Hawkins rode splenf didly 'and. it was rather remarkable that 6- ; - these 'two riders, both starting off the same mark in the mile, should dead ;" : -heat for second. It certainly saves the handicapper any trouble in assessing > their respective merits next time. A newcomer in Miss D. Brown won the ladies’ 120 yards in fine style. She is a school girl on holidays, and will not be a regular runner until next season.

Miss Clarke and Miss Bigwood were as consistent as ever, and filled the minor places; Miss O’Byme is improving with each run, and when she is properly fit it should be a great struggle between her and Miss Clarke in .the championships. ■" -Dinniss continues to do well in the .field - events, and was successful in. both the broad jump and the throwing of the discus, putting up good performances in both. The handicapper has not yet quite taken his measure. " .

From virtual scratch Hogg took the javelin event, and will improve considerably on his throw of Tuesday. It is expected that Stan. Lay will be competing in this event on January 7 and a recent effort of 193 feet shows that the exBritish Empire title holder has not by any means lost his knack. It is. possible .that even if all the certificates are in order, the record performances credited to M. Spillane (hammerthrow) and *A. A. Cameron (hop, step and jump) at the North Otago meeting a fortnight ago will not receive recognition by the N.Z.A.A.A. Council as records. No official statement has been made on the point, but it is of interest to note that neither of these two . athletes unfortunately has yet been registered; in fact, it is understood that application has not been received to date for registration certificates on behalf of any athlete in the South Island. The council has made it plain that it intends to enforce the- new registration rule; and, ■ as a matter of fact, a resolution was passed. at one meeting instructing the secretary to write to centres informing them that an athlete, if he competes without being- registered, will render himself liable to disqualification. The position, so far as concerns the North Otago performances,, therefore, is interesting. Promising Pole-Vaulter. Barraclough, the Opunake athlete who specialises' in the pole vault, is rapidly getting into form and has already cleared lift.'6in. this season. This is very near his best performance of lift. 9in- Barraclough is young and has a fine style so more may be heard of him this year.

Hawera Activity. The Hawera club has taken a new l&ase of life this year with weekly evening, meetings. No trophies are given but certificates are to be presented to the first and second men. D. Ekdahl appears the most promising new member this year, the.long jump being his best event Ha can do something over 20 feet with ease and should do even better when he is properly fit and goes higher. The club’s-; active members of last season are pretty well -all in training again. D- Wifis’ Intentions.

It has been rumoured that D. Wills, the province’s champion walker, may not concentrate on this department in the future. ’ Wills has been handicapped by his stature, which has compelled him to adopt'an individual style, the fairness of which has sometimes been questioned. -With the revival of interest in walking in Taranaki following Wills’ successes it would be unfortunate if he did retire.