ATHLETICS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16907, 5 December 1922, Page 2

ATHLETICS

By

" Half-Miles"

FIXTURES December 9—C.A.A.C. Spring Meeting, j [December 16---Canterbury (.ham pi on- | ships at Ashburton. December 16—Oust Sport*. December 16—Ellesmere Sports. December 26—Papanui Sports. December 26—Darfield Sports. December 30—Springbok! Sports. January 1 and 2—Timaru Caledonian. Entries fox- the C.A.A.C. spring * neeting, which closed on Saturday, are, making them all round, disappointing. Sprint events are well patronised, but iho majority of the distance races and dl the field events are poor. A small >ut very select field will contest the LOO yards scratch race for the Francis iViUey Cup, and they are a very even ot, although on form, Lewis should >e the winner. The entrants include a Wellington runner. He is a

good sprinter having won the Donald ! Gillies Cup at Wellington last Boxing j Day. He is also a useful man over | the quarter-mile. The only other out- j side entrant is J. J. Brownlee, of Dun- j edir. ; who is in town for the ’Varsity , vacation. He has entered for the 100 and 220 yards handicaps, and has some good performances to his credit in the southern city. The one mile handicap has drawn a very fine entry of eleven, representing the best dis- . tanoe winners in and around Christ- j church. The three miles handicap will be contested by three runners, but a very fine field will run in the 440 yards ladies’ bracelet. It, was stated last week that H. E. Wilson intended to compete at the O.A.A.C. spring meeting-on Saturday, but no entry has been received from him. His absence will rob the hurdles

events of a great deal of interest, as a meeting between "Wilson and Buckburst. the present New Zealand sprint hurdles champion, would be worth seeing.

Mr C. B. Thomas, late secretary of the Otago Centre, and now resident in. Greymoutb, has written n very interesting letter to Mr C. H. Taylor, wherein he discusses the prospects of forming amateur athletic dubs on the West Coast. He considers that amateur athletics can be placed on a good footing on the Coast, and a club in Greymouth especially, would be welcomed. •T. Steel, the present 100 yards professional champion of New Zealand, informed Mr- Thomas that he would apply for reinstatement as an amateur if a club were formed. His appearance in the amateur ranks would be a thing of importance and would be welcomed by runners in Christchurch. Professional running on the Coast, seems to be waning, according to Mr Thomas, and several professionals have stated that they would readily join an amateur club, provided, of course, that they were reinstated

It is the intention of several amateur athletes from the West Coast to visit Christchurch during Christmas time and they will compete n't some of the meetings tliat are being held at that time. Christchurch athletes will find the list of fixtures for the New A ear holidays at the head of this column, very useful to them in deciding which meetings to attend. From the point of view of quantity, the Oarfield meeting on Boxing Day is one of the best as that club is running practically on amateur programme

The Canterbury College Club held an evening meeting at English last Wednesday. From the point of view of competitions the meeting was not n success, as the rough state of the track made runners very cautious. The grass was inches long and concealed holes in many places, and the marking out of the track was inaccurate. After Wednesday’s meeting officials would he well advised to keep to Lancaster Park and run o.ff all subsequent meetings ther<*>. The 7-syds handicap was won by J. E Howard off the syds mark in 7 4 -sseo. ft good run considering the track. Ho won his heat in Bsec. Howard seems to he at liis best over 7oyds. 100yd*. being just a shade too far for him Lewis on scratch drew a bad positon. but was up with the loaders with fifteen yards to go. The finish was a par ticularly fine one. all the competitors reaching the tape in a line, and it was exceedingly -difficult to separate them The Y.M.C.A. will hold an evening meeting at Lancaster Park to night, v hen the following events will be de cided : —looyds. 600yds, throwing the hammer and a half-mile walk for boys. It is certainly time that the New Zealand Amateur Athletic Association made it compulsory for judges of track events to stand at least five yards back fiom the track. In very close finishes the competitor nearest the judges is almost invariably overlooked, or at least gets the worst of the decison. and the council would be only moving in the correct direction were they to bring the rule into force. L. A. Tracey, of "Wellington, is imported to he in fine form at present, and his running in several recently-held 100yds races has been very impressive. A Wellington critic who used to con sider George Davidson the greatest sprinter confesses that, he is beginning to change his mind in favour of Tracey. The same writer expresses the opinion that Tracey will break oOsee for the quarter, and would have a. good chance of beating C. H. Taylor over that distance, both fit and well.

The American team has at last been definitely picked. It will consist ot O- W. Paddock, World’s champion sprinter; G. G. Kragness, hurdler, and high and long jumper; and Merchant, all field events. The team will arrive in Wellington about December 30. and i . is expected will compete at a sports meeting in Wellington during the first week in January. Paddock is too w'ell-knovn to need reference, but notes on the other two will prove interesting. Merchant was a niemocx of the last American Olympic team. Uia specialty is the hammer-throw, for which he holds the American University record of 171 ft 2in. (Mr Holm’s Australasian record is 147 ft slin). He was the star performer at the last American University championships. His own college won with 401 points, to which total he contributed 13 points from his record hammer-throw; second place (to Hartrant) with 44ft 104 in in the shot, fourth place in the broad jump with a leap of 22ft 7in, and fourth place in the javelin with a throw of 177 ft lOin nearly 4ft better than Sutherlands Australasian record. For a man. of his size he is also a sprinter of parts,, and at the British Empire v. U.S.A. meeting in England, after the last Olympia Games, ho gave George Davidson a fright in a hundred yards spell of a four hundred relay. C. K. Kragness takes the place of Earl Thompson, and is a. good substitute. On two occasions last season he ran second fa Thompson in 12Cyds hurdle events, done in 15sec and 14 4-osec. He can do 6ft 2in in the high jump, and over 22ft in the long jump.

Shortly after the return to England of the successful team at the Women’s Olympiad at Paris, an important sports meeting at Waddon was held by the Croydon Club, at which all the events were confined to women. There are a number of ladies’ amateur clubs in England to-day. and the chief is the London. Olympiades A.C. Two English championships for wonfen (120yds and 220yds) were carried out at Waddon and members of the above-named club won both. In the hurdles event Miss I>. Wright won in 20 2-5 sec. whilst in the 220yds final Miss LMarv Lines scored in 26 4-osec—a world’s record.