AMATEURS SHOW EXCELLENT FORM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19269, 5 January 1931, Page 7

AMATEURS SHOW EXCELLENT FORM.

GOOD PERFORMANCES AT HOLIDAY MEETINGS.

Amateur athletes were in good form during the Christmas and New Year meetings, recording many first-class performances. Numerous meetings were conducted during the holiday period, the principal being at Halswell, Amberley, Prebbleton, Timaru and Methven. These gatherings in their turn attracted the majority of the finest athletes of Canterbury. Otago and Wellington runners also appeared at one or two of the meetings, but were unsuccessful against the Canterbury competitors. A notable distance performer, who was seen in action at Halswell and Prebbleton, was the Otago half-mile and ex-New Zealand half-mile champion, L. C. M’Lachlan. Among prominent Canterbury runners who were absent were N. Suckling, G. Nicol!, O. C. Harley and R. Cordery. Hart Runs Well. Sprint events at all meetings drew large fields, and the racing was as keen and close as could be desired. Fast times were recorded as a general rule. G. Hart, of the Canterbury Club, was perhaps the most successful of the sprinters. He was in particularly good form.

From back marks. Hart made some surprising runs at Halswell on Boxing Day. Including heats, he ran in six races, gaining one first and two seconds in the finals. In winning the 100yds from 2vds, he recorded lOsec, indicating that from scratch hi should be able to do just better than 10 l-ssec. At Amberley, Hart was timed over the 75yds in 7 o-ssec, a time that has seldom been bettered in New Zealand. Hart is well in the running for the Canterbury sprint title this year. Other sprinters who were much in the limelight were Bamford (Sumner), Burrell (Sydenham), Barwell (Canterbury), Williams (New Brighton) and Atyeo (Sydenham). They were all in the winning list. Bullivant Shows Up.

The Canterbury quarter-mile champion, Bullivant, recorded a fine win at Methven on Saturday, covering the quarter-mile in 51 l-ssec. Considering that he had to go round a big field and run the greater part of the journey against a strong wind, Bullivant’s time was highly meritorious. At the Halswell meeting, Bullivant ran the halfmile in the virtual time of 2min, gaining second place. His times show that he is running well up to his bestform and will not easily be deposed from his title this season. Field Events Improve. A pleasing feature of the meetings was the unusually high standard of the field, events. The long jumping was particularly good. A coming champion is Nelson (Canterbury). Improving at every start during the holiday meetings, he capped a successful week at Methven with a leap of 2lft Gin. Smith (Old Boys) recorded a surprising effort in the hop. step and jump at Halswell, covering 40ft sJin. At Amberley on New Year’s Day he improved on these figures, recording 41ft 2in. Perhaps the most gratifying feature °1 the week was the number of promising young athletes who were seen ’H, action. Davenport, of Canterbury, who won the mile handicap at Methven and was also placed second in the I half-mile at the same meeting, is a coming champion. At sixteen years of age he shows remarkable stamina, grit and ability. Wilson, last j'-ear’s winner of the Christchurch secondary schools’ 100yds championship, is an* %v h° was on the winning list at