WITH THE ATHLETES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 39, 16 February 1939, Page 4

WITH THE ATHLETES

WANGANUI ACTIVITIES X COMMENT ON RECENT FORM .Athletes in Wanganui continue to derive plenty to interest them. The meeting on Cook's Gardens on Saturnight proved interesting. The 220 yards junior provided an excellent race with a large field. The club is very fortunate in Having such good talent in the juniors who, later on, will be lhe champions of the club. R. Harris showed his printing ability to break the tape. His steady training has proved a boon to him and his sprinting is excellent for distance running. A new member, N. Smith, showed promise to fill second place. More may be heard of him as he becomes more accustomed to the sport and trains steadily. Strachan sprinted well oft scratch to till third place and will go far in a year or two, as he is being carefully watched at this stage not to over do racing. That is a wise policy, too. This boy will soon be tile ! crack sprinters on the West Coast. I G. Bills ran an improved race to i again win the Bramwell Cup (three J miles). It was a long race out Gori don has plenty ot stamina to stick it ■ out. His last lap was a fine effort, I fully deserving the applause that was ■ given at the nnish. Gordon may yet recapture the West Coast title, wii-m ' would be a popular win. * - ■ * J. Wallace ran steadily with Bills ■ until the last lap, when he had to ■ retire. Nevertheless, it was a line : effort for Jack, considering three : miles is out ot his distance. Jack is

; running well, being steadily in traini ing, and should make a good bid lor the mile title. , * * • Toby McCormick has donned lhe shoes once again, but is hopeiessiy out ot condition. He should get into serious training. The club was unlucky with the weather at last Saturday's meeting, marring the attendance somewhat. Nevertheless, Hie competitors were keen and some excellent racing was witnessed. Pat Wallace was in excellent form to win the 880 and 440 in excellent time. He is very lit and seems assured of a West Coast title. He may also be a serious contender at the New Zealand championships at Napier next month. - • * • Jack Wallace also ran a good race to fill second place in the mile to Bill Pullar, who, by lhe way, ran an excellent race from scratch under rainy conditions. He was loudly applauded for his very fine effort, as also was Jack Wallace, who is easily the most promising miler the clue has had for many years. R. Harris ran a very good and well-judged race to win the 800 junior oil scratch. His time indicates that it will not be long before he wins a senior place. Other junior members should follow his example by steady and strict training, wnich is the only way to bring results. He also ran a good mile soon afterwards to fill third place—a very line effort for a junior member.

Strachan and Burbush are tw junior sprinters who ran well to lil the placings, both having plenty o pace, due to correct methods of train ing. Burbush also ran third in tn senior 100 yards, another fine effort. I It was unfortunate that L. Bur gess was not competing on account o an injured leg, but it is hoped tha it is right again for the champion t< defend his titles. Berryman was below form, due ti a recent attack of measles, but u gradually improving. He is hoping tc be in top form for Saturday week. Field Events. The hammer throw was again a clear-cut win for S. Notan, with a good heave of 122 feet. Nolan experienced some difficulty with his turn on Thursday whicn made his performance all the more meritorious. J. Wilson, R. Prince and J. Waters showed improvement for beginners but the hammer throw is one event where several months' training from the stand is necessary so as to eolate balance. The turn is of no benefit if the athlete cannot whirl tljp hammer from the stand position and deliver without any trace of getting oft balance, which can only be done by disposing the weight of the body correctly on bent legs to resist the outward pull of the hammer.

In the hop, step and jump M. Shewan again jumped well to register 40 feet, especially as it was necessary for him to take off well behind the board on account ot wearing long spike shoes. J. Wilson also jumped well and was leading up to Shevvan’s last jump. Wilson and Shewan are apparently content to leave all their jumping to competitions, doing no training between events. Championship distances will not come their way if they are content to jump only in competitions J. Waters went well in the hop, step and jump for the first time out and should do well at this event as well as in the discus.

R. Stewart surprised in the shot putt to win on Saturday by sending the ball out to 30 feet on his seconu attempt. He shows natural He can also show a good burst of speed on the track, which is a valuable asset to shot putting. S. Nolan was well below form in this event.

F. O’Brien jumped to second place with 19 feet in the broad jump, being beaten only by two inches by Kay, of Palmerston North. M. Shewan, who was picked to do about 21 feet, failed and could not seem to get going Jumping at night does not seem to suit him.

On Thursday the discus championship will be held, and also included will be a junior discus throw. CYCLING NOTES What a great pity it was that rain on Saturday night made the track greasy and dangerous, and necessitated the abandoning of the 10 miles paced race. This would undoubtedly have been the high-light of the meet-

ing. Il seemed, however, that the 10 miles points race held instead was quite enjoyed by the spectators. In this event Jack Wilson’s riding was superb. He won half the sprints, including both those with double points. If he does not take a prominent part in Saturday’s 10 mile N.Z. championship at Dunedin this writer will be very surprised. The Auckland Riders The Auckland riders hardly came up to expectations, but the reasons were not hard to find. Gamble, undoubtedly one of the best handicap riders in the Dominion, had a bad spill only two days before, and Goodcr, who is a really brilliant sprinter, was a very sick man all the evening. What bad luck it was that Gamble should strike further trouble here. Local riders were fairly prominent throughout, but more so in the heats than linals. Nevertheless, three of the eight trophies were won by local riders. Broadbent rode dashingly to win the half-mile, and would have been hard to beat in the two miles if he had used better judgment. He had the lead with two laps to go, but instead of riding along quietly until tne bell he swung up the track and allowed the whole held to pass. The result was that when it came to the sprint he was in a hopeless position Head Rides Well Head rode well in this event and looked a likely winner, but Keighley finished very last wide out to gain a narrow victory. The other Wanganui rider to secure a trophy was Byrnes, who was runner-up in the 10 jniles. Up to about five miles Byrnes went well in this event, but from then on it was all Wilson’s race. Clinton was unlucky that none oi his co-markers reached the final of the mile, as he could easily have been the winner had he received just a little assisance. As it was he rode a very game race, and was only overtaken about 100 yards from the finish. Beswarick, Pidwell and Chalk all reached the finals during the evening, but did not gain any of the major placings in the finals. Taylor and Seconi rode quite well too, and taking it all through th’ local riders did quite well.