AUCKLAND A.A. AND CYCLE CLUB.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVIII, Issue 1044, 10 March 1910, Page 13

AUCKLAND A.A. AND CYCLE CLUB.

CARNIVAL TO BE HELD ON APRIL 2. A committee meeting of the Auckland Amateur Athletic and Cycle Club was held at the Sports Clubroom on Monday evening, Mr. F. Ohlson in the chair. It was decided to hold a carnival on the Domain Cricket ground on Saturday, April 2, and an attractive programme of sports was arranged. The authorities of the boy scouts movement in Auckland have been communicated with and have consented to allow the scouts to give a display with singlesticks. Mr. W. J. Rainger has offered a valuable trophy for competition at the gathering, and several other gentlemen have made similar offers. The committee is endeavouring to arrange for a. marching competition between the cadets from the public schools, f’robably a display will be given by the cadets from the secondary schools. Endeavours are being made to arrange a meeting between H. Kerr, of Wellington* and D. Wilson of Auckland, Australasian and New Zealand walking champions respectively, over a two-mile course.

The times put up for the various distances at the , sports meeting at Wellington on ; Saturday (says a writer) were very good, but the handicappers appeared to have been too lenient in the starts allowed to some of the competitors. This was particularly noticeable in tlje half mile handicap, which was won by D. Binnie (6 yards) in lmin. 57sec; As the club standard is 2min. ssec., and the Australasian amateur record made by G. A. Wheatley, of Victoria, in 1906, is Imin. 56 4-ssec., the task set Harding, the scratch man, was an impossible one. Harding’s time for the distance was 2min. 2-ssec., or 2 l-ssec. inside standard time, a splendid performance considering the state of the track. Much interest was taken in Opie, the Otago crack sprinter, and his performance during the afternoon stamped him as a coming champion, as he is not yet 19 years of age. His time of 5 2-ssec. from scratch for the 50 yards, and 22 4-ssec. for the 220 yards off the three yards mark were particularly meritorious. Opie’s performance in the 100 yards handicap also was exceptionally good. Starting from the 1 % yards mark, he won his heat in 10sec. dead, and was beaten by a couple of yards in the final, which was won by Harding off the 5% yards mark in 9 3-ssec. Of the cither visitors, Harding’s running was' watched with keen interest. He runs with a beautiful, easy action, and it is a treat to watch him striding round

the course. He won the 100 yards handicap as mentioned above in 9 3-ssec., was third in the 50 yards invitation scrat.h race, put up 2min. 2 3-ssec. in the half mile event, and also finished fourth in the 440 yards handicap.

Mr. W. Coffey, one of the Wellington delegates at the conference held in connection with the New Zealand championship meeting in Auckland, returned to Wellington on Tuesday evening. Mr. Coffey considers that had the ground not been wet for the championships, some great records must have been established. However, the track was wet, and the Auckland officials conducted the gathering admirably, considering the conditions under which they had to work. Referring to the much-discussed walking events, Mr. Coffey stated that many of the Auckland athletes who should be capable of forming a sound opinion, held that Wilson, who defeated Kerr in the one and threemile events, walked quite legitimately, and the same as when his' style was passed by the Australian walking expert Mr. Coombes. Others contended that Wilson did not walk fairly, but used what is termed a “Chinaman’s trot.” “ Personally,” said Mr. Coffeey, “ I do not stand as an expert judge of walking, but I think that considering the state of the going, the times credited to Wilson are preposterous,

and a fair heel-and-toe man could not have done them on a wet track.” The impression formed by the Wellingtonian was that the walking of the winner was not fair, and that the style the judge has been used to was not the style of to-day. In the mile walk Mr. Coffey considers that Wilson, Kerr, and Cashman all ran, and should all have been disqualified, and the referee absolutely ignored the rules in not putting them off. As to the conference, Mr. Coffey is of opinion that there was a strong southern confederacy which carried the next New Zealand championships for Christchurch, and the Australasian championships for Dunedin.