HARRIERS Olympic Sets Record In Hagley Steeplechase

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28263, 29 April 1957, Page 10

HARRIERS Olympic Sets Record In Hagley Steeplechase

Last year’s champion harrier club, Olympic, left no doubt about its superiority in the first interclub event of the season, when it won the # University club’s Hag ley steeplechase relay in record time pn Saturday. One of its runners, J. K. Macdonald, broke the lap record for the race, and another gained the second fastesr lap time. Olympic A won the sealed handicap also, but as the rules prevent the one team from winning both sections, the trophy was awarded to Technical A, which was second, 3min 26sec behind Olympic. Olympic’s time of 7min 53sec for the six laps of two miles and a quarter round South Hagley Park was 31sec faster than its own record, made when it first won the race last year and was an extremely good performance on a track that many of the competitors found lifeless. As was expected after his improvement during the track season, Johi\ Macdonald recorded fastest time, and his llmin lOsec broke by ssec the time established by J. C. Daly (Marist) in 1954, when he was preparing for the Empire Games Credit to Macdonald There was no doubt about Olympic being the winner by the time it came to Macdonald’s turn oil the final lap, but considerable credit for the team’s final time must go to him for his remarkable solo run. He was 35sec faster than the next best, B. Curie. A junior who made steady progress on the track during the summer, D. Dixey (Methodist), ran well on the third lap to register third fastest time with llmin 57sec and bring his team from thirteenth up to sixth. The Race Starting opposite Christchurch West High School, the ..field of 20 was still closely bunched at Hospital corner. A. Murray (Otago University) was the first to break aw&y and he led almost to the Riccarton corner. The Reece brothers, Doug (Olympic B) and Clarrie (Olympic A), failed in an attempt to shake off D. Beauchamp (University) and C. Dillimore (Technical). Beauchamp and Dillimore gradually moved through to the lead and had a tussle for the rest of the lap with Beauchamp making a 12yard break coming up to the change-over. D. Reece, the national two-mile junior track champion, beat C. Reese for third place. On the second lap, Curie took Olympic A through to send D. Reeves off with a 27sec lead. R. Stevens increased Olympic’s margin to 68sec on the next lap and J. D. Macdonald increased this to send his brother, John, away with an unassailable break of 2min 31sec.

After disputing second place for most of the race, Technical A beat University A by several yards. Starting the last lap in third place, S. Eernau took University up level with D. Greig, of Technical, who drew away again by a few yards over the final stages. Results:— Teams: Olympic A (C. Reece, B. Curie, D. Reeves, R. Stevens, J. D. Macdonald, J. K. Macdonald), 71min 53sec, 1; Technical A (C. Dillimore, A. W. Richards, ,P. Watts, A. Evans, G. Shaw, D. Greig), 75min 19sec, 2; University (D. Beauchamp, J. Tregurtha, J. Parcell, G. Truman, K. Ford, S. Bernan), 75min 25sec, 3; Olympic B, 77min llsec, 4; Christchurch A, 77min 33sec, 5; Marist A. 78m in 57sec, 6. Fastest Lap Times.—J. K. Macdonald (Olympic), llmin lOsec, 1; B. Curie (Olympic), llmin 45sec, 2: D. Dixey (Methodist), llmin 57sec, 3. CLUB EVENTS Pioneer Ladies’ Club.—Fast pack*. G. Williams 1, M. Macdonald 2. Medium pack: J. Macdonald 1, H. Macdonald 2. Junior fast packt L. Campbell 1, P. Overton 2. JuMor pack: L. Abernethy 1, R. Macdonald 2. Bryndwr Club.—Colts: B. Dixon 1, S. Kelly 2, W. Griffin 3, L. Black 4. Juniors: K. Rissman 1, N. Brooks 2, B. Anderson 3, B. Jesson 4. Anglican Ladies* Harrier Club.— Senior: Alison Kinvig 1, Anne Kinvig 2, Lois Bennetts 3. Intermediate: Janice McDonald 1, Barbara Gordon 2, Pauline Gray 3. Junior: Janet Ashendcn 1, Beryl Edwards 2, Hilda Saxon 3. Presbyterian Club.—Colts —Fast: A. Lavender 1, D. Whitfield 2, B. Cutlance 3. Medium: E. Hughes 1, M. Clapshaw 2, B. Lane 3. Slow: B. A. Murtagh 1. J. Willis 2, R. Mayo 3. Seniors—Slow: B. Moore 1, J. Stove 2, A. Rae 3. Medium: D. Tavlor 1, D. Field 2, H. Hamilton 3. Fast: P. Hardy 1, R. Lucock 2, A. Candy 3. Ashburton Club.—Colts—A pack: B. Williams 1, G. McKendry 2. G. A. Nelson 3. B pack: J. Stringer 1, L. Whiting 2, B. Stevens 3. Junior—A pack: T. Jessep 1. J. G. Nelson 2, S. Boyd 3. B pack: H. Jessop 1, R. Wilson 2, L. Holland 3. C pack: B. Lynn 1, C. Munro 2, R. Watson 3. Seniors: L. Williams 1, E. Jamieson 2, G. Clinton 3. Anglican Club. Seniors Fast pack: J. Garrod 1, L. Clark 2. Trevor Patterson 3. Slow pack: J. Bettridge 1. M. Shepard 2, G. Jenkins 3. Juniors—Fast pack: J. Garland 1. M. Bennett 2, I. Fairweather 3. Colts— No. 1 pack: N. Raxworthy 1, R. McGiffin 2, R. Lee 3. No. 2 pack: G. Davey 1, B. Gowans 2, T. Bennett 3. No. 3 pack: C. Phillips 1, G. Bennett 2, A. Bettridge 3. Midgets: T. Gowans 1, J. Robb 2, G. Hitchcock 3. Baptist Club.—Fast pack: G. Richards 1, B. Turner 2, M. Anderson 3. Medium: K. McKinstry 1. R. Clark 2. W. Woods 3. Slow: R. Hudson 1. Colts—Fast pack: M. Simon 1, D. Campbell 2, R. Walsh 3. Slow. R. Jenkins 1, D Hudson’ 2, G. Griffiths 3. Rover Scout Club.—Senior—Fast pack: K. McDonald 1, A. Jones 2, W. Bradford 3. Medium pack: J. Ede 1, H. Vodde 2, J. Broadbelt 3. Slow pack: G. Lawden 1, C. Smyth 2, G. Green 3. Colts—Fast pack: M. Brown 1. B. Cattermole 2, G. Matheson 3. Slow pack: G. Shirley 1, T. Saville 2, T. Anderson 3.