PHOTO FINISH TO 3 MILES

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31002, 7 March 1966, Page 18

PHOTO FINISH TO 3 MILES

A shoulder-to-shoulder finish between I. Studd (Auckland) and B. R. Jones (Canterbury) in the three-mile final provided the judges with their most difficult problem in the New Zealand athletic championships.

A photograph was carefully studied and it was some time before Jones, who had set the pace throughout the race, knew for certain that he had been beaten. After his sterling work at the front, it was a bitter blow, but further injustice was to follow. Studd’s time was . announced as 13min 24sec, the fastest three-mile in a New Zealand championship, but when Jones’s time was announced as being .2sec slower, the crowd reacted sharply. A margin of .2sec represented a difference of at least a yard and a half and there could not have been more than two or three inches between Jones and Studd at the tape. Later, the announcer (Mr B. Kerr) explained that a tolerance factor in the electronic timer had produced this time for Jones. 20sec Improvement The race was also timed manually and a time of 13min 24sec was recorded for both athletes. However, the official time was taken by the electronic device incorporated in the photo-finish camera. Studd, one of Auckland’s prominent milers with a best time of 4min Isec, cut 20sec off his previous best performance for three miles. The final-lap struggle between Jones and Studd was as fine as any produced at a national championship meeting in recent years. Jones applied the pressure on the last lap, but Studd refused to be shaken off. Fifty yards from home, Studd must have known the title was his, and that he could outsprint the slightly-built Canterbury runner. But it was only in the final yard that he managed to inch in front. Jones took the field through the first mile in 4min 27sec, and the two miles in 9min. His final lap was run in 59sec. Double Victory The Auckland sprinter-hurdler, Miss B. Mathews, scored a magnificent double by winning the 100 yards <ll.lsec) and the 80 metres hurdles (11.2 sec In the 100 yards the defending champion. Miss M. Snow (Auckland),' finished out of a place. Mrs M. A. Stephen (Canterbury) retained her quarter-mile and half-mile titles with two very impressive runs. Her finish in the 440 yards was far too strong for the runner-up, Miss S. Potts (Otago). In the 880 yards earlier in the afternoon, Mrs Stephen was untroubled to win in 2min 10.2 sec, an improvement of I.ssec on her time last season. The women’s long jump produced a string of upsets. The defending champion, Miss J. Wilkins (Wellington), and her main rival for Empire Games

terbury), could do no better than finish third and fourth respectively. Both girls are capable of almost 20ft but on Saturday they were struggling to get over 18ft. Mrs A. Mclntosh (Auckland) was the surprise winner with a rather mediocre 18ft lOin. achieved on her final attempt. Until then Miss A. Brunskill (Waikato) had led with 18ft Sin. Miss Gilmour, who achieved almost 20ft competing against Miss Wilkins a few weeks ago, made four no-jumps. Nose-dive Into Water R. P. Welsh (Otago) produced another time on the fringe of world class in winning the 3000 metres steeplechase in B.min 48.8 sec, only 7.ssec outside his pending national record. The defending champion. P. Kearney (Waikato), slipped on the hurdle in front of the water jump and took a spectacular nose-dive into the water. For a split second he was totally submerged in the pit, which in places is about 3ft deep. He withdrew immediately. M. Walls (Canterbury) broke the oldest Canterbury record in the book when he narrowly won the 120yds hurdles in 14.9 sec. The record, held by C. R. Bradwell, was set in 1940 at 15sec. Unfortunately, Walls injured a leg in the race and was unable to defend his 220yds hurdles title later.