ATHLETICS & CYCLING

Chronicle (Levin), 10 January 1949, Page 2

ATHLETICS & CYCLING

Otaki Club's Annual Fixture Highly Successful _____ '' The annual meeting of the Otaki Amateur Athletic and Cycling Cluo which was held on Saturday, tya s an auspicious occasion for the club. Invariably the club has experienced adverse weather conditions and last year, after making every preparation, the meeting was abandoned at a late -date. With record nom- 1 inations this year, prospects did ■ not look bright when heavy show- I ers commenced on Friday and con- 1 tinued throughout the night, but Saturday broke fine and a drying wind quickly restored the track. By the time the meeting commenced, the groun'ds and track were in excellent order, with bright sunshine prevailing. Visiting competitors were present from many parts of New Zealand, among them several provincial champions, and the large crowd of between 1100 and 1200 who attended witnessed a programme of events of the highest possible standard. Great prdise is due to the officials of the club for their organising ability and for the manner in which the meeting was conducted. Events were run off promptly. Two or three minor spills occurred, but nobody was hurt and some apparent minor interference in the last event was considered not to have affected the rcsulfc An imposing array. of trophies was on display. These were much admired and were keenly sought after by competitors.

W'ithout detracting m any way from the efforts of the other competitors, there is little doubt that the highlight of the day was the ladies' events. Among the competitors were two visitors, Miss B. Hill (Wellington) and 'Miss V. Haie (Lower Hutt) , and seldom if ever has the district been privileged to witness such exhilarating displays of running as these two young ladies turned on) They won tne main places in' the eight events they contested, de'spite the rehandicaps imposed on them, and in the final of the 100 yards Miss Hill received the' verdict from Miss Hare by the barest possible margin. Miss Hurley (Paraparaumu.) who acted as runner-up, also shQwed brilliant SPCG^l ^ { F; t- j Local competitors scooned the pool in .tfi'e athletic events, Zane Gray 'eclipsing the rest to win in hollow fashion the 100 and 220

yards heats and finals. McLeod and- Foster also did well in wmnmg heats. -McLeod finished second to,; Gray and in frpnt of D. Batten, the Christchurch champion, who ; found the starts he was asked to ; concede just beyond him. The stayers' events, 880 yards and one mile were won narrowly but well ( by another Otaki runner, Ian ; Mudge, who has acquitted himself well throughout the season. Cycling honours were well distributed, H. Watson (Foxton), M. O'Connor (Nelson) and C. Bloomfield (Palmerston North) faring best of the visiting senior riders, while the much-coveted Otaki Cycling Shield for junior riders went to a "find" in a Foxon lad, R. Calder, whose displays won for him suStained applause. Calder and • that other promising junior, R. Harper each won their heats of the mile and two mile, but Calder triumphed in the finals. Harper's late scratching after. being on the, mark in a weak division of - the junior half mile d^ibtless prejudiced his chances of winning the shield, besides bringing disappointment to his numerous admirers; consolation came in the concluding event with his success over the seniors in the MacLeod Memorial. An improvement from the evening meetings, and one which was a big help to the officials, was the step taken to keep the centre of the track free of non-competitors, and the erection of tents in the northern corner for cyclists. Minor infiltrations at times did occur, but the improvement was of great assistance to officials, and made an. exacting day much easier than it could have been. The judges again came through with flying colours. They had some hectic finishes to decide and there > were some extremely narrow mar- , gins, but there was the least pos- 1 sible delay in announcing the winners and place-getters. The many valuable trophies attached to the various events were awarded as follows: — Wei Gordon Memorial Cup, Z. Gray (Otaki);

Pussell Rose .Bowl, I. Mudge (Otaki.) ; Richards Cup, Z. Gray;, Hector Nicolson Memorial Cup, I. Mudge; Taucher Cup, I. Burrell (Palmerston North) ; Blake way Memorial Cup, E. Walsh (Otaki) ; Giibert White Memorial Cup, G. Bloomfield . (Palmerston North;; Whit MacLeod Memorial Cup, R. Harper (Levin) ; Otaki Cycling Shield, R. Calder (Foxton) ; Stevens Cup, H. Watson (Foxton) ; Special award, club cup, Miss B. Hill (Wellington) . In the detailed results below, representation is shown as follows: — P.N., Palmerston North; T.H., Te Horo ; L., Levin; F., Foxton; W. Wellington; O., Otaki; K., Kiwi; V., Victoria University; H., Hutt Valley; P., Paraparaumu; C.. Christchurch; N., Nelson; F.> Feilding. Athletic Events Junior 100 yards. — First heat: Burrell (P.N.) 1, Mansell (T.H.) '2, McMinn (L.) 3. Second heat: Noble-Campell (W.) 1, Monk (P.N.) 2, Sanson (F.) 3. Final: Burrell 1, Mansell 2, Noble-Campbell 3; time, 10 sec. Open 100 yards.— First heat: Z. Gray (O.) 1, "N. Warner (K.) 2, Hourigan (V.) 3. Second heat: W. Foster (K.) 1, B> Richards (K.) 2, N. Gordon (O.) 3. Final-; "Gray L Foster 2, Warner 3; timfe, 10 sec. Ladies" 75 yards. — First heat: J. Hurley (P.) 1, N. Haines (W.) 2, B. Joseph (P.N.) 3. Second heat: B. Hill (V.) 1, B. Pond (P.) and M. Johnson (O.) 2, -T Tinsley (P) 3. Third heat: V. Hare (H.) I, Engles 2, McKnight 3. Final: Miss Hill 1, Miss Hurley 2, Miss Tinsley 3; time, 9 sec. Junior 220 yards. — -First heat: Burrell 1, Mansell 2, C. 'Sweetman (P.) 3. Second heat: P. Meagher (O.) 1, L. Spencer (P.N.) 2, NobleCampbell 3. Final: Burrell 1, Meagher 2, Mansell 3; time, 23 1/5 sec. Open 220 yards.— First heat: J. McLeod (O.) 1, D. Batten (C.) 2, G. Clunie (P.)-3. Second heat: Z. • (Continugd on Page 3.)