ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 152, 21 March 1908, Page 9

ATHLETICS.

(Br Mercury.) S

. COMING EVENTS. March 23. —Carruthers' .Benefit ' Meeting (Basin Reserve). . ' April 4. —Victoria College Meeting. '. Easter Monday.—lnter-University Championships (Duncdin). July.—Olympian Games (London).

The Hibernian Celebration Committee has overy reason!* to bo satisfied with the result of tho meeting on Saturday,, the attendance being satisfactory, the sport good, and, with the exception of a southerly shower that augmented tho takings by filling the grandstand, the weather propitious. ' Tho size of the "gate," despite the fact that so many of our star performers who have hitherto been considered the drawing cards aro away in Australia, shows the extent of the grip that amateur athletics has on tho public, and tho quality of:.thc performances is an index of the solid worth of.. those-' constituting the t rank and file of the sport. The best .snowing of the day was made by T. Rigg, who simply mndo hacks of his fields in the ono and three mile runs. It is seldom, indeed, that Mr. Larkin is caught napping in his handicaps, but on this occasion ho sadly under-estimated Rigg's capabilities, and the runner , made no mistake in taking full advantage of his good fortune.', In tho-mile event ho started off 110 yds., and at tho half-milo put in a run that speedily .opened a gap of lOO.yds. between himself and the uext man, Nankivell," and evontually won with the brake' hard on by an easy QOydn.'in the excellent time of 4min. 34 4-ssec., which, of course, gave W. ling, tho scratch man, absolutely no chance. In the three-mile, Rigg, oft 200 yds., kept with the ru'ck until two laps from home, when he took tho lead from Fitzgerald, and opening out repeated his previous performance, this timo getting the verdict by 60yds.' Fitzgerald, who ran' a dogged, plugging race, boro tho brunt of the pace-niajiihg,- and • well earned his second • prize. Rigg is a member of tho Victoria Collego Club, and his career as a distance runner should be worth watching. His style is free and his striding good, and ho carries no superfluous weight, and altojrethor he should be an acquisition to the College team in its inter-university engagements on Easier Monday, in Dunedin.

As a set-off to Mr. Larkin's error of judgment with regard to the distance events, it must bo said that in the sprints ho was highly successful with his adjustments, getting splendid finishes all through, and in two casos making it impossible for the judges to separate the first two men. Dunn, who won tho sprint evont at tho Y.M.C.A. evening meeting during tho week, was rc-handicapped for tho •75yds./but rose superior to the pen- 1 alty by .annexing this . event off 4£yds., .in Bsec. Turnbull, fiickerton, and Golds showed up prominently in the'heats of this , and'the other sprints, but lacked the finishing touches in tho finalsj which were appropriated by Hubbard and Tentenberg—who by tho way, must liavo a tidy list of wins to show for tho season's work. Hubbard also secured the long jump from scratch with a leap of 19ft. : Tho high jump 'produced 'some good jumping: from'' the three placed men. Martin, the winner, had 4in. handicap, and. actually' cleared sft. GJin.; M'Namara hadi3in. and was second, with an. actual jump of sft. siu.; aiid Evenson, the scratch man,' negotiated oft. 7Jin.-\THo measurements, ■ however, flatter tho performances, being taken up' the standards, instead, of from the centre of tho bar, still allowing .for this, tho class of "jumping was decidedly better than usual. ' ' .'

The following extract from Slr.W. W. Naugh:ton's American, letter, -iri'. tho "Referee," shows that Arthur Shrubb;has recovered from the leg sprain : lie sustained in the States, thab 'was reported to be bad enough, to put him out,of action for good; or perliaips it is that a professional athlete in America finds it necessarj' to get himself into tile papers as much as possible, with , "scare-header'.' stories, after tho .style of a' fashionable actress.. ,In any caso, Shrubb's form-is as'good, if not a little better, than ever it was. . . . ;•

Tho Combined Banks meeting. 011 St., Patrick's Day was a jiiost successful'function'. i Affew years ago tins ■meeting was a mero adjunct to: f he'annual, football match,' ■but' 110# the. '.gatnormg, lias: iiev«i6ped\ into ono of the recognised'athletic' iixtures'of the season.' •'■ ..'■■ : ■ ■ Tho challenge cup,, was-won again by the Bank of Niiw Soutn 'M ales with 2$ .'points, the-Union Bank being-second iviilvlS-points to its credit.. Tho blue riband event of the day was tue haii-mlle championship, which brought out a..iieid .of nine, and was , won after a nipeiy-jitUgod run' by itis- Bridge, the iiank ofUNeiy.soUcii Wales representative' in ssimn. 11. y-oscc.' ■, Wilkinson \Bank ■of. New Zealand) bail 'very' hard luck m falling■ in .the straight,, tho outcomo- oi-a slight-jostling match wish tho'■'winner, . but 'tile' accident except that it' spoilt what would have been a very interesting limsh had. no elftct. on; the result' of fcljo race.. -

. :Tho most successful performer of the day w,as a linio'n-iiank.representative,.'j. Chappie, who is better,, known, to the athletic public as a walker than as a ruimer. '■ tie annexlid tno. quarter,"half, ,uhd mile handicaps, thus scoring nine points tor .his • bans', or nau oi ite total. - bridge, -Bank ' ol New- South • V'alos, ran him close wich wins in the halimile cflampiouship, relay race and- long jump, tho last with the very creditable leap or into. V'i inches. .■ ■ ; ■

The proposal put forward- by tho New Zealanu-A.A.A. tnat.a new set, of- walking recorusi.b.o.'.establisned under, the. designation "new stylo'.' while the. existing records be retained as "old style" provokeu a very interesting'discussion. Mr. J.' ii. : Green, who brought up th» question, said that.it. was'the outcome.of a letter written to the' New &calaud Association by A. li. iVi. itcwland. The writer pointed out: that tho existing records wero:—One mile, Ji\ 11. Creamer, Drum. 2'(' 2-oscc.; threo 'miles, 1). \Vilson,. 2lmin. b7stc.'; whereas tile r'ramer of the present rules stated- that under them it was impossible for a man to do better, than 6min. 45sec. 'l'ho President liUr. it. Coomhcs) explained, at some length, that it was a' physical impossibility, ' under tho new iules "governing walking, to cover tho distance in the same time as was.formerly done.. ' That being so, he admitted something should be dono in the way suggested by New. Zealand.. Unless they mado a change,' the records whiclr stood now would stand, for ever. He pointed but that they had liiid exainplos at the' walking on Saturday. There jvas a man who, under the old style, put up such times as Gmin.- 9sec., Gmin. 17sec., and won again, aiid again, yet, when brought under tho new rules, ho could not do it under • 7min. '7scc. ' He (Mr., Coombes) was convinced that omin. 4osec. was the fastest possible time. .. But there was one matter of great importance. Something that was wanted was a sort of continuity of judging. If possible, all judging should be by tho same mail. It was possible to do. the distance much quicker in the old style, and so a walker might, come before a severe judge, who would stand him down upon "the slightest suspicion,' and thon, again, ho-might get through with other judges at 6min. 40sec. Eventually it was decided to designate as "old" records established prior to December, 1901, and as "new" those put up since. . In future, very careful investigation?will be made before a walking record is accepted. The decision arrived at shows I a very, reasonable compromise..

Slirubb, fcho English run nor, lias returned to his native country, after outrunning everything in the lajid 'of the free. He says lie is coining back again, and I can't find it in my heart to blame him, considering tho way ho lords it over all the fellows in his lino ; on this side of tho world. Here is a despatch which tolls of Shrubb's vory last appearaneo boforo taking steamer homo again:— l - ,

About a week boforo, January 18 to bo prcciso, Slirubb defeated Jack Williams and Samuel Myers, at Lowell, Mass., in a'five miles race'. Tho affair was witnessed by about seven hundred persons', and the State Armory was tho sceno of tho competition. A report says: —"Slirubb and Williams started tho race, and in 2} miles Slirubb gained tlireo laps on Williams. Myers proved .a little faster than Williams, as in bis share of tho ■running Slirubb gained only ono and a half laps. Shrubb's announced • timo was: one milo, 4min, 38sec. j two miles, Dmin. l&sec.; three miles, 14rain. 1550 c.; four miles, 19min. Usee.; five miles, 24min,. 225e0."