ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 562, 17 July 1909, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

Augnst, 18 ' ,and : . 21.T-AustralaEiaii, Champion-^ : :' .Vr ;■■ ■ ■ •■■-.' .■■.-: .'.•■.s : : :\ ... The VrriersVrun : lasf Saturday; which; was started from Bellevue Gardens, Lower' Hutt,' was fairly well attended, and Iproved one of the ■ best. : of: the .season.., r To >•' the! , ordinary ; track■ fuunerj "the holding, of .ithe runVunder-the''pre-ivailing conditions would; have appeared ab■surd,, but ; to the kcjsn oroes-cOiintry,i paperIchaser, 'the. fact that patches of.- the course', solectecl were' knee^deep,,with' mud or water only meant a little diversion, from the ordinlary. state,,of things, and tonished that spice lofjvariety which-gives a zest to human affairs.' iVice-captain Bennett was deputed'vto select a ;course, ! and, with-hitn^went Ed'gan,: who was /mftkin" his appearance 'bs : a harrier. ■True to ::Bennett>(who appar- : - 'ently : thinks",:that harriers': ar6 ; webb-footed), 'baulked at nothing,'winding'Ms way through creeks,:-swamps,';.gorse; and' hedgee,, : aud, oil -his: way home,- crossing the WaiWetu' Stream at.an- alleged .ford,- where it.'ran: : thigh deeui The ' pack;,kept; wrfl together, ;and"evidently' relished;the -soft, "going,", despite 'the manner an which'-.: , part. of. it',, stuck , , to its',gdrments and .epifJermis.:-/i'he'gallop ;for'home "ati the j finish was sufficiently'long ■ to .give-' the.: ."plodiddrs". a phance against the sprinters, ,who were worn down in the final part of ithe burst, the result ■ being that, when the enveloping ■mud was removed, it was found' that P. Wilton, W. Press, and H. 'J. ■ Pollock 'filled the places in that: order.-, " ' ■; "■' ; . ; '■ •■;• - ,: .--:: ! ;•..;':-.- 'The proposal: that a , team ifromthe; Weiling-'; ton ;Harriera : 6hould represent the dub, lh the interprovinoial cross<ountry championship, is being keenly discussed by members, a nhmbor of whom have.already volunteered to make-the trip at their own expense*'.if ■selected.::,"./ .'. • .The question'of. obtaining, the-necessary leave from tlieir. respective duties appears to be the ottly obstacle in. the' way of'a iiilly-representa-tive team of five.' men being forthcoming to' compete, on Wellington's,behalf.. ~■■". '\ ■..:■; ' It is understood that the matter-of holding a test, race to decide, on-olub representatives will be taken in hand almost immediately." In ,view of the fact that neither-the harriers nor thp Wellington Centre is "in the position of. being able to finance Tocal representation, the .expense of the trip must,, for this occasion, fall upon the men chosen, and it' is. gratifying indeed to know, that, despite this, there is such .'kpfln competition for 'places in : the : team..- .. ': Aa mentioned last # week, : the. .Canterbnry. Centre, which body lias; been given control of. the race by. the N.Z.A.A.A., has decided on .September 2 as the date thereof. Jn, coming Xα this decision the Christchurch peoplq have apparently overlooked thi,fftetithat'thevAustralasian championship team will hot: return to .Wellington Until Septeriibor.'l;..-'.-Dickis6'n:.an;d' M'Khight, both of whom are 'keen .cross-coiih-tl'yuien, would-thus be debarred'from competing, nnd iis thi) services of both'. men. Will in all probability be .required for the occasion by ..their respective centres, the questibn of ninliing the (late a wedk Inter is to be submitted to the Cuaterbury Centre ■■ -/'.- .Speoking of the cross-country championship, "Voitlter wrlren In the "Weekly Preen ,, !™ "Wkat Uu! UMj roprucutftUca. Uoti . Uio

Cathedral City will be I cannot say, but it is doubtful if there will be, a team with any prospect of success, though there should bo some runners with good chances in the individual championship. It is passing strange that while harrier running flourishes so in Dunedin and Wellington, Christchurch is unable to support a single club." The carnival and art junion reoently promoted by tho Otago Centre has been pushed to a very successful conclusion.by Mr. Willott, secretary, and his committee. Tho art union has yet to be drawn,'and, although the financial result has not yet been disclosed, the very satisfactory credit balance of. JEISO is considered assured.. In this connection a Christchurch exchange has the following from its Dunedin . correspondent:—"The Otago Centre, at its. last meeting, voted the eum of .£ls towards the expenses of the' New Zealand team to Brisbane. It is felt amongst leading amateur supporters that' this was only a fair thing, .-seeing the very small credit balance the, old council handed over. Much disgust is expressed locally that the Christchurch Council should have voted away to much money, especially when, the majority _of the centres did not recognise them as being the cuncil."' : ' ■

"Mercury" learns' that tha Auckland Centre has also voted the .£ls asked for by tho Council, and understands that the amount was subscribed in totum by the Auckland ■A.A. and C. Club, to which all credit is due for this sportsmanlike action. The Wellington Centre,has practically guaranteed the full amount, and Canterbury has advised that efforts are being made to raise the wind in tho Cathedral City. Southland, unfortunately, cannot be looked to for any support/ but, even so, provided the good folk of Christchurch rise to tho ocoasion,. the sinews of for our representatives are now assured, although it will require canny financing and careful management to keep 'the" expenses within the amount available. ■ • .'-.. . ' "■■■ It is understood locally that: the Wellington Centre intends taking up the matter of the raising of necessary funds .to send L. M'Kay to Brisbane. Tho hatriere mado a etart in the good cause on their Palmer Cup day, but, since then, nothing mnch has been done t The matter only- wants.to be eet going and its success.is assured, as there are. many of our local enthusiasts only too willing to assist,.if approached. So it is to be hoped that- Messrs. Pollock,. Heenan and Co. can hnd time to take charge., , ,' ; A repoit from Dunedin says that.the matter of sending G. M'Knight, the Ota ? o distance champion, to Brisbane to compete in_ the Australasian ohampionships is meeting with strong support, and about £W will be collected. The Dunedin Amateur Athletic- Club, Caversham Harriers,; and Civil ■ Service Clubs, have all taken up the project i enthusiastically. M'Knight will be nominated for the one mile and three miles championships. Ho is in great form just now, undergoing, a special preparaTh'e same authority is responsible for the following about tho Dominion's representative broad jumper and. hurdler :r-"The wet, weather has prevented Keddell from getting ,in full training, but he is confident of making a • good showing.- In addition-to the broad jump and 120 yds. hurdles, Keddell is anxious to compete in the high jump. He is capable of doing better than 5 ft. Bin." ■■■.■' . : . .... ~ -• Mr. H. Cdombes has a paragraph in h;s athletic; column in the "Referee" this week of grcat;iinfer«t at'thtf; present; juncture,, as fol-low:s;7-"I :noHce. that: v whfle Jiwas ;away "in New 'Zealand (June 19); J.' ; J. Harley,; scr., and had a great tussle over a mile Sydney .', Harriers' Sports h\fc Tempe,:Harley : winning by/2yds. _It is,:l seo, reported th'at^Harley.'won:in':Gmin. U i-ssec, which, is .'great:.walking; evonV-for. the ex-South African, ohampidn;:. ,l must confess : to:. thinking the-course may have been a'trifle short, but, anyway, I hope to see both;Harley : and Winters in action shortly."' \. ! . ; : .. *!.' ■ ■ The news that there ,ate'* two :men in. New South\Wales who can get inside;6min. 505«0., for the. distance will supply a shock for those who considered that HarryVKerr was a certainty' ifor-: the :'• Australasian championship walks. The name of Winter, is new'- to the writer, but ,the J. J. Harle'y mentioned by Mr. Coombes is'the South African;ex-champion to whomsMr. Coombea made 'reference when recently in Wellington. ■'. Hβ then said, that Kerr woold'ineed-/to walk his fastest to /win, and that'Hatley was capable.of;doing 6mm. ISseo., and, -J moreover, that heswas."'a ,walko_r,', absolutely, faultless, in Btyle,.'sq much:;so, in fact, that] he had nover once, received ■ & .caution on the,'track.. Mr. Coonibee's .contention with-re-gard: toytime has now' been : borhe out.in. full, aud, as;he.says, KerriWillandeed need to , walk his-'fasteßt'andbest--terms which are ,not, unfortunately; . always ' considered synonomoua whcn.applied to. our .walker's, gait. V' The sanie. authority supplies the 'following aa.the probable, Victorian and New South Wales teams:—Victoria—Team Hkeljr, to include the- following!; r Li''R, ,;Morgan,.'sprints; J. 'L.i Davis, hurdles'-and brpadlutiip; A. Wheat-, ley; middle .distance. Also some of the following: C.E. Suffren.'distanoesV W. V.Aitkon, distances; E.W. Rouse, shot and hammer; A. Ellis, sprints; TV; J; Paterson, sprints; C. A. Hardy: and H.' W. Cboley. New South WalesThe team, inny include: Nigel. Barker,. 220 yds. and 440}%:;: W/J. O'Reilly,'shot'and hammer; f. J. Morgan, shot and hammer; J. J. Harley, walks, - ' and : A. R. Sime, Marathon race. The selector has asked the v A.A.A: Executive , to hold the following raco ; between'H. J. Waddell, J. Macpherspii, J. Burton, J. M. Campbell,, and 3. .Ashman (Newcastle). By the way, , l-hear Waddell conld not iuake the trip inl an:?} , circumstances. ;■ Shot and' hainmcr contests'between T,; J. Morgan, E.. Jones, and H. HauensteihV Running high .jump , : between A. H. and E. Gavin. Later, advices intimate that, it is extremely> doubtful 1 whether F. J.' Morgan (shot and hammer) could : make tho trip if selected. Morgan has been credited with a throw of over 140 ft. from a 7ft. circle, and if this is' correct his absence will be severely felt by Ne\t Sooth Wales, .and at the same time considerably add'.to New Zealand's in; this .event. -'■',[.. :'.■■;.,'/: ''■ -..; : . ■;.:.,

Since ; the above .y/ia written .bad new! for the New Zealand team has been.received.. Guy. Haskins had intimated that his 1 business arrangements will, not allow of his acconipany.ing the,team. l ,This is a lose indeed, as, even with; the redoubtable ■ Wheatley in the field,' Haskins's chances. in: the events ; that he was starting in—the half-mile and mile—were good, and the- team. was. too small numerically- to stand any defectiona.'- ; M'Kay has been chosen to fill the gap, but,-as he was a very likely starter,, in any .case,,: his inclusion: does not help" much;; Considerable surprise was occasioned in'town by the publication on Thursday of a report-that 5 Woodger was : leaving.for Syd- J ney by yesterday's' boat On enquiry, "Mercury . found that the; rumour was absolutely .without foundation, -.and that the champion sprinter will trftvel.witlr the resi of the team on August' G. He; reports that his general iopndition is satisfactory, but that he is lacking in fast, work, lowing, to tho softness of the •tracks and the unfavourable climatio conditions. . .'.•'.. •'": ;■ .■■;■.':' J ''.