ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 586, 14 August 1909, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

(Bt, Meiicbbt.l

On Tliursday next, the first days' programme of the Australasian championships will be . decided. Latest Australian adviccs are silent as iregnrils tlie events which will como:up for tie-, cision on tiio opening day, but tho 100 yards, 440 yards, mile run, • ono-or other of the walks, and 120 yards hurdles, will probably be contested. . Since last week New Zealand's chances have materially "increased, principally on account of defections from the Now South Wales and Viotorian teams.; Tlie foi-mer, since Lamrock has notified his :inability to' go, to Brisbane; will not be represented in either hurdles event, while from Victoria comes the nows that J. L. Davis will, in all probability, be ail absentee. With Lamrock and'Davis out of the way, the 120 yards hurdles and broad jump should be,won .by Keddeli, though possibly Barker may extend him in the latter event. The 440 yards hurdles event now looks to be. the eaisiest race at tho meeting to win, not one of tho Australian entrants being better than 65sec. men. Keddeli, non-stayer though lie be, will be well served in this event by his speed hnd jumping ability; and, if tho ;slow. throughout, he should just abput win. Dcspito the |ood' : reports from' Australia of Harley's, walking, local enthusiasts are unanimous in . their belief that Kerr ..will retain his title to both ,heel and toe championships. Last Thursday he rattled off a splenijid mile 'in the. mud.with Peter M'Coll, and, on Friday afternoon, he put in, three good.- laps on the Basin Reserve, being accompanied oyer a lap by "Dorrio" Leslie. Kerr, through/ playing footi ball, regularly throughont the winter, is in good physical-pphdition. With one or two fast miles i. before the meeting ho should bo thoroughly fit.' Dickson has been suffering from' a - Btrained sinew in his right, leg'for. the past fortnight. On the hard tracks in .Sydney and Brisbane he .may be occasioned some trouble, but even if lie should break- down, the three miles'run .will almost ' Certainly fall to New Zealand, as M'lvnight. is better' at present than . over \ before. As to Woodger's chances, they, nil depend upon the form Barker and Morgan happen to be in,-, It'is now announcedjhat the former will, also compete in the 100' yards, in addition to the 220 yards and 440 yards.;. Mr. Bridge is confident that Woodger will win the 220 yards championship, though prepared to see him .defeated in the hundred. Assuming that Davis will be an absentee, the writer expects tol'see the Dominion score in the,following events:—l2o yards hurdles, broatt jump, ono -and'.'.three, miles walks, and three miles rnn—five • events—with, possible, victories in; tlib ICO yards and 220 yards flat, 440 yards hurdles, and . pole vault. New. South Wales' representatives . aire ; certain' to; win both field events, and 1 the 410. yards flat—three eventswhile the 220 yards flat and the high jump should,-with a' bit of luck, also fall to tho Cornstalks. The 109 yards, SSO yards; and the one' mile flat, particularly the : latter.- two ovents. look to be, certainties for Victoria, but outside - these 'events her. representatives, not likely , to j score,; with the possible exception ot the-"poip. vault; ... ■ , .Queensland should win the high jump and the polo vault. . .. .-. . This summing-up f gives the victory to New Zealand;. but, of course,.. forecasting winners at'this time of the year , is a perilous business, and if Keddeli or Kerr happens to be beaten, it will 'make a big difference -in the total. : On the agenda paper for the, board meeting of tho Australasian Union, the .'following items' ofr (jeneral'interest. appear:-r(l) Suggestions by chairman as : to appointments, of 'Olympio copnt cilsj (21 Olympic games (Stockholm), ,1912; (3) suggested' cross-country .'championship of.' 'Australasia;- (4).: notice. of motion- by Tasmanian A.A.A. that all future Australasian : championship's be 'held in tho summer; (5) 'suggested visit' to,"Australia, and -New Zealand of K. : -E. \Valker and other South, African athletes. " :

•/Arthur Halligan, one'■ time provincial liurdles champion of this province, and' Brio M'Kenzio, late of /Wellington College, were the only starters in this year's 120'jrards hurdles championship 'of Scotland, Halligan winning easily by two yards- in 17scc. . '■■■-. Two -'New-Zealanders.v were; largely responsible for-tbo victory of London Hospital in th« obmpetit'ion:" for" the Inter-HospitalChallenge Shield, at ' Stamford' Bridge recently. - A. C. Palmer (late .University), the; wellknown, .English international three-quarter back, wflii the long :jump'.with 'a leap of ;21ft. J 3}in., and the-440 yards in Msec., defeating, by a. foot. that.-remarkably fme/:half-miler', ;T.' H. ~Tnst. In . the 220 yards,'Palmer'finished third,' beaten a foot by the second -man, who, lost, first, placo by inches only. P. L. Footo, who in 1907r captained - QtagoV'Universit.v- and, the Otago representative. Rugby, teams, won' the hammer with a. .useful'throw :of : .104ft.'-. When,in ■ New '.Zealand Eoote.Nvas. a 'fair..'walker, and- at, the 1807 University" tournament won' the .'mile walk for Otago >' The latest thing' in- athletic' ohallenges .<'■ is 'one issued- in South' Africa; by,' ;J. Donaldsohi who has deposited ,£2O :with: the' 'Tland Daily Mail"; to' induce. Postle or Day. l to' .'meet' him - at any distance from 220 yards to. GOO yards, for-' any sum from ,£IOO to. ,£250 a-side. Donaldson ; also -states- himself .prepared.;to-meet any , man in South Africa at distances' from ■100 yards to hyf, a-mile. ' On his latest performances, -Donaldson.- (an: Australian)-'-would! take a lot of beating .from Veither',; Postle .'or' Day. R. Naylor has a very , high opinion of his prowess, over the quarter,, considering .him .to bo the equal, of Postle or Day, . arid prophesying- that in ; a' year he- will bo champion of the world over all distances up to 600 yards. C. Hcfleron has been offered £300 to turn 'professional, for the purpose of meeting-. tlw> Australian, Norman Ccnway, who .is at pre-: sent carrying all before-him in distance races' on thei Rand ; just now. The, quality of '.pro-, fessiorial distance talent in South Africa may bo judged from the fact that Conway;: has been successfully giving away starts up to 250 yards in one-mile events.;; ' \ The most interesting-feature, of-the present: 'season; in, England l is the vastly improved form shown by the University: of 'Pennsylvania sprinter, "Nat." Cartmell. : For. the past three years .Cartmell has made a . practice of spending. the summer, iii England,. and two years ago attracted attention by running' J.'.i'-W-. Morton'very close; in .several 100 yafds' races.: Last 'ye'ar at tho Olympia Games he w'as- one of the -fourVto qualify in the 100 metres final-but was. outclassed by the other three—Walker, Kerr ; and Rector. . This year he started -off remark-'ably-.well-by running R.' }3. Walker to a foot in:the 100; yards soratch at Crewe, -the, distance; being left behind in lOsec. On June 26 he ■proved that his performance 'against: Walker was diie not to any good luck, but to sterling . "running ;:by ,defeating; the Canadian vhu'ndred ; and furlong and Olympic 200 metres champion in the 100 yards invitation scratch'race, at tho Wolverhampton Charity Sports. Cartmell "ar-rived"-just: on' the; post and ' beat "Kerr .- by inches in 10 : 'l-sseb. ; The same .afternoon, he'.

added' further.to his laurels-by capturing ..the SOO-yards scratch race by 1| yards dn3l 4-sseo, —splendid time. Finally, at the English championships on I .Tnly 3 ho again Tan Walker close, the. South African winning the 100 yards by a foot from the. Ponnsylvaniaji.' It is conceivable that Walker was not'! in his. 'best form, but, ; even admitting that, the. improve--'nient in; Cartmell's running, in so short a time is little short of amazing. The cabled news of A. E. M. Eowlands's record 'walk at Glasgow makes; pleasant reading, for his New Zealand admirers,; although his ability- to cover three miles in 21roin; 39 l-ssec. is taken cnn erano salis, in Wellington at any rate; Eowlands's best performance in the Dominion at this distance was the;22min. 50sec. in. which he won the ohampionship at 'the Exhibition meeting two "years -..ago.', .On that occasion Kerr was disqualified in the ninth lap, Eowlands' coming home .alone half a lap to the good of Stubberfield. Out here Eowlands •waS'a particularly fair aid beantifully-actioned walker—as -a etj-list quite the best :I: have, seen—but for speed not within yards of Kerr, vrho easily defeated him at the, Olympic Games last' year. This year Eowlands started off well in England by winning the two miles handicap walk, at ■' the 'Bolingbroke Hospital Sports, -on June 30, by a yard in. 13min. SSsec,.. Ho was handicapped at 100 yds., the 'second and. third men starting from 315y<ls. and _ 345 yds.' respectively, Three days later he finished second to E. J. Webb in' tho two miles' championship of England. '-His jerformaucD is easily .the .ibess of his carccr. ! Though - a'Scottish record, the time is 2sec.'worse than D. Wilson's New Zealand record, established at Auckland in 1897, and 3sec. than A. O. Barrett's Australasian best) ' Compared• with Earner's world's amateur -record of 20inin. 25 i-ssec.;.(put up at Brighton in 1905) and J. W- Baby's world s professional record of 20min.: 21iseo.. (at Lilllo Bridge''in 1883), the glory of the New Zealander's record pales somewhat, but Larner's time has been looked at askance in these parts, since - Harry Kerr displayed several photographs of him in action, "Baby's performance was recorded in the days when the professional pedestrian'was rioted for his ability to deceive the eye of the judges by the quickness with which he sprang from one foot-to another.' .'. ' .'■Walker's two fino- performances 'of 120 yds. in 11.3-ssec., and 150 yds. in ,14 4-ssec., .at the same meeting; indicate.that the "Little Wou,der " has recovered his lost form. , If all, tho conditions of the rules were complied with, the 11.'3-ssec, will go down on the books'.as. a .world's amateur record,' and the 14 4-ssec; be bracketed with the best performances of C. G. Wood (1887) and C. J..8, Monypeuny (1892) a? a British amateur record. It ,is highly probable that the meeting was held on the-Ibrox' Park, which possesses the fastest" oinder track in the .jyorlA. ■ I )■. ■ .

Tho test race held by the . Harriers at Miramar last Saturday, to enable Mr, W. H. Pollock to select teams to compete at Timarii; next month iu the New Zealand cross-country championship, was well contested and drew the surprisingly good entry of seventeen runnere. The five men selected for the, championship event are all consistent runners, and should finish very close together, while the additional three who are going to competo in tho interclub race are quite likely to- give a better account of 'themselves by. the time the race takes placo. For tho, five miles centre champioiship, the team will be: F. Walton, F. Uodson, W. Bennett, C.Kowberry, and W. Press, and for the clubs' teams race the saiho men (with H. Lamb, D. W. Curry, and R. E. Bust) will comprise'the team. Arrangements, have been mado for the systematic training of tho men in order that tho best that they are capable of will bo shown on the convincing day. Tile Harriers will be the guests of their pre-sident-(Mr. W. H. Bennett) to-day at nil invitation run from his residence in Woolcombe Street. . . A number of teams have, already commenced training for the annual'road race, despite the fact that ,no date has yet been fixed for tho event. It' is probable that the Harriers, who hold the shield at present, will not- bp represented by anything like their strongest team this year. , Some other teams which-are being formed should be quite. capable of extending any teams which have secured, the shield in past years. . ' j