OUR ATHLETES OVERSEA.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 598, 28 August 1909, Page 14

OUR ATHLETES OVERSEA.

THE BATTLE FOR THE BANNER. FIEST DAY'S EVENTS. ' (Bi "OkS o* Tkoi.") ' Brisbane, Augnzrt 19. The first day of tie ninth' AustroUunan vv •: v. Amateur- Athletic GhampionshipMeeting. was indood a one .for amateurism in. the Dominion.' Of the,results, your oorrospon- : dent, need say nothing-exoopt, .that. we, are,, nil now wearing a rathor extensive smile. ■ ' Regarding the. meeting itsolf-it is regrottr ptlo that very little of a complimentary nature can be said. The affair had been handed over m .toto' to ..the National Agn-: cultural and Industrial Association, by whom the Jubiloo Exhibition is being controlled, and - tha-:management generally was_,baa..in the oxtremo. The oity is crowded with country visitors, who .spend the whole ot each day on the ground) and, relying upon this for,a good gate, the executive took no steps to„'bmig the moeting before tie pub- -;' ( lio" Consequently only -a small : section or ' : ' the fixed population of Brisbane-was, aware that the carnival was in progress avail Nevertheless tjie attendance must have been -- ' m the neighbourhood of. 10,000, from which, however,' She local A A.A. will receive , no benefit, gs by agreement tho exhibition au■thonties -reap all, gain- and take-all nsks—a i emgularlf bad piece of business on tho part of the atalotic bod>. Tho events*were got off in the most.casual manner, 'and the waits between were such 'as would have made Dr. Newman, tho Wel- '• i ' lirigton-referee on such occasions, feel.,, -real bad " There wai a great lack of call stewards, in .consequenco of which M'Kmght (.a member [of the New Zealand <iteam who ,wishe<l to- compete- m the 1000 Yards Handii, cap)' was found - calmly * sitting, in the dress-jpjr-room waiting" fo-'ho palled whue*. his- race, " wm actually m progress" " "The'-advertised time of starting'.furnished no ,crit«non at-all r as the first event was dispatched „twenty - -manutes. late, and tho -want,of■ punctuality crcw as the afternoon- progressed, until. at the) finish the completion of the long jump, set down for 4 35 p m , had to be left for V Saturday, and. the 440 6pm, was run'jn semi-darkness at 5 4a Fortunately tLe standard of-performance ' m direct: contrast ■to the management. ■ Ofting to,'rain onxthe previous day"and J on > tjie morning:'of j tne -event, the , track was beau, and consequenth tho times registered dctlact considerablj from the true merit of the figures As it was, the'exist; ing Queensland records were 'broken in the three-mile run, three-mile iwalk, and .haltmile, while a r fi:esh Australasian xecotd lor hammer-throwing was,created, this being -the first pccasion at -an -Australasian meet- ■ ■ upon which, a seven-foot, circle was used, In/adchtion, the standard was Upaten m hyc of the eight Championship ovents, contested. v i Th# Invincible Woodger. Of the competitors engaged,, Dickton, WoodgerJ (New Zealand),) andi Wheatlej • v '(Victoria), stood' out -by ■themßolv'es _in vthen - various departments..^i,»The..-first^.,chamWon 'ship on thei list was tho three mde <•- -.. New ■ Zealanders started—Dicksoff, 3J Kjught,

and Moore—tilt'tho last-named was,out mors* ' for an exercise.gallop for.Marathon purposcß than with any ohampionship aspirations. It eoon became apparent that the battld lay between Dickson, M'Knight, and Blake (YiP:-, •>:* toria),- of :01ympic- fame', *and.; these .thre^,. cut., out tne running for nearly ,the',"whole,", distanco Blake is a sticker, but lacks l pace, and, realising this, M'Knight unselfishly sac^ his . owa; clianco. by to th(* front on*every opportunity, takjng ithe held along at a clipping -pace These tac- : ■ 1 fcics<soon told their tale on -BlaLe, ,grid; ■.",': ually dropped.-back until,- atrthe .mile,., which. ■ was covered in 4min., 53sec.j ,-;wa!>* Bomfortably-.in the 'lead;-'and; running-,we11..: ,< M'Knight still held to his pace-making work, •■ but, at the mile and a half the strain told on him, and Blako passed Tiim Still 'mcrcasuighii-lead,.-tha:New.Zealandor.put : the tuo miles awayjm lOmin. 4sec, and the race .was practically over. Entering t the ; : .: tenth lap, Dickson was 100 yards in front of : Blake,'with Suffren' (Victoria), who'had disHSMte:'. olaccd M'Knight," third.-' This was;the ; ordei-• it the bell, ,J and, a,i the finish,^ except that : M'Knight was beaten for fourth place m tho straight. Both first and second mon ,: beat standard time —Dickson by :.8 l-ssec., and Blake-'by 1-ssee, while tho time for the i.■■■>distance, -lSmin. 21 4-ssee,,. constitutes a ' 1 Queensland record Twelve started The next event was the 220.yards champipnship, which was generally looked upon :■■■(:■: —as a' duel, between-Nigel'Barker (New South .:■■> ..■ ~iWales)- J 4iolder of- ilhe ititle • sulce .1904—and ; .f 'ijWoodger. A,New. Zealanderhas never pre- ■ viously'won this raco,:buttho touring party ■ t wore'confident of their man's power, to-break ■" M/.". -the - sequence, and tho result quite justified • their ■ expectations. ; In'. his •heat.. AVoodger - did •not' trouble much, as tho - first, three ■ . ;■ qualified, and ho ran an casy ; second to ' < Ellis (Victoria), with Fay (Queensland) third . Barker: mado. no: race of the: second -heat, striding it out m \24min.. 2-ssec., . .with . Jo- ■ ■ . - ihannes i(Queensland) second.' and, Rafter '• ■ (Queensland) 'third, final 'was- awaited ■'.'■■: the keenest, interest,Nand proved-even v .<?■■■! more, sensational ,than was.hoped for. Woodt- • ' // ger drew' No- 1 position, and. Barker Wo. .6 (right outside). At the first set Barker .>.- broke- right out, - and the gun, went, but ..a recall'was sounded/ and thj> men put on the : '' ! mark again. .''At the -gun, Woodger exactly :■■■".v:; reproduced - his • Dunedin ■ performance ,• in « : iv » March last. He shot out like a comet, and, ■:■;;■ ■!■ ''.at ; 2o yards,-was clear.of the field by three ■ yards,'ilnd:all was over. Barker and,Ellis ■ battled'out the second place, but the pitcher had gone Hoo often-'to -the- welly and tho , 1 champion .could-only get a th'ird. Woodger's ; time waa 23 1-Ssec., 2-ssec. slower than hia ; r'iNew Zealand championship performance,.but ■ 1 he have to gallop for. tho last .chain ,•■■■'■•■ ■■■: v. of the straight; and the going was all against

fast clocking. -Bark6r took his - defeat- like the-sportsman he has always shown himself to be, and paid a high tribute to-the Wel- ' ];ngtoman,*whom he-states> to- be the- finest. : funong-runner-he has yet seen, even at the : . - Olympic games at Athens. • 1 o:■ . ■ rit and'-well, there can bo no.doubt/that i. ' ■ Woodgor has -tho .100 yards at his, mercy, . 'but, unfortunately, at time of- writing, ho is, : anything but fit and , well—in fact, he is in bod witn a'badly strained, back.- After tho . sports he complained of severe pains in, the ' ... back, and passed a very bad night. In tho ■'- *"■'■ morning a doctor.-: Was requisitioned, who :lo- , ' cated the trouble,- and ordered the patient to bo laid up until 'Saturday. He hopes that , his .treatment .and Hhe; rest..will,>enablo the invalid to start in the 100 yards, brit he is " : \ not too saiigunio on the point,, so that ,it is • as.woll that the New Zealand-party has such ■ - -a-substantial credit balance to-day. Korr: "A Class'by Hlmsel!."\ •The threo-mile walk/oalls .for. no lengthy report, though itoo much ; could npt -be. writ-, ten -on the excellence of Kerr's walking, (Mr. Coombes informed -your correspondent . . ' that 'his- style - was faultless, rand, ,m, every department-of the.game; he was undoubtedly - - in a class by himself;- Further.comment,-is unnecessary, thougli an analysis of the. time niay bo fli interest. :The .first mile was 1 covered in 6min. 55scc., tho second in 14min. ' . litsee.,' and - the whole. ' journey in 22min. -,' 1 2 2-ssec. These tfmes constitute Queensland • • records for one and - two miles, -and, ,tho ... -. figure for llhe distance 'beat. stahd.ard'',time by Imm. 12 3-ssec

Keddoll. jf Keddell-had Jittf© difficulty m-disposing of the opposition : in the 440 ship, notwithstanding . the . fabt'. that tho gun caught him napping. • Consequently he got; left badly,. and Maber, -of Queensland, got a break- on. tho■ field;-; clearing the ■second hurdle .quite 10 yards ahead.; At this stage Keddell, got clcar .of the. ruck, and,' fcncing beautifully, - set sail after the ' Queonslander.. At half-distance Maher still hr.tl bis 10-yard lead, but he was.. apparently failing, while Keddell was' rapning a oau- • tious. heady. .race, and taking-no risks in the' fading light. • At the seventh: obstacle tljo men had come {together, and, -thereafter, the Dominion representative had no trouble, : finishing comfortably in 635e0.. Maher's jnitinl sprint proved too much for. him, and lie was paasea • at tbe last jump by Orr, a follow-oountryman. .. "Tho Only Fly In the Ointment." The pole-vault was responsible for-th</ only - hr' in. 'tho Dominion honey pot. Up to 10ft. 4'Kdy" was-jumping faultlessly, and,..,when

the bar was raised to 10ft. Sin. the tasH seemed easy .' for ■ him. ■ Then the trouble occurred. Mahcr (Quoonsland), .whose jump preoeoded M'Kay's, .used the ..Wollingtonians dole, 1 and, making a clumsy attempt, broke it.' This was the height of bad luck for "Mac.," mors' especially as the damaged implement, which' he. had taken, all the way with him; was tho only, one on tho ground whioh he ccald trust to_ bear his. weight, except the Queensland hickory poles, both of wnichj though' perhaps • useful M' cabors or telegraph jwles, wore quito unsuitable tor weight. 'However, -all :th©.eontestants_ failed vaulting purposos : for a man of M.Kays at 10ft ■ 6in. Tho bar-was dropped, 3in. f and, as M'Kay, and Walker, of Victoria; (a vw stylish vaulter of 9st.■ odd), were the only two •, to negotiate this height, further, as the contest bad already lacleJ over two hours; 1 and • was likely .to-- .continue indefinitely, the Victorian and . New, .Zoala,nd managers decided to divide the event, ajid tako half a point cach.i-' • ■ .. . As " reported the - long-jump the other ■■ event in which New Zoaland was directly' interested—has yet to be. finished, but it is not anticipated, that it will swell the total of the Dominion points, as Keddell has not . been jumping "well, and feels hia bruised leg; a good deal.