ATHLETICS

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 864, 9 July 1910, Page 13

ATHLETICS

' DOINGS HERE AND ABROAD.

; (Bt ai.ERCI}KT.)

The Southland Centre of the. N.Z.A.A.A., which has been allotted the control of the New . Zealand cross-country' championships, lias chosen September 7 as the deciding day for tho big event, and Invereargill as the venue.

V/ellington Harriers. ' ' The usual weekly >harrier dispatch runs:—The Harrier Clubs had good musters last Saturday in % spite of the unfavourable weather conditions, and a profitable afternoon "was the result in each case." Wellington members gathered at .Webb's- Tea Ko'oms, Karori, and put in most of the aftefnoon in training for mountaineering by following a trull laiU by A. P. White aud J.. Finn, two whilom enthusiastic advocates of flat running. W. Power, as pacemaker, went strongly over the' whole distance, leaving those who were short 'of condition to straggle as they listed,, with the result that it was a very attenuated pack that linaliy debouched on the open country near the main road, lioniev,-aril bound. ,

Un this account the "run in" was contested by a portion of. the pack- only, and after 'an interesting tussle the sprint resulted in a win lor C. Howberry, with C. Luiliberg second, and A.. It. il'-Neilly third: The first .two men have been showing excellent form of late, and will undoubtedly hold high positions in the aggregate competition l'or the year.

"Racial Feeling!" r To-day a teams' race (Britain v. New Zealand) is down for decision, : the course being a five-mile one, commencing from Worser Bay. Competition for places, in the New Zealand team was so iceen that a ballot was. resorted to, with the.,result,,that the following men will do battle agaiiist the representatives of Britain:-®;..Bennett, C. Johnson, T. Johnson, C. Lamberg, W. Power, and L. Salek. Their opponents will bo 1 :— B. W. Curry, late of Darlington Harriers and'.winner of the 1009 Welsh Junior Championship; X. Harrington, late-Walsall'Harriers; J. '.Finn, 'late Sefton Harriers; J. M'Nie, erstwhile of Glasgow; A. •W. Muir, ..late Renfrewshire Harriers, .Kilbarclian; and. A. P. White, late .Edinburgh aud Burnt Island Harriers. The teams are evenly matched, although the British team is composed of more experienced runners that the local one. The first' four' men only in each team yill count points for their respective sides. liivalry 011 both sides is keen. Could we call it "race feeling"? Members not engaged in "international" will hold, a pack run from Wyatt's Kiosk,

Brooklyn Pack at Miramar. Brooklyn Club conducted operations over the Miramar Peninsula, starting from, and returning to, Wy-att's Kiosk at Worser.Bay. After reaching-Breaker Bay, the pacer (L. Pearce) struck over the hill near the Signal Station, and camo out on the Miramar Golf Links. Here a halt was called, and the. pack divided into two 'teams ■-selected by P. Hodsou and W. N. Bfcaven respectively, for a Tace over the last two miles. C. Murray proved Jiis consistency' by lauding home an easy winner, while P. lielaney had no difficulty in carrying off second honours from P. Hodson, the remainder of the teams' being close up, and keenly fighting out each position. A tie on points resulted, the places gained being:—Beaven's team, 1, 5, 6. 8, 9, and 10; Ilqdson's, 2, 3, 4, 7, 11, and 12; total, 39 points each.

To-day's ran will be at Karori, and on its conclusion entries will be taken for a two and a half miles race at the Hutt Park Racecourse. '

The date of the New Zealand CrossCountry Championship, which is to be conducted by the Southland Centre, having been fixed by that body for September 7, it now behoves the local centre and clubs to bestir themselves in-order that Wellington may be well represented. A much stronger team than that which pained second place last year at Timaru is available this year if the necessary arrangements to get it to the front can be. successfully carried ; through.

New Harrier Syllabus. The new syllabus of the Wellington harrier operations shows engagements as under for July :— I To-day—Worser Bay, Britain v. New Zealand;-July I(l—Day's Bay, club run; July 23—Island Bay (combined run with Brooklyn Harrier Clubj; July 30—Trentham, 2$ mile steeplechase.

Irish Amateur Championships. News of the results of tlie Irish amateur championships are now to hand. Heavy rain fell 011 the previous day, and, consequently, the "going" was heavy anil times slo-v. The best'results were, as is usual wilh Gaelic competitions, obtained with thu hammer and .'hoi. nr.rt with both the performances were distinctly good. The hammer throw was won by D. Carey, USft. -Jin... the second man getting. l-{sft. 2in„ and the shot-put by J. Barrett, 42ft. lin., the second place yielding -10ft. 7in. The sprints were won as under:—l(lo yards, J. R. I'urd.v, .10 2-!iscc.; 220 yards, W. Murray, 23 l-ssec.- Tho quarter anil half-mil? run fell respectively to G. N. Murphy,' 5i l-iisec., and M. C. Harrison, 2min. tee. The one and four miles runs .were won in -l-miir. ¥! d-ssec., and 20min. 2!) 1.-ssec. by J. Bile and F. J. O'Neill respectively. Nono of the other events call for special mention', tho times of tiie three-mile walk and the 120 hurdles, which would have been of interest, not having been taken.

The Woodger Rumour. There has been a persistent rumour in local athletic circles of late to the effect that Wellington was in danger of losing W. A. Woodger, the Australasian sprint ".hampion. through transfer to Auckland. "Mercury" is happily in the position of being aide to contradict this. Mr. Woodger has recently been in Auckland 011 leave, which. 110 doubt, gave rise to the report. Marathon winner "Andy" Sime is still holding (0 his line form of the present season in Sydney, as is evidenced by a fine performance 011 June 25 last. The occasion was the annual Parrumatta to Sydney road-race, a distance of roughly fifteen miles. Sime ran from scratch, and established a record for tlie run of lhour 27min. SSsec., albeit he could only get into twelfth place owing to the severity of the handicap.