ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1168, 1 July 1911, Page 18

ATHLETICS.

(Bs MERcr/Bi.) •

• TEARS OVER THE FESTIVAL. To-day—English A.A. Championships, . Stamford .Bridge,. London'.. .We Draw Out Our Handkerchief, Australasia's; expectations of a good points' score in the athletic events of the Fostival of Empire ■ sports,■ which had been sent soaring skywards like a rocket by the news of Opie's 10 l-ssec win at Crewe, came down to earth like tho stick thereof, on Monday,' when the results came through. Such a complete rout was not dreamt of iu our philosophy. True, the presence of the Canadians, of whose. intended participation we had received no word, upset our calculations, but even so-it. was'generally considered that our representatives could hold their own." However, (hey did not, and ire can but compliment their victors: on ft good performance, for good men tl;ey must be.

The result of . the afternoon's'work places Canada in'the .load iwith'B points; Great Britain second With 9.points, and Australasia bringing. up. the rear with -13 points—truly ..an; unlucky, numberi The scoring system gives one point for a'first, two for a second, and so on, .the country with the smallest /aggregate at the finish being the'.winner. .ItWill thus be seen that the 'Australasian prospects of "winning out" in"the .-grand total are-not'at nil bright, necessitating, practically, wins in air the remaining competitions—boxing,., wrestling, •• swimming, j and - tennis. .Tho ' 'position should be clearer by (he; -time' these..' remark's appear ' in'print; as! by" that ' timo the results of. the boxing and. wrestling should be. known, these cvciit's being set down ,for' Thursday- June 29.' Competition in these coiitesis.is confined to oiie event in'each—lieavy-ii-eiglit .in tho former and 'middleweight in the latter. In i the boxing, the Antipodean . representa'tive' is Harold Hardwick,- the' swimmer, 'and in .tho wrestling our hopes centre round W. Smythe, last year's amateur champion of Now South Wales, with E. "W. Schneider, ..cx-middlcrweiglit champion; who is at Home, in questof cycling honours, as sscdild striil'j. ■ ■ Hardwick has ho public competition performance in the ring to'gauge his form by,'and, moreover, ■it is unlikely that his swimming training will leave him much time for the necessary boxing preparation, SHU he is a big, strong, .nnd well-built person, and in an exhibition bout'last year with Coghill (the NewSouth Wales amateur heavy) ho is said to have acquitted himself very well. Smythe looks more like a winner,' although young—only 22 years' of age—a wrestler of good-class, and plucky and resourceful withal. •;-.•■

But, Perchance, To-day—. To-day the swimming event?, 100 yards and one mile, are' to bo decided, and herein things look rosier. The 'Australasians engaged, are:— ' Hardwick, 220 yards,-440 yards, and ,BSO yards champion of Australia, and 4)0 yards, 830 yards, and mile champion of Sew South Wales. ' Malcolm Champion, champion of Kcw Zealand in all events except the ■ 100 yards. -

It is considered likelj- that the Australian will start in.the sprint and the Aucklundcr/:ii the mile, but this is a

matter for (he manager to decide. ' The (late. of ■ the tennis competition does not appear to have been decided. At present - ' the English championships hold the stage, and that" will give an excellent line on Wilding's ;chances. The Men'Who.Won Last Week. To return to last Saturday's events, and the participants, therein: Of the hero of , tho meeting, Halbans, the Canadian, winner of the two sprint races, there appear to be.no particulars available. rln last year's Canadian championships over these distances he.doe's hot seem to have figur- ; ed. At all .events, ho was not placed. , AlucMillaii, who ran second in the 100 yards, event, is "a- 'Trinity College man, of Camhridge University. In. the recent ' ' Oxford-Cambridge "meet,'.' he won tho hundred, and was, credited with, evefl ! time. Of his showing oii that occasion, A recent London "Sportsman" says: — Macmillan gives promise of being'a real champion. His winning of the" 100 yards dash upset all calculations of the experts, who had conceded the event- to -R. J,.- Lango, the-."American ilhodes scholar from Oklahoma. The latter-led up to'within'six yards of the i finish, when llncMillaiv came with a rush, and won by a'foot. These remarks were written in a resume of the prospects of the. English .'Varsity . athletes in their forthcoming contest with the Tale and Harvard representatives of which morn ancii. Haley, the .British representative,. who ran third tn Opio in the:22o yards, was ' mentioned in this column last 'week as filling the second place in last year's English championship over this distance, the : winner being P.amsdcll, of Pennsylvania , University. J. M-. Hill, tho half-mile winner, is a Queen's Park Harrier, and won in 2min. 1 2-sscc, at the English championships last year, and 01. Jl.. Brock, the .Canadian, who wt'.s third, belongs to Toronto, 'and ran second-in the Canadian premierships last season to A. 3f. Kno.v, in lmiii. 56sec. The mile winner aiso hails from Toronto, and, like Brock, belongs to the AVcst End Y.31.C.A. Club in that town. : • East year he ran third in the Canadian championships in the mile, the race being won by A. B. Kiviat, an American, in 4hiin. 26 2-5.; p;.

The'hurdle event produced a good performance in comparison with . the comparatively slow times in the sprint events, lor which the "cold blustering wind," mentioned in the cablegram, was no doubt responsible. K. Powell, who won in 16sec, ran at tho last Olympic Games, but was Ix'nteu.in his heat by Rand, of the W.S.A., after striking the ninth hurdle hard, when leading, in 15 4-sscc. So ho is' evidently a very sound performer.' Lukewarm, the second man, is the holder of the Canadian championship in 16sec, mid <o Brown, the Australian—-a-forlorn liopo nt the best—was very much ."up' against'it" in this event. It is a great pjf.y that our G. P. Keddell, or.Victoria's J. B. Davis was not there. Things vie Must Wait to Know, IVe must now await, with what patience we can, the .melancholy particulars of the defeats. It will' Y>o interesting to fc.noiv just what Ojiic was beaten by. The half-mile, we know, must have been u great race indeed. We are told that llUl sprinted in the last hundred yards, ajid beat Wheatley, who, presumably. Was Vnuliwg until U\e\\, by Z\ yards, with Brock only inches away. A great finish. 'All-we arc. told of the mile, except the v bare result, is that both Owen, the second man,, and ■ Ihshins went owl lame. The puzzle is-why Hnskins was started under these conditions, unless Whcatloy was distressed- after the "half," which does not seem likely from what we know of him. It may be that ITaslcins was entered, and went lame afterwards, and that no sn/r-liliitioM mis allowed, but, in any case, (he position is hard to understand. The English track and field championships are set down for to-day on the historical Stamford Bridge Ground. The Australasian representatives will, in all probability, be having another run, and, j'inyhe, will retrieve some of their lost laurels Tho competition will bo probnblv keener than that of last Saturday, r,.s there is generally an American sprinter or two performing at this meeting—with dire results, as a rule, to the other competitors. Last year it was Ramsdcll, and, the year previous "Nat." Cartmell, Americans both, who won the sprints, anil, before that. "Reggie" Walker, of South Africa, and so on, back to Duffy's time. In f.-tct. with tho exception of Morion, no Euglisli sprinter .has won an English championship for over, ten year's.

So it will be seen that'Opie and Co. are likely to .strike good ; company if they turn out to-day. When Yale and Oxford Bump. In a previous note the projected international "meet" between the representatives, of. Oxford and .Cambridge Universities, on the one hand, and Yale and Harvard, on. the other, wits. referred to. Tho affair is scheduled for July ((.(next Thursday) on. the Queen's Club Ground, London. Nine events are to be decided, comprising 100 yds., 110 and ' BSO yds., one and two miles,. 120 yds. hurdles, the two jumps' and hammer. Tho English 'Varsity team is to be as follows:— 100 Yards Race:—D.' Macmillan, Cambridge, and 11. 11; Ragg, Cambridge (or-li. L. Lange, Oxford). Quarter-mile Race.—D. Macmillan, Cambridge, and F. G. Brack, Cambridge, (or G. K. Anderson, Oxford). Half-milo Race.-L. F. Taylor, Cainbridge, ami P. J.- Baker, Cambridge (or C. Howard-Smith, Oxford). One Milo Race.—l'. J. Baker, Cambridge (or C. Moore, Oxford), and R. S. 'Clarke, Cambridge (or R. D: Clarke, Oxford). Two-mile'Race.-C. R.„ Porter, Oxford, Gowan-Taylor, Oxford, and another. -120 Yards Hurdle Race— G. R. Anderson, Oxford, aud- P. R. O'R. Phillips, '-' Cambridge. Throwing the Hammer—G. E. Putnam, Oxford, and W. A. Zioglor, Oxford. High Jttmp.-A. C. B.Bellcrby, Cam- : bridge, and H. A. Dubois, Cambridge. Long Jump.—M. J. Susskiud, Cambridge, aiUl'F. G. Buchanan, Oxford (or M. G. D. Murray, Cambridge). The American team is not available, but the latest mail from "The States" brings.the results of the Yale versus Harvard meeting, from. which the selection was t'o have-been made., These are interesting, as ■ showing the class of performer that tho Englishmen will be competing against. So the winners and times are .appended.for the decisive, events: — ; 100 Yards.-rßeilly (Yale), lOsee. ' 440,Yards-Kelly (Harvard), 50 l-ssec..' BSO Yards—Jacques (Harvard), 2min. l-ssec. ' , •' '• " ;_ ~ One Mile.—Jacques (Harvard), 4mm. 35 •t-ssec. .... Two Miles—Withington (Harvard), 10 min. l-ssec. : : Broad Jump.-Holdcn (Yale), 21ft. O.Jin. High Jump.-Cnnsiicld (Yale), sft. 9in. 120 Yards Hurdles.—Chisholm (Yale), 15 • l-sseu ■ , Ilammet.-Cabte (Harvard), 148 ft. Bin. The competition was won by Yale. That "Cross-Country" and the' Harriers. Now that Auckland has practically resigned the management of the New Zealand Cross-country Championship, owing to the notification received from • the South Island, centres that they will not bo sending teams to cpmpeto therein, local athletes (and particularly the harrier section) are awaiting tlic.next move of the N.Z.A'.A.A. Council.- - The obvious course is to hand the control of the affair over to the local centre in the hope thai, the reduction in travelling, and consequent expense, will overcome'the difficulty for the southern executives. The matter will be decided at the council meeting on Monday night. ; Meanwhile local harrier doings are reported, by my nevor-failing correspondent, as follow:—

- Our cross-country runners spent a quiet time last Saturday, each pack being bolow the average muster'. Just at present a calm exists in the local harrier circles, as no club races'fire due for about font weeks, and the Stadium sports are suspended for-a. fortnight. This state of nffairs probably accounts for the slackening oft in the attendance at club runs, but the consistent members will doubllecs reap their reward in' the next series of races..

By : the .way, it is.probable that Hie programme at the .next Stadium mfetifig will include" a challenge match, between teams of four men representing Brooklyn and AVellington Harriers respectively, over a course of either, two or three, miles. Should this Uka place competition for places in the two teams should he very keen, and it may have the effect of stirring up the sluggish ones. . AVellington Harriers last week ran from island Bay, following a course trailed by C. Lamberg and L. Salek. The coursa was 'first shaped due west, till Ohiro Bay: was reached, when it was altered so os to take advantage of tho fair wind which quickly brought, the pack near the top of Happy Valley,:whence it tacked back by a couple if long "boards" to the rendez-vous'-at Island Bay. T. Johnson was the first to drop anchor, and was followed into port by the crafts "Alpinist" Dement and TV. Chartres, the remainder'of tho fleet, . although close up, being: outmanoeuvred in the tricky work of navigation against the ; fresh "southerly." Today's run will-commence from Sentoim.'

• Brooklyn .Harriers ran from Xarori Tearooms .over a trail selected by Mansfield and Oliver. Plenty of variety was given the pack in the course, which led through Crcswick nearly to Wadestown; then to the top of the Tinakori Hill, and down to the Botauical Gardens, and home by the Main Koad. The pace 'was slow throughout on account of some of the runners not haying shaken off the effects of their Coronation Marathon run. A fairly lengthy run-in was won by -H. Barnes, his brother U\.. Barnes) finishing second, and 11. Wilson third. An extra good muster is- anticipated today, when members are requested to catch the 1.15 steamer for Rona Bay to participate in an invitation run;from the residence of Mr. 11. F. Shortt. The Centre Which Lost Ms Head. Thus the Otago "Witness" on an outcome of a. recent "regrettable incident" :— "Albeit the episode of alleged disloyal Otago. delegates has concluded, a-re-echo of, that rather unpleasant incident, was heard at last week's meeting of the Otago Centre, when the notice, of motion in the name of Mr. A. R. Barclay, relative to the removal of the headquarters of the Xew Zealand Council, was, in the absence of the mover, allowed to stand over until' next meeting. The writer has reason to know that the majority of tho members of the Otago Centre were not in sympathy with the proposal, and it is almost certain to receive short:.thrift when the matter, does come up. While the Otago- Centre niay have temporarily 'lost its head' over the" Marryatt-Pollock episode (though it denies the impeachment), it is still loyal to the council in Wellington."