ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1413, 13 April 1912, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

ALL THE CURRENT DOINGS, [BT "Mercurt."] University Tournament. With tho University Tournament and tlfe Jfasterton A.A.C.'s meeting on Easter Monday, another season for track athletics in the Dominion virtually came to a close. The University Tournament is a really sporting fixture, tho prizes being nothing more than bronze medals. Tho meeting occasionally produces some excellent performances. At. this year's gathering nothing in tho nature of a sensational performance was registered, though A. S.

Keid, of Otago, established two 'Varsity records by winning the shot with a putt of 37ft. 31iii., and file hammer with a throw of 107 ft. 7in. His effort with the shot was good, judged by the standard of shot putting hereabouts, but his hammer throw was but a mediocre performance— judged by any standard—and the fact of its being a University record serves to show the weakness of 'Varsity students at this branch of the sport. Tho Strack Brothers helped to swell the Victoria College total by securing twelve of the fourteen points available in the hurdlo events, h. A. Dougall showed little of his old form when competing at tho Australasian championship meeting, and his poor efforts on Monday last are clear evidence that he is still on the down grade. . The Running of F. W. B. Goodbehere, Quito the most interesting feature of tho meeting was the running of F. W. It. Goodbehere, who captured the three sprint championships. Goodbehere has had a chequered athletic career. When a scholar at Wellington _ College, ho was a wonder for his n.src, and he wound up his sclioolljjy days bv defeating A. F. Duffey in a fifty-yard invitation handicap at the Shrubb-Duft'oy meeting in 1005. In 1906 he won the 100 yards Wellington provincial championship, and, ju 11107, followed Harry lienderson home in the 100 yards New Zealand championship. In that, year Goodbehere was probably the best quart er-miler .in tho Dominion, but he ran with no luck at this distance Al the New Zealand championships that vein - , the C|imrter was run in heals. GoodInhere won his heal, but his exertions that, tla.v had taken too much out of him, mid lie was unable lo face the starler when tho final was run an hour later. 11l MS practically his onlv appearance was when S. F. liass beat him out of second place in the 100 yards championchin of New Zealand. New Year's Day. 1900. saw Goodbehere\s most sen-illional performance, when he defeated W. A. \Ycodger in Die 100 vards provincial championship. Tim lace was run against a strong wind, which pulled W'oodger up standing, and Goodbehere scraped home a winner by inches, l.aler in tho mi inn season Woodger gave him SSvds. and a beating in 100 yards. After that season Goodbehere was off I lie track till near the end of Hie season, when he came out again at the Ivnrori Club's galheriiu;. and ran n couple of good races. At I he Victoria Colletre pal hiring lie showml improved form, anil Iil« trijiln win on , lloadw thowi that at my rata h« ii

cnpablß of coming back, if lio (alios training at nil bvrioiisly next season. Speaking nf fiondbehero reminds one that: the strength (if tho University athletics has always been it* spri nlers. Opie, Duncan, 11 ay, Moves < iondbehi're, lias*, nml Tom Keiidon (whose cut husiasm seems to liavo <1 ic<l with his entry into politics) nre a team of sprinters that wonld do credit In any Now Zealand combination. The Masterton A.A. Easter Meeting. Tho. Masterlon Club deserves all the success which it has gained of late, and its latest meeting is probably one of tho most, successful which it. has ever held. All through, the performances were good, particularly those of Cashman, Fisher, and Nicholson. t'ashmanfailed to break the New Zealand two miles walking record, lint, nevertheless, his performance was an excellent one. Next year, who knows tint what he will be in tho Olympic champion class. Ho has only to improve as much as he has done this season, and ho will be tho equal of tho best of them. At last 10. 10. Fisher seems to have realised that his forto is anything up to a quarter. l'or tho greater part of this season he has wasted his time in running half-miles anil miles. True, he ran ono good half-mile—at Masterton last New Year's Day—but his performances at this distance' and tho mile, j both beforo and since, have been very mediocre. ' ] Tho triple wins of Goodbchere and . Fisher on the same day make a curious , coincidence. Both tlieso runners were , at the top of their form in 1007, and, for the past year or t.wo, have done nothing in particular, and their returii to something like their old form, on the Fanio day, at two different meetings, is certainly another illustration of "thio long arm, etc." However, Fisher's handicaps must have helped him considerably, and it is indeed hard to understand why lie should be given six yards in the 100 yards,"'and nine in tho furlong event. The respective times, 0 '1-5 sco and 22 l-.iscc. show how impossible a task anyone on scratch would have had. In G. Harvey, who is practically a novice at the game (in that all his experience has been gained at about two meetings previous to this one), the club has a very promising pole-vaulter. At 10ft. lin. liis performance is good enough to win most New Zealand championships, and, with a little coaching from champion M'lvay, Harvey should be capable of something belter. J. W. Ivicholson is a runner who lias been favoured by good marks throughout the season, and, in consequence, his numerous wins liavo roused no further comment than expressions of surprise at the lenient treatment meted out to him. His three wins on Monday were all /nil of merit, especially his performance in capturing the quarter from 15 yards in fiO 1-5-vc., equal to about !i2sec. for tho full distance. As a half-iniler, lie was an unknown quantity, hence his handicap of 35 yards. Probably the most popular win was J. Bradbury's in the two miles. Bradbury, in addition to his win, seen roil two seconds—in tho quarter and half, so that, he is evidently far from being ono of tho "has-beens." Neville Hill Leaves for Stockholm. G. N. Hill has departed for the Olympic Games, and, needless to say, ho carries with him the best wishes of every follower of athletics in this part of the world. 'Whether Hill will succccd in winning the coveted 1500 metres Olympic championship is a moot point, in view of the opposition which he will have. First of .all, lie will have against him tho American wonder, J. P. Jones (holder of the world's milo record), and then tliero are those doughty runners, the Canadian, J. Tait, the Scotchman, 10. M'Nicol, anil English champion, ]0. Owen (all 4.20 men), to say nothing of tho Continental cracks. Probably at no previous Olympic gathering have there been so many first-class middle distance men as will bo seen in action this time. So Hill's task, whichever way one looks at it, is a gigantic one. It is Wd to say what he actually could do, if pressed to the filial in a race for which he hail been properly' prepared. Certainly his best performance to date —1 min. 22 2;5 sec.—is by no means the best which he is capablo of. , Never yot has ho had n. trainer or' a coach of" any standing, neither, has lie been pressed at all in a scratch race. At Stockholm he will at. least have the advantage of training with tho world's best, and this alone, should he be acclimatised in such a way as to enable him to benefit by such experience, will improve him at least three seconds. And when a runner is capablo of beating 4.20 for tho milo ho is well in tho world's championship, class. Manoeuvres of the "Sydney Referee." Apropos of coaching and advice for Hill, it is rather amusing to note that friend "Prodigal" of the "Roforeo" throws some measure of cold water on the New Zealand Olympic Council's idea of securing G. W. Smith's services for Hill. Says "Prodigal": "The advice of Smith would doubtless be of value, but, better still, would it be if our president could enlist the assistance of 'Jack' Donaldson and Mr. 'Mick' Terry, tho world's champion mentor." Now the advice of "Jack" Donaldson and his trainer (who himself is a runner of some fame and great experience) would bo of the greatest value, but would' they take the same interest in Hill—a distance man and a New Zealauder—as they would, in, say, an Australian sprinter like W. A. Stewart? Further, though it would be ridiculous to class Smith as a runner with Donaldson, "Mercury" nevertheless is firmly of opinion that, for more reasons than one, Smith is beyond all doubt the best athletic guardian obtainable for Hill. In tho first place, Smith 'is one of tho shrewdest judges of a runner whom wo liavo ever seen in these parts, and .lie has tho knack of imparting to others tho knowledge which lie has gained from his—ono ought almost to say—world-wide experience of amateur atlneti--*-When at Home in 1902 lie tr.ij jea with DnlTey anil Arthur Shrubb, to say nothing of othor champions, and, if any man is acquainted with the incomparable little distance runner's methods, it is the same G. W. Smith. Then again, though the fact is not generally known, Smith in no small measure helped A. E. Walker to win tho last Olympic 100 metres, in that he gave him some valuablo advice respecting starting. _ At the same meeting ho took a keen interest in the New Zealand team. In the second place, there is the fact that Smith and Hill aro both Aucklandors, and this, if nothing else, would cause Smith to take an interest in Hill. No, Mr. Prodigal, we New Zealanders will be grateful for all the help Donaldson and Terry might bo willing to give, but the man to father our champion all through liis stay is undoubtedly our own George Smith. If ono were asked to name three or four old standing athletic records that seemed unlikely to be lowered, ono would a year ago without hesitat'on have named W. G. George's professional mile record of 4min, 123 sec., established in ISSti, T. P. Council's amateur mile record of 4min. 15 2-ssec., and M. I. Sweeney's high jump record of Cft. 5 5-Bin.—botn put up in 1895. Many liavo been tho attempts to shatter these figures in tho years that have rolled by since they first found placo on tho record book, but all attempts failed miserably. But nothing, least of all athletic records, lasts for ever, and when one old record goes it seems that others of equally long standing fall almost simultaneously with it 1 . Last year J. P. Jones, of Cornell University, set the athletic world talking by knocking 2-5 of a second off Connell's milo record, and now comes the news that at the Stanford University sports last month George Horine smashed Sweeney's high lump figures bv clearing the bar at tit't. G t-Sin. In this week's "Keferoe" tliero is a picture of Horine winning the high jump at the last American inter-collegiate championships gathering, with a leap of oft. Horine is shown stretched out along the bar full four inches above it. so that his present performance is undoubtedly a genuine one. When will it bo beaten? While on the subject of jumpers and jumping records, it is interesting to note that Peter O'Connor has recently qualified as a solicitor, and in' announcing the news the Manchester "Sporting Chronicle" lias seized the opportunity of giving a few facts anil figures about his career which are in (heir very baldness an eloquent tribute to the powers of ono who is possibly the most wonderful broad jumper that ever lived. During his athletic carecr he won over ,£IOOO worth of valuable prizes over 50 championships, and was, and still is, considered by many authorities the greatest and most consistent broad jumper 'lie world hn; ever known. To show what a msin-ollcu* »prtng |io Itiwl, we. jjjvn a. [(«(. of th« distances h« ftecomjiliahed in the

year 1901, and in addition ho was not beaten in .1 running broad jump out of over 100 contests for fivo years, though lie had lo give nearly all Ills opponents upwards of ;ilt. handicap:— ft. in. l)o la Salle, Waterford 24 0 International Contest, Glasgow.... 23 ill Knglish Championship, lluddersficld 23 81 D.M.I'., Dublin 2.1 11?. Dnlliiinsloe 21 H Xi'if linss 2-1 S:j I.A.A. Championship, Dublin 24 fl Annacurra, Wicklow 21 IB Kilkenny 21 11 j 1t.1.C., Dublin (board take oil) ... 24 11J 1(.1.1'., Dublin (grass take off) ... 211 10', liulValo, V.S.A 21) SI The foregoing jumps represent n world's record, an Irish record, an English record, a Scotch record, and tile champion- j ship of the world at liufTalo, U.S.A. None of these records have yet been broken, and it is extremely doubtful if his world's record of 24ft. lljin. from a board take oft', and his 2Hft. lOJin. from a grass take olf, ever will. Ho also won for six years in succession tlie running broad jump championship of England, at which he liad lo meet each year the champion jumpers of nearly every country in Hie world. lie retired from athletics in 1!I0G, after distinguishing himself at the Olympic Games in Athens. Ho has also cleared Cft. 2in. in the running high jump, and won a large number of championships in that event, and was also successful in hurdle racing and sprinting.