ATHLETICS,

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1623, 14 December 1912, Page 12

ATHLETICS,

e [By "Meecuet."! NEW ZEALAND NEWS 4 NOTES. December 21—W.A.A.C, Spring Meeting. if Australia Had Only Moved Soonerl Tho cancellation of tho American, visit has left things very quiet indeed in New Zealand. In this connection, by the way, it is with melancholy interest that ono notes that, since news came to hand of the abandonment of the tour, the Australian mail brings word that three of the States,. New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania had docided to participate in the venture, and share the burden with the Dominion. This would have absolutely ensured the financial success of the,scheme from our standpoint, and only goes to make the disappointment the more bitter. However, regrets are vain, and we must perforce confine our attention to' actual, if smaller, affairs at Home. . An Evening With tho W.A.A.C. Monday evening last saw the W.A.A.C. bring oil' another of its series of evening meetings. It was proposed to make •the college competitions for tho cups presented by this club a feature of the affair/ and, to this end, tho College ground had been settled upon for the. meeting. It was found, however, that the 6chool events could not bo arranged, so the venue was changed at the eleventh hour to the Basin Keserve. , This was tho first time the old convincing ground had been tried since its renovation, and it proved a trifle heavy. This will be found but a temporary condition, which will be removed by a spell of dryweather, and, against it, must be placed the decided improvement in the going afforded by tho levelling process, which the reserve has been subjected, to. Tho first event decided was a_ 120 yards hurdle handicap, which if. it did not unearth a Keddell or a Smithson, nevertheless brought to light a prominent fencer in the person of P. E. Doyle, & son of the well-known athletic enthusiast, Mr. James, of that ilk. R. Y. Adams, off 17 yards, won the licit event—a .220 yards handicap. Hte companions at the finish were C. T. Young, 10 yards, of football fame, second, and old-timer Arthur Cunninghame, 12 yards, third, both of whom were close up. The handicappers in this event were rather severe on the back-markers, as is shown by the time recorded. The'distance was covered in 23 4-ssec.—too stiff a task for the scratch men—A. T. Duncan' and M. Pool—so early in the season. Tho half-mile handicap brought out a good field, and proved to be o good race. Vincent Bvrne made his first appearance for the season on his accustomed place, on the scratch line, his brother, J. E. ("Darkio") being on 25 yards, with D. Binnie, another runner whose reappearance was welcomed, between the two on the 15 yards. "Darkie" Byrne won a good raco by five yards in 2min. 7 2-ssec., with T. V. Kerr (55 yards) second, and Binnie third. The scratch man got up into a good position, and, at Ono time, looked likely, but the .finish found him short of a gallop, and ho fell back into the ruck again.. An Auckland Meeting, and Sorne Handicaps. Auckland Club brought off a big meating last Saturday. Tho sport provided was, according to press reports, of the best, and the attendance, although not up to the mark expected, was fairly satisfactory, about 1500 being present. Among the competitors was A. W. Dorinor, the quarter and half-mile New Zealand champion, who ran well, but unsuccessfully. This is not to bo wondered at. Tho handicappers set him tasks to do which were beyond all reason, especially for a first meeting. Thus the half-mile, in which he ran fifth, was won in lmin. Sosec. —a time that would havo extended a Sheppard or a Meredith—ami the quarter in Slsec. At his best, this latter is within Dormor's powers, but it is unreasonable to expect even a champion to reproduce his best form right aivay. All through the meeting practically the same thing applied. Tho measure of severity handed out to the back-markers was a blot on tho meeting. Thus the slowest heat in the 100 yards was won in 10 l-ssec. —the others being all lOsec. dead—and the., final was timed at 9 3-ssec. The 75 yard maiden handicap—maiden, mark you ( —was clocked at 7 4-ssec., and was only won by a foot at that. The scratch man "also started." ...... All tho heats and the ..final of tho 220 yards weTe won in 22sec. dead. The mile produced a splendid race among the long-markers, being, won by a foot in imin. 23 2-ssec/ It will be seen that scratch men of the calibre required to win races under these conditions would be champions all, and,' unfortunately, wo liavo not got men of this calibre. Will local handicappers please make a note of these few remarks? New Zealandcrs at Horns. At the Cambridge Freshmen's sports, at Fenner's on October 31, L. N. Younghusband (New Zealand and Pembroke College) easily won liis heat in the 120 yds., hurdle* in 18 l-s?ec. In the mile T. Bigg (New Zealand and St. John's College) finished third. Younghusband was third in the running broad jump at 18ft. 2.\in. T. H. Kinder (New _ Zealand and Caius College) won his heat in the 100 yds. in 11 l-ssec. Wo shall linve to await next week's mail for results of the finals. The West Coast Ronaissance. News come from the West Coast that the newly-formed Westport Club is get-. ting diligently to work, and is putting on a big meeting at Christmas. time. Recruits are coming in wholesale, and it is satisfactory to note that among the number are the majority of the "professional cracks." These are taking advan- , tage of the "new club" clause in the to- ) instatement rule, and at its nest meeting , the council will have a batch of twenty or so to "whitewash." The executive, by tho way, at its meet- 1 ing on Monday last, showed its appreciation of tho good work done by tho Coasters by voting the club a donation of «C 5, with which to procure gear, and also treated the young club at Blenheim in tho same way.