ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1800, 12 July 1913, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

« (By Mercury.) TOPIC OF HOUR-AMERICANS. Hope for the Trip Brighter. At Monday night's meeting of the New Zealand Council the principal business was tho. consideration of correspondence from the Australian States regarding tho proj>osed tour of the Dominion by an American team. The cabled replies wero dealt with in this column last week, but tho letter from the Victorian Association (which is . backed up by the New South Wales A.A.A.) goes very fully into details, and though there are two points raised on which it is just possible a dead- ■ lock may occur, it is now much clearer that our Australian friends are in thorough sympathy with tho idea. Hope, which last week was dwindling, is now" revived, and our own governing body are confident that tho tour will materialise. Some Fine American Figures. "Prodigal," in the last'issue of tho "Referee," has the following to say of some of tho possible members of the team :— "It is said that if they can make tho trip two certainties for the tour of New Zealand and Australia by an American team are Abel R. Kiviat and Piatt Adams . —and I can well believe it. They have been definitely invited. Iviviat is admittedly one of the greatest runners in tho world, especially over distances from 600 yards to 2 miles. ICiviat was born on' June 23, 1892, in New York City, is sft. Bin. in height, and weighs botwcen.l3o and. 1101b. Ho commenced running/in 1905, and holds numerous records and figures upproaching record, such as 1500 metres in 3min. 55 4-ssec., a mile on boards in Jinin. 55 Msec., 2 miles iu 9min. 24 3-ssec., etc. He is tho mile champion of America, and won that event in imin. 18 3-ssec. Kiviat's mile record is 4min. 15 3-ssec. Kiviat is a member of the Irish American A.A.C. Piatt Adams was born at Belleville, Now Jersey, in--1885, is 6ft. ljin. in height, and weighs .between 165 and 1701b. He lias been on the track for 13 years, and shines as a jumper and "all round." Adams has been running broad-jump champion of America in 1908, 1911, and 1912, and is good for well over 23 feet. Ho is an Olympic champion (standing high jump) and on American champion. Admittedly tho versatile Flatt Adams, being a fine allround man, would be extremely valuable ■in any team. However, my idea of a team is, at the present moment, as follows:— ' "A. Robinson (Mercerborg Academy), 100' •yds., 9 3-ssec. (ties world's record); 220 yds., 20 4-ssec. (world's record); and 410 yds., 48 3-ssec. "Edward I. Becson (University of California), running high jump, 6ft. 5 3-Bin.; 120 yds. hurdles, 15 l-ssec.; running broad jump, 22ft. 6in. (about); putting 161b. shot, '10ft. . ' "John Paul Jones (Cornell University), 1 mile, 4min. 14 2-ssec.; and 880 yds., luiiu.' 53 2-sse'c. Jones won the. Inter-Collegiate Cross-country Championship of America (about six miles) in 1911 and 1912. "The fourth man must be one of the Piatt Adams type, although as Beeson could cover ■ some, of the events in the jumping department, one who can throw the hammer, putt the shot, and do fieldgame work generally might be more useful than even the mighty Adams. Such a man appears to bo Carl Shattuck, of the University of California, who is a rare champion" with the hammer, and-one who can putt the shot, and throw the javelin and discus, as well as polo vault good enough to boat anyone in these parts. \ "And, quite apart from the above, there are men like Ralph C. Craig, C. D. Rcidpath, J. E. Meredith, and Ilannes Kolehniainen (all Olympic champions), and also such men as Melvin Sheppard and T. J. Halpin. Of a truth, the task of tho selector (President John Elliott) will be a hard one." "The Greatest Draw of the Lot." "Prodigal's" selection iB, to "Mercury's" mind, about the best that could be made. Robinson (with tho possible exception ot 11. P. Drew, the famous negro) is tho best hundred yards runner in tho St'ates'".tov day, and, at the furlong, appears to bo in a class by himself. Beeson, next to Horiue, is the greatest high jumper of the day, and Jones (as will be Bhown lower down) is in better form than ever. Kolehmaineu would be the greatest draw of tho lot, but it is doubtful whether he has been long enough in tho States to warrant his being picked as a representative of America. As to his latest big victory the following is instructive reading:— When Hanncs Kolemainen, who may be coming to Australia with the team of American athletes, won tho New York "Mail" Modified Marathon from 1-100 competitors recently, ho did so at tho risk of his life. The. official doctor declined to pass Kolehmaiuen just prior to the race. Tho doctor declared that his heart ■ was enlarged, and that ho was risking his life by racing. But there was not much sign of this in the actual race. Tho champion led all the way, and the first milo was cut out in 4min. 26 4-ssec., and the first two miles in 9min. ssec. It is suggested, however, that the measurements aro not accurate. The 12 miles, tho total, for the course,' were covered in 65min. 15 3-ssec. A ' few ■ years ago Americans were loud in the complaint that they had no distance runners. Times have changed, however, for in this event no fewer than 1400 men started. And What Would We Be Doing? D.'B. Carroll, the well-known Sydney Rugby player who (after, playing, with the Australian team last year) stayed behind in San Francisco, has attended several athletic gatherings in that city, and is highly impressed with the talent ho has seen. Writing to Mr. Coombes he says: "If they take a representative United States team to Australia, I want to tell you that Australians will not win anything—they will not even get sccond, if there aro two Americans Starting." All this is probably true, and is so recognised here, but iu view of our having such men as Dormer (New Zealand), and Davis (Australia) who we imagine to bo in the first rank, the visit will be valuable ns giving us a line as to their true worth. If Dormer, for instance, is hopelessly outclassed, any projected expenditure in sending him either to the big gathering at San Francisco in 1915 or to the Olympic Games ill 191G will be saved. > "One of the Greatest of Races." Coming back to American talent of today, even-timers there would appear to bo but second-raters at tho present time, the ten seconds having been brpken.ot lato upon at least half a dozen different occasions. Howard Drew is reported to have done 9 3-ssec. at Bangor, Maine. On May 17, iu a match betwen Cornell and Pennsylvania, Heller (Cor.) boat Lippmcott (t'enn.) by the smallest fraction m 9 4-5 tec'. On the same date Seward, of Michigan University, - hoisted the same figures at Ann Arbor. On May 24, Lippineott and'Patterson, both ot Pennsylvania University, ran a dead heat .in 9 4-ssec., and Ireland, of Colorado, won a heat in the same time. A little later oh most of these men met at the inter-university championships, and Patterson won after a sensational race by a few inches from Reller (who had a lead of 2 yards at the half-distance;, with Lippincott third. Tho other performances at this meeting were of a very high order, our sensational friend, J. 1\ Jones, smashing his own world's mile record by no less than a second. Writing of the run, F. J. Halpin says:— "The one mile run, which had been heralded as one of the greatest races in tho history of track athletics, lived up to all that had been said of it. Jones not only won this race, but broke his Own world's record of 4mm. 15 2-ssec. by a whole second. lie covered the last quarter in 58 l-ssec. Tabor (Brown) took command at tho end of the half-mile, with Jones at his heels. At the three-quarter Jones shot to to the front, but Taber was content to stay at the Cornell boy's heels. Every yard found Jones pulling away from tho field, and with 110 yds. to go, Jones electrified the crowd by uncorking a marvellous burst of speed, literally flying over the ground, ten yards in the lead, when he hit the tape". Tabor was second, P. S. Harmon, of Dartsmouth, who hail come through with a great sprint, was third. It was Jones's farewell appearance as a college athlete. Jones was forced to bow to defeat in the half-mile, when G. E. Brown, of Yale, jumped him in tho second lap, and opened up over ten yards. Jones tried hard to win, but fell short by two yards, being beaten ' in Imi«-

The winners' times, distances, etc., for the other events were:—22oyds., Lippincott (Penn.), 21 l-ssec. (equals world's record); 440 yds., Hall (Mich.), 48 2-. r )Sec.; two miles, M'Curdy (Penn.), 9min. 43 3-ssee. j 120 yds. hurdles, Wendell (Wesleyan), 15 3-ssce.; 220 yds. low hurdles, Wendell, 23 3-ssec. (equals world's record); high jump, Beeson (Gal,), and Camp (Harvard), Gft. Oiin.; broad jump, Mercer (Penn.),* 23ft. DJiii.; hammer, Cable (Harvard), 150 ft.; shot, Whitney (Dartmouth), 47ft. 2|in.; polo vault, Eisko (Princeton), 12ft, Sin.