ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1836, 23 August 1913, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

(By Mercury.) ALL-ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS. Timely News. Just, when things athletic are very quiet indued on tliis side of" .the world, and tho writer thereon is casting about in vain for a text n J lioreupon tq hang his weekly discourse, ooxues t'iie English mail with the belated, but very welcome, reports of the English A.A.A. championships. Usually tile cable messages advise us of tho results, but 111 this year (with the exception oif a bare line as to Applegarth's 2:;0 yards record), we have been vouchsafed nothing. England Holds Her Own. Recent mails have brought word that the Continental competition was to have been strong, which only made desire to know how and with what success tho'Englishmen defended their championships all the kuaier. Last year tho English rout was complete'and Uuiniliatiug. All the titles of the fifteen competed tor, but .four, were annexed by the loreign competitors. This year things showed a vast improvement. Ten. of the fifteen titles contested stayed iu England, the other live being annexed by Sweden. Therf, too, three of theso five events would in all probability have stayed also had England's best been available, .viz., H. O. Aslmngton, for the ha-jl'-mile; A. S. N. Jackson, lor the mile; and T. Nicholson for t'ho hammer throw. Foreign Successes.

Sweden, Germany, and Franoe were strongly represented, tho elect of the firstnamed nation being successful in the jk>lo vault and shot putt, in both oi which events nino championship records were hoisted, and in the hammer thaw, mile, and half-mile runs. Speedy Sprinting A very gratifying feature was the great improvement shown by the English repressntativos in the sprint events. W. 11. Applegarfch, of whoso doughty doings we ha.ve noard a good deal ol' late, was easily the hero of tho day. He won the 100 yards for England in 10 seconds dead, this being tho first occasion, upon Which an Englishman has won the English 100 yards championship since 1907. Ho then proceeded to annex the "double" by win-.

ning the 220 yards, in the English record timo of 21 3-5 seconds, displacing tho 26-yeaa-old figures of C. G. Woods. The quarter-mile also saw ivn excellent English performance. Thi3 was won by G. Nicol in the striking time of ill 2-5 seconds. Results at a Glance. The detailed results are given below, and I will bo found interesting as furnishing a ! means of comparison with our own' and the Australian State championship fig- ! ures:— 100 i'aTds.—W. R. Applegarth (Polytechnic), 1; J. J. Barker (Polytechnic),* 2; W. A. Sto wart (L.A.C., and Tasmania), 3. Time, lOsec. Throwing the IMb. Hammer.—C. Linde (Sweden), 155 ft. 7?iin., 1; N. Linde (Sweden), 151 ft. o|in., 2; A. E. Flaxman (L.A.C.), 137 ft. 4Jin., 3. Jlilo.~J.. Lender (Sweden), 1; G. C. Gorringe (HigUgatc), 2; H. Micklor (Charlottenburg, Germany), 3. Time, 4min. 25 •l-osec. Quarter-Jlile.—G. Nicol (Polytechnic), 1; D. 11. Jacobs (Heme Hill), 2; E. W. Haley (Heme Hill), 3. Time, 4'J 2-ssec. lluTnning Broad Jump.—S. S. Abrahams (C.U.A.C.), 23ft. Gin., 1; I. Lindholm (Sweden), 21ft. Siin., 2; A. Campana, (S.S. fare Ponimery), 21ft. 7Jin., 3. Tiro Jliles Walking.—ll. Bridge. (Lancashire A.W. Club), 1; H. V. L. Ross (Uxbridge), 2; J. J. Lynch (Polytechnic), 3. Time, ISniin. 51 i-ssec. 120 Yard 3 Hurdles—G. H. Gray (Salford), 1; K. Powell (London A.C.), 2; G. Holmer (Sweden), 3. Time, lGsec. 220 Yards.—W. It. Applegarth (Polytechnic), 1; V. H. d'Arcy (Polytechnic), 2; It. Rau (Charlottenbung, Germany), 3. Time, 21 3-ssec. Running High Jump.—B. H. Baker (Liverpool), 6ft., 1; A Petterson (Sweden), sft. 10in., 2 j I. Lindholm (Sweden), sft'. Bin., 3. ' Half-mile—E. Wide (Sweden), 1; C. H. Frisby (Polytechnic), 2; J. JI. Hill (Q.P.tl.), 3. Time, 2min. 2-sseo. Pole Vault.—C. Gillo (Sweden), 12ft. lin., 1; C. Harlemann (Swtden), lift. Sin., 2; F. Gonder (Stade Bordelais, France), lift. Gin., 3. Four Jtiles.—G. W. Hutsun (Surrey A.C.), 1; E. Glover (Hallamshire II.), 2; JI. Karlson (Sweden), 3. Time, 19min. 32ssc. Two Miles Steeplechase.—C. H. Ruffell (Higligate), 1; J. H. Cruise (Sparkhill), 2; T. L. Lee - (Birchfield), 3. Time, llmiu. 3' 3-ssec. Putting tho lGlb. Shot.—E. Nilsson (Sweden), 47ft. 41in., 1; A. Tison (Universito Club, Paris), 43ft. 2in„ 2; J. Barret (unattached), 12ft. Din., 3. A Matter of Dates.

In the last "E-eferee" to hand, the date of tho coming season's Jfew Zealand championships is shown as January 12, 11, and 17, at Auckland. This is going from homo for news with a vengeance. Tho place and date of tho big Dominion mcetiii" is not yet decided upon—in fact, by tho rules of tho N.Z.A.A.A. the matter can bo settled only at tho annual general meeting of tho council in November of each year. At present, to further complicate matters, there is tho difference of opinion between the Victorian and New Zealand Associations with regard to tho dates of Australasian championships. This friction will have to bo disposed of before any decision with regard to tho dates of tho New Zealand promierships is como to, unless, in the event of the Victorians provin" obdurate, tho council of the N.Z.A.A.A. decid-es not to send a toain to defend the Australasian shield, as is its present expressed intention. Many Bills to be Met To-day. The Wellington Club to-day is ignoring tho call of the open and is dropping tho grim delights of tho hard rood and tho steop grado for tho uonco. Tho afternoon

isto bo given up for the gentler pleasures of an afternoon "at home." l'or this break in the athletic routine are responsible those member of the club whoso parents in their earliest days so fur took advantage of their youth and innocence as to call them. "William." Drawn together by their misadventure in this respect those singled out by this appellation, patronymic name, designation or title, of whom there are a goodly number 011 tlio club books, have made common causo and have promoted an afternoon's entertainment for their fellow members. The function is being officially scheduled as "The 'All-Bills' Social Handicap," and is to eventuate at the Seatoun Kiosk, The Harrier Qoings. From the usual reliable source com'ea the weekly budget,of harrier doings, running us under:—" Tlio third event at Athletio Park, in conjunction with tlio Rugby Union, run off Inst Saturday, did not provo the success that was anticipated, duo to the inclemency of the weather; but the number ■of starters (fouteen) Under the miserable conditions that prevailed was certainly encouraging. 13yrne was again the scratch wan, but with a courso extremely heavy and in places submerged, his most ardent barracker could not give him much chance with the limit men on the 59sec. mark — handicappei's- not being responsible for the weather, their calculations are based on the assumption of a moderately fine day.

W. Donaldson secured first place with T. J. Iverr second, 5 yards behind, and It. Eagle third, a similar distance away. The fastest time was made by Chas. Murray who, during the race, worked up to second place, but eventually finished fourth. The heavy going constituted additional handicap to the back-markers who, on the day, were not faster than the middle division nien. Though Murray moved up early in the contest ho found the work eo strenuous and the track so slow that bo was practically not footing it as fast at the death as the men he had practically beaten. Byrne had a bad run throughout. Like other competitors he had to run warily, especially on the corners, to avoid a fall, which fact alone did not give him much chance to regain liis 59sec. handicap. Kerr ran a good race that suited the prevailing conditions and with a little luck should have won. Ho led the field from the third to fifth lap, and at times his lead was considerable. In tho last lap he was passed by Donaldson and Murray—the latter he eventually displaced and made a hard attempt to oapture Donaldson's soalp, but was beaten off in the final sprint. All three clubs were represented in tho event and of the fourteen competitors ten finished, and all fairly well bunched. Tho Brooklyn Club at Hutt Park held its annual 2J miles steeplechase (ladies' bracelet) and attracted a field of 22 which must be considered very satisfactory under such wretched weather conditions. Several ladies also braved the wind and rain to officiate as judges, stewards, etc.