ATHLETICS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1972, 31 January 1914, Page 12

ATHLETICS.

IBt "Mbbgdet/'J

NEW ZEALAND'S DOWNFALL. A V/iialosa(o Tumble. ' New Zeaicnd dispatched tp the Australasian championships a team that looked capable of retaining our hold on the shield with a point or two to spare. Australian critics, too, were quite.resigned to the prospect of our carrying' otf the premier honours for the fourth time in suecesston. So noted a critic as "Prodigal," of tho "llefcTee," anticipated a sufficiency of «ius (including one for Davo.Oashman). Tjie ing is all the' morp rude, therefore, and the result of it ail, oii paper at anyrate, is nothing more nor'less thatt a debacle so far as wo are concerned.

That some of our mon did not do themselves justice is tru<s, and, thus lar, wo have souio shadow cit excuse. Our king pin, Boruier, burdened with a heavy cold—to which, by tlie way he seems peculiarly liable— performed so badly as to renctei , cseuses altogether necessary. Cishinan's disqualification iu Auckland has evidently unsettled him but, of his disqualification iu Melbourne, "Mercury" will have something more to say anon. Dormer and Cashinaii had possible chances of winning at least four events between them, and this would hayo materially aitcred tho complexion of affairs. ' !

Having made these excuses it remains to acknowledge wherein (at this distance and iu the absence of details which should bo horo nest week) it appears that onr representatives were fairly beaten, and wherein they performed up to expectations. Beatsoi; and M'Holm did what they were ssnt for, and Keddell, for ones in a while, Soeni? to have met his master at the threestride game, though, in both hurdle events and in*the broad jump, the decisions were close enough to have been reversed, if our champion had bad but a little more rf his old-time form.

Good From Evil. Once tlio effects of the disappointment Jiavo worked oiF, however, New Zealiiiiders »ifl he the tet to recognise that tho defeat of our team will do no bud of good to the sport ou the other side, and, in this alone, there is poEsolatipn. To Victoria, as winners of the shield, all hail! With of her best men imahle to compete' her advantaao in boiiss tho homo State iva.s, to a larjjc oxteat, neMtmlisod, audtheieforo met the others pni a level footing. Despite the squabble between the two associations, Victorians in general have no ill-feolins towards Now Zealand —the enthusiastic receptions given to Deatson after his win bearing clear evidence on this point.. A prominent feature in the home policy of the Victorian' A.A.A, has, always been tho encouraging of tho sport in the public schools, and r.t ©very Australasian championship meeting a fair proportion of her representatives actually aro boys from the greater public schools. Let it not be forgotten, for instance, that when I». H. Kelly established his Australasian record in the high jump over hero two years ago, ho was a , schoolboy. This year schoolboys Neabo and Spencer (sprinters) were among her representatives. Among her championship winners, too, are Kelly and Watson, who have but lately finished their schooldays-. Athletics have been on a very sound footing in Victoria for some years now, and this victory should raakp tho sport even more popular.

"Tho Mother Stata," New South Wales, which, witli five wins, secured second place, is another State that, under the leadership of Mr. C'oombes, spares no effort to develop .Youthful taknt. At the latest meeting tiie hest performer of tho New South Wales team—though he did not win, was A. F. Thorpe, tlie eX'Chamliion public scliools runner. Sneaking from a purely athletic paint ef view tli<s sport is ( on a sound footing iu Sydnev, there being a large number of athletes in tihy various clubs which cater for their members very thoroughlv. Sydney, however, labours under one bier handicap—the public stay away from snorts meetings in hordes. Rofhinc daunted, those at the head of affairs battle along cheerfully. The manner in which tho walkers and tho field expoiv ents are catered for is a standing credit to the New South Wales authorities.In developing hammer-throwers, weightputters, ete., they exploit the right field, as witness, the formation of the Poiiee A.A.O. in Sydney. It h now eight years sfneo New South Wales won premier honours. May she bo successful at tho iest gathering. Tho Other Australian Stages, In Queensland the sport has had a good following' for years, but, at Australasian championships, tho Banaitalanders' successes have (if memory serves me rightly) be confined to field events since D'Aroy Wenthworth ian away with the half-mile at Auckland in. 1901. From time to time news comes through of great sprinting performances' by Queensland amateurs, but thesfi runners, when comoeting rnvay from home, fail utterly. The only conclusion, to draw from this i$ that watches in the northern State must run remarkably slow. Spasmodic attempts: have hc«n niado at various times to effort an athletic revival in South Avistralia,_ bnt nothing of any account h.is hitlmrto been achieved. Still, ist M, H. Mvoes, who was a member of Dr. Mnwson's Anturc, tie Expedition, tho Stat/' pvoduwd a fine high jumper. The most wonderful and astonishing thinjt about Australasian amateur athlftlics at tlio present t-imo is tlmt two svieii hnulWs as Penilor and Wallmnn slioiild bo in actinn nt the ono time in such a State as South Australia. There nre : many grand s«i)portoTs of the jtiiinn at tb« henil of affairs in Tasmania, but. with sucli ft small nopuktion to tlrnw upon, and with so few opnortunities prpsentiiig themselves f«r her men to 'compete outside cranks, ir is InHly to bo wonderpd at that tbo Isl'ind State has accomplished fo little. 0"i vvy due rrosi-onunfry runner—A. W. Clernes, who. runninn! for Oxford, was first home in tlio Ostfont v. Cambriris'j eross-coutirry l: "f? some yoars a«o-r-hflils frnm Ts> , ini»Tii'>, and, as th« years gn br, th« jnllv litti" Ptfltfl may produc? a team caußblo- of winning tbo Australasian BMold.

Next week "Mercury" will review the performances at the meeting.

A Day at Seatoun. The Pied Piper of Hamclin would hnvo been welcomed with open arms by competitors and officials alike at tlju Scatoun Club's meeting on Anniversary Day, and ho could have mailo his own terms for an engagement to eharm away to a reasonable distance the hordes of children and grown-ups who infested tho track qven during the, tune events wero being decided. The Seatoun ground is very small and rourfi —five laps to the mile—and, what with the frautio struggle ainong the spectators to see what was going on, the blustering northerly (and with all due respect Seatoun is mighty dusty and generally an uncomfortable place' on a windy day), Secretary Palmer, genial Mick Tracy, wjio is tho life and son! of tho club,'and the competitors had a parlous tiwp. Still, the meeting was not by any moans mtenjayable, f or the Reids were large—astonishingly so in these days when tennis and other Kames have lured so many promising athletes from, the trsck, . Moreover, tho racing was as keen as one could wish for.

Ona W15.0 Ceme Again, The mile, in particular, was a splendid race, Alexander, on 110 yds., leading the field for four Japs, when both Hudson and. Biniiie passed him, At this staj*o the two baek-iimrkors were running' well together, Hudson leading by a bare yard or-two, but they cquid not sisake- off Alexander, who surprised the multitude by coming, with a brilliant finish in. tho straight, to win by about three yards. The winner is a most promising young runner, with that most valuable of all athletic assets, the power to come again when seemingly beaten. Another promising runner—a sprintes this time—is Morris, who won the ckb hundred and the furlong- A tall youth, sturdily b'ttilti and theo-wn-er- of a fine lpjiß stride,., lie should develop into a sprinter well above tSie average. In clearing sft. Tin. with a- rough take-off and a baulking wjiid., Doylo performed exc-nllesitly in the high iamn, as did Hubbard, $'. It.yan, and Slack in tho broad jump, and Black and Hail in the hop, step, and jump. On the tyholo, tho. jumpers performed of all the competitors during the day. The lpnpr-distance_t:liampioH, A. Hudson, performed well in both his races, but ho should be thoroughly convinced by now that, at present lio is only good fqr one really firs.t-eljiss perfopnance in a day. Until he develops a bit more ho sliGultl not, except in scratch races, attem.pt to run t-ivico at a meeting.