TRACK AND FIELD

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 106, 1 November 1933, Page 6

TRACK AND FIELD

ALL-ROUND PROGRESS

PAST YEAR UNDER REVIEW

N.Z.A.A.A. EEPORT

In addition to a comprehensive survey of athletics and cycling in the Dominion, the forty-second annual report of the New Zealand Amateur -Athletic Association, following the lines of the previous year's report, is a mine of statistical information, and for this reason alone, apart from other considerations, it should be found of value to1 competitors and others interested in the sport. For the wealth of data it contains credit is duo to. the honorary secretary-treasurer, Mr. L. A. Tracy, whose watchfulness and untiring efforts have resulted in the up-to-date list of records and other interesting perform; ances featured in the report. Satisfactory all-round progress in track and field athletics is recorded. On the administrative side, the report states, centres and clubs reaped at least' a modest reward for their careful management during the worst period of the depression, the increasing attendances as tho season progressed at gatherings of- purely local talent being very satis factory evidence of a revival of public interest. One particularly satisfactory development was the increase in the number of inter-centre contests and inter-town visits of dubs, these,; besides giving athletes additional opportunities for scratch running, very definitely appealing to the public. Further, these gatherings made for, a degree of friendly social intercourse thatwas in the best interests of the sport. OLYMPIC GAMES LESSONS. One definite result of the lessons learned at the Olympic Games last year was the attention beginning to be paid to , the > desirability of classifying athletes, and, to as great an extent as might be, practicable, substituting (in inter-club competitions at least) scratch runs for the various classes in place of handicaps. The council, while realising that under New Zealand conditions handicap events must always be i retained, is very definitely of opinion that more scratch events would tend to rapidly increase New Zealand stand/ ards of achievement, and so make for, more" even and interesting competition between New Zealand and visiting ath< letes. In New Zealand the most notable happening of the season was' undoubtedly the winning of the, New Zealand Championship Shield by the very fine team representing tho Canterbury Centre, this being the first occasion; the shield had not been won by Wellington since Southland secured it iri. February, 1912. Last season's shield competition was further notable because of the substantial progress Shown by Otago, West Coast (North Island), and Auckland. Among many fine individual performances, the one that stood out was; the 880 yds in lniin 54: 4-ssec by D. F. Anderson in tho Canterbury provincial championships. In this young runner and 11.I1. G. Broadway, who ran him,so close in his record-breaking effort and turned the tables on him in tho New Zealand half-mile championship, New Zealand had at last produced worthy successors to D. L. Mason, of the. New Zealand Army athletic team. .... . !"' LOVELOCK' S RECORD. ;,'_ ;. ~ Recorded out of New Zeala,lid"aiid by far".the greatest perfornijme'e '•ever achieved by a New ZcalandeiI.' was, J. E. Lovelock's world' record' mile in 4min 7 3-ssec. At a' time when there wero moro really <great niilers than at any previous time in athletic history. Lovelock and the Italian, L. Beccali, were admitted to bo in a'class by themselves. The council had decided to commemorate Lovelock's record by attaching a challenge trophy, to be called the.Lovelock Cup, to the New Zealand mile championship, .'".':.'.. Mention is made of the arrangements in train for a visit by an Australian team this season, headed by J. P. Met'calfe, the great Australian University jumper. The view is expressed that, besides being a public attraction, Metcalfo should be a great stimulus to New Zealand jumpers, who have u'ot had the advantage of seeing any outstanding visiting jumpers in action' since C. G. Krogness and J.. W.. Merchant weie hero in 1923. . •■• Good progress, it is recorded, was made in both, primary and secondary, schools' athletics last 'season, and it is thought that even greater interest' in these institutions may be looked for, by reason of Lovelock's development and performances, and tho emphasis laid on tho importance of catering for schoolboys in the report'of the late Mr.. W. J. Heenan, the advisory coach to the athletic section of New Zealand's last Olympic team. FINANCIAL POSITION. Eeference is made to the control of cycling, this section of the report being dealt with, in "Tho Post" under separate headings. After giving a list of the records passed during the year and tho performances recognised as being equal to or better than the existing best performances of a New Zealander ih New Zealand, and alluding to.the British Empire Games to be held in London next year, the report goes on to deal with finance. It is stated that the accounts disclose that tho association's actual cash funds have increased by approximately £122, but as against this the liabilities' had increased by £110 12s lOd, with tho result that, apart from special funds, the financial position had varied very little. As anticipated, the new rule respecting the registration, of athletes / materially in^ creased the funds that are earmarked for sending representatives abroad. The loss of £54 19s 6d shown in the. income and expenditure account was due to the small profit from the championship meeting, depreciation ou books, grant to the overseas representation fund, and tho grant of £20 towards, the cost of the publication ■ to commemorate the jubilee of the association in 1937. In a foreword to the appendix of records and performances, it is pointed out by Mr. J. W. Heenan that considerations of finance have precluded the addition of many new features. A table of contents and a list of tho team winners for the New Zealand cross-coun-try championship were all it had been found practicable to add. Mr. Heenan pays tribute to the way the various tables have been kept lip to date. He adds that by next year it is to be hoped that the record of records, so far as New Zealand is concerned —J. E. Lovelock's mile—will have received official endorsement.