Athletics VISIT BY JAPANESE

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 18, 5 February 1937, Page 12

Athletics VISIT BY JAPANESE

''Spike.")

Date Could Not be More Unsuitable

MAY NOT EVENTUATE

(By

Inquiry by centre ofiicials reveals that for unsuitableness the Japanese athletes could not have been allotted to fiav/be's Eay-poverty Bay af a worse time, and unless Gisborne agree to take then) they will not be. seen up this way at u41? Easter Saturday', il)e day set 4o"wn for thpir ofiiqial appearance, apppars an icleal oue, aqd so it might be undpr ordinary circumstances, but this year the day has been seized upon by sporting bodies of all description and grounds are ali booked ijp. Kohei Murakoso is the holder of the record for Japan over 3000, 5000 and 10,000 metres, but if he does not eompeto in races over oue mile it js going lo he difficult to find pompetition fo*' him in New Zealand. Kenshi Yogami is the hop, step and broad junip champon of Japan. According tp report he is capable of 51ft. and 2-6it in the respeetive jumps, which reads .very well, but as a spectacle for the publ'c be i« not yery enticing. Possibly the local centre will save a lot of inoney if they give the Japanese visitors a safe miss. Hastings and Napier athletic cluba meet in ap inter-cjub contest in Napier next Thursday evening. The Napier Olub proposos that the whole programme will be one of relays, a novel form of entertainment loeally, but one that is common in England and Ajnprica and quite succepsfully staged in Auckland recpntly. The sprint, fpr instance, will be over a distance of 440 yards and will be fpr teams pf four, each man to run 110 yards. The 220, 440, 880 and one-mile men will bp catered, for similarly. Field evepts will be confinpd to teams of thrpe and their effprts wijl be added together to ascertain tho winnei. Thp idea is to cut put tho individual for th'e evening in favour of the team, and also to give ac-tive interest to a greater number of ciub members. In individual competitiop the wpak competitor is made to ieel his inf eriority, but under the relay rfystem they are endouraged to do their best with the knowledge that they havo some strong team-mates to reeover any iost ground. The pfogramme arranged is a big one and to complete it in reasonable time it will he necessary to have two events in progress .simultanepusly through out the. programme. Nc doubt a return visit for Hastings will be arranged before the season ends. Qulup and Fitzslmauons, Graham Quinn is again sprinting well up in Gisborne ap(l quite recently ran 75 yards in 7 4-5secs. A week later, W. J. litzsimmons, of the Napier Clu.b, in an endeavour to beat this time, recorded 8seos., but earlier in the same evening he flitted over the hundred in lOsecs., which equals Quinn 's best Napier performance, One. of the great attraetions at the Hawlje 's BayPoverty Bay championships at the end of the month will be the meeting of Quinn and Fitzgerald in the 100 yards and 220 yards. Based on their efforts at the last national meeting in Dunedin it would appear that UTe "Gisborne ace is superior over both distances, but

against this it must be remembered that the most impressive heat winnei' in the 100 yards was Fitzgerald, aithough he disappeared in the final, due in great part to a heavy cold. At the end of the month I expect Quinn to defeat the Napier man in the furlong, but ihe 100 is going* to be very elose with the width of a tissue paper in favour of "Fitz." Anpther interegtipg contest at the championships will be the three-mile fl'at in which Hastings hold a strong hand with Wright, Beidy and Andprson. Napier are hopefjil that Hughes, the "yodeliing milkman,•,' will do- the trick for them. Hughes is a naturp.1 stayer who requires a sound pace all the way as does Wright. In any case, whpever wins it appears certaia that a new centre rpcord will be crpate.dWorgaa AtMete. The exploits of Ifias Ida Campbell have fired the imagmation of the good. pepple of Morrinsville, her home town, and. an amateur athletic club has sprung into existence, Rast Saturday tiie club staged its first meeting and ipoo people turned out, principally to see Ida run, and aithough she did not win she recorded II 1-5 pver 100 yards, In the 50 yards she just "failed tp concede 3J yards to Miss P. Tooman, oue time of Napier and now pf Hamilton. Miss Campbell is thp national sprint champion, and prior to tli§ formation qf the club in her "home town had to travel regularly to Hamilton for conipetition. Napier Giub Meetapg. There was great racing at the Napier Club's meeting last week, and Hastings competitors had a field day, annexing no less than six firsts. Miss D. Swayne and G. Allingham were double winners, and P. Begley and R. Attwood landecf one apieee. The performan.ee of Begley in the quarter was a good one as he was the virtual scratch man, and duXipg tho racp cpvered a gqod deal of extra ground and then got up to wiii by inches. Begley has won all three quarters so far staged this season "by the Napier Club, Last week this raco was run over a special track, which gave the runners a straight 100 yarda from the start. H. MacGregor, a xecruit to the heel and toe branch and a rapid improvov tco,- had a popular win in the rnile walk from Osear Brock who, if energy eounted, would develop into a ehampios, Possibly the most popular win of the" evening was that of Tohy Attwood in the five-mile cycle, The crrwd likes the. scratch man to win and they watched 4ttwo.odys progress closely i.n this rpce, Gradually overlooking the busily worir ing front-markers, he was with them at two to go. and then won in tbe final sprint. " ' " ' S. Gollop, oue of the most inconslfetent runners in the district, did everything; right in the miie and downed a field of 20 in great style. Don't forget, Eskdale to-morrow and Dannevirke the following week. To. Play at Wimbledon, Wimbledon has called to the United States woman tennis champion and Aliee Marble is in California busily raking over her tennis in preparation for a big assault on English tennis in their spring. She is being eoached by her instructor and adviser, Eleanor Tennant. Aithough Amprican champion at the early age of 23, Miss Marble believes her tennis career has just started. "I do not believe I have half reached the top, ' ' Miss Marble told an interviewer. "I still have much to work for, and with that in naiiict I am returning south with Mjss Tennant, where I intend to praotise tbree or four times a week to improve my game."