NOTES BY AHATEUR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 57

NOTES BY AHATEUR.

The New Zealand University Colleges' Athletic Championships will be decided at the Carisbrook Ground on Easter ' Monday

(April 20). The second annual .meeting- of the Congregational Harriers' Club will be held next Tuesday' evening. ' The secretary informs me that the club's first season- can' only be characterised as being very successful, * the average attendance having been a fraction over 14 per week, while on one occasion 23 runners mustered. It is confidently hoped to improve this excellent N start -n the coming season. » The Schools' Championsnip meeting will be held on the Caledonian Ground on Saturday. April 4. "Preliminary programmes are being issued to the schools this week. The following are the open events: 120 Yards Hurdles, 220 Yaj-ds Flat, Hal*mile Flat, One-mile Flat, an<* Relay Race for teams of four, each man to run a, quarter. . The Civil Service H. and a..A.C's recent

sports meeting resulted in a net profit of £21— a. highly satisfactory result to a capi-tallT-Tun meeting. - Mr G. W. Brown, of the ,Civil Servics Club, leaves this week for Balclutha, where • he "will be relieving for a month. . / The Australasian Athletic Chansp'ionships were concluded at Hobart on Monday amid a blase of athletic glory as far as New Zealand is concerned. It was generally recognised that New Zealand had despatched a particularly strong combination to do- battle at the great classic gathering at Hobart, but the team has probably surpassed expectations, and the Dominion has good cause for congratulations on the performances of its 1908 -athletic teamIn last week's notes I allowed that New South Wales, with the University sprinter, Nigel Barker, in form, had a big claim on the sprint .events— the 100, 220, 440 Yards. Barker justified the faith placed in Mm by winning- all three eventsr^demonstrating in a particularly decided manner yrhai a splendid all-round man he really is. Harry Henderson, our only representative in' the 100 Yards, was evidently " run out," - otherwise he might have gained a place in the first three. Barker, does not appear to have had much in hand at the finish, foe it was -*cry olose, Morgan, of Tasmania, pushing- the New South Wales representative to the tape. The time. 10 l-sseo, is a fairly solid performance, and was evidently something Henderson was unequal to. By the way, Barker has now won the Australasian " Hundred" three times in 'succession: 1904, 10 I^s; 1905, 10 ZS; 1908, 10 1-s— a splendid performance. Coming to the 220 Yards, we had exr pected Fisher, of WeUiraton,- to run into •« place, he heing the only New Zealander who bod '*' reasonable chance in this event, udsts^te include Trembath, of Gore, ana •at thu distance it is impossible to say if Trembath started. Anyway, here Again we find Nigel Barker, of New South Wales, breasting the tape a winner in 22 3-s|ec, which is l-s*ec under standard. Barker «opears-to have won comfortably, for we

find lay, of Queensland, uncl Morgan, of Victoria, dead-heating, six yards worse. In the run-off for second place Morgan won easily in 24sec. The \time for the second man in the final suggests that Fisher was not footing it, otherwise he outfit to have got a place. The fashionable Quarter, one of the best races on the programme, was generally voted a> gift to Barker, and once again we find the Welshman running up to his- reputation and annexing the Quarter chamjpionship. Fieher, our representative in this race, seeine to have run pretty well, albeit he finished 13yds behind the winner. Barker, as usual, was the first to get away, but, was displaced by Davis (Vie.) ana Fisher .(N.Z.) When within 100 yds of the tape Barker made hie run, and won "easily" in 51sec, or lsec ineide 6tandard. Davia, who beat Fisher by three yards, also got under standard, which makes it a fairly good run. ' . ■ I had expected to ccc Tremfcath figuring in the Quarter, but maybe the Gore athlete did not start. However, we ■shall know all about that next anail. There was nothing better whichever tray one looked than Trembath for the Halfmile, though reports of a phenomenal half by Barker again set us thinking of this versatile athlete. Personally, I did not lose faith in the New Zealand representative. The time, 2min l-ssec, is not what might be termed fast for the classic meeting, for one has only to look back op past performances to realise the possibilities of the -distance. In the three previous champion- ■■ ships the Half was won under 2min. By the way. I notice that the .•defeat of Barker in the Half came as a surprise. A greater surprise to us in New Zealand would have ; been the defeat of the Maoriland represen- ■ tative, Trembath. Concerning the Mile Flat little need be said. Trembath does not appear \o "have competed^ in this' event, and our only representative was the ex-Otago man Sharpe, : who is rather a long-distance runner. How- ■ ever, Sh«r.pe ran into fourth place, with ' Glemes" (Tasmania) the winner by a foot in 4min 38sec. The fact that the race was won by a foot shows bow close it was. : The time suggests that the Mile would have ! been a good thing for Burk had he been j able to make the trip. ' i New Zealand was prominent in the Threemile Flat with Sharpe, who won the longdistance event in 15min 36sec, or 6sec over standard. This also must have been a good race, for Sharpe. is reported to have won by a. yard and a-half only. I rather fancied the Victorian representative Blake for this event, but he appears to have died away after leading for a considerable distance. ~ Provided he satisfied the judges, .there was no one else in the One-mile and Threemile Walks save Hi Kerr, of Wellington. The fact of Mr B. Coombes. who disaualified Kerr at Christchurch, and who is the Tecognised authority in walking in Australasia, being the judce- at HobaTt is sufficient guarantee- that Kerr walked fairly, bearing out the opinions expressed here after his /showing at the D.A.A.C. sports a few weeks ago. Kerr won both the Mile and Three-mile, and in both events he had as second man the Christehuroh representative Stubberfield. Kerr was evidently taking no chances of being disqualified, for Ms time in both events is outside standard. New Zealand had two representatives in the 120 Yards Hurdles— Cook, of Nelson, and Murray, of Canterbury. It was not expected that either would get a place in this event apinst Stewart, of New South .Wales, .and Davis, of Victoria, .though. Murray appears to have run well in his heat. Stewart and Davis ran a dead heat on Saturday in 16 l-ssec, and in the run off on Monday the judges were again unable to separate -them in 16 2-ssec. This incident is probably unique in championship history. In the Quarter Hurdles Murray, of Canterbury, was reckoned to have a good chance with two dangeroua men in Stewart, of New South Wales, and Davis, of Victoria.. The New Zealander ■ performed up to expectations, winning the event in 58 2-ssec. with Davis second and Stewart third. The time- is under standard. New Zealand was not looked to have a chance outside the Pole Vault and the fligh Jump in the field events alongside the other "powers." Although the exOtago footballer, L. M'Kay, won the Broad Jump at the New Zealand Championship Meeting bis performance was not class enough against the beat of Victoria and New Soutn" Wales. D&vies (of Victoria) won the event with 20ft 9in; Barker (New South Wales), 20ft 2£in, second; and M'Kay (New Zealand), 19ft lO^in, third, i The jumps are not phenomenal, though fair performances. One of the bast efforts at the meeting was the sft lOin of Orbell (of Canterbury) in the High Jump. Orbell was up against some good men from Queensland and New South Wales, but the way he jumped at the D.A.A.C. meeting when he created fresh figures for -New Zealand convinced tihose who saw the effort that he had a big chance at Hobart. Orbell'e jump at Hobart is better than %ie best New Zealand performance, but it falls short of the Australasian record of sft lliin by J. P. English (of New South Wales). The effort that eclipsed all others at the meeting- was M'Kay's lift lin for the Pole Vault, beating the previous Aus^ tralasian record of lift £in by Hori Ernera (of Auckland) by Jin. The Queenslander Frawley must have jumped well to do lift. In the Weight-putting and Throwing the Hammer New Zealand was reckoned to -have no chance — indeed, possibly the Dominion was unrepresented, though M'Kay may have had a go in both events. I am. however, quite prepared to hear that he did not compete. Possibly Queensland, with Kearney and Maher, and New South Wales with O'Reilly were the only representatives. The States divided up the honours. O'Reilly winning the Weight-put-ting with 38ft lOin. and Kearney the Hammer with 125 ft Tin. In all New Zealand won seven championships out of 13 in which they were represented, as thus: — Half-mile, Trembath, 2min 0 l-53ei; Threemile, Sharpe, 15min 36seo; One-mile Walk, Kerr, 7min 23 3-saeoj Three-mile- Walk, Kerr, 23min 55 3-seec; High Jump, Orbell, sft lOin; Pole Vault, M'Kay, lift lin; 440 Yards' Hurdles, Murray, 68 2-sseo. In addition Stubberfield was second in the Mile and Three-mile Walks, Sharpe was fourth in the Mile, and Fiaher received third place Jn the Half. . The BUcoew achieved by the New Zealand representatives at the Australasian Championship Meeting has set people talk-

[ ing over the selection of the team. It will be remembered that the New Zealand • 1 Council appointed three gentlemen to select the team to represent the Dominion, and selected Stubberfield, Orbell, Henderson, Tretobath, and Murray. The Wellington Centre were up in arms over the exclusion of Kerr, promptly organised what might be called a Wellington team, and sent the redoubtalbe walker, with Sharpe, Len M'Kay, and Fisher to keep him company, while the Nelson folks cent Cook. In analysing the wins it will be seen that the council' s selection won three cham pionships, while the Wellington selection j won four. New Zealand would have lost 1 the proud distinction its representatives have achieved had the team as selected by , the council been the sole representatives. The council ol Hhe N.Z.A.A.A. is instituting inquiries respecting the qualifications , of a competitor at the New Zealand championship meeting. Owing to Tumours to the effect that Trembath had forfeited his amateur status by entering for a professional event, it is reported that before the New Zealand j team left the Bluff for Hoba/rt Mr^J. E. Green, the .manager, insisted on .Jthe j middle-distance champion making a statu- j tory declaration that lie had never in any way infringed his amateur status. It is believed in some quarters that Trembath ; will go over to the professionals on his i return to New Zealand. ''■ | A. JS. M. Rowland has written from London feo the hon. secretary of the N.Z.A.A.A., offering to represent New Zealand at the Olympic Games. j A correspondent writes: — It may be of interest to know that a fine performance was recorded on Saturday afternoon by John Perry, «un amateur Jong-distance i walker, who covered 14' mites without a ' atop in 3br. This is reckoned not a bad i performance, considering One present state j of the^ roads in «4he country iuet now. j Perry intends shortly to walk through to j ! lavercargill. ! i The relations between the amateurs and professionals in Southland are evidently extremely amicable, and prior to the departure of the New Zealand team from the Bluff for Hobart the representatives of both branches of sport joined in entertaining the team and- giving them a send, off. On the New Zealanderjs' ' return from the Australasian Championship Meeting, Mr G. W. Woods, president of the New Zealand Athletic .Union, is making arrangements to take them out for a motor run, and if any of them can stay for a""day or so in Invercorgill the Irish Athletic Society, I understand, is prepared to con* sider the question of - putting on extra amateur events at its annual sports. The Otag-o Centre recently wrote the Canterbury Centre stating that it strongly objected to the council's interpretation of its rule regarding- the- making of new rules, and: would urge the council to submit, the matter to the Australasian Union for final decision. It was decided by the Canterbury Centre to support the Otago Centre. In test races .at the Melbourne University Oval in connection with the selection of the Victorian team to compete at the Australasian-. Championship Meeting. J. L. Davis won the 120 yds Hurdles in 16 l-seec and the 440 yds Flat in 50 4-ssec, both The sub- committee appointed by- the Victorian Amateur Athletic Association to inquire iato the olaims of runners prepared to compete in the 26-mile race jfrom Windsor to London, run in connection with the Olympic Games, to be held in July, hes \ recommended George Blake as the representative of Victoria for the long race, and that if sufficient funds' were forthcoming A'ltken should also be sent. The Amateur Athletic JJnion of Australasia will be informed of the association's action, And a request made to have Blake and Aitken. al«> Harvey, Sutton, and Robertson, o* Adelaide (now at Oxford), nominated as'the Australian representatives at the games. So far as New Zealand is concerned, it is to 'be presumed that C. M. Gilray (Otajro). the- latest of the Dominion's i Rhodes scholar* at Oxford, would be avail- j able to represent the Dominion at the Olympian Games in London, whilst every ; effort should be made to get Guy Haskins (now at the University of Pennsylvania) to represent New Zealand instead of the j United States of America. A match for the heavy-weight boxing championship of the world took place in London on February 10 between Tommy I Burns, the American fighter, who lately defeated the Englishman, " Gunner " Moir, j in 10 rounds, and Jack Palmer, of Newcastle, a well-known heavy-weight. The fight was held at Whitechapel, and was won by Burns in four rounds. The Beiclutha Harriers held a highly successful meeting last Wednesday, when tb&re was a large attendance of the public Hw witness the highly interesting programme provided. Event No. 1 was got off sharp at th advertised time — 6.15, and capital management kept things going throughout the evening. Moat of the honours fell to visitors, A. T. Pittaway. of Clinton, winning both the 100 yds and 220 yds-, while our old friend, R. E. Bust, of Gore, had to be content with no less than three seconds. Victor M'Donald was the best of the local men, winning the Half-mile in good style, and deadheating for second place in the final or the 100 yds with Holland,! of Gore. Splendid entries were received for all the races, but a number of competitors did not start. Still, athletes were present from Gore. Clinton, Dunedin, Milton, and from the Clutha district; «o that the meeting was a highly representative one. Balclutha is so centrally situated that a meeting held there can command much larger fields than in other provincial towns, and if the local olub carries out the intention of holding an afternoon meetiner at Easter it is certain that the venture will prove highly successful. The /following *re the results at last week's meeting:— looyds.— First heat: V. M'Donald (scr) 1, A. T. Pittaway (2yds) 2; faleo started — A. M'Namee (syds). J. Stephenson (6yds) : won on the tape. Time, 10 4-ssec. Second heat: F. Holland (syds) 1, R, E. Bus* (scr) 2; also started. W» O'Hara (Byds). Time lleec. Final: Pittaway 1, Holland and M'Donald, dead heat for second place. Won fairly easily.' Time, 10 4-ssee. 200yds.— First heat: Pittaway (4yds) 1, M'Donald (scr) 2; also started— T. Dallas (Byds), A. F. M'Murtrie (9yds), J. Stephenson (15yd»). Won by a few yards. Time, 25seo. Second heat: R. E. Bust (scr) 1, M'Nvmee (13yds) 2. A close finish. Time, 25seo. Final: Pittaway 1, Bust 2. Both the placed men beat the pistol badly, and M 'Donald was left at the post and did not run. Time, 24 3-sseo. Long Jump.— C. C. MrLachlan (bin) 18ft 64in,lj R. E. Bust (lft} 18ft 6in, 2; V. M'Donald (Ift) 17ft llin, S. Also com-

peted—A. T. Pittaway oin£ L. Newson (Ift 9ini. -. Half-mile.— V. M'Dbnald (scr) 1, R. E. fiuet (scr) 2, E. BeH (85yds), 3. Also started— D, N. Blaokie (25yds), T. Dallas (25yds), A. M'Murtrie (28yds), A. M'Namee " (35yds), J. Stenhenson j(4oyds!, P. Wilson (45yds), W. O'Hara (50yds), L. Newson (65yd6). The scratch men ran well, and soon overhauled the field, catching the limit roan* at the entrance to the straight, where M'Donald made his run and won by a few yards. Time, 2min 9sec. v