Winter Athletics at the Domain

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 135, 29 August 1927, Page 10

Winter Athletics at the Domain

CLARKE WINS THE DOUBLE CLOSE STEEPLECHASE FINISH Alt. Clarke, the veteran run** won the -double’’ again at the ?,?' land Amateur Athletic and pS* Club’s winter sports meeting held ® the Outer Domain on Saturday aft at noon. uer * Starting from the limit mark in first heat of the 75yds lianrii e Clarke was beaten by Roper Sf 4 ® 1 finish which was so close that * thought they had dead-heated In the final, however. Clarke earn? ; first, a bare touch ahead of with W. Watt third. per - Buckley Kirkwood, and \dam finished in that order in the *sec o r<i heat, and it is curious to notice that none of them figured in the final. NINE MEN FALL OUT The steeplechase was run over a u mile course, being a mile shorter than usual. Sixteen men faced the starter but by the end of the first round, seven of them had run off, and half a round later two others fizzled out. u When Clarke, the limit man,Vas overtaken by Watt, it appeared that his end had come. No one expected the veteran to have in store enough energy to enable him to take the lead again. Greene ran well to start with, and went round the flag the first time third He did not improve his condition, however, and finished fourth. Henshall, too, was not as fit as usual Being virtually the scratch man. he had a hard task to face. He closed up a good deal in the early part of th* race, but after that remained only steady. B. F. White performed very well, and on Saturday’s form, should have more than a “look in’’ at the crosscountry championships on September 10. His sprint up the straight to hit the tape neck and neck with Clarke provided the closest finish seen in a steeplechase event this year. Interest in the field events was lacking and competitors had to content themselves with a discus throw— the 161 b. shot was missing. Shirley hurled the discus 99ft 7in, to be beaten by an inch by W. Stewart. It was a fine performance, especially when it is considered that Shirley was without his running shoes. The following are the results: 75 YARDS HANDICAP First Heat H. S. Roper (Ciyds.) 1 A. Clarke (17.1yd5.) 2 \V. Watt (11yds.) •.•••• 3 Won by inches, with "Watt six inches away third. Six started. Time, Sscc. Second Heat T. A. Buckley (81yds.) 1 R. G. Kirkwood (71yds.) 2 F. Adams (16yds.) 3 Six started. Inches both ways. Time, Bsec. Final A. Clarke (171yds) 1 H. S. Roper (31yds.) 2 W. Watt (11yds.) 3 Won bv a touch. Roper ran strongly, but. failed to catch the veteran. Time, 7 4-ssee. THROWING THE DISCUS W. Stewart (55ft. 6in.). 99ft. Bin 1 J. W. Shirley (scr.), 99ft. 7in 2 W. E. Eizzard (46ft.), 99ft. lin 3 STEEPLECHASE Abcut 11 Miles A. Clarke (85sec.), 9.49 .. 1 B. F. White. (48sec.). 9.49 1-5 2 W. Watt (70sec.). 9.51 2-5 3 J. Greene (70see.). 10.5 * E. P Henshall (30sec.), 10.6 2-5 .. .. 5