AMATEUR ATHLETICS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 943, 9 April 1930, Page 14

AMATEUR ATHLETICS

MEETING AT PAPATOETOE SUCCESSFUL CARNIVAL S The officers of the Papatoetoe Amateur Athletic and Cycling- Club have every reason to be satisfied with the third and final carnival of the season, which was held on the Papatoetoe recreation ground on Saturday afternoon. The attendance of the public was a record for the district and those j present witnessed some keenly fought ; finishes. The lengthy programme was disposed of well up to schedule time under the able direction of Mr. W. J. Hindman, president of the club. Additional interest was added to the fixture on account of the appearances of the members of the Manukau Amateur Cycling club, who attended in force and provided a number of thrilling events. In the half-mile provincial championship Watt ran a well-judged race and always looked a winner. Montgomery finished well, but left his run rather late. Barker was well up until the last furlong and ran a very fair race. Beady, athough he ran a fine race out in front, would have done better had he not tried to win from end to end. He finished on to make a place with Barker, after appearing to be well gone a hundred yards from the post. Bellingham ran a fair race and was not far away. The time of 2m 24-5 s was a great run on the track, which should be at least three seconds slower than the Domain. C. F. Sontgen proved to be “a good thing” in the 100yds maiden handicap, winning his heat and the final comfortably. R. Whitten ran a good race for a beginner, finishing up well in second place. J. G. Stow was close up third. S. B. Snelling in his heat was a bit unlucky in not catching the judge’s eye and qualifying for the final. WHITE’S WIN IN THE HUNDRED, A. J. Elliott won his heat in the 100yds open handicap in easy fashion, hut was just out of a place in the final. A. T. White won from Warren after a good race, with M. O’Shea right up third. The final of the 220yds saw the two Papatoeto9 boys, DaU’son and Smytheman. clap on the pace from the start and finish in that order. L. H. Meredith ran a great race into third place, putting up a very attractive performance. The 440yds handicap saw the smallest field of the day. J. T. Mitchell lasted long enough to stall off L. H. Meredith, who ran another fine race from the back mark. MITCHELL’S SECOND WIN In the half-mile handicap a big field faced the starter. Two hundred yards from home the winner was well concealed, but turning into the straight J. T. Mitchell asserted himself and, finishing strongly, won by four yards from W. A. Briggs and K. Spragg. The mile handicap produced 20 starters. For two laps the field was well bunched. In the third lap A. B. Browne slipped the field and obtained a good break. N. F. Cooper could be seen rapidly overhauling the field. Blow was also running strongly. Entering the last lap, Browne was 40 yards out, with Cooper in hot pursuit, but although he decreased the gap, he failed to reach Browne, who won well. Cooper put up an excellent performance. The women’s race saw 10 face the starter. Miss Gladys Billington. from half a yard, ran strongly, gaining the decision from Miss Jean Cowling, 3yds, by a yard. Mrs. A. Hunter, nee Miss Dick, a well-known performer, finished in third place from scratch. AMONG THE CYCLISTS The first heat of the half-mile cycle handicap was won by E. Andrews, who

was closely followed in by W. H. Thompson and E. A. Cleaver. In the second heat E. Mullane put up a good performance and gained the decision over J. H. Wade by a wheel. L. B. Roberts and L. H. Dwight were well up. The final was a very closely contested event. Mullane shot past the post just ahead of Roberts and Andrews. The final of the one-mile cycle handicap was full of thrills from start to finish. The riders were well bunched for the first three laps, and with 220 yards to go J. Whitten took the lead and it looked a foregone conclusion for him until L. B. Roberts flashed past and led the field past the post by a wheel. Whitten put in a desperate challenge to gain supremacy, but had to be satisfied with second place. L. Aldred was a length and a-half back, third. The two-mile cycle handicap was the spectacular event of the day. About 12 riders faced the starter and during the seventh lap, when the back markers were clapping on the speed ant manouvring for position, one of the bunch fell and brought down six competitors. The finish was closely corntested between F. J. Casey and R. R. Watson, who filled first and second places respectively, with C. Francis third. ■