ATHLETICS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 150, 21 December 1929, Page 24

ATHLETICS

Mr "spßiNTrtf

HOLIDAY ATTRACTIONS

BOXING DAY MEETING

OTHER GATHERINGS AHEAD

The big attraction locally for athletes and cyclists during the main holiday period will be tho meeting at the j Basin Reserve on Boxing Day after-1 noon, Thursday next. Special pre- ] paration has been made to make this gathering a success, and with suitable weather conditions it should be so. In addition to the local athletes, and cycliste,. there will be champions from other parts of the Dominion in action —T. Oakley, F. Grose, Miss Barron, and A. J. Elliott, of Auckland. ■ Miss E. Martyu, the present New Zealand I ladies' 100 yards champion, was also to have appeared, but tho latest advice from Christchurch is that owing to a cold she had to spell oil from her training work, and will, not be. able to compete at.-:tho-big Wellington meeting. -While ..Miss : Martyn's presence would hayo. given added interest to the ladies' events, the local talent available in all sections, together with the noted performers from other centres, should be capable of providing very acceptable fare.. ,

The next meeting after the Boxing Day gathering will be the Paraparauniu Club's fixture on the Paraparaumu Domain on New Year's Day, following which there will be the "Wellington Club's meeting on 11th January on the Occasion of the visit to Wellington of a team from the Wanganui Club. The Wellington Club will send a team to Wanganui to pay a return visit the following Saturday. On 29th January the Olympic Club will be holding a meeting at tho Basin Eeserve, for which arrangements have been finalised. It is hoped that at this meeting Oakley, Grose, Miss Martyn, and Miss Barron will be among the competitors. Day Out of Town.' ' - For some years past tho .Paraparaumu Club's meeting on New Year's Day has been well patronised, and doubtless the club's eleventh annual gathering on Ist January next will be as equally popular as previous fixtures. It provides an enjoyable day and an appreciable change of air, and what is more, competitors and visitors to the ground are always s/to of a warm, sincere welcome. The advance sheet which "Sprinter" has received states that the meeting will be held irrespective of weather conditions. Entries for all events aro free, and as tho programme is a comprehensive one, with good trophies, there will be no lack of competition for athletes desiring to be on the mark on the holiday. The open events are as follow: 100 yards handicap, 220 yards handicap, 440 yards handicap, 880 yards handicap, one mile handicap, 120 yards hurdles, one mile walk, 100 yards junior' handicap, ro.O yards junior handicap, ' 440 yards junior handicap, SSO yards junior handicap, 120 yards ladies' handicap, 100 yards ladies' 'handicap, ladies' 50-yards dash, high jump, long jump, .hdp-step-and-jump, putting the shot'(post entry), throwing the hammer (post entry), one mile inter-club relay race (post entry), and in addition there will be events for local schoolboys and athletes, married ladies' and men's races,. as well as some guessing competitions. Except in the case of the events specified above, entries for the open contests close with Mr. J. O'Sullivan, c/o James Smith, Ltd., on Monday. . .:. , '

A special train will leave Wellington at 8.44 a.ni',, and, it will leave Paraparaumu.at 6 p.m. for Wellington. Lermond, Smart Performer. The fame of Dr. Otto Peltzor, the great German runner, is widely known. He is one of the world's best. Leo Lerniond, tho American, who is reported to be going to Australia too this season, also has a fine record. Competing for the Boston A.A. at a big meeting, in; Philadelphia a few months baefe,.L6rni.pnd,'in .a special mile race, won; by 7 . eight- yards in 4ntin 14 3-ssec, two "seconds outside the American outdoor record and 4 l-ssee outside Paavo Nurmi 's world's' record.

. Incidentally, at the same meeting a twenty-two-year-old sprinter, of Ohio State University, by name George Simpson, registered notable performances. This is what was penned about him: "George Simpson showed Philadelphia's largest track crowd a masterpiece Of sprinting when he equalled the world's record of 9 3-ssee, smashed the carnival record of 9.4-ssee, made by the great Arthur .Duffy, of Georgetown, twenty-nine' years ago, and led OhioState to a second-shattering triumph in the half-mile . relay championship of America." Looking to Lost Laurels. The winning back of the New Zealand titles they have held in the past is .what Mr; Sid. Murray, dub captain of.the Wellington Club, is keen to see C. H. Jenkins and J. T. Fleming accomplish at the National meeting in Wanganui in March next. He is giving the pair special attention, and each is particularly keen to regain the lost laurels, having settled down to steady training. Fleming, who has the best performance by a New Zealander to his credit for the quartermile, viz., 50see, lost the title for the event to A. W. Fiudlay (Otago) at the last Now Zealand championship meeting. Jenkins won tho New Zealand 100 yards title at Dunedin in the 1923-24 season, but, although he has always been in the picture, he has not been successful in winning it since* However, he may do the trick this year and if he does the win will be most popular. Notes. E. B. Smith, the ex-Victoria College representative, had an afternoon out at a meeting held in Auckland recently. From the s*-yds mark, Smith won the 100 yards handicap nicely from A. J. Elliott and dead-heated with KenTaylor in a 300 yards handicap. J. H. Wade is ridin<? well in Auckland. At a .ecent meeting, besides scoring victories in the half-mile heat and finals, ho was second, <• wheel behind tho winner, in the one mile handi cap. In the first heat of this event Wade registered 2min 20 3-ssec, which is claimed to bo the fastest mile recorded by any ridnr in Auckland for a period extending over se-\en years. Miss I. Proctor is this season's "find" as far a3 lady athletes go, and j as she is a rapidly improving runner she 'only requires a little moro training and experience to take high honours, says a Napier writer. She is a particularly strong finisher, and when she has learned the art of changing batons will be hard to head off in volay events.