A BOOM TIME

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 284, 4 January 1930, Page 13

A BOOM TIME

(Notes by "Spike,")

MANY ATHLETIC MEETINGS GOOD COMPETITION

The present time of th© year is the boom penod for amateur athletics and cycling and sports meetings are frequenb just now. A big day ineeting was held in Napier on Boxing Dav and Waipukurau held a daylight carnival last.Saturday. The annual gatherings at Onga Onga and Dannevirke wer© held on New Year's Day and on tlie following day the Frasertown meeting was held. A hig progranimo was set down for to-day at th© annual meeting of the Heretaunga Club at Hastings. Th© Taradale Returnecl Sokliers' sports meeting takes place on Jannary 28. The programni© is one whicli justifies th© most optimistio forecast for the success of the meeting. .Tt appears, however, that there is wine doubt ahout ihe date, of tlie suhcentr© ■championsliips. These wer© sefc down for Gisborne this year, but the suggested date clashcs with a raco meeting there. As a result th© venue of the gathering may he changed. the napier meeting The Napier meeting on Boxing Day provided good sport, particularly in the whcel races, whicli were all exciting. Stephens, the Hastings star rider, won the Napier wlieel race in fine stvle from scratch, takiug the Swailes Cup. His victory was very pleasing, as h© has been riding well tliis year without gotting into the motiey. F. Eobson took tho one mile from a good mark and was second in the half-mile, whicli was won hy P. Robson. Thp, ladies' races wero excellent, the Hastings girls scoring a. fine win in the relay from tlie Napier team, tlius capturing th© Anui© Holden Cup won bv Napier lasL year. Miss Symes, of Hastings, won the 100 yards and Miss Minett the uovice. Griffin, the Technical College hoy, scored another 100 yards win, Fulford, th© Napier star, running into third place. Verrv, the Hastings star, wnn the 300 yards from Bird, tho Napier all-rounder, who was also second in tlie half-mile, whicli was won hy Angus, perhaps the most promising middle distance hov aboufc now. Arnott, of Bay View, won ihe higli jump from scratch, Bird, getting a sccoud placemeut in this evenfc also. Lindsay maintained his recent iiuprovenieut in the sliot putiing, liurling tlie hall 43 feet 41- inches. Not many in New Zealand could do better tban that. Amundsen again carried too many guns in the pole vault, but tbere is room for improvement in tbe staudard of tliis event. Probably tbat will com© to the competitoi's with more experience. waipukurau meeting Tlie day meeting of Waipukurau drew more people and better entries than the Napier meeting. They have a way of making things hoom in the "busy centre" and th© athletic club bids fair to be an eminent success. The ladies' events were well contested, the outstanding performanc© being that of JMiss R. Tong, of the Hastings Club, who won th© 75 yards and finished second in th© 100 yaVds to Miss P. Clark, a yonng "Waipukurau perfornier, who showed considerable promise. The Napier girls were on deck but fouiul the haudicaps too great. The half-mile cyele race was wortli going a long way to see, five riders crossing th© line almnsfc together, Ross ancl Canieron dead heating for first place. Ross also won tlie mile race. Bradlev, of Waipukurau, scored a double. winning the half. and quarter miles, O'Leavy , of Hastings, gaining place.s in both events. Gunn, a. promising runner from Napier, won tli© 220 yards from Bailey, of Waipawa, with Heaton, of Hastings, third. There was another splendid finish in the final of the men's 100 yards. Yanko ohtaining a narrow win for Waipukurau from Heaton and

Dailey, who tied for second place. The time was lOsec. from five yards. Stephens, of Hastings, followed up his riding success in the Napier wlieel race hy winning the two miles in good style. •i; * * overseas visitors >A couple of weeks ago the council of tho Ntnv Zealand Amateur Athletic Associution announeed that the Canadian tour was off, and now there coiues the advice that the American representative iMr Krogness) was unable to secure athleies lo leave on Christinas Day for New Zealand, so there is to li© no tour hy an. American team 1 While fwo hubhles have hursfc there is yefc a third remaining, and that conctrns tho possihl© extension of Dr. Otto Peltzer's Australian tour to this cnuutry. Whether the prospects of this evcntuating ar© brighb or not caxinofc he said with anv degree of certainty at th© present time. The council is in negotiation willi the Victorian A.A.A., but it is not saying very mucli ahout th© matter. From what can 1>© gathercd, howrever, it seems that th© Victorian people have submitted - som© ratlier prohibitivo terms. Jt appears tliafc tho council is only focussing atfcention on Pcltzer, appareutly considering tliat th© American, Leo Lermond, is not wortli whilc, lmt if tbat is th© position it would seem that a mistake is heing niade, for Lermond would h© an attraction. If Peltzer and Lermond ar© a.vailabl© on suitable terms they should he acceplable to the N.Z.A.A.A. Jlf * X lady runners Miss E. Hoyle, tlie star Napier lady runner, was not present to lielp along ihe team that defenderl th© Anui© Hnlden Eelay Cup against Hastings, being on a visit to Wellington. While in Wellington, Miss Hoyle had a run at the hig Boxing Day meeting, but did not meet with success, coining •fourtli in the 100 yards inviLation. Wellington reports say that she got awav well and sprinted impressively over lialf tlie distance, but faded away in th© lasb two chains. Her performaiice hears out the opinion oxpressed hy tliis writer that Miss Hoyle's clistances ar© 50 vards and 75 yards. Over a- greater lengtli than that her short stride does not enahl© her to finisb slrongly enough. It was ahundantly clear from th© pm-forruances in the ladies' events that the Dominioti lias some veiy fin© yonng sprinters. Miss Oalliuan, who has been running very well in Christchurch, showed that she is in the first clnss. She won ihe 75 yards liandicap. and was second in the 100 yards liandicap. In the principal event in th© ladies' section, liowevpr — the 100 yards invitation — she was beaten. bv Miss V. Barron, of Foxton, the present holder of the Wellington provincial titi©, and Miss J. Murray (Athletic) in a close finish. Miss Barron was very quicldy into her stride, gaining an excellent start, and vithstood a very strong challeng© hy Miss Murray, a. consistently good perfornier this season, who possihly v ill bo a serious contender for chanipionship honours. Miss Murray was also second to Misg Callinan in the 75 yards event.