Harriers

Shaw Baton Relay

We regret to have to report that the club unsuccessfully defended its hard-won title to the Shaw Baton, which was won this year by the Hutt Valley Harrier Club. However, Varsity fought every lap, indeed the first prospects seemed very bright and it was not until Noel Taylor of Hutt appeared over the hill at the end of the last lap that all hope was given up.

Things looked promising when Peter Whittle, who recorded seventh fastest time, ran an excellent lap to put us in third place. Noel Currle, an ex-Poverty Bay rep., and still a junior, took over, moved up into first place and handed over to Max Clift. Max hung on to the lead and handed over to John Mawson who retained the lead until the last 300 yards. Here the Hutt man, judging his time nicely, moved up and Varsity was in second place when John Holden started on the second to last lap. He recorded the tenth fastest time for the race, but was unable to catch his seasoned opponent; in spite of his meteoric descent of the last slope, the gap bad been increased sufficiently to give a good start to Taylor. It was just enough to allow him to scrape home ahead of the club champion Clem Hawke, who clocked the amazing time of 5min. 52sec, for the distance of just over a mile. Had Hawke been slightly closer to Taylor at the beginning of his lap the issue would never have been in doubt.

But as a whole the team ran well, completing the course in 37min. 16 sees, as against 35 min. 53sec. last year. The fastest time was turned in by Hawke and while thhe average time was 6min. 29sec, the average of the Varsity "A" team was 6min. 11 sec.

A "B" team was also entered. Latham, Shaw, Matheson, Handcock, Keesing and Gully running for the College. Starting off in 14th place. Matheson moved up to tenth, and Handcock to ninth, and the remaining two runners held on to this position until the end of the race. The team completed the course in 41min. 8sec., the best time being Paul Keesing's 6min. 45sec.

• • •

On the Floor

Some people at V.U.C. have found an ideal method of combating the winter cold, and not by the expensive methods of buying woollies, heaters or bottled warmth. The recipe is simple and the mixture interesting. Take one good coach (Not railway, a score or so of enthusiasts, and the required number of foils and masks, Place all these in the Gym twice weekly on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings let them simmer for two or three hours, and the result is V.U.C.'s one [unclear: are] bet at past Winter Tournaments (and we hope, at the forthcoming contest of skills)the Swords [unclear: club] in operation.

At every club meeting, solid ground work—ahem! foil work—is put in at classes and at individual tuition, and the remainder of the time is spent in fighting (it's really very friendly) and in judging and refereeing the bouts. In this way our coach, Mr. Dickson, is ensuring that club members not only become good fencers, but that they learn the finer points of corner-judging, match conduct and the intricacies of this academic and formal, hut nevertheless vigorous and athletic, sport.

Opportunities for practice bouts with outside clubs have been better this year. We have already spent some pleasant, if fiery, evenings with fencers from the Wellington Swords and the Technical College Swords Clubs, and the fighting experience will be invaluable to prospective. Tournament nominees. It's a pity this typewriter has not a key for the crisp salute with which we end our fencing activities.

Women's Hockey

Senior A v. Toa. Lost 5-2.

The team hadn't played for three weeks owing to byes and bad weather, and when they took on Toa last Saturday they were suffering from lack of fitness. This was particularly noticeable in the half line. At half time Varsity was leading 2-1, but in the second half the team went to pieces and resulted in the final loss of 5-2. The play was notable for its lack of enthusiasm and the Senior A's are reminded that Tournament is coming off soon and a noticeable improvement is expected.

Reserves v. Tech. Old Girls. Lost 2-0.

Ten V.U.C. and 8 T.O.G. wandered reluctantly on to Wakefield Park to do battle on the bitterly cold Saturday afternoon of the 17th. After 20 minutes play the T.O.G. goalie expired with cold and was carried off the field. This provided some divertissement for at least 5 minutes (giving the team a chance to have a rest) but V.U.C. was not impressed by this display and in a quarter of an hour, by dint of some tricky stickwork they managed to lay out the second goalie. There were now 10 of us and 6 of them. Definitely a Poor Thing. So we lent them Bice Young of the Senior A, and guess what? They beat us 2-0! Could it be due to lack of practice?

Senior B's a Bye. (Lucky Devils)

Juniors v. Petone. Draw 2-all

The one bright spot in this week's results was the draw by the Juniors with Petone. Both goals were well scored and the hitting generally was consistently good. Play to the right has definitely borne fruit for this team and probably too, they get encouragement from, you know who, Juniors (I am not allowed to mention her name in Salient again) who runs up and down the sideline yelling abuse.

All members of the W.H.C. are thanked for the support which they gave to the Wellington Association raffle. This was particularly good in view of the fact that the club had been stung before (not to mention the rest of Varsity).

This Saturday (24th) a team, a mixture of Reserves. Senior B's and Juniors, will travel to Christchurch to play the annual invitation match with Canterbury College. There will be a short game in the morning with Christchurch Training College to accustom Wellington players to Christchurch grounds, and the match with C.U.C. will take place in the afternoon. Tired and weary bods will come back on Monday night's boat.

Tramping Club Hut:

Progress Report

A small party of keen bods splashed their way through Tauherenikau's mud last weekend with a load of timber and building supplies for the new hut. Continual rain made work at the site out of the question, so they returned to the Chateau Tau-herenikau for indoor amusements. As things stand at present, the main framework of the hut is completed. The next step will be the adding of the roof. Have you ever added a roof to anything? Neither have we, so don't let a feeling of inferiority in matters connected with building hold you back from being in on one of the working parties to be held in the near future. Useful work can be done even on the wet weekends, as there's still plenty to be carried into the hut-site.

Rugby

Since the last notes were written the various teams have been pursu ing the even tenors of their ways; some winning, some (unfortunately) losing.

Seniors: A 13-0 loss to Hutt, when 8 of the regular men were absent, either in Auckland or injured, was sustained on July 10; and on July 17 Johnsonville were well beaten—16-3. The form shown by the team, and by several individuals in this game, is most encouraging, both for the remainder of this season and for next year.

It is very pleasing to see that the critics seem to think a lot of one of Victoria's three NZU representatives. The comments on the NZU v. Auckland game!

Junior A. This team, unfortunately playing one short, turned on a very good game to draw with Poneke (the championship leaders) on July 10, and had a bye on July 17. The demands on the Seniors for players to replace those injured and indisposed for other reasons, have never allowed this team, which looked so promising at the beginning of the season, to settle down.

Junior B. The A and B teams in this section have been going along quietly, without great success. The B team has been having difficulty in fielding a full team, largely because of the fact that the players who cannot turn out on Saturdays, do not take the trouble to let either their coach or the team's officer know their intentions.

Third A. This team has continued on its winning ways (ouch) by beating Makara 9-3 and Onslow 15-3. Not since the third game, and only twice before that has its line been crossed—a very proud record. They are scheduled to meet the competition leaders at Miramar on July 24—the club wish them good luck.

Third B. This side has had two more wins, though rather narrow ones, and lies now one point behind the competition leaders, with every prospect of improving its position by the end of the season. It is well over a month since a try was registered against the team.

Third C. The A team had a win against Makara and a loss against Poneke and the luckless B's, two more losses—one a very heavy one when playing short-handed. The C committee would like to appeal to all members who have temporarily given up the game to reconsider their decisions, and turn out, if only for one Saturday, to help this team along. Would anyone who can possibly help please get in touch with B. H. Peters, phone 24-177.

No club notes would be complete without reference to the club's loss, by the death of Professor Kirk, a patron, a life-member and one of its oldest and most enthusiastic supporters. He will be remembered for many years, especially by the older members of the club for his many acts of courtesy and kindness.

Women's Basketball

Alt basketball teams have improved greatly this season. The Senior B team have had several wins lately and last week they defeated Tech 18-2. However, because some of the players were held up by the local tram service and arrived late they had to default the game, although their win was well deserved.

The Intermediate A team have also been winning and defeated Wellington Taxis 19-9 last Saturday even though the game was played in the rain. Three members of this team have been selected for the Wellington reps. Congratulations go to Val Berry the captain, Lance Colquhoun, Shirley Hicks and Alison Richards of the Senior B team who have been selected for the Senior B reps.

Our junior teams have been playing consistently although there is still room for improvement. If more members of the club turned out for practice on Monday nights we should end the sesaon with some very good results.