Athletics

The overall standard at the NZU track and field meeting held on the Saturday and Monday of Easter weekend at the Basin Reserve was very high, in fact the highest seen at such a meet for a number of years. Some of New Zealand's finest athletes were seen in action and five NZU records were broken. There were by Doris May (CUC) in the women's 100, Margaret Mellsop (AUC) in the women's high jump, W. Travers (AUC) in the mile, R. G. Ball (CUC) in the shot and Murray Jefferies (AUC) in the high jump. The winners of the NZU Athletic Shield were Auckland, with Otago second and Canterbury third. In the womens' section, Auckland were again the winners, with Otago and Canterbury second equal.

Victoria won only two events, both in the mens hurdles events. G. Hourigan was successful in the 440 hurdles and B. Jordan from Massey in the 120 hurdles with Hourigan taking second place. Place-getters for Victoria were J. Barry (3rd in long jump, 3rd in hop, step and Jump), I. Hyslop (2nd in hop, step and jump, 3rd in high jump), R. Irwin (3rd in 220), B. Honiss (3rd in 220 hurdles), G. Stevens (2nd in three miles) and the sprint relay team which took third place.

Outstanding performances at the meeting were Murray Jefferies' high jumping, Peter Smiths' sprinting which won him three titles, R. G. Ball's shot putting and Warren Travers' fine distance running. After the meeting had concluded an NZU athletic team to tour Australia was announced and appears to be a very strong one which should perform creditably across the Tasman.