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Athletic Sports.

Although by Monday the weather had improved considerably, the running track on the Domain was still very heavy, and was, moreover, in rough condition. These two factors probably account for the fact that the times were slow, and (with the exception of the High Jump) no records were broken.

The attendance of the general public was as usual with Sports' Meetings in Auckland disappointingly small, and we fear that the Belgians will derive a minus quantity of help from this source. While on this topic one cannot help remarking the manner in which the various Tournament events were neglected by the rank and file of the Auckland students. With the exception of a few top notch enthusiasts who work like Trojans to keep things going, there seems to be a terrible indifference on the part of the majority to things sporting and social. Perhaps, however, glass-house dwellers should not throw stones, as there is a good percentage of drones in our own College hive.

With regard to V. U. C.'s performance, let it be said forthwith that in spite of winning our usual events—the long distances—we were unable to rid ourselves of the Wooden Spoon. In the sprint events our men met with no success, but showed promise of developing into useful men for next year. While there were in our team one or two obvious cases of lack of training, the more general fault (?) was that of lack of experience—ignorance of the arts of the game. Keenness will soon remedy this. The most obvious fault of all was the slowness with which our sprint men got off the mark; it is better to gain a foot off the mark than try to burst for a yard at the tape.

Taking the events seriatim, the Sports commenced with the Shot-putting; this was a pleasure to watch by reason of the number of splendidly built men it brought into the field. As usual in the field events, Otago scored an easy win both here and in the Hammer Throwing. Our men, Kay and Greville, with more practice page 67 and more vigour, should both be heard of in these events, as they have the weight and the length of reach required.

In the Mile Championship, Hudson was badly needed to make the pace a bit hotter. However, as Williams won easily from Richards, who in the following week won the Championship of Canterbury, our win was a meritorious one.

The 220 Championship was one of the best races of the day, and, like most of the sprints, proved to be a Canterbury win. The slowness of our men in getting away was very noticeable here.

The Hurdles events were of a somewhat "tired" nature; the heats and the finals were alike run off in a nice gentle quiet way, and with the possible exception of Bowden (C.U.C.), there was not a man in them with any great amount of dash. Bowden won the 120 and the 440 Hurdles. It was a pity that Strack and Stewart were absent from the Tournament, as many of us looked forward to their meeting again in these events. The wildest excitement was evoked by the 440 Hurdles, as it was the last race on the programme which counted for points for the Shield, and prior to it there was only half a point between Auckland and Canterbury.

The Three Mile dragged its weary twelve laps with but little competition, resulting in an easy win for Williams Greville, we fear, carries too much weight ever to make a long distance man.

The High Jump was the only record broken, Bowden, of Canterbury, being the winner with a jump of 5ft. 6 ¾ in. Forsdick, of Auckland, who came second, also gave a very fine exhibition of clean, graceful jumping. Bowden was a surprise packet of Canterbury's, scoring more wins than any other man on the ground. He has many more Tournaments for which he will be eligible, so will give Canterbury a lift along for some years.

The Mile Walk was a gift to Sievwright, with Thomas, of Auckland, second, and the rest nowhere. Thomas's arm action was most peculiar to watch.

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Intense excitement was caused by the Relay Race. Although this did not count for the Shield, the rivalry between the Colleges was very keen. We of V.U.C. almost shouted ourselves speechless, as it looked as if we were going to carry it off. Our last man, however, had had just a little too much ginger taken out of him in his earlier egorts.

The Tug-of-War also roused considerable excitement. The first tug, between V.U.C. and C.U.C., was one of the longest and strongest tugs the writer has seen on grass, V.U.C. proving the winner, thanks to the judicious direction of De La Mare and Quartley, two of our old Tournament men, who took great interest in the Tournament in general, and the Tug-of-War in particular. In the pull-off with Otago, the heavy-weight products of "parritch" were too much for us.

The Mufti Race was a bright little interlude, not conspicuous for a display of athletic prowess.

Summed up, this year's Sports contest, in spite of the individual performances being for the most part mediocre, was yet one of the closest contests held for years past. The joy of Canterbury in winning the Shield was only equalled by their annoyance when earlier in the afternoon the notorious Easter egg met with disaster at the hands of one of our partisans.