Athletics and Cross-Country

and Pattinson, the Downside pair, by the odd game in five, and gave a repeat performance in the second round against Patterson and Halliwell, of Epsom. In the third round their opponents should have been the strong Eton pair, but owing to illness Eton had to scratch, thereby putting Parker and Fairweather into the semi-finals. In this game their opponents, J. Mansfield and M. J. Rivett-Carnoc, of Dartmouth, proved to be too strong for them and the School pair were beaten (3-0).

The result was very satisfactory as neither Parker nor Fairweather had played doubles for twelve months.

With little more than a fortnight at the end of term allotted to Athletics, we depended for its success more than ever upon fine weather, a gamble which came off, with the result that two weeks of intensive athletic training was experienced by all. The annual fixture with Ampleforth had necessarily to be abandoned, and everyone's efforts were concentrated on Standards alone.

Enthusiasm and rivalry between Houses seemed greater than ever, and no efforts were spared by the Houses in ensuring that every Tom, Dick and Harry gained as many standards as possible. Although the weather was often cold, .the track kept in very good condition, and the results were most creditable. To see a boy one day gain a low standard, then another day a medium standard in the same event, and finally a high standard when straining every limb and muscle, perhaps for the first time in his life, seemed to prove undoubtedly the enormous benefit which each boy can derive from such a system.

By comparison with previous years the House averages worked out astonishingly high, a result which could only have been achieved by the intensive competition which prevailed. The Grove maintained their early lead with an average of 12.12, followed by Temple 11.73, Rise 11.2, School House 10.0, and finally The Manor with 9.53 points per boy. No less than ten boys in the School gained the maximum number of Standards possible—in Set A : Parker (G.) and Graham (T.); in Set B : Goodburn (R.) and Kershaw (T.); and in Set C : Blincoe (G), Raylor (M.), Fairweather (S.H.), Ankers (T.), Robinson (T.), and Roe (T.). Eight more boys besides fell just short of maximum points by one, and five of these were interspersed amongst the younger age groups. namely Sets D and E.

And so, with the feverish activities of Standards once again successfully concluded, each House approached the grand finale of Sports Day with much speculation as to the ultimate result. The Standards had clearly shown that the athletic strength of the School lay in its intermediate age group (Set C), and in such outstanding athletes as Goodburn and Kershaw. Would Parker or Kershaw break the School long jump record? Would Goodburn, who had already unofficially broken the School half-mile record, live up to expectations? Would Frank, after being off the track for 2 years, make a come-back? What could be expected of Ankers, who had already broken the School Intermediate Mile Record? These were all questions foremost in our minds; all this had yet to be proved; but one thing was beyond doubt, that as a result of the Standards, Temple House entered upon Sports Day as hot favourites to win and retain the Athletic Shield. They were only six points behind The Grove, and they had particularly strong entries in the Intermediate group, besides many other useful athletes. Thus the "prophets" and the "know-alls" speculated more on the ultimate runners-up. Would it be The Rise or The Grove? And it was not until Sports Day that this issue could be predicted.

Sports Day was overcast and cold, by no means ideal for recordbreaking performances, but the wind was negligible. The track, in excellent condition, looked a picture, in spite of the severe strain to which it had been put in the past fortnight, and did great credit to Mr. Wallbank. But there was one blemish in the programme, one most regrettable omission; Goodburn was not to run, and so the hopes of The Rise gaining second place partly faded. So much had been expected of Goodburn; his running would undoubtedly have been the highlight of the meeting, and it was most sad to learn that an ankle sprained on the previous day prevented him from running. Frank, however, made his come-back all right, defeating Kershaw in both sprints, an exhibition of sheer determination and strength, but neither Parker nor Kershaw quite fulfilled expectations in the Long Jump, although Kershaw's jump of 19 feet 9 inches was one of the best Senior performances of the day. In the Intermediate group, where there was much healthy rivalry amongst so many promising individuals, three new records were established, viz. : Ankers' Half Mile in 2 mins. 17.4 secs., Blincoe's 440 yards in 57 secs., and Raylor's and Fairweather's High Jump, both at 4 ft. 104 ins. We shall have to wait another year before we shall be able to witness Goodburn's new record, without which other performances were generally good. Temple finally showed their real strength by walking away with both the Intermediate and Senior Relays, and gaining a lead of 29/ points clear of The Grove, with The Rise, in spite of being deprived of the services of Goodburn, only 9 points behind The Grove.

Standards : Manor 157; School House 165; Rise 185; Temple 194; Grove 200. Senior Mile: 1. Goodburn (R.); 2. Unwin (G.); 3. Slegg (T.); 4. Hannon (G.). Time : 4 mins. 52 secs. Inter. Mile: 1. Ankers (T.); 2. Wennington (G.); 3, Raylor (M.); 4. Robinson (T.). Time : 5 mins. 81/4 secs. (Record.) Senior 100 Yards : 1. Frank (M.); 2. Kershaw (T.); 3. J. M. Graham (T.). 4. Warrington (R.). Time : 10.9 secs. Inter. 100 Yards : 1. M. G. Roe (T.); 2. Tomlinson (M.); 3. James (R.); 4. R. M. Hodgson (G.). Time : 11.2 secs. Junior 100 Yards : 1. Markus (R.); 2. Harbottle (T.); 3. Weightman (M.); 4. Oldroyd (R.). Time : 12.2 secs. Senior High Jump:' 1. J. M. Graham (T.); 2. R. Parker (G.); 3. Unwin (G.); 4. Amos (R.). Height : 5 ft. 2* ins. Junior Long Jump : 1. Hawkins (R.); 2. Driver (S.H.); 3. Barker (M.); 4. Oldroyd (R.) and Youll (M.). Distance : 16 ft. 7 ins. Inter. Half Mile : 1. Ankers (T.); 2. Annequin (R.); 3. Wennington (G.); 4. Fairweather i(S.H.). Time : 2 mins. 17.4 secs. (Record.) Senior Half Hile : 1. Unwin (G.); 2. Kendell (G.); 3. Wye (S.H.); 4. Varley (T.). Time : 2 mins. 15.7 secs. Senior 220 Yards : 1. Frank (M.); 2. Kershaw (T.); 3. Slegg (T.); 4. Warrington (R.). Time: 24.6 secs. Inter. 220 Yards : 1. M. G. Roe (T.); 2. Blincoe (G.); 8. Robinson (T.); 4. James (R.). Time : 25.5 secs. Junior 220 Yards : 1. Markus (R.); 2. Harbottle (T.); 3. E. W. Stead (M.); 4. Spencer (M.). Time: 28 secs. Senior Long Jump : 1. Kershaw (T.); 2. Parker (G.); 3. Baker (S.H.); 4. Wall (R.). Distance : 19 ft. 9 ins. Inter. High Jump : 1. Fairweather (S.H.); 2. Raylor (M.); 3. Steele (T.) and Tomlinson (M.). Height : 4 ft. 104 ins. (Record.) Junior Cricket Ball : 1. De Little (M.); 2. R. H. Jackson (S.H.); 3. Haw (T.); 4. Coates (G.). Distance : 62 yds. 31- ins. Senior 440 Yards : 1. Slegg (T.); 2. Warrington (R.); 3. Parker (G.); 4. Whitehead (M.). Time : 56 secs. Inter. 440 Yards : 1. Blincoe (G.); 2. Ankers (T.); 3. James (R.); 4. Raylor (M.). Time : 57 secs. (Record.) Junior 440 Yards : 1. Hawkins (R.); 2. Palframan (M.); 3. Lochore (R.) and Weightman (M.). Time: 63.3 secs. Inter. Long Jump : 1. Robinson (T.); 2. Blincoe (G.); 3. Fairweather (S.H.); 4. Chadwick (M.). Distance : 16 ft. 11 ins. Junior High Jump : 1. R. H. Jackson (S.H.); 2. Barker (M.); 3. Lochore (R.); 4. C. K. Smith (S.H.). Height : 4 ft. 54 ins. Junior Relay (4 x 110 Yards): 1. Rise; 2. Manor; 3. School House: 4. Grove and Temple. Time : 55.7 secs. Inter. Relay (110 x 440 x 220 x 110 Yards): 1. Temple; 2. Grove; 3. Manor; 4. School House. Time : 1 min. 53 secs. Senior Relay (110 x 440 x 220 x 110 Yards): 1. Temple; 2. Grove; 3. Rise; 4. Manor. Time : 1 min. 47 secs.

House Placings : 1. Temple, 2821 points. 2. Grove, 253 points. 3. Rise, 244 points. 4. Manor, 211 points. 5. School House, 195 points.

CROSS-COUNTRY, 28th FEBRUARY, 1949

In spite of heartfelt protests from some quarters, the course this year was lengthened by almost half a mile by the addition of a loop over farmland at the far end of the Ings, an attempt, if nothing else, to relieve the dreary monotony of running on the flat open wastes of the Ings alone.

Preliminary training, which, amongst the many other School activities, simply had to find its own time, was little impeded by the weather, for once only did the river overflow its banks, and by the time of the race conditions had once again reverted to good.

Goodburn started as favourite, and the Grove were the House favourites, and everything worked out according to form. The afternoon was bitterly cold when the runners stripped for the start on the old Golf Links, and little time was lost before the runners got off to a really fast pace, set by Unwin, followed by Goodburn. By the time the Ings was reached, Goodburn, Unwin, Fairweather, Hannon, Thornton and Wilson all began to draw ahead of the remainder, and it was these same six runners who, after interchanging their positions at different stages, finally filled the first six positions at the finish. Goodburn once again finished in very fine style with a terrific burst which left his pursuers standing and recorded the very good time of 23 mins. 43i secs. The Grove packed four runners into the first six places, a remarkable achievement, thus assuring them of success, whilst Temple unobtrusively filled four positions between 7 and 11, and gained second place.

Result :—

1. Goodburn (R.) 2. Unwin (G.) 3. Hannon (G.) 4. Thornton (G.) 5. Fairweather (S.H.) 6. Wilson, D. J. (G.)

Time : 23 mins. 431 secs. 7. Slegg (T.) 8. Ankers (T.) 9. Ratcliff (M.) 10. Fletcher, D. (T.)

11. Brook (T.) 12. Kendell (G.)