Athletics

of his own team to follow in his wake. Temple amassed the lowest aggregate on record (previous best by the Grove in 1949), and are to be congratulated on this fine performance by such a youthful team. Their prospects for the future are indeed rosy. 'House Placings :-

Grove. Manor. Rise. School House. Temple. 6 2 12 9 1 14 3 181 11 4 17 10 181 16 5 29 15 21 20 7 34 23 30 22 8 — 24 31 28 13

77 131 106 38

On 26th February our thoughts were turned to athletics "proper" by the visit to the School of Mr. Guy Butler, the famous quarter-miler of the .1920's and now official photographer of the A.A. Association. His film, "Olympic Champions at 'Helsinki, 1952", showed us how it is done by the experts, and an even more enlightening "talk" was afterwards held in the Gym. before a selected audience, which provided a splendid opportunity for many to raise their individual problems and produce their bones of contention.

When the season opened with the first of the daily rounds of Standards on 9th March, little did we know that we were entering a spell of fine weather which was to break all meteorological records for this time of year. Conditions were generally ideal for athletics; day after day the wind was negligible, track conditions excellent, and the atmosphere mildly warm. It was in this atmosphere that the Standards programme was exhaustively pursued for '21 weeks. There were few laggards—most of them were in the net—such was the intensiveness of the inter-house spirit, and the improvement shown by individuals from the beginning to the end of this period of training was once again quite remarkable. Few would deny that they were not better for it in the end. Individuals who distinguished themselves by gaining maximum points were :—in Set B : W. G. A. 'Maxwell (G); in Set C: R. M. Kirkus (R.), E. S. Portlock ('R.), 'W. B. Crosskill (S.H.), M. Wilisrop (S.H.), and R. 'D. Beckitt (T.); in Set D : D. Kirby (G.), D. Pfluger (G.), G. V. Plester (G.), and G. R. H. Clemons (S.H.); and in Set E : G. F. B. 'Mitchell (R.).

The Rise established an average per head (13.14) which has never previously been attained, and no adjustment has been made over the past few years which has in any way eased the level of Standards. 49

Their effort was hotly rivalled by the other Houses, but their lead on points from Standards, although not so great as last year, was this time sufficient to bring them out worthy winners at the end of Sports Day. Nothing that Temple could do in both mile races before Sports Day, as meritorious as the effort was, was sufficient to close the gap before the end. It is, however, worthy of note that on Sports Day alone, excluding the mile events, Temple gained the most points (691) and the Rise second with 67+. There certainly seems to be a strong argument for the award of a separate trophy for Standards alone.

The weather on Sports Day did not live up to the standard of the previous three weeks, but nevertheless was the best we have enjoyed for many years, although this is not exactly flattering. The wind blew strong and blusteringly from the direction of the river and rain was always threatening, but track conditions were still good. School House had the great misfortune in having to cancel one of their star performers, W. B. Crosskill, but for whose loss in the Intermediate age-group they would undoubtedly have secured third place. The level of performances, judged on previous years, was average or a little above average. No existing School records were broken, or even dangerously threatened, but the two best performances were probably the Intermediate '220 Yards won by H. C. Bulmer in 25.4 secs. and the junior High jump won by D. Pfluger at 4 ft. 51 in. The jumping generally was poor, there being a noticeable increase in the number of "no-jumps" at the long jump pit, and style in high jumping was sadly amiss.

The 'Rise maintained their lead well enough, and by the time of the final event their position was unassailable. Mrs. Smith, the mother of C. K. Smith, School House Captain, kindly presented the Athletic Shield to IE. A. •M. Reid-Smith, the winning team Captain.

INTER-HOUSE ATHLETICS Saturday, 28th March, 1953

Points from Standards : Rise 200; School House 181; Grove 180; Manor 178. Temple 172. Senior Mile: 1. R. B. Atkinson (T.); 2. Nendick (R.); 3. Butterworth (R.); 4. P. Smith (G.). Time : 5 min. 2.8 sec. Inter. Mile : 1. Heap (T.); 2. Beckitt (T.); 3. Dobson (T.); 4. Portlock (R.). Time : 5 min. 15.4 sec. Senior 100 Yards : 1. Johnson (T.); 2. Lewis (R.); 3. C. K. Smith (S.H.); 4. A. T. Booth (M.). Time : 11.1 sec. Junior 100 Yards : 1. Pfluger (G.); 2. Netherwood (T.); 3. Clemons (S.H.); 4. Mitchell (R.). Time 11.6 sec. Inter. 100 Yards : 1. Bulmer (M.); 2. Equal, Dobson (T.) and Portlock (R.); 4. Kettlewell (R.). Time : 11.6 sec. Senior High Jump : 1. Maxwell (G.); 2. Reid-Smith (R.); 3. Coates (G.): 4. Equal, Nelson (S.H.) and Jesper (T.). Height : 5 ft. °fin. Junior Long Jump : 1. Mitchell (R.); 2. Clemons (S.H.); 3. Equal, Turner (G.), D. T. Sparham (T.) and Plester (G.). Distance : 15 ft. 8 in. Inier. Half Mile : 1. Heap (T.); 2. Kettlewell (R.); 3. Butland (T.); 4, Equal, Shirtcliffe (R.) and Elston (M.). Time : 2 min. 25.2 sec. Senior Half Mile : 1. R. B. Atkinson (T.); 2. Butterworth (R.); 3. P. Smith (G.); 4. Bolton (R.). Time 2 min. 14.0 sec. 50