SPORTS DAY 2016
Sports Day began earlier than normal this year with some exciting new additions to the format of the competition.
To increase participation and ensure that top athletes were competing against each other, no matter what house they were in, heats were added to some of the events. Most notably heats to the 100m in many age groups saw athletes vying for a place in the finals on Sports Day. We also extended the number of competitors in each house from two to four in Long Jump and Javelin to ensure that every pupil was able to compete in one track and one field event. As such, we saw a record number of pupils competing.
The build up to the event was not helped by the great British weather. It ought to be noted that the grounds team mowed, marked, and set up the entire field on the morning of Sports Day. This is no mean feat and the facilities looked tremendous.
The results of the preliminary events that took place in the build up to Sports Day saw the three houses separated by a mere 17 points. This trend continued throughout the day with no house able to pull away from the other.
Notable performances on the day came from the eight Victor and Victrix Ludorum winners. In the Minor (Year 7) age group Joshua Taylor won by the narrowest of margins from Charlie Kennett, 22 points to 21. The girls’ competition was won by Megan Galpin who set a new school record of 21.95m in the Javelin. Megan’s personal best ranks her 5th in the UK.
In the Junior (Year 8 & 9) age group Mathias Folkesson held on, despite a spirited battle from Jasper Spandler. In the girls’ event, Salome Rotanavunivasa was the stand-out performer, gaining maximum points from her four events. Bryce Furlong also set a new school record in the Long Jump, beating the current mark by just 1cm with a jump of 5.13m.
Robbie Maclean was the winner of the Inter (Year 10 & 11) Boys age group. His stand-out performance was in the 100m Hurdles where he set a new school record of 15.8s. This was particularly impressive as this record had stood since 1991, a long time before Robbie was even born! Jade Hartley was on top form in the girls’ competition, winning all four of her events to be crowed champion.
The Senior age group saw two great battles between some of the School’s best all-round athletes. In the boys’ event Joshua Haines was pushed all the way by Ed West. Joshua’s strong finish in the 400m saw him pip Ed to the title by just two points. The girls’ event was equally close with Tallulah Cope, Harriet Leslie and Claudia Eeles all going head to head. Tallulah and Harriet shared this years’ title following a late recount of the points.
The team event stayed close to the end with all three houses still able to win Sports Day coming into the final set of relay races.
The final scores saw Arnold narrowly steal victory from Denys, with Ken just behind in third place.
Arnold – 728 points
Denys – 720 points
Ken – 707 points