Athletics

1958 School Magazine Report

At the Inter Grammar Schools Sports, we regret to say we finished at the very bottom of the list.Bradford Grammar School were once again the winners.Athletics colours were awarded to Kitson, Hayes, Conolly and A Robinson.

1959 School Magazine Report

This remains our weakest activity, but we have at least shown an improvement on last year. Admittedly it would have been difficult not to. At the Inter-Grammar School Sports held at Horsfall we were placed 5th with 25.5 points. Bradford Grammar were again easy winners with 72 points against St Bede’s 48.5.

Our only individual winner was Barrett who was 1st in the shot (middles). But the highlight was the fine win by the junior relay team - Firth, Fisher, Briggs and Stewart. Their success was due to hard practice, and there lies the moral for all our would-be runners. It’s no good turning up on the day and hoping to do well.

1960 School Magazine Report

At this point, 2 minutes silence would be more appropriate than an account of our prowess at the Inter-Grammar School Sports, but honesty compels us reluctantly to publish the final scores:1.) St Bede’s 110 pts 2.) Bradford GS 89 pts 3.) Carlton 77.5 pts 4.) Belle Vue 73 pts 5.) Thornton 57 pts6.) Grange 36.5 pts 7.) Hanson 35 pts.

All credit to the athletes who did gain points, notably our 3 winners, Rutter (5A), 1st in the over 16 high jump; Barrett (5A), 1st in the over 16 shot; and Hanson, under 13 discus. Our other points came mainly from field events. On the track we were almost entirely eclipsed, although Bannister’s determination carried him to a place in the Under 13s 220 yards and Wardman (6B) really did extremely well to take 3rd place in a very fast Senior Mile.

The moral is obvious. We hold our own in the field events because we have facilities for training and lunch-time practice. There is nowhere to practise track-running except at Horsfall.

1961 School Magazine Report

The verdict here should read rather like a hospital bulletin - “slightly better, but still poorly”. In the Inter-Grammar Sports held at Horsfall we finished in 5th place out of 7 competing schools, with 43 points. St Bede’s were the winners with 117 points, closely followed by Bradford Grammar with 110. So we still have a long way to go!

We had 2 winners - Briggs of the 1st Form, who won the Under 12s 75 yards; and Richard Stewart of 4X who won the Under 15 half mile. This was a magnificent performance, in which he confounded all the trackside pundits.

Other athletes who deserve special mention were Rice, 2nd in the Under 12 shot; Johnson, 2nd in the Under 13 high jump; and Hornsby, McMillan, Dodds and Fisher, who were 2nd in the Under 15 relay. Again we were outclassed in the Senior section. King had two 4th places, Barrett picked up a point in the shot, but those were our only over 16 scorers.

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Cross Country 1961A group taking part in the school cross country run in 1961 (photo provided by Mike Priestley)

 

L-R:  "Chas" Greenwood, Tony Adams, Kenny Pratt, Jack Wormald,  Harvey Goldthorpe, Terence "Tess" ???, ???, Paul Hartley and Tony Smith.

 

 

 

1962 School Magazine Report

The Inter-Grammar Sports were held in showery and blustery conditions at Horsfall. Our results matched the weather. Bradford Grammar School and St Bede’s fought a battle royal for 1st place, St Bede’s eventually winning by half a point. Carlton were 3rd, Belle Vue 4th, Hanson 5th and ourselves 6th. Thornton were below us, but let us not lay that flattering unction to our souls, remembering that Thornton is co-educational with less than half the number of boys to choose from.

Honourable exceptions to the general mediocrity of Grange performers were Swales of 5A who ran like a stag to win the Under 16 220 yards, and Sunderland of 3A, who ran a most courageous race against boys older and bigger, to gain 3rd place in the Under 15 half mile.

The shadow of inferiority-feeling seems to hang like a cloud over all our athletics. Perhaps it is time we had an inquest on the body. From the physician’s report the following recommendations emerge:

  1. Athletics to have parity of public esteem with football and cricket.
  2. Regular PE periods for all 6th Formers.
  3. Regular weekly games periods for all forms, presided over by staff competent to coach in athletics.
  4. Facilities to be provided for boys who although not very good at football and cricket may well find that they can learn to run and throw.
  5. Full-time assistance for Mr Clarke in the PE department. Are we the only city grammar school with only one games master?

One ray of hope on the gloomy athletic horizon is the performance of our cross-country team. Competing in the Giles Trophy for teams Under 15, we ran 3rd to Bradford Grammar and St Bede’s. Another team achieved the same result inan Inter-Grammar event held at Heaton Boys who represented the school were Stewart, Thorp, Conroy, Hornsby, Firth, Sherwin and Sunderland.

1963 School Magazine Report

After some years in the doldrums, athletics are beginning to look up a little. A new determination seemed to be in evidence in the Inter-Grammar Sports at Horsfall. We still have a long way to go, but at least we held our own this time. 5th place out of 7 does not sound much to write home about, but we were a mere half point behind Belle Vue, 4th, and 20 points clear of Hanson in 6th.

Kirby, dwarfing most of his fellow Under 13s, set a new record of 90ft for the discus and also won the shot. Our other 1st place was achieved by Mirfield in the Under 16 long jump, with another new record of 19ft 2in. In addition we gained four 2nd places and ten 3rds, showing that a good number of boys really tried hard and gave of their best. Full colours were awarded to Hornsby and Mirfield and half colours to A Smith, K Firth, Bean, Boldy, Dodds, Shaw, Troy and Thorp.

1964/65 School Magazine Report

Inter-Grammar Sports Result:1.) Bradford GS 106.5 pts 2.) St Bede’s 99.5 pts 3.) Carlton 85 pts 4.) Belle Vue 64 pts 5.) Grange 57 pts6.) Hanson 54 pts 7.) Thornton 14 pts.

Very much as last year - respectable mediocrity - but better than it has been!. As usual, we did better in the field than on the track, all our 5 1st places coming in this department. Special congratulations go to P Clapham who won the Under14 long jump with arecord effort of 17ft 4in and to Schofield, who looking like the son of Tamara Press, flung the Under 12 discus into the middle distance to win the event and set up a new record. Johnson and Tiffany (discus) and Kirby (shot) also took 1st place in their respective age groups. It is significant that we do our best in those few events which we can practise on our uneven and sloping playing field.

We also gained four 2nd places, seven 3rds and ten 4ths showing that very many boys really did best and contributed to our total score. Hornsby, Shaw and Chris Brown particularly deserve mention for their gallant efforts on the running track. Hornsby and Tiffany had the honour of representing Bradford in the Yorkshire Schools Athletic Championships, Tiffany being placed 3rd in the discus.

Athletics colours were awarded to Hornsby, Brown, Mirfield, Shaw, Storey and Tiffany with half colours to Jowett, Dodds, Firth, Clapham and Johnson.

Cross-country

Mr Humphrey reports: “ We are slowly improving our performance in this sport, thanks mainly to the enthusiasm of the handful of boys who are willing to give the time and energy necessary for practice.......

This year’s Under 13 team has been particularly encouraging because of their team-spirit and reliability. In inter-school matches they have beaten Buttershaw, Carlton, Leeds Central and Cardinal Hinsley and gave a good account of themselves in the Giles Trophy and Bradford Schools’ Championships against boys a year older. The only other team to come anywhere near the standard had been the Under 16 team which came 3rd in the Boyd Carpenter Trophy and 4th in the Bradford Schools’ Championships.

The outstanding individual performance came from E Grice (5A) who won this year’s Under 16 Bradford Schools’ Championship in a thrilling finish. We are now anxious to see whether he can run just as well with his hair cut. Other good individual efforts have come from Keith Hornsby, Richard Thorp, JC Brown and Keith Storey in last year’s events and from T Larkin, S Khan, CJ Smith and I Johnson this year.

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