KC COPPED FIRST CHAMPS TITLE IN 1937

The 1937 TRACK and field championship sports of the Secondary schools of Jamaica and the twenty-eighth annual, concluded at Sabina Park yesterday afternoon amid thunderous yells and cheers of the hundreds of schoolboys representing the competing schools and to the general satisfaction of an exceptionally large and enthusiastic gathering of spectators.

Kingston College, one of the youngest schools in the competition ultimately became the proud winners of the coveted championship cup with a total of twenty-nine points; and the victory of this school is all the more spectacular when it is recorded that one of its representatives – P. McGlashan, was responsible for establishing the only record of the meeting and one which will stand the test of many years before being equalled or broken. This record was created in the High Jump event, senior class, the winner clearing the bar at 6 ft. 11 ins., beating the old standing record of H.W. Myers of 1926 by one and three-quarter inches.

The competitions all round were keen and interesting in the extreme. While Kingston College gave bright indications early during the afternoon of being one of the most balanced teams of the meeting, there were times when Wolmer’s appeared very troublesome and other times when Jamaica College and Calabar High School gave others much concern. There were even instances when the hard fighting lads of St. George’s College showed up unexpectedly, to the surprise of the vast gathering; but steadily and courageously Kingston College kept up the lead they had made early and won quite comfortably.

A regrettable feature of the occasion was the withdrawal of Munro College at the last moment because of the lamentable death of their esteemed headmaster, the Hon. A. E. Harrison, Custos of St. Elizabeth. This, to an appreciable extent, cast quite a gloom over the meeting, not so much because of the school’s withdrawal, but because of the almost sudden death of one who was so valuable in the educational life of the island, especially. As a mark of respect, the Committee requested that the entire gathering stand in silence for one minute at the opening of the meeting.

The final positions of each of the competing schools are as follows:-

Kingston College, 29 points; Wolmer’s, 18 points; Calabar High School 17 ½ points; St. George’s College 15 ½ points; Jamaica College 15 points and Cornwall College 1 point. Beckford and Smith’s and Manchester Secondary School did not collect a single point.

THE PRIZE DISTRIBUTION

At the close of the meeting the gathering assembled in front of the members’ pavilion where the presentation of the championship medals and the cup were made by Dr. W.N. Dickenson to the various winners and the captain of the winning school – Kingston College. This concluded, cheers were given for the champions and this brought to a close the twenty-eight annual track and field championship tourney of the island’s public schools.

Source: The Gleaner, March 18, 1937 (page 25) and March 18, 2021