The anticipation and House spirit was palpable from the arena’s stands, as pupils lined up for their events. The afternoon was an exciting blend of big wins, close finishes and plenty of camaraderie, with so many performing above and beyond their own expectations. An exceptionally enjoyable afternoon was had by all, with Busby’s being crowned this year’s overall winners and now proudly sporting their updated status as ‘Athletic Sports champions for half a decade!’.

Mathew (Upper Shell, RR) said: “On the day of the Athletic Sports competition, I was both very nervous but also excited to see how I would do. The 100m was one of the first races in the competition, so I had little time until I had to line up. I ran my hardest and afterwards I was quite surprised and pleased by my time. I also enjoyed the other events where I did well, especially the 4x400m relay as through the work of my other teammates I was given a large head start before running the final leg. After the competition I was very happy with my performance and the performance of my House. The whole experience has really encouraged me to put more work into my athletics for the future.”

Alfie (Fifth Form, MM) said: “In the morning before the event I was quite nervous, as this would be my second time ever doing long jump, my first time being ten minutes spent in PE making four jumps and I had only signed up because no one in my House wanted to do it. However, I was feeling confident about the 200m and 400m races as I am a fairly competent runner.

Before the race started, I had no idea how fast the others would be, I was getting two different thoughts, one saying ‘they’re going to smoke you in the race’ the other ‘worry about your own run and not others’. I stuck with the second one and as a result I performed well and I’m happy with how I did.”

Melchior (Sixth Form, AHH) “It was a pleasure to finally return to the Battersea Park Millennium Arena for Sports Day. I had the pleasure of winning both the 100m and 400m senior boys’ races, but the most rewarding feeling was representing my House in the relays and contributing to Ashburnham’s overall third place finish.”

The following pupils gave stand-out performances in their respective age-group categories:

 

Juniors – Alfie (Fifth Form, MM) won the Long Jump with a leap of 4.90m, some 50cm ahead of his peers.
Inters – Mathew (Upper Shell, RR) equalled the School’s 100m record with 11.4s. He also won the 400m, High Jump and both Relays!
Senior Boys – Melchior (Sixth Form, AHH) won the 100m in 11.7s. He also won the 400m.
Senior Girls – Clara (Remove, WW) won the inaugural Senior Girls’ 1500m with a time of 5:12.6 (a tough benchmark as a new school record).
A special mention goes to Vanessa (Remove, BB) who triumphed in the very first Senior Girls’ Shot Put competition, and the Ashburnham team who won the first ever mixed 4 x 200m Relay in a swift 1.55.7.

 

Inter-House competition winners:

Juniors – Purcell’s (89 pts), College (79pts) and Ashburnham / Grant’s (75pts each)
Inters – Rigaud’s (99 pts), Busby’s (93pts) and Wren’s (76pts)
Senior Boys – Busby’s (107 pts), Ashburnham (82pts) and Wren’s (77pts)
Senior Girls – Rigaud’s (70pts), Hakluyt’s (69pts) and College (58pts)

 

Overall House competition winners:

First – Busby’s (319 pts)
Second – Rigaud’s (288pts)
Third – Ashburnham’s (263pts)