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Athletic Club

During the last season the Club has had the largest number of active members for the past six or seven years. Lately the number of active members has been slowly decreasing but for the season under review the number has risen to over 30 men and from present reports next season will be even better. It was not, however, only in the "turn-outs" that there was an improvement but the performance of the Club in open competition reflected great credit on the members of the Club. For the past season the Club was runner-up in the Dewar and the Kitto Shields and third in the Wellington Provincial Championships. For these performances the Club's thanks go to our Deputy Captain and Coach, C. B. Allan, who spent a tremendous amount of time and energy in the interests of the Club. His enthusiasm and that of S. G. Eade, the Club Captain, was mainly responsible for the wonderful turn-outs we have had throughout the season.

With the opening of Weir House last year there came greatly improved training facilities, as we had the use of the gymnasium with mats and also could use the hot showers. These were very much appreciated and helped in no small way to the Club's success. Immediately after the November about 10 of the keener members commenced training and carried on right until Easter. The number doing this was an improvement over former years and the benefit resulting from it was apparent when the results of the Club are referred to. The Dewar Shield results are particularly gratifying as we had teams only in the one grade while other clubs had junior teams to support them. For this result every member has to be thanked as I think everyone represented the Club in one team or the other.

In the Provincial Champs, we did particularly well, the following gaining points for us: A. S. Henderson, T. A. Rafter, F. H. Stephenson, S. G. Eade, R. C. Morpeth, H. Mcintosh and W. R. Birks. Five of our members represented the province in the N.Z. Champs.— Rafter, Stephenson, Henderson, Eade and Morpeth.

The Inter-Faculty Sports were held on Kelburn Park and attracted quite a good attendance, both of performers and onlookers. Very good results were recorded by Bowie, Henderson and Rafter.

The Tournament at Christchurch was definitely not for Victoria as we received the Wooden Spoon both for the whole Tournament and for Athletics. Our team was really a strong one but the others were just a litte better. We must congratulate F. H. Stephenson, Eade, Morpeth, Rafter, and Bowie (running for Auckland) who gained points and also Kerr who very narrowly missed a point in the long jump.

An innovation this year is the Cup presented by the older members of the Club for competition in a series of Club meetings to be held on Kelburn Park. These are really training meetings and attracted large fields and some very good performances were shown.

The following members have been presented with Cups for the season:—

Dunbar Cup—most points during season: T. A. Rafter.

Heineman Cup—most improved athlete: L. S. Black.

Ladies' Cup—best performance at inter-faculty: A. S. Henderson.

Oram Cup—most points at inter-faculty: P. Bowie.

Old Members' Cup—most points at Club meetings: T. Bush and F. Donovan.

The Athletic Club is one of the oldest in the College and we want it to become one of the strongest-as it has been in former years. To do this we want new members and increased support from the old members. Last year we got several members from Weir House and this year we want even better support. You don't need to be a champion-come along and we will do our best to make you one!