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Wynnum High and Intermediate School Page 45

THE SCHOOL'S ATHLETICS CARNIVAL
Our Inter-House Athletics Carnival will go down on the records as
the oddest ever. For the first time we used our new oval and had to
seek the assistance of the Fire Brigade to help soften it up a little.
After much negotiation we finally succeeded in arranging the necessary
permits, and the students were treated to a display of water works.
Little did we realise that on the next day, the day of the sports,
thousands of gallons of water were to be poured on the oval from the
skies. Time to start, and an oval under water and 900 disappointed
students faced with the prospect of a day of school work. No wonder
the response was so good when we asked them to be patient and every
endeavour would be made to continue if the rain stopped. The rain did
stop and all lent a hand in assembling equipment, marking lanes and
sorting of competitors—the result—one of our best carnivals ever.
In spite of the soft tracks some excellent performances were
registered. Selwyn Loynes proved himself a real champion with a
foursome all to himself—first in the open 100, 220, 440, and broad jump.
In the Under 16 events, Ernie Pascoe aided by a streamlined haircut,
registered a treble with wins in the 100, 220 and broad jump. Graham
Pearson won the Under 15 high jump and broad jump, the former with
a leap of 5ft., only 2in. outside the State record. Warren Blaik, an
Intermediate boy scored a double in the 75 and 100 yards. Bill Davies,
running a most unusual race, won the open mile in the record time of
five minutes, cutting six seconds off the previous record set by Ralph
Railings last year. Gary Cummings, using the scissors style, equalled
the high jump record with a leap of 5ft. 3Jin.
In the girls’ events, Sharon Cordwell won the open 100 and 75
yards with runs only .2 second outside each record. Laraine Hillier did
everything we expected of her and scored easy wins in the Under 100
and 75 yards. Laraine’s time in the 100 was 11.8 seconds which exceeds
the open record by .2 second, set in 1955. Judy Turnbull, with her
unusual style, scored a treble in the 100, 75 yards and 75 yards skipping.
This girl shows considerable promise and with slight modification in
style should develop into a runner of some note. Gay Love, in spite of
her small stature, was too big for her rivals and won the Under 14
100 yards, and the 75 yards skipping.
An impressive feature of the carnival this year was the response
to the qualifying races. This year we had more competitors in these
races than ever before, resulting largely from the alteration in the
method of scoring points for Houses. These races form a very important
part of the carnival, enabling every student in the school to have a
chance of scoring points for his House. As an indication of the important
part played by these races, no fewer than 654 points out of a grand
total of 1120 were scored by qualifiers.
As usual Mr. Gunn honoured us with his presence and took a
keen interest in the proceedings. We look forward to his presence on