ATHLETICS IN ST. MARY’S
The following is an extract from Peadar O’Dowd’s book St. Mary’s College: a Centenary
Athletics, apart from the main contact sports, was also encouraged in St. Mary’s although the college’s first official sports’ day only took place in May, 1928. The events were organised by Fr. M. Garahy, Prefect of Games, and the fact that Bishop O’Doherty presented the prizes underlined the growing importance of individual sporting events, especially athletics, in the College.
The main event became the 100 yards sprint while the College was delighted with an All-Ireland break-through when student Tom Fahy from Ardrahan broke the Irish record 12 lb shot throw at the All Ireland Colleges’ Sports in 1938.
With the world war impinging on College life, success at Connact Sports’ level became the main aim due mainly to transport difficulties, and from checking college records, Micheál Ó Dochartaigh noted the following in Cuimhní Linn 75 Bliain:
In 1939 the college team won the junior relay race at the Connacht Sports. In 1942, they won the senior relay at the UCG sports. St. Mary’s won three Connacht Titles in 1943, four in 1946 and five in 1947. In this last year, one athlete, Martin Kilmartin, won three titles and set records in both the triple and long jump. In 1948 the college again won five titles including the intermediate relay of which E. McInerney, now a former President of the College, was a team member. In 1950 John Linnane set a record in the pole vault in Connacht Sports – this was the discipline at which College athletes excelled throughout the Fifties – thanks to the work of Fr. Kelly. [1]
The Fr. Kelly in question was affectionately known as Fr. ‘Gus’ Kelly, Chairman of St. Mary’s Sports’ Committee for many years during the Fifties. It seems Fr. Kelly ‘ploughed a lone furrow with regard to athletics’, initially deemed secondary to team sports. Consequently, ‘Sports’ were confined to third term, and it took Fr. Kelly’s keen powers of persuasion to get the most appropriate of the hurlers and footballers to compete in the Connacht Championships against dedicated competitors from other colleges, with only Intermediate Cup and Shield successes for relays coming St. Mary’s way in 1957 and 1958. Not surprisingly, senior success during the Fifties was rather thin on the ground as Ó Dochartaigh recalls:
I remember only four great athletes from the St. Mary’s of the Fifties: Johnny Joyce who set a Connacht record in the pole vault and won first place in the All- Ireland. Peter O’Malley, who set a record in the high jump in Connacht and was second in the All Ireland, jumped six feet at the college sports. Joe Gillane, who captured Johnny Joyce’s record in the pole vault when setting a new one at 10’ 6.5” and Éamonn Quinn, a great sprinter. It must have nearly broken Fr. Kelly’s heart when the latter pulled a muscle just before the All-Ireland Championships. Happily he later justified his trainer’s faith in him and won five individual sprint championships at the Connacht Sports in the three years 1958-1960. He set a record in the ‘220’ and won both sprint titles at the All Ireland in 1960. [2]
Further research revealed successes at the triple-jump for Séamus Brogan; Seán Begley won the senior All-Ireland discus event in 1955 and Pat Hurley won both Intermediate sprint titles the same year.
The Sixties started well for “Mary’s” when Michael Forde cleared 6ft in the high jump in the university sports in its first year. Thereafter, greater success by the hurlers saw athletics being overshadowed in the sporting life of the College. However, in particular four brothers from Connemara found subsequent favourable comment from Micheál Ó Dochartaigh:
One family who kept the name of St. Mary’s alive in athletics in the late Fifties and through the Sixties were the four O’Malley brothers from Bealadangan. Apart from many Connacht Colleges’ titles, they each in turn took All-Ireland honours. Peter, the high jump in 1956; John, the same in 1964; Conor, the pole vault in 1965, and had the distinction of winning three Connacht Colleges’ hurling medals, senior, junior and juvenile in that same year. On the track, Ralph O’Gorman brought honours to St. Mary’s and after taking Connacht titles, he also went on to gain All-Ireland honours in 1963 and 1964. [3]
Meanwhile, the other Galwegian mentioned was St. Mary’s most famous (in many ways) athlete, Ray McBride from the Claddagh in the heart of Galway City. Micheál Ó Dochartaigh takes up the story again:
In 1969, Ray McBride showed great promise as a middle-distance runner and went on to achieve international success. In 1971, to add to his Connacht and All-Ireland titles, he went to Madrid to represent Ireland at the European Catholic Students’ Games. Here, he won the steeple-chase title and set a record that was to last for twelve years. [4]
In fact, Ray also won Irish All-Ireland dancing medals and at Expo* he introduced the national dance to an international television audience, perhaps sowing the seed for the subsequent Riverdance adventure. As well as television, Ray also appeared in many films, where his athletic prowess stood him in good stead.
Meanwhile, the Seventies saw only modest success in athletics, according to Micheál Ó Dochartaigh, although sport in the College gained immensely with the advent of famous Galway Gaelic Footballer (later coach to the county team), Liam Sammon. Liam’s enthusiasm also for track and field events ensured that they still played a role in St. Mary’s with a junior Connacht Shield gained in 1978 and just a narrow defeat followed in the All-Ireland shield the same year.
It was the Eighties, however, when, according to Ó Dochartaigh, success returned to athletics in the College:
In 1985 St. Mary’s captured the Senior and Junior Connacht Shields for the first time in our history. This success was due in large measure to the increased involvement of our athletes across the complete spectrum of track and field events, and to the dedication and efforts of Fr. Barry Hogg and Liam Sammon. The pole-vault, a discipline that had lapsed somewhat since Fr. Kelly’s time, was revived when Martin O’Connell became Connacht pole-vault champion that year. The Senior Shield was retained in 1986 with Ronan McNulty victorious in the 400 metres and 400 hurdles. Des Burke won the 110 hurdles, another great contributor to this success. In 1987 our junior athletes were again triumphant. A noteworthy aspect of this success was that more points were secured from track rather than field events.
Anthony Carey in his contribution on modern athletics in St. Mary’s writes[5] that throughout the Nineties and into the new millennium the College was regularly the best-performing college at both the Connacht Cross-Country and Track and Field championships. Just prior to joining the College staff in 1993, he notes that from 1989 to 1992, the College produced the following Connacht Track and Field champions: 1989: Barry O’Sullivan (Senior 100m, 200m, 400m, Relay) 1990: Alex Maher (Junior 200m), Brian Thornton (Inter 100m), Niall O’Neill (Junior Hammer), Eoin Pender (Inter Hammer). 1991: S. Lyster (Inter 400m Hurdles), Robin Doyle (Inter Triple Jump), Inter Relay (Alex Maher, Robin Doyle, Brian Thornton). 1992: Jonathon Darcy (Inter High Jump).
Cross-Country
Regarding Cross-Country, Anthony Carey notes that from 1993, he, with Dara Keyes and Liam Sammon, set in motion a plan to make St. Mary’s the dominant athletics’ college in Connacht, and a special emphasis was placed on Cross-Country. In fact, Carey and Sammon initiated a Galway School Cross-Country League, which although short-lived, served to develop a great interest in athletics. This manifested itself in 1994 when Mary’s, the best overall college, won the Connacht Minor and Intermediate events, with Neil O’Leary and Garret Murphy starring in the former, while the Intermediate team of Simon Daly, Aidan Wallace, Garret O’Neill Fitzsimons, Ger Forde, Ciarán Ó Flatharta, Hubie Conway, Brian Langan, David Burke, Daniel Johnston and Dáibhi MacDomhnaill went on to achieve third place in the All-Ireland finals. This secured the first All-Ireland Cross-Country medals for the college. According to Carey, the delight on Liam Sammon’s face will remain long in the memory!
Not surprisingly, this medal-winning result acted as a catalyst with St. Mary’s again the best overall college in the Connacht event in 1995, with the Minor, Junior and Intermediate teams all successful – Stephen Casserly the College’s first individual winner in years, after he claimed the Minor title. In 1996, the Senior team captured the Connacht title, again for the first time in a number of years, with Simon Daly leading it to fifth place in the All-Ireland finals. Led by David Burke, the seniors won the Senior title again in 1997.
1998 saw all four St. Mary’s teams in the medals, with the Minors winning the Connacht title, while silver medals went the way of the other three teams. However, the true value of having a dedicated coaching staff was quite evident over the next four years, because with Carey on a career break and Sammon unavailable, St. Mary’s failed to win a single Connacht medal between 1999 and 2002, notwithstanding some success at South Connacht level where Stephen Moylan, as well as future G.A.A. personalities Donal Barry and Paul Conroy starred.
Connacht glory awaited the College in 2003, however, with the Minor team, led home in first place by Jonathan Molloy, and high finishes from Emmet Shaw, Alan Hanley and Daniel Carr, bringing victory, while Darren Smyth led his Junior team to gain silver medals. The following year saw St. Mary’s retain the Minor title led by Ger Cheevers, as the previous year’s team won the Intermediate title led home by Alan Hanley in third place. Minor and Junior titles were won again in 2005, with Lee Vahey third in the former, while Ger Cheevers again led his team to victory in the latter.
Two events occurred subsequently, which saw St. Mary’s absent from the Connacht Cross-Country Finals during the following two years. Due to the death of former staff member, Bernadette Lohan, no teams, although qualified, participated in 2006, while the following year with staff member, Liam Sammon retiring at Christmas and Anthony Carey not available, the cross country never got underway.
However, with former student and athlete, Gerard Lennon now forming a new coaching partnership with Carey, 2008 saw the College again dominant in Connacht with Anthony Hebron leading the Minor team to victory, backed up by Eoin Molloy, Gary O’Connell and John Potter. Meanwhile, the Intermediate team found gold also, led home by Philip Ezergailis and Dean Higgins, while the Senior team, led by evergreen Ger Cheevers, were just pipped for first place. A feature of 2008 also was the successful running of the first St. Mary’s Open Cross-Country, which included eight schools from around the province competing.
2009 had St. Mary’s go one better when all four teams won medals at the Connacht Finals held in nearby Dangan. Gold went to the Minor and Junior teams, silver to the Senior and Bronze to the Intermediate team. In the All-Ireland events, St. Mary’s Junior team led by Colin McDonagh, beat the Leinster and Munster champions to finish a creditable fifth. Again, the local St. Mary’s event was staged with nine schools competing, leading to the College gaining the honour of staging the first ever Connacht Finals on St. Mary’s soil.
2010 was then a golden year in the history of Cross-Country in St. Mary’s and no effort was spared in bringing the hallowed turf up to championship standards. The reward was great with the College capturing three of the four events. The Minor team, fronted by Darragh Mulkerrins completed three in a row at that level, while the Junior team, with the addition of Evan O’Ceallaigh won gold also. Although the Intermediate Team could only take silver, the Senior team finally captured gold to cap a memorable year.
2011 saw both the South Connacht and Connacht finals return to St. Mary’s, with the Seniors again successful thanks to the forceful running of stalwart Keith Fallon, with World Handball Champion, Martin Mulkerrins also prominent. While the Junior, Intermediate and Minor teams gained medals also, it was the latter event, which ‘witnessed the emergence of a new talent in the black and red singlet. Young Pádraig Creavan from Menlo, won the Minor title by more than 50m, thus becoming the third St. Mary’s student to win this title in 15 years and, despite being ill beforehand, his 6th place in the All-Ireland saw him become the first St. Mary’s athlete to mount the national podium in 18 years.
Happily, 2012 is a historic one for the College celebrating its centenary, and for athletics also, when it was awarded the honour of hosting the AVIVA All-Ireland Cross Country finals. Ger Lennon designed the course, and with massive help from groundsmen, Mick Carolan and Joe Keady, a wet and mucky February day saw the Connacht Finals held there. The Junior team won gold with Kamil Szymaszek, Samuel Samson and Feargal Gillespie putting in a great performance behind Padraig Creavan, who won by more than 150m. With the Intermediate and Senior teams also gaining silver, there certainly was a fine lining to Mary’s hopes for the Connacht Finals, as 2000 fans packed the College grounds.
Anthony Carey concludes his article thus:
Over 2000 people attended the event throughout the day but for all who were there, the highlight of the day was the performance of Padraig Creavan in the 3500m Junior Boys’ event. Having started conservatively, he gradually worked his way through the field before hitting the front with about a kilometre to go. Once there, there was no stopping him as he simply ran away from a top-class field to win by 17 seconds. ….Pádraig then went on to captain the Irish Schools’ Junior team at the International Schools’ Tournament in Scotland, where his forceful running led them to second place behind the English Schools team. [6]
Pádraig Creavan’s achievements did not end there, however, because he also won the All-Ireland Junior title over the St. Mary’s course on the 10th March, 2012. The City Tribune’s long headline said it all:
CREAVEN BECOMES FIRST GALWAY ATHLETE TO WIN BOYS’ JUNIOR SCHOOLS TITLE – ST MARY’S COLLEGE STUDENT CONTROLS RACE FROM START TO FINISH TO MAKE LOCAL ATHLETICS HISTORY – Pádraig Creavan of St. Mary’s College in Galway City produced one of the finest cross-country performances by a Galway juvenile, by winning the Aviva All-Ireland Schools championships on his own school grounds, last Saturday. The Junior title had never before been won by a Galway athlete, but if he felt pressure in wearing the number 1 on his singlet, Creaven gave no indication as he controlled the race from start to finish with a masterful display of front running. By the last lap he was 16 seconds clear of nearest challengers Cathal Doyle (Colaiste Choilm, Swords) and Jack O’Leary (Clongowes). Creaven was cheered on by a large home crowd, which included many greats of Galway running including former European Silver medallist Paul Donovan, former national Cross-Country champion Paul McNamara and current Olympic hopeful Gary Thornton, among others.[7]
Thus, young Pádraig Creavan has put St. Mary’s on the international map, following in the footsteps of Ray McBride who represented the College in Spain all these years ago. How appropriate for this centenary year! As well, St. Mary’s capped a marvellous year in Track and Field events.
Track and Field
St. Mary’s successful athletics, mostly of track and field, have found earlier mention here, and Anthony Carey brings this history up to date in concluding his comprehensive article on athletics in St. Mary’s. He notes that although Track and Field events catered mainly for the individual, a huge effort to instil a sense of teamwork in students was also made, with emphasis on winning the individual year-group shields and especially the best overall school trophy, the Dr. Walsh Cup, on a yearly basis. There was a challenge to each student to do his best for the honour of the team and not just winning for himself. Each year, the question inevitably was, “How many points have we?”
With St. Jarlath’s College, Tuam, the dominant Connacht college in athletics for many years, Anthony Carey summarises what happened subsequently:
In 1996, St. Mary’s staff members of Sammon, Carey and Keyes put in place a plan to break St. Jarlath’s dominance in the Dr. Walsh Cup. The three coaches organised a College Sports’ Day to highlight our track and field talent and thus began our annual assault on the Connacht Overall Schools’ Title.
Although over the years we had won individual year-group shields, we had never managed to get the overall award, but in 1997 we were well mobilised and well-prepared, and following some excellent performances from every member of the team, we emerged as the overall champions for the first time, happily taking the Dr. Walsh Cup home to Mary’s, to rest proudly in our trophy cabinet. There it remained for the next three years as each year the students of the day proudly donned the red and black to do their best for their College. This mantle has been taken on by the newest recruits to the College as we have proven to be the dominant force in Connacht athletics, winning the Overall Best School Trophy for the past six years, from 2007 until 2012. Indeed during the past six years we have been extremely successful in each of the individual age-group shields with our record standing as follows:
Minor (winners: 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011); Junior (winners: 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012; Runner-up: 2008, 2011); Intermediate (winners: 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012; runner-up: 2009, 2010); Senior (winners: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012). [8]
As well, according to Anthony Carey, over the past 20 years, some outstanding athletes represented the College. It would be impossible, owing to the constraints of space, to identify each performance, so what appears here is a list of those who claimed individual Connacht titles:
St. Mary’s College Individual Connacht Track and Field Champions
since 1993.
1993: Alan O’Leary (Minor 100m), Aidan Wallace (Junior 800m), Gerard Lennon (Senior 400m)
1994: Alan O’Leary ((Junior 100m and 200m), Neil O’Leary (Minor 800m)
1995: Aidan Wallace (Inter 800m), Alan O’Leary (Inter 100m)
1996: Alan O’Leary (Inter 100m and 200m), David Burke (Inter 400m), Aidan Wallace (Senior 800m), Simon Daly (Senior 5000m), Alan Monaghan (Inter Triple Jump), Colin Fannin (Junior Triple Jump), Alan O’Leary, David Burke, Neil O’Leary, Alan Monaghan (Inter Relay), Ciaran Boyle, Brendan Glynn, David Lyons, Richard Murray (Minor Relay)
1997:David Burke (Senior 400m), Stephen Casserly (Inter 1500m Steeplechase), Stephen Thornton (Junior Hammer, Adrian McKeague (Senior Triple Jump), Ciarán Boyle (Junior Triple Jump), Michael Connell (Junior Pole Vault), Alan Monaghan (Senior Long Jump), Seamus Rabbitte, Shane O’Sullivan, Neil O’Leary, Robert Glynn (Inter Relay), Mike McNamara, Fergal Moore, Ciarán Boyle, David Lyons (Junior Relay)
1998: Stephen Casserly (Inter 1500m Steeplechase), Fiachra Geraghty (Senior 2000m Steeplechase), David O’Gorman (Senior Triple Jump), Ciaran Boyle, Mike McNamara, Brendan Glynn, David Lyons (Inter Relay)
1999: Ciaran Boyle (Inter Triple Jump), Jamie Stephens (Senior Hammer), David O’Gorman (Senior Triple Jump), Damien Sherry (Junior Javelin), S. Cahill (Junior Triple Jump), Peadar Friel (Senior Pole Vault), Eoin McDonagh (Senior Javelin), Ciarán Boyle, Brendan Glynn, Martin Coyne, Michael McNamara (Inter Relay)
2000: Paul Marley (Minor 800m), Liam McKenna (Minor Shot Putt and Long Jump), Conor McDonagh (Junior 200m), Joe Hession (Inter 400m Hurdles), Kevin Ruane (Inter Pole Vault), Ciarán Boyle (Senior 100m and Triple Jump), Brendan Glynn (Senior 400m), Adrian Crowe (Senior Hammer)
2001: Ronan Loughney (Inter Hammer), L. Caset (Senior Triple Jump), Kevin Ruane (Inter Pole Vault), Michael McNally (Junior Pole Vault), Fintan Gillane (Senior Pole Vault), Dylan Wallace (Minor 100m)
2002: John O’Connor (Inter 1500m Steeplechase), Anton Walsh (Senior 2000m Steeplechase), Chris O’Brien (Inter Triple Jump), Fergal Clarke (Inter Pole Vault), Damien Whyte (Junior Triple Jump)
2003 and 2004: Did not compete
2005: Lee Vahey, Neil Hyland, Seán Glynn, Francis McKeague (Minor Relay)
2006: Did not compete
2007: David Wynne (Inter 400m Hurdles), Christian Lomboto (Junior Long Jump), Alan Hanly (Senior 400m Hurdles), John Rice (Senior 200m), Ger Cheevers (Inter 1500m Steplechase), Cathal Creaven (Inter Triple Jump), Naoise Leonard, Neil Hyland, Shane Gallagher, Seán Glynn (Inter Relay), Christian Lomboto, Cathal Creaven, Lee Vahey, Peter Roche (Junior Relay)
2008: Declan Taggart (Senior 110m Hurdles and 200m), Ger Cheevers (Senior 2000m Steeplechase), Osaze Osagie (Minor 100m), Keith Fallon (Inter 400m), Kosta Gannon (Senior Javelin), Seán Leonard (Senior 3000m Walk), Anthony Hebron, Eoin Molloy, Gary O’Connell, Osaze Osagie (Minor Relay)
2009: Alan Murtagh (Minor Shot Putt and Junior Hammer), Osaze Osagie (Junior 100m, 200m and Long Jump), Anthony Hebron (Junior 80m Hurdles), Conor O’Reilly (Junior Triple Jump), Peter Roche (Inter 400m), Chris Feeney (Senior Hammer), Neil Hyland (Senior 400m), Fergal Barry (Senior 400m Hurdles and 2000m Steeplechase), Seán Glynn (Senior Triple Jump) Dylan Duffy, Kevin Cunningham, Tomás Donovan, Kevin Derrane (Minor Relay), Osaze Osagie, Anthony Hebron, Gary O’Connell, Eoin Molloy (Junior Relay)
2010: Martin Mulkerrins (Senior 2000m Steeplechase), Arthus Zokli (Senior Triple Jump and 110m Hurdles), Oscar Becs (Senior Javelin), Keith Fallon (Senior 400m Hurdles), Alan Murtagh (Junior Hammer and Shot Putt)
2011: Padraig Creaven (Minor 1500m), Samuel Samson (Minor 800m), Alan Murtagh (Inter Hammer), Oscar Becs (Senior Javelin), Anthony Hebron (Inter 400m Hurdles), Darragh Mulkerrins (Junior Long Jump), Ronan Higgins (Junior Triple Jump), Gary O’Connell (Inter 1500m Steeplechase), Gabriel Garwe (Junior Discus)
2012: Padraig Creaven (Junior 1500m), Alan Murtagh (Inter Hammer), Jack Felle (Inter 400m Hurdles), Osaze Osagie (Senior Triple Jump), Minor 4x100m Relay( Bryan Ndego, Tom Williams, Kelechi Asonye, Shane Traynor), Junior Relay (Kamil Szymaszek, Tommy Gibbons, Chigoziem Asonye, Samuel Samson), Inter Relay ( Kevin Derrane, Moise Assogba, Paddy Fahy, Dylan Duffy) [9]
At national level the All-Ireland finals, held annually in Tullamore, have often proved to be a fruitless journey, but more recently we have seen the tide begin to change as a result of our concerted efforts at athletics in the school. We had our first podium finisher in years when in 1998 Stephen Casserley proved to be the best in Ireland by winning the Intermediate 1500m Steeplechase. We had hoped that this might spark a winning streak but it was not to be, and we had to wait until 2009 until our next visit to the winner’s enclosure. On that day in June, Junior athlete Osaze Osagie showed his considerable talent and potential when winning not one, but two All-Ireland medals. First up was the 200m, where Osaze ran brilliantly but unfortunately came up just short behind an athlete who has since gone on to break all kinds of national records, Marcus Lawlor from Carlow. Osaze’s time finishing second that day would have been fast enough to have won each of the equivalent 200m races since! He followed up this race with a third place finish in the 100m before just losing out on a relay medal when anchoring the Junior team to a fifth place finish. Two years further on, in 2011, Anthony Hebron became the first gold medal winner for Marys in 23 years when he won the Intermediate 400m Hurdles. This was a great reward for the years of dedication this unassuming athlete has given to St. Mary’s athletics, and everyone around was delighted for him. Two other great Mary’s athletes, Keith Fallon and Alan Murtagh recorded fourth place finishes to just miss out on a medal. 2012 saw us arrive in Tullamore with great hopes that our National Cross-Country champion, Padraig Creaven, would take gold. However, it was not to be, as the 1500m distance proved too short a distance for him, and after a brave race he came in fifth. Nevertheless, we were still to be represented on the podium, as second year student Samuel Samson ran an excellent race to finish in the bronze medal position in the Junior 800m. Hopefully, in the years to come the example set by these great athletes will be followed and we’ll see the red and black Mary’s singlet represented with more frequency on the national podium.
Combined Events
As well as the above gold medal achievements, and a whole plethora of Connacht silver and bronze medals also coming the way of St. Mary’s at the end of May 2012 in Athlone, the College also competed successfully in a dedicated section of athletics entitled simply, ‘Combined Events’. Anthony Carey explains:
We first entered the Connacht Combined Events competition in 2007, having noticed that a number of our athletes were multi-talented in a few athletics disciplines, and seeing this competition as the perfect opportunity to showcase their talents. The combined events see athletes tested over six different disciplines, 200m, 800m, 100m Hurdles, Shot Putt, Long Jump and High Jump, with each athlete being awarded different points scores depending on their level of performance in each event. From the outset Carey and Lennon set about identifying those athletes best suited for this competition and their astute team selection has paid dividends over the years, accounting for 6 Connacht gold medals, 9 silver and 2 bronze, as well as a national silver and bronze medal. [10]
Thus, we learn that Keith Fallon won the senior silver medal at the National Finals in Santry in 2010, following in the footsteps of Naoise Ó Lionaird who won the bronze in 2008. Other athletes who did St. Mary’s proud in these combined events at provincial level included Declan Taggart, Neil Hyland, Peter Roche, Anthony Hebron, Dylan Duffy, Tomás Donovan, Osaze Osagie, Darragh Mulkerrins, and Samuel Samson.
Consequently, as a result of all these triumphs, it is not surprising that St. Mary’s College achieved the best “Boys’ School” status in, this, its centenary year. The City Tribune headline of “ST. MARY’S BOYS SWEEP THE BOARDS” accompanied a photograph of the these proud entrants who fulfilled the goals set by dedicated staff sixteen years earlier, when they brought home the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Shields to cap a fantastic year for athletics in the history of the College.
