Inter-House Sports Day

The biggest sporting day of the Woodstock calendar fell on Friday, October 9th: Students from the Middle and High Schools headed down to the school's Hanson Field for Inter-House Sports Day. For one day, Woodstock's usual multi-chromatic hues were divided into proud blue, green, and red for the houses of Eagles, Condor and Merlin respectively. The large cheering audience enjoyed a display of track and field events partaken by students from grades 6-12.

Leading up to the day itself, several pre-determined events took place at the Hanson Field, from September 26th - October 6th. Male and female students of all participating divisions (Sub Junior, Junior, Inter, Senior) were involved in events that included the 1500 metre race, Discus, Javelin, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump, and Shot Put.

Students continued to practise down at Hanson for the big day in the weeks leading up to it. On Sports Day, the Intermediate Band featuring 53 students welcomed the Woodstock family with school and sport songs, as well as the Indian National Anthem. The Sports Day was declared open by the Principal, and a marathon of different events followed, starting at 9 in the morning and running up till the final award presentation at 5 in the evening.

The events on the day included 80 metre hurdles, 100 metre hurdles, Long Jump, Shot Put, High Jump, 800 metre race, 400 metre dash, 200 metre dash, and the 100 metre dash. The highlight event, as usual, for both the participants and the audience, were the 4 x 100 relays that took place at the end of the day. There was also a 4 x 100 invitational relay for junior and senior boys and girls, in which Woodstock teams competed against teams from Wynberg-Allen School, St. Georges', Waverly Convent, and Welham Girls' School.

Another Woodstock tradition was upheld on Sports Day, when, following lunch, there was a 400 metre Employees Dash, where the students cheered the school's various employees as they raced against each other in an entertainingly competitive affair.

One of the last, but certainly not the least competitive, events of the day was the 4 x 100 Staff Relays. A total of 40 staff members competed in the races, with three female teams and an incredible seven male teams! The Merlins team won the Female staff relay while the Condors won the male race.

Results were announced at the end of the day by Mr. Ajay Mark, Woodstock's head of Physical Education. With 556.5 points, the winner of the High School division were the Eagles House, and in the Middle School, the Condor House won with 571 points. The winner of the Ajit Henry Memorial Cup, awarded to the student with the most points at Sports Day, was Yu Sung Eo who accumulated a total of 46 points.

The other individual trophy winners were:

• Sub-Junior Girls: Mayuri Kakkar (Condor)
• Sub-Junior Boys: Daryl Chhangte (Eagles)
• Junior Girls: Sonam Deki (Condor)
• Junior Boys: Gamli Yonggam(Condor)
• Intermediate Girls: Tina Malik (Eagles)
• Intermediate Boys: Uzir Thapa (Condor)
• Senior Girls: Kritika Deb (Eagles)
• Senior Boys: Yu Sung Eo (Merlin)

To encourage house spirit, the school also offered a special cake to the house which showed the most enthusiasm amongst their cheering fans. This cake was won by Middle School Eagles, who made posters, sang songs, and even had an Eagles mascot to encourage their athletes. Several of the student helpers who assisted in running the day's events were also recognised by the department of Physical Education.

It was yet another memorable day for Woodstock, and the school's best athletes were chosen to take part in the Inter-School Sports Day that will take place at the Wynberg-Allen school on October 16th.