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Barclay Ewart: A champion of Champs
Troy Caine
Sunday, February 12, 2012
A report in the February 5 edition of the Sunday Observer on the Championship performances of the late Alexander Barclay Ewart appeared to have missed the mark on the facts as they relate to his four years of participation for Jamaica College at Champs from the early to the mid-1950s.
Indeed, Ewart held his own at a time when other Champs stars like Frank Hall, Teddy Hewitt, Carl Belnavis, Louis Knight, Howard Aris and David Lindo were dazzling in the galaxy.
However, his most outstanding achievement at Champs, which was winning the Class One Triple — ie 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards — was neither "a record that has never been broken" nor was it even achieved in 1953, as stated.
A careful perusal through Sir Herbert McDonald's History of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports (1970) will reveal that the Barclay Ewart Champs story for JC actually started in 1951 when he was a 15-year-old in Class Two. That year, he finished third in the Class Two 220 yards behind Kingston College's Carl Belnavis and D Campbell of St George's College.
He also placed fourth in the 440 yards, again behind Belnavis as well as H King of Happy Grove and B Parkes of St George's. And in the Class Two 4x110 relay, the JC team with Ewart managed only third behind George's and KC, with the latter retaining the Champs title over JC by some 16 points.
In 1952, when his team-mate Frank Hall blazed 9.9 seconds in the Class One 100 yards to shatter Norman Manley's 41-year record, Barclay Ewart's first year in the top class saw him running second to Hall in the 220 yards for a JC 1-2, edging out Peryer of Wolmer's and KC's Belnavis. That year, JC reigned at Champs for the 12th time, beating KC by just two points and no doubt enhanced by their victory in the Class One 4x110 relay in 44.8 seconds which equalled St George's record run in 1950.
In 1953, Barclay Ewart attained only third place in the 100 yards behind Louis Knight of George's and his JC colleague Frank Hall. He was also fourth in the 440 yards won by Georgian R Estick and third in the Shot Put (an open event) behind L Walker of Wolmer's and RR Muschett of Knox College.
But although the JC team with Ewart again captured the Class One 4x110 relay, and this time lowering the record by a full second, they were still only able to place fourth jointly with Munro College on 25 points in the final standings.
It was 1954 that turned out to be Barclay Ewart's big year as a real shining star at Champs when he finally copped the Triple. His 10.3-second dash in the 100 yards sprint left Munro's David Lindo in his wake, his 22.5 seconds in the 220 yards dash was beyond Excelsior's L Wilks, and his incredible run of 51 seconds flat in the 440 yards flattened the others led by Calabar's Roy Greenland.
The JC relay team, anchored by Ewart, also won in 44.9 seconds, demolishing Calabar, Cornwall and Munro, but placed only third in the Medley Relay and overall could muster no higher than third in the final standings. Ironically, Barclay Ewart was also edged out as the Class One Champion by David Lindo who had amassed more points by placing in three sprint events and winning in two field events.
Ewart's 51 seconds in the 440 in 1954 was not a new record. The first sub-52 seconds by a schoolboy in the Class One 440 yards at Champs was actually done by Calabar's Herb McKenley in 1940 when he clocked 51.8 seconds. But the record was disallowed when the Sabina Park track was re-measured and found to be 20 feet short!
In 1953, R Estick of St George's ran it in 50.9 seconds to break the previous record of 51.1 seconds set by fellow Georgian EE Ferguson in 1950 and equalled by KC's Teddy Hewitt in 1951. It was eventually taken down further by other gladiators of Fortis, such as D Anderson who took it to 49.5 seconds in 1962 and even lower by Rupert Hoilett whose 49.3 seconds in 1963, 49.1 seconds in 1964, and 47.9 seconds in 1965 took it to where no one had gone before, but it remained a perennial challenge to emulate and to be broken.
Barclay Ewart's only record as a schoolboy athlete that has stood with him and the test of time since 1954 (and I stand corrected) is the Class One Triple in the 100, 220 and 440 yards, since in more recent times, there has been, for the most part, a distinct demarcation in the choice of distances between sprinters and middle distance runners.
Before that, the first of the one dozen boys to achieve the Triple feat was JC's Norman Manley, who did it in 1911 and again in 1912, followed by his schoolmate Rudolph Burke in 1916. AC Marsh of Wolmer's also did it twice — in 1917 and 1918 — followed by JC's CL Cawley in 1921, then Calabar's SH Laing in 1922, Cornwall's LW Foote in 1925, Calabar's Herman McMorris in 1931, RB Marsh of Wolmer's in 1936, JC's B McKenzie in 1945, LA Gooden of Wolmer's in 1949 and KC's Teddy Hewitt in 1951.
An extremely affable gentleman who became an icon in many sports as well as in Jamaica's manufacturing and industrial development, Barclay Ewart clearly embodied the discipline and commitment which he developed early in sports and which culminated in the later successes of his life.
On this eve of the 102nd Championships when sadly, we have experienced the passing of giants like Barclay Ewart and Howard Aris, I sincerely hope that some form of significant tribute will be paid by the organisers and sponsors to these two great Champions of Champs!
Perhaps it's time for us to have a Champs Hall of Fame.
trodencorp@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1mCaCix9O
Troy Caine
Sunday, February 12, 2012
A report in the February 5 edition of the Sunday Observer on the Championship performances of the late Alexander Barclay Ewart appeared to have missed the mark on the facts as they relate to his four years of participation for Jamaica College at Champs from the early to the mid-1950s.
Indeed, Ewart held his own at a time when other Champs stars like Frank Hall, Teddy Hewitt, Carl Belnavis, Louis Knight, Howard Aris and David Lindo were dazzling in the galaxy.
However, his most outstanding achievement at Champs, which was winning the Class One Triple — ie 100 yards, 220 yards and 440 yards — was neither "a record that has never been broken" nor was it even achieved in 1953, as stated.
A careful perusal through Sir Herbert McDonald's History of the Inter-Secondary Schools Championship Sports (1970) will reveal that the Barclay Ewart Champs story for JC actually started in 1951 when he was a 15-year-old in Class Two. That year, he finished third in the Class Two 220 yards behind Kingston College's Carl Belnavis and D Campbell of St George's College.
He also placed fourth in the 440 yards, again behind Belnavis as well as H King of Happy Grove and B Parkes of St George's. And in the Class Two 4x110 relay, the JC team with Ewart managed only third behind George's and KC, with the latter retaining the Champs title over JC by some 16 points.
In 1952, when his team-mate Frank Hall blazed 9.9 seconds in the Class One 100 yards to shatter Norman Manley's 41-year record, Barclay Ewart's first year in the top class saw him running second to Hall in the 220 yards for a JC 1-2, edging out Peryer of Wolmer's and KC's Belnavis. That year, JC reigned at Champs for the 12th time, beating KC by just two points and no doubt enhanced by their victory in the Class One 4x110 relay in 44.8 seconds which equalled St George's record run in 1950.
In 1953, Barclay Ewart attained only third place in the 100 yards behind Louis Knight of George's and his JC colleague Frank Hall. He was also fourth in the 440 yards won by Georgian R Estick and third in the Shot Put (an open event) behind L Walker of Wolmer's and RR Muschett of Knox College.
But although the JC team with Ewart again captured the Class One 4x110 relay, and this time lowering the record by a full second, they were still only able to place fourth jointly with Munro College on 25 points in the final standings.
It was 1954 that turned out to be Barclay Ewart's big year as a real shining star at Champs when he finally copped the Triple. His 10.3-second dash in the 100 yards sprint left Munro's David Lindo in his wake, his 22.5 seconds in the 220 yards dash was beyond Excelsior's L Wilks, and his incredible run of 51 seconds flat in the 440 yards flattened the others led by Calabar's Roy Greenland.
The JC relay team, anchored by Ewart, also won in 44.9 seconds, demolishing Calabar, Cornwall and Munro, but placed only third in the Medley Relay and overall could muster no higher than third in the final standings. Ironically, Barclay Ewart was also edged out as the Class One Champion by David Lindo who had amassed more points by placing in three sprint events and winning in two field events.
Ewart's 51 seconds in the 440 in 1954 was not a new record. The first sub-52 seconds by a schoolboy in the Class One 440 yards at Champs was actually done by Calabar's Herb McKenley in 1940 when he clocked 51.8 seconds. But the record was disallowed when the Sabina Park track was re-measured and found to be 20 feet short!
In 1953, R Estick of St George's ran it in 50.9 seconds to break the previous record of 51.1 seconds set by fellow Georgian EE Ferguson in 1950 and equalled by KC's Teddy Hewitt in 1951. It was eventually taken down further by other gladiators of Fortis, such as D Anderson who took it to 49.5 seconds in 1962 and even lower by Rupert Hoilett whose 49.3 seconds in 1963, 49.1 seconds in 1964, and 47.9 seconds in 1965 took it to where no one had gone before, but it remained a perennial challenge to emulate and to be broken.
Barclay Ewart's only record as a schoolboy athlete that has stood with him and the test of time since 1954 (and I stand corrected) is the Class One Triple in the 100, 220 and 440 yards, since in more recent times, there has been, for the most part, a distinct demarcation in the choice of distances between sprinters and middle distance runners.
Before that, the first of the one dozen boys to achieve the Triple feat was JC's Norman Manley, who did it in 1911 and again in 1912, followed by his schoolmate Rudolph Burke in 1916. AC Marsh of Wolmer's also did it twice — in 1917 and 1918 — followed by JC's CL Cawley in 1921, then Calabar's SH Laing in 1922, Cornwall's LW Foote in 1925, Calabar's Herman McMorris in 1931, RB Marsh of Wolmer's in 1936, JC's B McKenzie in 1945, LA Gooden of Wolmer's in 1949 and KC's Teddy Hewitt in 1951.
An extremely affable gentleman who became an icon in many sports as well as in Jamaica's manufacturing and industrial development, Barclay Ewart clearly embodied the discipline and commitment which he developed early in sports and which culminated in the later successes of his life.
On this eve of the 102nd Championships when sadly, we have experienced the passing of giants like Barclay Ewart and Howard Aris, I sincerely hope that some form of significant tribute will be paid by the organisers and sponsors to these two great Champions of Champs!
Perhaps it's time for us to have a Champs Hall of Fame.
trodencorp@gmail.com
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...#ixzz1mCaCix9O
