1925 provided further proof of the attractiveness of the championships, with 36 schools taking part.  The ‘Glasgow Herald’ of Monday 18th May commented: “The inter-scholastics meeting, which is held in Edinburgh in May each year, shows no sign of waning in popularity, no fewer than 36 schools being engaged at Inverleith on Saturday.   All the circumstances favoured a successful meeting, the weather being fine, the attendance good and the competitors showing enthusiasm in the various events.  Performances generally were of a high standard and two new records were created.   The inter-scholastic sports, which were largely fostered by the late Mr DS Duncan are now a firmly established event in the Scottish athletics calendar.”

The final sentence tells us what we had maybe guessed at: the championships were a great success despite the absence of some of the original (soon to be returned?) schools. Those taking part included several first timers in Kelso Academy, Stanley House, Robert Gordon’s,  and other who had previously dipped their toes into the event but missed at least the 1924 meeting were St  Mungo’s, Vale of Leven Academy and Ayr Academy.   The Edinburgh Evening News also told us that –

The ‘News’ went further in its actual report on the meeting when its first paragraph said:

It has not been mentioned so far but the ‘Coatbridge Leader’ (below) of 25th May reminds us that not all secondary schools were eligible to enter – Junior Secondaries were not included.   The cutting also shows the pride that all communities of whatever standing took in any sporting success won by their school pupils.

The results as published in the ‘Scotsman’ are below:

Comment was made by several reporters of the sprinting shown by the Dunfermline HS pupils as well as th performances by the only two pupils from Argyll.   A summary of winners and their schools follows.

Open Events

EVENT	WINNER	SCHOOL	PERFORMANCE
100 Yards	C Harrison	Eastbank Academy	11.2 seconds
440 Yards	AD Lees	Trinity Academy	56.2 seconds
One Mile	D Kinloch	Gordon’s College	5 min 01 sec
120 Yards Hurdles	A Clark	Coatbridge School	17.8 seconds
High Jump	A Clark	Coatbridge School	5′ 3 1/2″
Broad Jump	J McKechnie	Kintyre Technical School	19′ 7″
Throwing the Javelin	CG Brand	George Heriot’s	88 Yards 0 feet 9 inches
Putting the Weight	S Cunningham	Kintyre Technical School	35′ 11″ *
Relay	Dunfermline High School	1408 Yards	3 min 09 sec

Under 16

EVENT	WINNER	SCHOOL	PERFORMANCE
100 Yards	J Russell	Coatbridge School	11.4 seconds
880 Yards	A Lamont	Kilmarnock Academy	2 min 17.6 sec
120 Yards Hurdles	J Russell	Coatbridge School	20 seconds
High Jump	A Wallace	Kilmarnock Academy	4′ 11 1/2″
Broad Jump	A Mitchell	Trinity Academy	18′ 2 1/2″

Under 14

EVENT	WINNER	SCHOOL	PERFORMANCE
100 Yards	D Honeyman	Dunfermline High School	11.4 seconds *
300 Yards	D Honeyman	Dunfermline High School	41 seconds
High Jump	J Drummond	Jas Gillespie’s	4′ 4 3/4″
Broad Jump	G Kerr	Stewart’s College	15′ 8 1/2″
Relay	Dunfermline High School	704 yards	1 min 30 sec*

It was a good meeting with the spread of schools across the country being greater than ever – from Kelso in the South to several Aberdeen schools, eg Robert Gordon’s in the north; and from Kintyre in the West to Waid Academy in Fife in the East.   There were schools from big cities like Edinburgh and Glasgow and from smaller more rural schools like Kintyre and Vale of Leven.    As for the standard, records continued to be broken – in 1925 these were for sprints and throw, and in previous years we have seen them go for the jumping events too.   

 

 

.