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The McEvedy Shield is an annual athletics competition held in Wellington, New Zealand, for four of the region's boys' secondary schools. It was first held in 1922 and has become one of the highlights of the sporting calendar for the schools involved. The wooden shield, which is presented to the winning school, was donated in by Dr Patrick F. McEvedy to promote the spirit of athletic competition between the participating colleges. An old boy of St Patrick's College, Wellington, Dr McEvedy went on to represent England in rugby union.
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The 2017 competition was won by Wellington College on Tuesday 7 March at Newtown Park, winning 3 McEvedy titles in a row, and marking their 51st McEvedy victory, out of 93 meetings.
Patrick McEvedy
The shield was donated by Patrick Francis McEvedy (1880-1935) in 1922. McEvedy attended St Patrick's, Wellington, from 1895 to 1898, before going to Guy's Hospital in London to train as a doctor. He toured New Zealand in 1904 with Bedell-Sivwright's British team and again in 1908 with the Anglo-Welsh team. He later returned to Wellington and was Wellington Rugby Football Union President 1931-1933 and NZRFU President 1934-1935.
Events
The competition features fourteen track and field events across four age groups - under 14 years, under 15 years, under 16 years, under 17 and over 17 years. For each event in each age group, four points are awarded for first place, three points for second place, two points for third place and one point for fourth place.
Track
100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres, 1500 metres, and 3000 metres, 80 metre hurdles, 100 metre hurdles, 110 metre hurdles and 4 x 100 metres relay.
Field
High jump, long jump, triple jump, javelin, discus and shot put.
Participating schools
Wellington College and St. Patrick's College, Wellington are the only schools that remain from the original competition in 1922, with Rongotai College first competing in 1928 and St Patrick's College, Silverstream taking part in the school's first year of existence, 1931.
Over the years there have been a number of schools that have taken part in the competition, including Hutt Valley High School, Scots College and Wairarapa High School (which shared the Shield in 1925 with Wellington College, and won outright in 1927). In the early 1980s it was decided that only the four traditional boys' schools would be able to compete.
In 2009, Scots College's attempt to rejoin the McEvedy Shield was unsuccessful.
Venue
The competition is held at Newtown Park, Newtown. Held during school hours, the entire student body of each school assembles to support its team. Because of the large number of spectators, the schools take turns sitting in the main stand. Each year two schools watch from the surrounding grass banks.
It has previously been held at the Basin Reserve, Athletic Park and on the St Patrick's College grounds at Silverstream.
Results
Wellington College is the current shield holder. Their 2017 victory was their 51st win of the McEvedy Shield, the most wins out of any school. Wellington College holds the record for the greatest point differential between first and second place, beating second place St Pats Town by 95 points in 2017.
St Patrick's College, Wellington has won the McEvedy Shield 20 times, second to Wellington College. The College has won the Shield for five years out of the last eight years, including a triple-crown from 2012 to 2014 (exceptions were when Wellington College won in 2009, 2011 and 2015).
St Patrick's College, Silverstream has won the Shield 14 times, and holds the record for the most consecutive Shield victories, winning six years in a row (1968 to 1973).
Rongotai College has triumphed seven times with their last shield win being in 1989. However, the school still holds the record for the most points ever scored at the event in which they scored 273.5 in 1989.
Scores
2017
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
Individual results, times, distances and current McEvedy records can be viewed at http://rongotaiathletics.weebly.com/mcevedy-results.html