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Greek runners
1000

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Athletics, or Track and Field as it is more commonly known, involves the basic skills of all athletic pursuits: running, jumping and throwing. The events, broken down to running and field events, are meant to test an athlete's strength, speed, agility, endurance and coordination. Said to have its origins as early as 490 B.C., track and field can certainly be traced to the Ancient Olympic Games in Greece, which began in 776 B.C. if not earlier.

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Dorothy Norwood Brockway's Track and Field Medals
1926

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St. Stephen can claim several outstanding Track and Field athletes as hometown sports heroes. Among the first of these is Dorothy Norwood Brockway In 1926, Dot entered the first Maritime Ladies' Track and Field championship. She won seven medals: six gold (50-, 100- and 220-yard dashes, standing and running broad jump and basketball throw); and one silver (60-yard hurdle race); as well as being named the outstanding female athlete of the event.

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Donald Blair Norton
1970

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Donald Blair Norton

By the time he had graduated, second in his class of 14, from Milltown High School, Don had already established himself as one of the province's premier track and field athletes.

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Don Norton sets new records
June, 1938

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At a 1938 interscholastic track meet he tied the provincial high school record for the 220-yard dash (24 seconds) and set new records in two events: the standing broad jump (21 feet, 2 inches) and the 100-yard dash (10 2/5 seconds). During his senior year in high school, he set a triple jump record at the 1939 Maritime Interscholastic Championship.

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Don Norton at Mount A
1940

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At Mount Allison University, Don distinguished himself on and off of the field. He "assaulted intercollegiate track and field records and dominated most meets with a pure, virile athleticism." (Even the Babe Came to Play...by Robert Ashe) In 1939, his freshman year at Mount A., Don took four first-place finishes at the Halifax Intercollegiate Meet: the 100-yard and 220-yard dashes; as well as the broad and triple jump competitions.

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St. Croixs
1938

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During the summers of 1938 and 1939, Don was a valued member of St. Stephen's baseball powerhouse, the St. Croixs. A multi-talented player, Norton was a relief pitcher, a pinch runner, a right fielder, and a third-base man. His dazzling speed made him a constant threat when on base and his poise kept him cool under pressure. With the 1938 team, Don added provincial and Maritime senior championship titles to his list of accomplishments, while 1939 saw the team repeat their provincial dominance but fail to take the Maritime title.

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Don Norton in dash event
1940

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At the 1940 Intercollegiate Meet, Don duplicated firsts in the same events as he had during 1939 and added a second-place finish in javelin to his awards. At the Highland Games of the same year, he ran the 100-yard dash in a record time of 9 4/5 seconds.

By this time, his fellow Mount A. students had nick-named Don "Whizzer" and elected him their student union president for the 1941-1942 school year. 1941 was another record-setting year for Whizzer: he beat Canadian sprint champion, Peter Taylor, in the 100-yard dash in a time of 11 seconds - not even Don's personal-best time for the distance. "The victory received little attention but, for Whizzer Norton, it proved a point." (Even the Babe Came to Play . . . by Robert Ashe)