The Wykehamist
The 40th Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy
In early October, a team from our Royal Marines CCF section travelled to the Commando Training Centre at Lympstone to compete in the 40th Sir Steuart Pringle Trophy— an annual interschool competition that brings together cadets from across the country for a weekend of challenges. The event is designed to test the qualities at the heart of the Royal Marines’ training: leadership, teamwork, resilience, and physical endurance.
Selection for the Pringle team is reputably fierce. Of this year’ s squad, seven had competed once before( Dunfield-Prayero, Johnstone, Richards, Stephenson, Turvill, Crewe, McIntyre), one twice before( Darkazally), and one was making his debut( Wang).
This year’ s competition drew 16 schools, each fielding a team eager to prove themselves in a series of demanding tasks inspired by the Commando Tests. Against a high calibre of opposition, the Wykehamists delivered exceptional performances across every stance, ultimately securing second place overall. Guttingly for the team, their points in the end positioned them within two percent of first place— the closest instance in recent memory that Winchester has come to winning. The result reflects the many months of early morning runs, late night meetings and rainy afternoons of green training that the squad dedicated in preparation.
Over the two days, each team partook in twelve tasks— ten on the Saturday and two on the Sunday. Each stance was run by a group of serving Marines who judged every performance out of a possible 100 points based on their own training and experience. Winchester excelled in the two most iconic and gruelling tests: the Endurance Run, and the infamous“ Bottom Field”, or Assault Course. Both are regarded as the ultimate measures of stamina, courage, and teamwork, and Winchester’ s victories in these disciplines are a testament to the cadets’ hard work and physical fitness. The team’ s Head of Phys Charlie Richards put together a vigorous training routine in the months leading up to the event, which clearly paid off. Hugo Dunfield-Prayero’ s readiness to run the gruelling Bottom Field twice in a row( to support an opposing team which was down a man) earned him an individual medal at the awards ceremony, marking an excellent individual contribution. The Bottom Field itself saw the team sprint through a series of obstacles while carrying a 15-foot telegraph pole on their shoulders two at a time. Winchester completed it faster than any other school, earning the first of three trophies.
Following a brutal Saturday, the Endurance Run took place early on Sunday morning. The course famously begins with“ The Sheep Dip”— a narrow tunnel sub-
From left to right: Enoch Wang( I, 2024-), Ray Crewe( C, 2022-), Charles McIntyre( F, 2022-), Alfie Johnstone( C, 2021-), Jad Darkazally( D, IC, 2021-), Charlie Richards( I, 2021-), George Stephenson( B, 2021-), Hugo Dunfield-Prayero( E, 2021-), Fergus Turvill( B, IIC, 2022-)
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