Athletic Lives of Distinction - M - Z
M - R
McFarlane, Don ’44 - Track & Field
Don arrived at Ridley as a boy in 1939 and became a lifelong servant of the school—enjoying an Olympic career in-between. In Ridley: A Canadian School, historian Paul Lewis and former Headmaster Richard Bradley note that in the early 1940s, Don and his younger brother Bob were “electrifying the sports scene,” dominating Ridley running events each Sports Day and “revealing a hint of the spectacular running careers ahead of them.”
While a student at Western University, Don broke records winning collegiate and national championships. In 1999, he was inducted into Western’s Track and Field Hall of Fame. The McFarlane brothers would go on to represent Canada in the London Olympics of 1948, earning a fifth-place finish as members of the 4x100 metre men’s relay.
While a student at Western University, Don broke records winning collegiate and national championships. In 1999, he was inducted into Western’s Track and Field Hall of Fame. The McFarlane brothers would go on to represent Canada in the London Olympics of 1948, earning a fifth-place finish as members of the 4x100 metre men’s relay.
Years later, Dr. McFarlane served as Board Chairman for Ridley College from 1982-86, overseeing a time of great growth and development for the school—including the campaign that resulted in the Second Century Building. He always kept a close eye on the progress of Ridley’s comparatively small but mighty Track and Field team, as a 1986 letter to then Headmaster Jeremy Packard attests: “Track is an athletic activity in almost every high school in North America. Therefore, that our track team, for the first time ever, has won our local Zone championship against teams from generally much larger schools in the area, went on to do extremely well in the regional competition, and has sent seven students on to OFSAA is a source of great pride!”
P.O. Box 3013, 2 Ridley Road St. Catharines, Ontario L2R 7C3 Canada 905 684 1889
With more than 700 students from 60 countries, the largest boarding programme in Ontario and the third largest in Canada, Ridley College is a truly international, co-educational, day and boarding school of the world that prepares students for the world. It has provided enriching learning and life-shaping experiences focused on the arts, academics, and athletics since 1889. Ridley’s Lower School offers JK-Grade 8, its Upper School consists of Grade 9-PG, and Ridley graduates attend some of the top universities and colleges around the world. Ridley is the only co-ed independent boarding school in Canada and one of only three in North America authorized to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB) continuum programme.
