Caesar, Phillips confirm status as Sprint King and Queen

AAG National Senior Athletics Championships

Compton Caesar stamped his authority in the 200 Metres Final on Monday afternoon at the National Track and Field Facility in Leonora to officially confirm his status as Guyana’s leading male sprinter.
Caesar who was once again strongly challenged by Emmanuel Archibald won the 200 Metres final to claim the sprint double with a +2.8 wind assisted time of 21.28s.

Archibald who finished second behind Caesar for the second consecutive day pushed the CARIFTA and South American U-20 Gold medalist to his limits, on the 100 metre turn Archibald and Caesar were neck and neck bringing the crowd to its feet; however Caesar shifted gear and finished just ahead of Archibald.
The UWI student athlete (Archibald) copped silver in a time of 21.36s while Daniel Williams took bronze in 21.59s.
In the females 100 Metres final, Kenisha Phillips produced a sterling performance on her way to claiming gold ahead of Alita Moore and arch rival Onasha Rogers.
Phillips finished in a time of 24.07s while Moore came in second with 24.55s. Rogers who looked slightly off form, was third as she clocked 24.63s.
Earlier in the day as proceedings began in the Women’s Triple Jump, Chantoba Bright claimed yet another gold medal with a leap of 12.24m; miles ahead of second placed Cindy Fraser who’s best jump was measured at 10.71m.
In the Men’s Shot Put the GDF duo of Osafo Dos Santos and Selwin Henry had a joint throw of 13.38m with the former being awarded Gold. Police athlete Kleon Spellen took bronze with 12.92m.
Cleveland Thomas ran a time of 16:24.44s on his way to Gold in the Males 5000 Metres race while Jonathan Fagundes was second in 17:27.95s and Calvin Thomas third with 19:26.42s. Spectators were denied a showdown between Cleveland Thomas and his longtime rival Winston Missigher as the latter was late for the race.
Over at the High Jump mat, Natrina Hooper out jumped Cindy Fraser and Shontel Browne in the females event to take gold. Hooper’s best effort was a height of 1.70m while Fraser had 1.60m and Browne 1.45m.
Joanna Archer surprised Claudrice McKoy in the Women’s 800 Metres as she strode past McKoy to end the race in 2:14.55s and claim gold. McKoy finished second in 2:15.36s while Kezra Murray ended with 2:22.45s copping bronze.
Fans were treated to the first Hurdles event at a national meet after decades. Hosea Glen took gold easily in the Men’s 110 Metres Hurdles with a time of 18.23s with Shimar Velloza coming in second in 20.32s and Marvin Tinnis third with 20.61s.
Another growing but healthy rivalry that bodes well for the future of athletics in Guyana is the one between Samuel Lynch and Anfernee Headecker, both of whom are S.A U-20 medalists. The rivalry continued on Monday afternoon in the Men’s 800 Metres final.
Headecker started the race strongly leading the pack until the final 100 Metre where “Sammy” as Lynch is affectionately called, made his move powering down the back stretch to take gold with a time of 1:54.21s ahead of Quacy Morian who was second with 1:54.42s. Headecker who “burned out” at the back end of the race finished in third, clocking 1:56.42s.
Tenesha Cort, who on Sunday set a new national record in the Women’s Javelin, recorded a doubled as she won gold in the Women’s Discus throw with a distance of 35.03m. Her closest challengers was Sophina Vanderstoop who threw the discus a distance of 33.48m and third placed Annesia DeAbreu with 31.97m.
In the Men’s Triple Jump Lloyd McCurdy leaped his way to gold with a distance of 15.67m while Lurex Stewart claimed silver with 14.76m and Dennis Roberts bronze with 14m.
The Police Progressive Youth club won overall title while the Guyana Defense Force athletics club was second.
With the AAG’s National Senior Championships now over, the next big event on Guyana’s athletics scene is the Aliann Pompey Invitational meet slated for July 15 at the National Track and Field Facility at Leonora.
A number of international athletes including the likes of former World Champion Kim Collins are scheduled to compete.