The final day of the 57th National Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships got off with a bang as the highly anticipated Boys Open 40Km Cycling ended in a thriller. The defending champions were once again impressive as they successfully defended their title ending the track and field segment with 781 points. The athletes, swimmers and cyclists from the district all played their part as they earned their third consecutive title and 16th overall. District 3 (West Demerara) came in behind the champions with 577.5 points while District 13 (South Georgetown) copped third with 499 points.
Young Jonathan Ramsuchit whose lithe, diminutive physical make up belies his strength and endurance rode well but miscalculated his breakaway only to be pipped on the finish line by his fellow Berbician Balram Narine.
Narine claimed gold ahead of Ramsuchit in a time of one hour eight minutes 15 seconds. Ramsuchit will be left disappointed with his silver medal as he is known for his supremacy in road cycling.
While the team honours went to District 10, Williams, Skeete, Chantoba Bright, Joanna Archer (District Three), Anfernee Headecker (District 13) were some of the outstanding who shone the brightest during the six-day fixture.
On the final day District 10’s Daniel Williams set his third record of this year’s meet in the Boys U-18 400m event. The 400m silver medalist at the World Youth Games earlier this year, was in cruise control as he cantered to victory in 49.84s.
After winning the 100m race (10.65s) and the 200m event (21.78s), the 400m which is his pet event, the victory came naturally and was Williams final historic mark on the 57th edition of Nationals. He went on to claim the U-18 Champion Boy without opposition.
Skeete, a gold medalist at this year’s South American Youth Games was almost as brilliant as Williams after standing atop the podium for the third occasion to add the 400m gold to her collection. En route to winning the 100m and 200m races, she set a new bar when she reset her own 200m record on Thursday. Bright was top of the podium for almost all her events in the field and on the track, winning the long jump, high jump and triple jump events. She also copped silver in the U-18 400m behind Archer who also recorded three wins during the championship. The duo shared the honour of being U-18 Champion Girl of the championships. Archer took the top honors in the 400, 800 and 1500m events further cementing herself as Guyana’s leading female middle distance athlete.
Headecker was also consistent in the middle distance races. He placed first in the 800, 1500 and 5000m races. Another standout athlete yesterday was Laurindo Prince. The quarter miler from New Amsterdam/Canje, lowered Yaw’s previous U-20 400m record (48.7s) by 100ths of a second. While District 10 (Upper Demerara/ Kwakwani) took first overall, District 13 (South Georgetown) came in second overall while District 11 (North Georgetown) copped third and District 3 (West Demerara) closed out the top four.
The well attended event concluded under the floodlights in the presence of Minister of State, Joe Harmon, Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton and other notable attendees.
