Track stars from the youth to adult level showcased their talents on Saturday last during the ninth staging of the Guyana Overseas Based Sports Association (GOBSA) Independence Track and Field Classic.
At the National Track and Field Centre on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD), several clubs stood out as their athletes raked in the gold medals.
One such star was Running Brave’s Akeelah Dover who bagged a sprint triple. In the Girls’ U17 100m, Dover clocked 12.01s for first place, 24.91s in the 200m event and 57.98s in the 400m event, to become the only competitor in that race to clock under a minute.
Tianna Springer cruised past the finish line twice in first place
Pulling off a similar feat, the sprint double, in the Boys’ U17 events was Upper Demerara’s Deuquan Farrell. Farrell stopped the clock at 10.83s in the 100m and 22.16s in the 200m for two gold medals.
In the 18 and over 100m race, Police Progressive Youth Club’s Cassie Small took the blue ribbon with 11.79s while Guyana Defence Force duo Savannah Adams and Tonya Rawlins clocked 11.95s and 12.13s respectively, to complete the podium.
Teen sensation Tianna Springer went on to cop the double gold in the senior 200m and 400m races. In the 200m, Springer of the Police club, stopped the clock at 24.18s to outclass Adams and Rawlins with 25.37s and 25.78s respectively.
Springer crossed the line in 55.23s in the 400m race, followed by GDF’s Kenisha Phillips in 55.90s and Andrea Foster in 57.07s.
More from the GOBSA Independence Track and Field Classic on Saturday last
GDF’s Akeem Stewart finished on top of the podium in the Men’s 100m, clocking 10.38s. Keiron Desouza followed in 10.40s and Tytans’ Athletics Club’s Jaheel Cornette completed the podium in 10.80s.
However, Desouza had his revenge in the 200m, pipping his clubmate on the line in 21.601s for first place. Stewart clocked 21.610 for second while Police’s Revon Williams was third in 21.72s.
The Men’s 400m saw Running Brave’s Simeon Adams taking top honours in 47.98s followed by Revon Williams in 49.20s and Afi Blair of Running Brave completing the top trio in 49.58s.
In the field events, GDF’s Leslain Baird assumed his usual place at the top of the javelin charts with a best throw of 61.68m for first place. Police’s Eron Leitch was second in 57.89m and GDF’s Tramaine Beckles was third with 56.85m.
Police’s Annalisa Redmond came out on top of the women’s long jump event, with a best leap of 5.68m. GDF’s Toyan Raymond was second with 5.63m and Krystal Morris third with 5.46m.
A pair of relays closed off the day’s activities in which Police took the gold both times. In the 4x100m race, the Police quartet completed their run in 43.38s for first while GDF had to settle for silver in 43.42s.
Then Police stopped the clock at 4:39.38s in the 2x800m relay for the gold. Team Nice copped second in 4:40.15s and Hopetown Flames were third in 4:49.19s.
