Local distance queen Alika Morgan and long distance junior sensation Dennis Horatio comfortably won the female and male 10km road races yesterday morning which kick started the 47th Annual National School’s Athletics, Swimming and Cycling Championships.
In the first event of this year’s championship, Horatio started his stop watch and shot out in front of the field of the country’s best junior athletes.
His main rival, Jonathon Fagundes, of East Georgetown (District 12) caught up with him and looked promising up front.
Horatio, however, had bigger fish to fry and quickly disposed of Fagundes less than 1km afterwards.
Pretty soon it was Horatio all alone in front, pacing himself towards shattering his predecessor Cleveland Forde’s record of 33 minutes, 20 seconds, which had been his goal from the minute he began his athletic career.
Horatio, who hails from North Georgetown (District 11) crossed the line virtually unchallenged, checked his watch only to discover that he had run a time of 32 minutes 32 seconds.
The run was not only a personal best for Horatio but it destroyed Forde’s 2002 record by almost a minute.
Sadly, the officials failed to have a time-keeper present at this event thereby making Horatio’s record time unofficial robbing him of what would have been his first national record.
It was ordained that Alika Morgan, would win the female event and she did.
Morgan, who currently holds the 10km national record, experienced a similar injustice as she crossed the line in the unofficial time of 38 minutes, 25 seconds which bettered her existing record of 40:47 which she set last year.
Later in the day the record-breaking excitement continued at the YMCA ground where the Jumps took place, but this time the records were acknowledged.
First off, Parish Cadogan of Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) dominated the Under-14 Category with victories in the long and triple jumps.
Cadogan won the long jump with a leap of 5.44 metres and returned in the triple jump to wipe out the existing record of 10.75m set last year by Orin James, with a new mark of 11:83 metres.
Second and third positions went to Asean Little and Quincy Garraway in the male U-14 long jump and Georgio Singh of West Demerara (District 3) and Brent Alleyne of Essequibo Coast/ Pomeroon/ (District 2) in the triple jump.
Roxanna Rigby of New Amsterdam (District 15) dethroned Kersee Welch and erased her mark 10:40 metres in the female U-20 Triple Jump winning with a record leap of 10:83 metres to add to her U-16 record of 10:66m which was set last year in the event.
But she was prevented from winning the double by Rhondell Alleyne who captured the female U-20 long jump with a mark of 5.21 metres.
Carlwyn Collins of District 11, well known as an excellent sprinter broke the U-16 triple jump record of 12.05m held by Derron Johnson when he jumped 12.17 metres in his first attempt, a remarkable feat since Collins had no triple jumping experience.
Gracelyn Antoine of Rupununi (District 9, won the girls’ Under-14 long jump while Natasha Doris of Corentyne (District 6) won the girls’ U-16 Long Jump.
The girls’ U-16 triple jump was won by Anastacia McKenzie who recorded 10.06 metres to edge Renae Thom East Bank Demerara (District 15) and Juanita Hooper of East Georgetown (District 12).
Randy Brown won the boys’ U-16 long jump with 6.05 metres while Tiffany Johnson of District 15 won the female U-16 triple Jump with a leap of 9.56m.