Athletes Dennis Horatio and Tiffany Carto were named male and female Athlete of the Year respectively when the Police Progressive Youth Club held its award ceremony on Friday at the Police Sports Club, Eve Leary.
David Heywood captured the Club’s Male Sports Personality of the Year award while Leota Bobb was named the female equivalent.
Calvin Thomas received an award for being deemed the Club’s Most Dedicated Athlete of the Year.
There were also awards for the Most Improved male and female athletes of the year in the junior and senior categories.
Those awards went to Kelvin Ceres (male junior) and Tandica Burgess (female junior).
Ceres competed in the 800m, 1500m and 5000m events while Burgess contested the 100m and 200m events.
In the senior category, Winston George, a 100m, 200m and 400m athlete, won the male title and 400 and 800m athlete Dellie Williams, won the senior female title.
In the awards for the academic performances, Carlwyn Collins was honored as the Best Performing Secondary School Student. According to the club’s secretary, Bobb, Collins won his award for his passes in 11 subjects at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the three subjects he wrote at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). Collins is a student of Queen’s College, and specialises in the 200m and 400m events.
Joel James was the runner up to Collins for his passes in seven subjects at the CSEC, according to Bobb. James attended Richard Ishmael Secondary School, and usually performs in the 100m and 200m events. On the tertiary level, Seon Hamer was honored for his academic performance. According to Bobb, Hamer graduated from the University of Guyana with a credit in Forestry.
The club’s youngest male and female athletes, Kester Duke and Leticia David respectively, were honored by the club coaches, Lyndon Wilson and Mark Scott. And in other awards doled out, six parents were honored by the club for contributions that they have made.
The award ceremony is the second of its kind that has been organized by the club’s Development and Planning Committee to honor their members for their performance for the year. The ceremony was held under the theme “Athletics and Academics – A Balancing Act.”
Speaking with Stabroek Sport some of the athletes expressed their delight at being honored. Horatio, who has been with the club for over four years, stated that he was very pleased at being honored. Horatio frequents the 1500m, 5000m and 10km events, while he also occasionally participates in the 800m event. Carto performs in the 100m, 200m and 400m events, and according to Wilson, Carto has been able to medal in all of the events that she has participated in for the year. Wilson said that he was very pleased with the performance of the athletes.
The club is one of the top performing athletic clubs in Guyana, with its throng of stellar athletes. It boasts the champion title of the inaugural inter-club Under-23 Games that was held earlier this year, where they carted away the $150, 000 first prize. The club also placed second at the inaugural President’s/Jefford Track and Filed Classic that was held in Linden in August.
