By Treiston Joseph
Leslain Baird claimed a sprint double as Defence Head Quarters (DHQ) amassed 288.5 points to win the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Inter Unit Championship at the Camp Ayanganna ground yesterday.
Base Camp Ayanganna (BCA) scored 187.5 points to take second while Base Camp Stephenson (BSA) scored 170 points for third place.
Baird took the 200 metres men in 21.0s after a slow start. He overtook Dellon DeAbreu with about 30 metres to go after DeAbreu seemingly false started but ended third when Kwesi Payne dipped before him at the finish line. Payne clocked 21.4s while DeAbreu turned in a time of 21.5s. Baird returned later to capture the men’s 400 metres in 49.9s with Darren Henry trailing in second with 50.3s while Siton David ended third in 50.8s
Speaking with Stabroek Sport after his races, Baird related how he felt about the victories along with his expectations for the Joint Services Championship in September. “I think my 200 metres was good and I’m going to give them a fight at Joint Services, I just need to put in more training.
“For the 400 metres, it will be a very tight race at Joint Services, but I’m sure I’m going to give Patrick King (Defending Joint Services champion) a fight. I must also say congrats to Winston George on his 45s 400 metres in Venezuela, but I know I’m going to put my best foot forward and will be among the top two finishers at Joint Services Championships,” Baird stated. Baird, who competes for the Coast Guards, also walked away with the male champion athlete trophy.
Distance king Cleveland Forde, who won the men’s 5000 metres on the first day of the championships eventually finished with a distance triple when he claimed the men’s 800 metres and 1500 metres yesterday.
Forde was challenged strongly by Tyshon Bentick in the 800 metres which saw both athletes sprinting to the finish line with Forde emerging victorious. However, Forde stamped his dominance in the 1500 metres as he ran unchallenged in the event.
Earlier in the day, DeAbreu sprinted his way to capture the 100 metres men title in 10.9s as he outclassed Rodwell Hutton 11.2s and Kishaun Watts 11.3 who were second and third respectively.
On the distaff side, Tiffany Smith ran away with a sprint triple when she claimed the 100, 200 and 400 metres races in 12.6s, 26.2s and 1:02s respectively. The BCA athlete also claimed the female champion athlete trophy.
Shanica Hotton ran away with the female 800 metres ahead of Eunice Henry and Natisha Dos Santos while Donycka Lyle finished ahead of Dos Santos and Maureece Skeete in the female 1500 metres.
United States of America-based athlete, Christopher Hall, clocked 10.7s second to win the men’s Invitational 100 metres ahead of Tevin Garraway and Kevin Nelson.
In relay action, the BCA ran away with the women’s 4×100 metres in 55.1s ahead of DHQ 57.7s and Training Core (TC) 1:00.2s while DHQ rebounded in the men’s version to win in 43.8s ahead of Infantry 45.9s and TC 46.2s.
While there was no female 4×400 metres relay, 31 Special Force/Artillery clocked 3:37.9s to win the men’s 4×400 metres relay ahead of 2nd Infantry 3:42.3s and 3:50.1s.
