56th Nationals
District 10’s Compton Caesar (u-20) and Daniel Williams (u-18) completed memorable sprint doubles yesterday at the National Stadium after storming to victories in their respective 200-metre races.
The two Upper Demerara/Kwakwani sprinters who won the marquee 100m races on Wednesday, blew away their rivals to ensure the Linden track and field outfit heads into today’s finale with a firm grip on the trophy.
Caesar cruised to victory in 22.1s, finishing ahead of Linton Mentis (22.7s) of District 12 and Stayon Wilson (23.0s) of District 15. Williams won his final in 22.7s, comfortably ahead of District 4’s Brian Roman (23.5s) and Umkosi Vancooten (23.7s) of District 13.
The speedy duo’s district mate, Deshanya Skeete, was not to be outdone and recorded the upset of the meet, coming from behind to relegate overwhelming favourite, Kenisha Phillips who lost her form and faded badly on the homestretch.
Skeete clocked an eye popping 25.3s in the 200m u-16 final. The District 11 standout, Phillips who was pushed to the hilt by Skeete in the 100m final was timed at 25.4s. District 13’s Tiffauna Garnett was a distant third, completing the event in 26.3s. Danita Jackson who won the girls u-20 200m final also helped to tack on a further 10 points on Linden’s lead.
1500m
While the District 10 sprinters dominated the 200m events, District 11’s (North Georgetown) middle distance athletes made hay in the sunshine in their 1500m races.
Maria Urquhart (Girls U-20), Claudrice McKoy (Girls U-18) and Samuel Lynch (Boys U-18) all crossed the tape in pole position.
However, their heroics were not enough to unseat the title holders (District 10) who are primed to retain the track and field championship today.
Following the penultimate day, Upper Demerara /Kwakwani are the runaway leaders on 461.5 points. Arch rivals, District 11 trails in seventh on 299.5 points.
The final day of the championships will be sweetened with the 400m individual events, various relays and the prize giving ceremony. Action is set to start at 09:00hrs.
