Led by sprint trebles by star athletes Daniel Williams and Deshana Skeete, Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) successfully defended the ‘Champions of Champions’ trophy, a symbol of supremacy for the Schools Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships.
The black and gold clad outfit came, saw and conquered to retain the coveted piece of hardware when the curtains came down on the 57th edition of prestigious championship last evening at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.
On the backs of several champion athlete performances by some of the nation’s budding swimming, cycling and track stars, District 10 amassed 67 points to relegate District 13 (South Georgetown) who were the first runners up with 59 points to second place.
Former champions, District 11 (North Georgetown) placed third overall with 58 points.
The athletes, swimmers and cyclists from Region 10 earned their third consecutive title and 16th overall.
While the team honours went to District 10, Williams, Skeete, Chantoba Bright, Joanna Archer (District Three), Anfernee Headecker (District 13) were some of the individual stars who shone the brightest during the six-day fixture.
Yesterday, Williams set the third record of the meet in the Boys U-18 400m event. The 400m silver medalist at the World Youth Games earlier this year, breezed to victory in 49.84s. The previous mark (49.9s) was set by Jason Yaw in 2013.
After winning the marquee 100m race (10.65s) and the 200m event (21.78s), the feat was the latest of Williams’ historically dominant outing at the championship. All three of his wins came in record breaking fashion.
Skeete, a gold medalist at this year’s South American Youth Games was equally impressive after standing atop the podium for the third occasion after adding the 400m gold to her collection. En route to winning the 100m and 200m races, she lowered her own 200m record on Thursday.
Bright was impressive in the field and on the track, winning the long jump, high jump and triple jump events in record leaps. She also snared silver in the U-18 400m behind Archer who also recorded three wins during the championship.
The long striding Archer took the top honors in the 400, 800 and 1500m events.
Headecker was also a model of consistency in the middle distance races. He placed first in the 800, 1500 and 5000m races. Another standout athlete yesterday was Laurindo Prince. The quarter miler from New Amsterdam/Canje, lowered Yaw’s previous U-20 400m record (48.7s) by 100ths of a second.
The well attended event concluded under the floodlights in the presence of Minister of State, Joe Harmon, Minister of Social Cohesion, Dr. George Norton, Director of Sport, Chris Jones, President of the GTU, Mark Lyte and other notable attendees.
