By Avenash Ramzan
One point separates District Six (Corentyne) and District 10 (Upper Demerara/Kwakwani) at the conclusion of the opening day of the cycling events at the National Schools Championship.
Contested at the inner circuit of the National Park, the event attracted young cyclists from all corners of Guyana representing their respective districts.
Defending champions District Six closed the day on 269 points, just one ahead of District 10. With such a close gap between the two districts, the 40km Boys Open and 25km Girls Open road races on Friday will no doubt be hotly contested with the title literally hanging in the balance.
Monday’s events saw outstanding performances from Whitney Poyer, Balram Narine, Ralph Seenarine, Shenika Teixeira, Cortis Dey, Deancae Welch and Delicia Sarmento of District Six; Jornel Yearwood, B’Yonka Barker and Denzil Huntley of District 10; and Cyanna Retemiah of District Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands).
The day started with Jerome Stephen of District 13 (South Georgetown) taking the Boys Under-16 800m, while Poyer the 800m Girls Under-16. Esau Lowden of District 10 carted off the 800m Boys Under-14, while his teammate Thersea Spencer grabbed the female equivalent.
Balram Narine gave District Six more success by pedalling to victory in the 800m Boys Open ahead of District 10’s Christopher Joseph and Jason Cameron of District 15 (New Amsterdam) respectively.
Ralph Seenarine of District Six edged Denzil Huntley of District 10 to win the 3000m Boys Under-16, while David Hicks of District Six also powered his way to victory in the 3000m Boys Under-14. Lowden of District 10 took the runner-up spot, while Clevon Murray of District Seven (Bartica) finished third.
Jornel Yearwood of District 10 rode to victory in the 3000m Boys Open with Cortis Dey of District Six finishing second and Jason Cameron of District 15 third.
Cyanna Retemiah of District Three won the 1000m Girls Under-14, while Selena Stephen of District Seven placed second and Dayna Roberts of District 14 (East Bank Demerara) third.
Other winners of the day were: Kevin Reddy of District Seven (1000m Boys Under-14), Jerome Stephen of District 13 (1000m Boys Under-16), Kendra Dunn of District Six (1000m Girls Under-16 and 2000m Girls Under-16), Nyanza Poyer of District Six (1000m Girls Under-14 and 2000m Girls Under-14), Omari Walcott of District Four (1000m Boys Under-14), Kevin Monah of District 10 (1500m Boys Under-16), Shenika Teixeira of District Six (1500m Girls Open, 2000m Girls Open and 3000m Girls Open), Andrew Hicks of District Six (1500m Boys Open and 2000m Boys Open), Deancae Welch of District Six (400m Girls Open and 1000m Girls Open), David Hicks of District Six (2000m Boys Under-14), Denzil Huntley of District 10 (2000m Boys Under-16) and Delicia Sarmento of District Six (800m Girls Open).
