By Treiston Joseph
Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) is now the most successful district in the history of the National Schools Championships after the curtains came down on the event on Friday at the National Stadium, Providence.
Locked on 14 titles with North Georgetown (District 11), District 10 amassed an overall point total of 65 for their 15th title.
North Georgetown, who finished last year in second spot, ended the 2016 edition of the championships on 59 points for second, while South Georgetown (District 13) moved up one spot up from last year to finish third on 55 points.
West Demerara (District Three) finished fourth on 53 points, while Corentyne (District Six) rounded out the top five on 50 points.
Meanwhile, with the main event on the track on Friday being the 400 metres, Linton Mentis won the Boys Under-20 for East Georgetown in 50.6s as race favourite Compton Caesar of District 10 missed a chance for a sprint triple due to a false start. Stayon Wilson of New Amsterdam was second in 50.6s, while Darius Austin finished third in 53.3s.
Samuel Lynch of North Georgetown claims a race triple by capturing the 400 metres in an upset win over favourite Daniel Williams. Lynch won the event in 50.7s, while Williams ran 51.6s for silver. Jakeem Benn was third in 51.9s.
Deshanna Skeete of District 10 had another break-out performance, topping expected favourite North Georgetown’s Kenisha Phillips for the second time at the championships, this time in the Girls Under-16 400 metres with a record-breaking time of 57.7s. Phillips also ran under the record set by Jevina Sampson of 58.8s with a time of 57.9s.
The Under-18 Boys high jump also saw another record-breaking performance from Samuel Jordan of Corentyne with a height of 1.91 metres. Williams jumped 1.91 metres as well, but made the height on his last attempt compared to Jordan who made it on his second.
District 10’s Chantoba Bright also won the female Under-18 400 metres in 59.9s while finishing second in the high jump female Under-18 with a leap of 1.50 metres. Tatyanna Blair of New Amsterdam won the high jump event in 1.55 metres.
Yessinia Andrews of North Georgetown continued her surge as a young prospect with a win in the Girls Under-14 400 metre for a sprint double with a time of 1:01.4s. Princess Browne of East Georgetown (District 12) was second in 1:01.6s, while West Demerara’s (District Three) Keliza Smith was third in 1:02.0.
The Girls Under-20 400 metres was won by Kezra Murray of District Three in a time of 1:01.9s.
Meanwhile, North Georgetown won both the male and female 4×100 metres to close out the day’s action and with it this year’s championships.
