NATIONALS: Upper Demerara/Kwakwani wins 16th title

By Treiston Joseph 

Upper Demerara/Kwakwani (District 10) retained the Champion of Champions trophy of the National School Championships that concluded on Friday evening at the National Track and Field Centre, Leonora.

District 10 ended with 67 points, while South Georgetown (District 13) for the first time finished second on 59 points and North Georgetown (District 11) ended on 58 points for third.

Host district West Demerara (District 3) finished fourth on 56 points, while East Georgetown (District 13) and Cuyuni Mazaruni (District 7) tied for the fifth position to round out the top five teams.

Meanwhile, on the track it was triple gold for some of the outstanding athletes, with District 10’s Daniel Williams being the pick of the lot by capturing his 400m in record-breaking fashion with a new time of 49.84s in the Under-18 category. The old record was held by Jason Yaw with a time of 49.9s. Williams won the 100m, 200m and 400m all in record-breaking time.

Another District 10 athlete, Chantoba Bright, also won a triple by capturing the Girls Under-18 Triple Jump in 11.90m after capturing the Long and High Jump events earlier in the day.

Deshanna Skeete was also in top form with a triple of her own by winning the Girls 400m Under-16 with a record time of 57.96s. Skeete won the 100m and 200m as well earlier in the championship.

Hometown girl Joanna Archer got a golden triple as well, with a win in the Girls 400m Under-18 with a record time of 58.36s, to add to her 800m and 1500m successes.

South Georgetown’s (District 13) Anfernee Headecker ran a perfect 5000m to cop a triple gold as well. Headecker won the 5000m in 16:31.60s to end his performances on high with three gold medals after capturing the 800m and 1500m.

District 13’s Wesley Tyndall also got a triple gold by winning the 400m in a time of 55.15s to go along with his 100m and 200m wins in the Under-14 category.

In relay action, West Demerara females won the Girls 4x100m event, while the West Coast Berbice team won the male version to bring the curtains down on the 57^th edition of the championships. 

At the closing ceremony, Minister of State Joseph Harmon congratulated all teams and athletes and wished them success going forward.