– athlete wins 200m but loses race
Marlon Munroe
The prelude to Friday’s final hoorah in the North Georgetown track and field championships got even more interesting yesterday even as under-14 male and female athletes Phillip Persaud, Diquan Vancooten and Ashley Tasher left their indelible imprints at the Camp Ayanganna ground.
When the dust finally settled after a day of sun and rain, St. John’s commandingly held on to their title when they finished on 496 points with Bishops High School (BHS) second on 300 and Christ Church (CC) 260 points in third place.
Persaud of BHS left many in awe, including Vancooten and Arinze Chance in the 200m.
He, however, was not given the top position because he was not the original entrant for the race and Vancooten of St. John’s College was adjudged the winner.
Chance who is also from BHS was that school’s first choice for the event and was duly the only athlete registered for the race as the rule clearly states only one athlete per event except the long distance events.
However a showdown is looming on Friday among the three athletes in the North Georgetown Inter-Zone championships to ascertain who will be the best candidate to advance for the National Track and Field and Swimming championships at Albion, Berbice next month.
Persaud had won the 100m race with Vancooten second and Nickel Alexander third.
Persaud had also come from behind on the second leg (200m) in the 1500m medley relay to hand over the baton in first position to his team mate.
However his school ended in second place behind St. John’s College.
Vancooten came back in the 400m to run a beautifully executed race ahead of Charles. The diminutive Vancooten took full advantage of Charles’s poor race distribution and powered to victory in 1:00 flat, a time that was better than the male under-16 400m.
Charles faded down the homestretch but ended in second place while St. Rose’s Elroy Khan placed third.
On the distaff side BHS’s 12 year old Tasher was too good for twin Shaquan Daniels of St. John’s who she also beat in the 200m (28.13) and 100m races. Tasher, running with her headband that marked “I love Jesus”, ran a 1:03s in the 400m. Tasher has automatically set up a showdown with Daniels’ identical twin Shemaine of Richard Ishmael on Friday in the sprint treble.
St. John’s athlete Nisa Allen was unstoppable when she comfortably sprinted away with the 100m, 200m and 400m to beat BHS’s Juanita Hooper in the sprint events. Allen displayed her dominance and surely will be looking forward to continuing her rivalry with Roxanna Rigby next month.
In the male under-20 St. John’s athletes Colin Peters, Delroy West and Lionel Medford won the 100m, 200m and 400m races respectively and returned to in the 400m relay to carry their school to victory ahead of BHS and St. Roses. Their school also ran away with the under-20 4x100m female relay.
For the long distances Devaun Barrington ran unchallenged in the 5000m and the 1500m for St. John’s.
