A surging Winston George barely held off a tenacious Stephan James to win the 400 metres event at the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) Under-23 Championships yesterday at the Police Sports Club ground, Eve Leary.
George, fresh from the 2012 London Olympic Games, who was allowed to run the event in order to push James to a fast 400 metres time found himself being smothered by James for 350 metres before being able to run clear of the junior athlete, taking the event in fine fashion to the applause of a relatively small crowd on the Eve Leary bleachers.
While George won the event in a relatively fast time of 47.6s, James took the under-23 event with a time of 47.9s while Shawn Semple was a distant second in a time of 49.3s.
Junior 100 metres champion Chavez Ageday redeemed himself after his 200 metres loss to James with a brilliant display of sprinting topping the field with a time of 10.5s. Akeem Stewart was second in 10.8s while Terry Easton took third in 11.1s.
Sprinter Delon DeAbreu, who won his 100 metres heat a day prior to the final, pulled up 50 metres into the event after looking a threat to Ageday’s throne midway during the event.
Two-time 1500 metres gold medalist at CARIFTA Jevina Straker continued her dominance by copping a distance double by winning the women’s under-23 800 metres after capturing the 1500 metres a day earlier.
Straker ran away easily with the 800 metres with a time of 2:16.9s to leave Adama Roberts some distance behind in 2:37.2s while Tisha Grimes took third in 2:49.8s.
The women’s under-23 400 metres saw Neisa Allen running away with a sprint double after winning the 400 metres event in fine fashion with a time of 57.8s. Her club mate Natrena Hooper was second in 58.9s while Tiffany Smith was third in 1:00.6s.
With former under-23 100 metres champion Allen missing, Alita Moore rose to the occasion to claim the female 100 metres under-23 title in 11.8s while Leota Bobb was second in 12.2s. A returning Letitia Myles took third in 12.4s.
Kevin Bailey displayed brilliant 800 metres running to win the men’s 800 metres under-23 event despite suffering a loss to senior campaigner Cleveland Thomas who was a part of the race to make it faster.
Thomas won the overall race in 1:57.2s while Bailey, who got second but won the under-23 category, clocked in at 1:57.9s. Tyshon Bentick, who had limited training, finished second in the under-23 category with a time of 1:55.6s.
In the youth category Shoquan Daniels dominated the female 200 metres field to win the event in a time of 26.s while Tirana Mitchell took second in 27.2s.
Tevin Garraway returned to capture a sprint double by winning the youth 200 metres in a time of 21.9s while Samuel Doris took second in 22.5s. Quacey Simpson was third in 23.5s.
In the youth boy’s 400 metres, Arinze Chance looked in good form with a 53.4s performance to win the event ahead of Rondel Austin who clocked in at 55.6s.
Patrick King was also phenomenal on the day winning the men’s invitational 100 metres in a time of 10.4s while taking the men’s invitational 200 metres in a time of 21.7s.
King also led the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) to come-from-behind wins in both the men’s 4×100 and 4×400 metres relay events to cap off the day’s proceedings on the 2012 under-23 Championships.
