Chithra continues her dream run

Kochi: The sensational P.U. Chithra bagged her second gold as champions Kerala piled up over a dozen medals on the third day of the 59th National Schools Athletics meet at Birsa Munda stadium in Ranchi on Friday.

The Palakkad girl who struck gold in 3,000 metres on Day One faced little competition in her favourite event, the 1,500m. Her timing of 4:36.36 was just 0.64 seconds short of the existing meet record.

Kerala had a fruitful day on the track, adding five more gold medals to their kitty. The most exciting events were the Under-19 boys 100m and Under-17 girls 3km race walk, where Kerala athletes won gold and silver.

Aswin K.P. outran state champion Nasimudheen M.N. to clinch the boys 100m dash while Neena K.T. took gold ahead of her teammate Sujitha K.R. in the walking event.

Pole vaulter Mariya Jaison and Mohammed Afsal also bagged golds for Kerala. The champion state has 15 gold to its tally in three days.

Selected results

Under-19 boys 100m: 1. Aswin K. P., Ker, 11.01 sec; 2. Nasimudheen M. N., Ker, 11.05; 3. Rithesh Kumar, Kar, 11.16

1,500m: 1. Mohammed Afsal, Ker, 3:59.04 min; 2. Shashi Bhushan Singh, KVS, 3:59.67; 3. Prem Kunj, Bihar, 4:23

Under-17 girls 3000m race walk: 1. Neena K.T., Ker, 14:49.15 min; 2. Sujitha K.R., Ker, 15:49.19; 3. Ramandeep Kaur, Pun, 15:55.4

Pole Vault: 1. Mariya Jaison, Ker, 3.10 m; 2. Renu Rani, Pun, 2.80; 3. Reshma Patel, UP, 2.50

Under-19 girls 1,500m: 1. P. U. Chithra, Ker, 4:36.36 min; 2. Monika Yadav, UP, 4:51; 3. Lili Das, WB, 4:51.73