Kerala State School Athletic Championship: Palakkad, Mar Basil clinch titles
Ernakulam loses grip over title after three consecutive years.
THENHIPALAM: Palakkad defeated Ernakulam in the last gasp to end the latter’s three-year reign as the overall champions, while Mar Basil HSS Kothamangalam (117 points) eased past Kalladi HSS Palakkad (102 points) to clinch the overall school title for a fourth consecutive time in the 60th State School Athletic Championship here on Tuesday. Palakkad bagged 255 points in total, thanks to Kalladi HSS' resurgence, while Ernakulam, who were powered by Mar Basil, had to be satisfied with second place (247). Kozhikode claimed the third place with 101 points. Ernakulam were leading until the start of the 200m events and they came level after on 228 points after the sub-junior and junior races. In the senior races, Palakkad's Mohammed Ajmal and Anali Johnson won the gold in the boys and girls categories, respectively, to give a 10-point lead for Palakkad that sealed the overall for the district in the athletic meet.
Meanwhile, Mar Basil HSS had a free run for the overall title for the schools as the second placed Kalladi HSS Palakkad were not able to challenge them on the last day of the meet. "We thought a closer race for the overall title for schools. However, we were not challenged that closely as it was with the case in the previous year," said Shibi Mathew, the coach of Mar Basil HSS. "Middle distance runner Bibin George and sprinter Abhishek Mathew had a great meet. Several of the athletes won us points. However, the new athletes did not perform as I expected," she added.
Jafar Babu P.K., the coach of Kalladi HSS, said the result was up to their expectations. “We had a great meet this year. We did not perform well the previous year and we had planned earlier to better it. The long distance runners and jumpers did exceptionally well for us and gave us a good boost.” Parli HSS, who finished runners up in the previous year had to be satisfied with fourth place while St George’s HSS Kothamangalam, who had a forgettable sixth position last year, finished third with 50 and 45 points respectively. On the final day, Usha School of Athletics trainee Abitha Mary Manuel clinched gold in the 800m defeating C Babitha of Palakkad with a meet record. It was a sweet revenge for the Commonwealth Youth Games bronze medalist to win the race as Babitha had defeated Abitha in the 1,500m race on Monday. Abitha bettered her academy mate Jessy Joseph's 15-year-old record of 2:08.69 with a timing of 2:07.15.
Another upcoming middle distance runner, Chandini C of Palakkad bagged her third gold with a timing of 2:14.01 defeating Athulya Udayan of Usha School of Athletics in the 800m junior girls' event. The other gold medals of Chandini were in 1,500m, 400m and 800m. Athulya is the state record holder but her personal best of 2:14.74 did not clinch her title in the school meet. In the 200m junior girls category, Ancy Sojan clinched her second gold medal in style in a photo finish defeating Anjali PD. Ancy won the long jump gold also earlier. Sooryamol of Usha School finished third. In the sub-junior girls 200m race, Elga Thomas of Usha clinched her third gold. Bibin George had no opposition in his senior boys' 800m as the star from Mar Basil HSS said farewell to the school athletic meet with a triple gold glory. The athlete also won 1,500m and 5,000m races earlier. Mohammed Ajmal was another star of the day as he made it a double gold in sprint with his first place in the 200m senior boys' event.
Jishna smashes national record
Jishna M. of Kalladi HSS Palakkad was the star of the final day of the 60th State Athletic Championship. She broke the national record with a 1.70-m jump in the junior girls’ high jump here on Tuesday. It was a surprising result as she defeated Gayathri Sivakumar of Ernakulam in a close encounter in which saw both bettering their personal best and state records. With both clearing 1.68m successfully, the bar was raised to 1.70m, in which Gayathri failed and Jishna prevailed in her third attempt. She also had a try on 1.72m but was not able to clear it. En route to their record breaking performances, both of them outdid their senior counterparts’ performance of 1.64 m in the meet.
Jishna M. clears 1.70-m mark in the junior girls’ high jump setting a national record.
“She is from a financially backward family and she even did not have a good shoe to do the jumps. But she is hardworking girl and was able to do the best here. This is her first gold in the school meet and I think with a good height and technique, she will improve a lot,” said Jishna’s coach K. Ramachandran. This is the second year of Jishna’s training at Kalladi HSS and the athlete who did a Fosbury Flop here has shown remarkable improvement so far. Her last personal best was 1.52m and she was able to achieve an improvement of 18 cm within a year. “I spotted her during a meet at SAI Thiruvananthapuram. She had a good technique and I trained for two years. She has a good future,” said the coach.
Jessy gearing up for comeback
A year ago, Middle distance runner Jessy Joseph’s career was on a high. She had won silver in the Asian Junior Athletics championship in the 800m race, losing the gold in a photo finish. She also had a gold medal in the 4x400m relay in the meet and was beaming with confidence. But an injury to her heel forced a one-year layoff. Now, the champion runner is gearing up for her comeback in next season. “I have started to train and am aiming to get back into competition mode by next season. I will be in the senior category. The injury was a real disappointment as I was peaking in form during the time. I think I will be able to capture the lost form next year. I am working hard for it," said Jessy, who was here to witness her academy mate Abitha Mary Manuel break her record in the 800m event.
The athlete, who is doing her graduation at SNG College Chelannur in Kozhikode, said that she was motivated by her coach Usha throughout her lay-off period. "It (the injury lay-off) happens in athletics and I was a bit unlucky. I am gearing up for the comeback now," she said. Her personal best is 2:06.7 sec that she clocked in the Asian Junior Athletics. She was also happy for Abitha's performance. "Abitha shrugged off her defeat in the 1,500m and showed her quality by bettering my record in the 800m," she added.