National athletes, Dennis Horatio and Alika Morgan won the male and female categories respectively yesterday when the Athletics Association of Guyana (AAG) held its season–opening Cross–Country race at Kuru Kururu.
Dennis Horatio
Alika Morgan
Horatio, representing Progressive Youth Club, clocked 19:27.92 that made him the first athlete to cross the finish line while Rising Stars Athletics Club, Morgan ran 22:27.28 in the female race to finish 12th overall.
Running Braves Athletics Club, Cleveland Thomas was second in the male category in 19:42.72 while Larry Josiah (21.00.29) was third. Though Thomas was second in this version, he was not second generally.
Rising Stars’ Jevina Straker (26:57.50) and Jeane Ernest (28.04.00) followed Morgan in that order in the female race. Newcomer, out of Rising Stars, Chavez Sital was second overall behind Horatio in the race.
Sital also won the junior category in 19:41.60 while New Amsterdam Track Club athlete, Jamaal Holder finished second in 19:45.00 and Kevin Bailey third in 20:52.11 to round off the top performances in the inaugural event.
The race, which spans 5km, started at the Kuru Kururu College on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway and proceeded along a hilly trail before ending at the College. Some 71 athletes braced the starter’s line for the race.
Noticeably absent from the race were senior national athletes, Lionel D’Andrade, Kelvin Johnson and Cleveland Forde, whose presence would have certainly made the race more interesting for the upcoming Horatio.