Defence Force complete stunning upset

Oct 03, 2009 Sports

– End 15-year wait for Joint Services title

Champion Female Athlete Natasha Alder

By Edison Jefford
The Soldiers believed from Day One that they could have beaten the Police to reclaim the Joint Services Track and Field championship. They transformed belief into action and the end result was a stunning upset on home turf yesterday.
Base Camp Ayanganna became a hive of robust activity when arguably the biggest crowd in Joint Services athletic history turned out to witness an intense fight for the coveted title between the Guyana Defence Force and Police Force.
There were no doubts in the minds of thousands of enthusiasts that the Soldiers came out for a ‘war’, which they eventually won with 567 points. Police finished on 514 points and Guyana Fire Service was third on 153 points.
The Combined Services ended with 103 points but it was the battle between Soldiers and Police that engaged the attention of the capacity crowd. The Police were haplessly beaten in a surprise turn after securing 12-point lead on Day Two.
It was the first overall win for the Defence Force in the New Millennium and first since a 1994 win, which was 15 years ago. The Police were the defending champions with three wins before the competition stopped in 1998.

Champion Male Athlete Ronald Payne

Before its resuscitation last year, the Police Force won in 1996, ’97 and ’98 while Militia won in 1995. The Defence Force had also won in 1992. The historic win was meted with mammoth celebration at Camp Ayanganna yesterday.
Athletics Coach of the new champions, Robert Chisholm attributed the win to the team’s preparation when he said that the six-week encampment period allowed them to work on both morning and afternoons for the competition.
“It (the encampment) was a great asset because we got to train how we wanted to and that made a big difference. I am happy because it just shows the quality of our athletes and we will not stop here,” Chisholm told Kaieteur Sport.
Police had entered the event as favourites because a lot of new recruits were either former national champions or were exposed to club training. Police Coach, Lyndon Wilson made it clear that injuries affected his team’s performance.
“We had a lot of injuries because probably the work load was too much. I am not making any excuses, but I think that is responsible for our lost today,” Wilson said, adding that he lost sprinters Michael Saul and Leota Bobb with injuries
Before yesterday, Wilson had repeatedly stated that the Defence Force would not be close to threatening, understanding the corps of athletes under his umbrella. But ironically, they were on the opposite end of that statement yesterday.

Champion Female Athlete Ashanti Scott

A lot were dependent on the performances of Saul and Bobb in the competition for Police but both athletes experienced mixed fortunes. Saul suffered a huge lost in the Male 100m and placed fourth in the 200m while Bobb lost the 200m
Saul had complained about an ankle injury the day before the contest but said that he will compete because of his team. However, he was edged in the 100m when Defence Force’s Quincy Clarke produced an outstanding run.
Clarke won in 10.5 seconds with Saul second in 10.6 with Defence Force’s Rupert Perry finishing third in 10.7 seconds. Though, Saul limped on the line, he ran a normal race for the most part until Clarke surged pass him at the finish.
Bobb clearly won the Female 100m in 12.0 seconds with Defence Force’s Rushell Coates in second with 12.4 and Kim Daly third in 12.8. Coates turned the table on Bobb down in the stretch of the 200m race when she won in 25.7.
Bobb (26.1) had to settle for second in that race with Alana Grant (26.7) third. Clarke had a sprint double when he came from behind to win the Male 200m in a fast 21.4 seconds with Perry (21.6) second and Keith Roberts third.
Defence Force’s Wilbert Mingo won the Male 1500m in 4:20.4 with Oral Younge ending second in 4:22.1 and Ryan Jeffers third in 4:24.6. Ashanti Scott (5:14.4) won the Female 1500m with Leanna Doris (5:31.7) second and Samantha Williams (5:37.6) third.
The Defence Forces’ Ashanti Scott and Bobb were judged joint winners of the Champion Female Athlete award while Police’s Ronald Payne got Champion Male Athlete. Defence Force’s Wilbert Mingo and Quincy Charles were runners-up.