56th National Schools’ Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships...Linden’s Deshanya Skeete stuns Phillips in 200m showdown

56th National Schools’ Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships…Linden’s Deshanya Skeete stuns Phillips in 200m showdown

Nov 25, 2016 Sports

Caesar, Williams complete sprint doubles

By Edison Jefford
Linden’s Deshanya Skeete rebounded well from her 100m loss in the Under-16 Girls’ category to relegate national sprint phenom, North Georgetown’s Kenisha Phillips to second place in an unexpected 200m showdown at the National Stadium yesterday when the 56th National Schools’ Cycling, Swimming and Track and Field Championships continued.
Skeete got away from Phillips off the final bend and never looked back literally to stun the 15-year old prodigy, who had won the 100m the day before. Skeete ran 25.3 seconds, which edged Phillips’ 25.4 seconds. South Georgetown’s Tiffauna Garnett (26.3) was third.
The win for Skeete added some valuable points to Linden, which is formerly known as Upper Demerara/Kwakwani. The defending champions have amassed 461.5 points for an unassailable lead heading into the final day of competition today.
Essequibo Islands/West Demerara sits in second on 361.5 points while West Coast Berbice is third on 345 points. Corentyne takes the fourth spot on 329 points while East Coast Demerara is fifth on 322 points.
After winning the swimming competition, overall title contenders, North Georgetown is seventh on 299.5 points after starting the athletics competition in 11th on day one. The overall winner will be decided today based on the placement of the teams in the Swimming, Cycling, Track & Field and Teachers’ competitions.
In the 200m Boys’ U-16 race, New Amsterdam’s Jermaine King posted 22.9 seconds for a comfortable win ahead of West Coast Berbice’s Lionel Marks (23.2) and Corentyne’s Shamar Thom (23.9) respectively.
Compton Caesar and Daniel Williams then continued the rampage for Linden with double sprint wins after taking the 100m on Wednesday. Caesar ran 22.1 seconds to win the U-20 Boys’ 200 metres, relegating East Georgetown’s Linton Mentis (22.7) and New Amsterdam’s Stayon Wilson (23.0) to second and third.
West Coast Berbice’s Denita Jackson also completed a sprint double in 26.7 seconds in the Girls’ race, beating East Coast’s Kimberly Hassanah (27.3) and North Georgetown’s Ruth Sanmoogan (27.4) respectively.
Williams comfortably breezed to the Boys’ U-18 200m title in 22.7 seconds that would have given him the U-20 silver medal behind his team-mate. East Coast’s Brian Roman ran 23.5 for second while South Georgetown’s Umkosi Vancooten (23.7) was third.
East Coast continued its good showing when Toyan Raymond turned the tables in 25.9 seconds on East Georgetown’s Cassie Small (26.9) and West Coast Berbice’s Alicia Grant (27.0). Small had won the 100m ahead of Raymond.
North Georgetown’s Yesenia Andrews (26.0) also twisted the tale for East Georgetown’s Princess Browne (26.7) in the U-14 Girls 200m. Essequibo Islands/West Demerara’s Keliza Smith (27.2) was third in the race.
Meanwhile, in the 1500m finals, New Amsterdam’s Ruel Chester and Corentyne’s Delroy Leitch provided enough entertainment to last until the next Championships. Eventually, Chester with his 4:27.9 time out-leaned Leitch (4:28.0) for the victory. North West’s, Ameer Ally (4:38.1) finished third.
North Georgetown’s Maria Urquhart (5:23.4) completed a middle distance double after winning the 800m on Wednesday. She defeated Linden’s Shontel Hinds (5:37.8) and Essequibo Islands/West Demerara’s Kezra Murray (5:38.0) in the process.
It was no different for team-mate Samuel Lynch, who followed his 800m win with a victory in the U-18 Boys 1500m. He ran 4:30.0 ahead of West Coast Berbice’s Okemi Porter (4:31.9) and Linden’s Nigel Gonsalves (4:32.3) respectively.
North Georgetown continued its surge but its seems to be a little much too late when Claudrice McKoy won the Girls’ U-18 race in 5:06.8 with rival, Essequibo Islands/West Demerara’s Joanna Archer (5:32.7) second and Rupununi’s Tabitha Bernard (5:38.2) third.
In the Boys U-16 race North West’s, Joshua Williams took the gold medal ahead of Linden’s Murphy Nash in 4:39.2. Nash ran 4:40.9 while New Amsterdam’s Calvin Williams was third in 4:51.4. East Coast’s Kisanna Glen completed a double with a 1500m win in 5:34.6 ahead of South Georgetown’s Aaliyah Moore (5:47.6) and Linden’s Leona James (6:01.2) respectively.
The competition continues at 11am at the National Stadium Providence with the 400m Finals, Medley Finals, 5000m, 3000m and 4x100m all set for today.