Benedictines maintain their supremacy in Athletics at All Island School Relay Carnival
The evolving of track and field events or athletics at St. Benedict’s College Kotahena was given a definite testimony when they became the Boys Overall Champions at the All-Island Schools Relay Carnival, which was held at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy recently.
While hometown favourites, Trinity College bagged the runners-up position the longstanding authority of A. Ratnayake Central College, Walala was tarnished after being pushed to the third place overall.
The prestigious and the glamour event in the schools’ athletic calendar, which was conducted under gruelling ground conditions on the grass tracks of the Bogambara Stadium, saw the all conquering Benedictines, continue their power as an emerging force. The Benedictines also won the Under-15 and Under-17 championships with their strong performance.
The Benedictine Under-17 outfit which included Sahan Rajapakshe , Avishka Dhananjaya Ratnayake, Lalana Madushan, Santhush Weerasinghe, Manusha Dias, Thiran Avishka and P.N.P. Auchinthiya, made a clean sweep, winning the 4x100m, 4x200m, 4x400m and the Medley Relay events. Rajapakshe, who by far is the most experienced of all is a member of the Sri Lanka Junior National team member that took part at the Asian Junior Athletic Championship held in Vietnam in early June.
The Under-15 team comprising of Uditha Dilshan, Anuja Prabaswara, Sandeep Visanperuma and Thejan, won the 4x100m and finished at second in the 4x 200m relay. The usually strong Benedictine Under-19 team, were not up to their potential as a result of serious injuries to their Sri Lanka Junior National team member Shammi Lakshan and last year’s Junior National 400m champion Supun Nimesha.
The Benedictines also showed that their lifespan in athletic is not going to be a short one. The emerging talent of their juveniles, the Under-13 athletes, recorded the best performance at the meet, though points were not awarded for this age category.
Despite serious injuries to their top performers, Shammi Lakshan, Supun Nimansha, Uditha Dilshan and Uditha Malshan, the St. Benedict’s authorities are making plans to give the athletes ample rest time before the Benedictines look to conquer the All-Island Schools Athletics Championship to be held in Matara come October.