Champions again
FORMER national secondary school’s athletics girls champion, Jasper Williams High School and Natabua High School have sounded a warning to the other schools competing at the annual secondary schools athletics meet in April.
The two western giants successfully retained their titles at the 2020 Coca/Cola Lautoka Yasawa Athletics Zone meet which concluded at a packed Churchill Park, in Lautoka yesterday.
Natabua High School won the boys division winning a total of 32 gold, 17 silver and eight bronze medals. Tilak High School came second with five gold, eight silver and four bronze while St Thomas High School was third with three gold, eight silver and 10 bronze medals.
Jasper Williams High School reigned supreme in the girls division with 33 gold, 10 silver and nine bronze medals.
Natabua High School came second with eight gold, 10 silver and six bronze while St. Thomas High School wrapped up the top three, with four gold, 10 silver and 7 bronze medals.
Natabua High School’s Nemani Mudreilagi who won the blue ribbon event and the 200m and was the anchor in the school’s victorious 4x100m relay team was accoladed with the Best Male Athlete award for the second year running while Adi Vuki Baviu who triumphed in the sprint events and was a pivotal member of the 4x100m relay team, was declared the Best Female Athlete.
Principal of Natabua High School, Virendra Sharma said the Fiji Finals would be a different ball game.
“It is starting all over again and we realise very much that the road will be much tougher and harder; I believe in my coaches and the athletes. We should be able to do much better than the previous years and hopefully we will be able to satisfy our fans, former scholars and parents. We are the pride of the Western Division and we will try our level best to live up to the expectations and we are humbled by the fact that there is great expectations from Natabua High School.”
Vanita Sharma Kumar, the principal of Jasper Williams High School had a few words.
“Jasper Williams High School is coming. Beware.”
Meanwhile two records were broken at the zone meet.
Mohammed Ahmed of Natabua High School set a new zone record in the discus throw, competing in the sub-junior grade.
Mohammed threw the discus 27.54m in his fifth attempt.
He broke the record of Justin S. of Tilak High School; Justin’s 26.83m record throw was set in 2018.
Malea Waqanibau of Ba Provincial Freebird Institute, competing in the subjunior girls grade, set a new record in the shot-put event.
Her throw of 10.26m in her second attempt overhauled the previous record of 10m flat set by Losana T. of Jasper Williams High School, that was set in 2018.