Outstation schools prove their supremacy

Mobitel Relay Carnival:

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Joseph Vaz College Wennappuwa and A. Ratnayake College Walala clinched the boys and girls overall title respectively at the Mobitel Relay Carnival organised by the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association and concluded at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo yesterday.

Joseph Vaz College collected a total of 104 points to finish well ahead of their closest rivals Alighar National School which emerged runners up with a tally of 77 points. The winners received the Mobitel Challenge Cup. A. Ratnayake College also ran out easy winners in the girls overall championship with a total of 109 points while the runners up Sumana Balika MV Ratnapura obtained just 69 points.

Joseph Vaz College collected most of their points from the boys under 16 and 18 events where they completely dominated the proceedings while winning the overall age group titles in the process.

In the boys under 16 championship they obtained 40 points and carried away the Colombo District Challenge Cup with St. Benedict’s College taking the second place with 32 points.

In the boys under 18 championship Joseph Vaz College came on top collecting 32 points and carried away the Nationalised Services Challenge Cup. They were followed by Vidyartha College Kandy and Ananda College who emerged joint runners up with 20 points each.

Meanwhile Ratnayake College on their way to the overall title also bagged the girls under 18 and 20 titles. They also had the honour of winning the Lt. K. A. Karunaratne Memorial Challenge Cup which was on offer for the first time and donated by Major General Palitha Fernando.

Ratnayake College also produced a champion athlete in the form of N. T. Sandaruwan who won the decathlon event with a total of 4979 points.

The most significant performance among the outstation athletes came from Alighar National School in Eravur where they put up a stunning performance to win three junior titles. They emerged overall champions in the boys under 12 (20 points), boys under 13 (27 points) and boys under 14 (30 points) events respectively.

St. Lawrence’ College was the only school from Colombo to win an overall title as they emerged champions in the girls under 14 championship collecting a total of 30 points.

In the open events Sri Lanka Army made a clean sweep and won the men’s and the women’s titles quite convincingly. Their men’s ‘A’ team scored 60 points and carried away the Lakshman de Alwis Memorial Cup which was on offer for the first time.

The Army ‘B’ team emerged runners up with 34 points. In addition the Army women’s team emerged joint champions along with Sri Lanka Air Force collecting 51 points each and also shared the R. A. Siripala Memorial Challenge Cup which too was on offer for the first time.

Meanwhile St. Joseph’s College Kegalle established the only record on the final day clocking 2:23.46 seconds in the girls under 16 medley.

They bettered the previous record which stood at 2:26.91 set by Ladies College last year.

The Chairperson of Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Mrs. Leisha de Silva Chandrasena was the chief guest and distributed the awards along with Nalin Perera Chief Marketing Officer Mobitel, Major General Palitha Fernando President AASL and Keerthi de Alwis President SLSAA.