THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ernakulam district won eight gold to take an early lead on the opening day of the 62nd State Schools Athletics Championship which got underway at the University Stadium here on Friday. The district is leading the points tally with 88 points followed by
Palakkad with 46 points. Kozhikode is in the third position with 35 points closed followed by Thrissur is closely with 31 points.
The first day also saw two meet records. One of them was scripted by Jisna Mathew of Sacred Heart HSS, Thevara in Ernakulam district in the Junior Girls 400 metre. The other one has been created by Aneesh Madhu of KHS Kumaramaputhur, in Junior boys Pole Vault category.
He set a new record of 4:06 m.
Among schools, Mar Basil HSS Kothamangalam in Ernakulam district emerged on top with 25 points closely followed by St George's HSS Kothamangalam with 23 points. St Joseph's HS Pulloorampara in Kozhikode district was placed third with 20 points. Mar Basil school has won three gold medals, three silver and one bronze. St George won two gold, three silver and four bronze.
On the opening day, the venue also witnessed protests by a section of physical education teachers urging the government to make physical education mandatory for all students and come out with revised guidelines for the post of physical education teachers. The protest was staged under the aegis of Departmental Physical Education Teachers' Association. However, the protest was called off following the intervention of the government officers.
A total of 1,821 athletes, including 871 girls from 14 districts, are in the fray for 96 events in senior, junior and sub-junior categories of both boys and girls.
The celebration has been cut short in this event as part of reducing the expenses owing to floods. The previous edition at Palai had witnessed a record participation of 2,558 athletes. Hence the Education Department, the organisers of the meet, also decided to avoid the prize money in the competition.
Unlike the previous year, this year has two new events- 400m hurdles for junior girls and 110m hurdles for junior boys - The 500 m race for senior boys and girls has been done away with.
3.000 m: Salman Harris bags meet’s first gold
When the 62nd Kerala State Schools Athletics Championship opened to a full house at the University Stadium on Friday, the first medal of the meet was won by Salman Harris of SAI, Thiruvananthapuram. Salman clinched the gold in the 3,000 m clocking a time of 8:56.16 minutes. He is a student of MV HSS, Thundathil. The 3,000 m competition saw a clear domination by the students hailing from the Malabar region. K P Sanika bagged the gold medal by finishing the race in the junior girls category in 10:19.48 minutes. Sanika is a student of Holy Family HSS, Kattippara, Kozhikode. C Chandini of HSS, Kumaramputhoor, Palakkad bagged the silver medal. Adarsh Gopi of Mar Basil HSS secured the first place in the senior boys category while M Ajith of CFD VHSS got the silver medal.