The first two days of the Kerala University inter -collegiate athletics championship, underway at University Stadium, would have gone unnoticed if two girl students of Mar Ivanios College, Nalanchira, hadn’t excelled on the tracks, rewriting the existing records in their names.
Aparna K, a third year BCom student, and Bency P Roy, a first year BA Economics student, both of them training under Joy Joseph of LNCPE-SAI, Kariavattom, were the shining stars on Wednesday. The two, besides Binu Baby of Govt Arts College, added shine to the day with their splendid performances on track, thereby to an extent erasing the image of a ‘lacklustre’ meet.
Aparna was the first to enter the record books after bettering a 30-year-old mark in the 800 m. She clocked 02:14.5 seconds, rewriting the existing 02.15 seconds. She had earlier won a gold in the 1,500 m. Aparna, hailing from Vadakara in Kozhikode, had earlier won the glittering yellow medal in the recently concluded junior national meet in Lucknow.
Aparna began her athletic life as a sprinter and it was at the fag end of her school life that she switched over to middle-distance running. And there has been no looking back ever since. With the double haul in this championship, the 19-year-old has taken her gold tally to six in three Kerala University inter-collegiate meets.
In the 5,000 m, Bency P Roy was unmatchable and she gracefully ended her present campaign with a new meet record. Bency erased the previous record of 19:1 seconds with her timing of 18:31.6 seconds. Bincy, on day one, had won another gold, in the 10,000 m.
SAI coach Joy Joseph has special plans for them as he believes that Aparna has got more chances of excelling in 1,500 m than 800 m.
“The two are talented and if they can live up to expectations, then a better future lies before them. In the case of Aparna, she could maintain her pace, while Bency’s weapon is her endurance. All that is needed now is to take care that they don’t burn out early,” he said.