Three new meet records on day two

By Susil Premalal

Three new meet records were established and one record was equalled on the second day of the 49th Sir John Tarbat Junior Athletics Championships which continued at the Public Grounds in Anuradhapura yesterday (18).

The best effort probably came from Shihara Sadamini of Good Shepherd Convent, Panadura where she had the satisfaction of erasing a 14-year-old record.

Shihara produced a superb performance of 4.79 metres to win the Gold Medal in the Girls’ Under-12 Long Jump final while erasing the previous best of 4.53 metres set by K. U. Kariyawasam of Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Colombo in 2004.

In addition, T. O. V. Ariyawansa of St. Aloysius’ College, Ratnapura also had a memorable day as he established a new meet record in the Boys’ Under-15, 80m Hurdles final.

Ariyawansa clocked a splendid 11.5 seconds and shattered the previous record of 11.4 seconds set by A. G. A. Srimal of Berrewaerts College, Kandy in 2016.

Meanwhile, the third record of the day was set by Sevmini Nathali of Ave Maria Convent, Negombo in the Girls’ Under-15 Shot Put final.

She produced a fine effort of 9.87m and bettered the previous record of 9.55m set by W. S. M. Fernando of Lyceum, Wattala in 2012.

Another fine performance came from Dhamsa Kahangama of Sumana Balika, Ratnapura as she equalled the record in the Girls’ Under-15, 80m Hurdles event.

She finished the race with a time of 12.6s and equalled the previous mark held by S. Perera of St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo in 2004 and later by K. Perera of Holy Family Convent, Colombo in 2008.

The meet concludes today (19).