Benedictines’ triumph at Western Province Schools Athletics C’ship
View(s):St. Benedict’s College athletes covered themselves in glory winning the overall championship at the highly competitive Western Province Schools Athletics Championship, where all the leading schools in the Colombo, Gampaha and Kalutara districts took part at the Diyagama Stadium from August 11 to 14.
The Benedictines who started the year winning the prestigious Ritzbury All-Island Schools Athletics Relay Carnival in April, continued their good form, bagging the Colombo Zonal Schools Championship convincingly in June, and now won the tough Western Province Schools Athletic Championship, making it three in a row.
The victorious St. Benedict’s College Athletic Team
It was an extreme battle between St. Benedict’s College, Maris Stella College, Negombo and Lyceum International Schools throughout the four days of intense competition and the overall winner was decided in the last event of the championship, the Under-20 4x400m Relay, where the Benedictines clearly proved their superiority.
It was a brilliant, disciplined all round performance by the Benedictines, where they excelled in sprints, long distance, jumping events and their forte, the relays.
The Bens won six gold medals, eight silver medals, six bronze medals and totaled 169 points. Among the gold medalists were Liyura Zehan Dananjaya (Under-14 Long Jump), Sinura Salgado (Under-16 800m), Senesh Jayasinghe (Under-18 Triple Jump), Pahasara Gunetunge (Under-18 800m) and the Relays (Under-14 4x100m and Under-20 4x400m).
The Benedictine coaching and support staff, brilliantly led by Master in-Charge cum Head Coach Nuwan Abeywickrema, have been working diligently with the youngsters for several months to produce these outstanding achievements. They are being supported by the school management and Old Benedictines in Sri Lanka and from around the world, who are extremely proud of the excellent performances of the young athletes of the college. Their goal is to become the undisputed unit in Sri Lanka schools athletics in 2025.